‘One of the most gripping races in F1 history… a genuine humdinger.’
Hall of Fame F1 journalist
David Tremayne remembers the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Sometimes a new Grand Prix arrives on the F1 calendar and immediately leaves its mark. The first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was one of them, grabbing the attention from the outset and never letting go.
With two Safety Car deployments and two restarts; four Virtual Safety Car interventions; some questionable on-track behaviour and a superb fight between the two World Championship contenders, it was a genuine humdinger.
The 2021 season had evolved into a fight for the ages, between reigning king Lewis Hamilton and the aspiring Max Verstappen. The latter had the upper hand for much of it in his Red Bull, and having won the United States Grand Prix ahead of his arch-rival, had turned a Mercedes front row in Mexico into yet another triumph in his own quest for title glory.
But then Hamilton and Mercedes had gone on a tear. Brazil brought the Englishman what was arguably his greatest victory as he came from behind to vanquish the Dutchman after a bitter on-track battle.
He had then done it again in Qatar, leaving them to head into Saudi Arabia separated by just eight points, with 351.5 for Verstappen, 343.5 for Hamilton.
Given the heat generated by the title fight, it was indeed apposite that the very well-received Jeddah Corniche Circuit proved to be the fastest street course in the world, beaten only by Monza, and the second longest after Spa.
But with its tunnel of walls and its tricky blind corner entries it evoked deep respect, a measure of fear, and huge anticipation. Bravery and accuracy were the two most significant assets demanded of the drivers, while they needed a car that handled well and could be placed with pinpoint accuracy.
Hamilton set fastest time in the first two practice sessions, then Verstappen took the third. But it was the man they were beginning to call the GOAT, who was going all-out for an unprecedented eighth championship, who asserted himself with fastest time in Qualifying, Hamilton taking his 103rd pole position at the sensational average speed of 157.820mph. On a street circuit!
Once again the Mercedes duo wrapped up the front row. Valtteri Bottas took second from Verstappen, Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez. So was it going to be Mexico all over again? Or would Mercedes’ crucial lock-out of the front row lead to a Hamilton hat-trick that would set the scene for the final battle in Abu Dhabi the following week?
Part One began with Hamilton leading Bottas and Verstappen, and Perez just avoiding running into the back of his team mate. The Mercedes were able to control Verstappen, and Hamilton was 3.8s ahead of him when further back Mick Schumacher crashed his Haas into the barriers in Turn 23.
As the Safety Car was deployed, Bottas held back the field so Mercedes could double-stack both cars and switched from the medium Pirellis to the hards. But Red Bull did likewise only with Perez, leaving Verstappen in the lead.
Then Part One ended on Lap 13 with the red flags due to the need for barrier repairs, and this now put the race into Red Bull’s hands, since Verstappen would now be ahead for the restart.
Hamilton questioned why it had taken so long to decide to red flag the race, and why his team had adopted the strategy they did. But while the stoppage seemed controversial, it was the right one as the TechPro barrier had actually been punctured.
Part Two began with Verstappen on brand new hard tyres, and the Mercedes on slightly older rubber which they had not actually pushed very hard. Verstappen, meanwhile, complained that Bernd Maylander wasn’t driving the Aston Martin Safety Car fast enough to allow him to keep warmth in his tyres.
It was like a Hollywood movie with the two disgruntled contenders, one believing he had unfairly lost track position over the other.
And then Hamilton accused Verstappen of making a practice start from the pit lane, and was in turn accused of deliberately lagging more than 10 car lengths behind the Safety Car. But that was allowed since it was a race resumption lap rather than a grid formation lap. Both men sounded agitated.
Hamilton made another great start from the dirty side of the grid and got a car length ahead before Verstappen left his braking very late and attempted a bold move on the outside of the first left-hander. There wasn’t room, so he let his car run off the road and then rejoined by slicing across the Mercedes’ bows.
