Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (2021)

[{"text":"This race had a lot of controversial driving for both Red Bull and Mercedes. The tension between the two title contestants Hamilton and Verstappen cooked up, resulting in both not shaking hands after the race and Verstappen immediately leaving the podium without celebration. Additionally, the FIA was criticized because their rulings seemed unplausible. Huge crashes on the whole weekend also screamed for better safety measurements for the narrow high-speed track. The race had 2 red flags, 1 safety car phase, and 4 virtual safety car phases because of loose parts on the track. This majorly impacted the race flow.","refs":[{"link":"https://the-race.com/formula-1/horner-f1-missed-charlie-whiting-in-chaotic-saudi-gp/","title":"Horner: F1 ‘missed Charlie Whiting’ in chaotic Saudi GP"},{"link":"https://the-race.com/formula-1/hamilton-wins-hugely-controversial-saudi-arabian-gp/","title":"Hamilton wins hugely controversial first Jeddah F1 race"},{"link":"https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-verstappen-podium-bad-sportsman/","title":"Max a ‘bad sportsman’ for skipping podium celebration"},{"link":"https://www.planetf1.com/news/marko-red-bull-not-treated-the-same-as-mercedes/","title":"Marko: Red Bull ‘not treated the same as Mercedes’"},{"link":"https://www.planetf1.com/news/george-russell-jeddah-safety-changes/","title":"Russell urges changes to make Jeddah track safer"}]},{"text":"Bottas in 2nd place slowed down at the start of the first safety car phase because Mercedes did a double tyre change and Hamilton was directly in front of him. This resulted in no penalty as Verstappen got to 1st place as he did not pit and afterward the race was red-flagged allowing him to change tyres for free.","refs":[{"link":"https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-norris-slams-red-flag-rules/","title":"Norris calls red flag tyre rule ‘worst ever invented’"}]},{"text":"In the formation lap after the first red flag, Hamilton (2nd) was very slow after Verstappen (1st) resulting in Verstappen's tyres cooling off faster. This resulted in no penalty.","refs":[{"link":"https://youtu.be/vRhhS6BnLSY?t=77","title":"Replay of the scene"}]},{"text":"Verstappen overtook Hamilton off track at the start resulting in Ocon also getting in front of Hamilton. Shortly after the race was stopped again because of multiple crashes. During the red flag, Red Bull was asked if they would like to give up the places and start again behind hamilton. It went back and forth a bit making it feel like you can negotiate with the FIA.","refs":[{"link":"https://youtu.be/vRhhS6BnLSY?t=134","title":"Replay of the restart with the off track overtake"},{"link":"https://youtu.be/vRhhS6BnLSY?t=186","title":"Replay of the negotiation with the FIA (multiple conversations cut short)"},{"link":"https://the-race.com/formula-1/masi-explains-his-offer-for-red-bull-to-forfeit-restart-pole/","title":"Masi explains his offer for Red Bull to forfeit restart pole"}]},{"text":"After another off-track overtake from Verstappen to Hamilton he was ordered to give the position back. He tried it in a way where he went really slow in front of the DRS measurement point on the start / finish straight. He intended to give the place back and directly attack again with DRS to get it back, which is not gentleman alike. Hamilton did not know and read that Max is trying to give the position back. While he was directly behind to get into the slipstream Max's downshifts caused Hamilton to drive into his back. Hamilton's front wing was damaged by that. After the Race Verstappen got a 10-sec penalty for ‘erratic’ braking that did not result in a position change.","refs":[{"link":"https://youtu.be/vRhhS6BnLSY?t=243","title":"Replay of the offtrack overtake #2"},{"link":"https://youtu.be/vRhhS6BnLSY?t=267","title":"Replay of Hamilton driving onto the back of Max"},{"link":"https://the-race.com/formula-1/verstappen-penalised-for-erratic-braking-in-hamilton-contact/","title":"Verstappen penalised for ‘erratic’ braking in Hamilton contact"},{"link":"https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-hamilton-max-verstappen-rules-dont-apply/","title":"Hamilton tells Max: Rules don’t apply to one of us"}]},{"text":"A few laps after this incident Verstappen's plan worked out. He did give Hamilton the position back for a short period and instantly attacked with DRS. He overtook Hamilton in that maneuver. Verstappen still got a 5-sec penalty for the offtrack overtake.","refs":[{"link":"https://youtu.be/vRhhS6BnLSY?t=315","title":"Replay of the scene"}]},{"text":"After this race sainz hold the record of most points without a win.","refs":[{"link":"https://i.redd.it/r24ms67yts381.jpg","title":"Rank of drivers with no win"}]}]