Hamilton had to brake in avoidance and lost second place to Esteban Ocon’s Alpine. With Bottas having to brake hard too, it was double jeopardy for Mercedes, and now the odds favoured Red Bull.
But then further mayhem ensued, as Leclerc and Perez made contact in Turn 3, causing the Red Bull to spin and shower the track with debris. At the same time, Nikita Mazepin rear-ended George Russell’s Williams, and only Leclerc was able to continue.
Out came Maylander and the Safety Car for the second time, as the red flag triggered a third start, something which F1 hadn’t seen since Austria in 1987, Belgium in 1990 and Mugello in 2020.
Race director Michael Masi then began a series of conversations with angry team bosses, as he was seeking a penalty for Verstappen’s tactic on that first restart. In the end it was eventually agreed that while Ocon would be on pole this time, Hamilton would be second, in front of Verstappen.
Thus at the end of Lap 16, Part Three of the fragmented race finally began, with Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Leclerc, Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) lined up behind the three leaders.
This time Hamilton was worried that while he had stayed on the hard tyres, Verstappen was on a set of mediums. Thus the Red Bull surged into the lead, slicing inside the Mercedes in Turn 1 as Hamilton was again sandwiched between him and Ocon.
The Mercedes and the Alpine rubbed against each other, but Hamilton displaced the Frenchman under braking going into Turn 18. Now it seemed that the fight really was on, after all the interruptions, as the world’s two best drivers went head-to-head.
But every time Hamilton got closer with DRS in the final sector, the Red Bull’s pace pulled it clear in the first two. Then came the first of four Virtual Safety Cars when, on Lap 23, Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri hit Vettel’s Aston Martin in the first chicane. Then the next intervention was on Lap 27, as bits fell off Vettel’s car.
Almost immediately came a third, on Lap 29, because there was so much debris between Turns 6 and 10. The fourth came on Lap 36, when veteran Fernando Alonso had suggested that a full Safety Car would have been a better solution as the circuit was in its worst condition of the weekend.
At last the race took off again, and Hamilton’s efforts and DRS had put him just two-tenths behind Verstappen, with 13 laps remaining. But then, just as Hamilton had squeezed ahead, they touched in Turn 1 as Verstappen dived back in front and swept across the Mercedes’ bows once again.
It was harsh, and Race Control ordered him to give the place back. When Verstappen did just that on Lap 37, it seemed that Hamilton was taken by surprise, and just clipped the rear of the Red Bull with a wing endplate as he had to jink around it.
To some observers, it looked like a brake test, and in the Mercedes pit Toto Wolff threw off his headset in anger. Later it transpired Verstappen had braked at 2.4g, but had done so at the DRS line in the hope of negating Hamilton’s subsequent advantage there. Hamilton had, in turn, been holding back planning to pass after it.
Meanwhile, to complicate things even further, it was announced that Verstappen was getting a five-second time penalty for leaving the track earlier at the restart and gaining an advantage.
As all that played out, Hamilton set a fastest lap of 1m 31.089s on Lap 41, closing to within three-tenths of the Red Bull at the end of it and lunging back into the lead in Turn 27.
As he duly pulled away to win by 11.8s it was clear that Mercedes had made the right call on the tyres, as Verstappen’s mediums were ruined. Hamilton then proved the worth of the hards further by reducing the fastest lap to 1m 30.854s on Lap 45, and then 1m 30.734s on 47.
Behind the two leaders, Bottas took third from a delighted Ocon, Ricciardo, Gasly, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), but on this day all six had only minor roles in comparison.
Hamilton’s 103rd victory was one of his hardest-fought, and both he and Verstappen looked utterly drained afterwards.
Incredibly, the two great contenders headed for the showdown in Abu Dhabi with exactly the same points: 369.5 apiece.
And their fight that evening under the spotlights in Jeddah immediately ensured that the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix went down in history as one of the most gripping races in F1 history.
