F1 2021 retro: highlights of the Verstappen-Hamilton duel (1/2)

With the one-year postponement of the aerodynamic revolution, one would have thought that the 2021 financial year would be a simple transition doomed to easily fall into the hands of the invincible armada Mercedes, led by the no less impregnable Lewis Hamilton.

However, from the winter tests in Bahrain, reduced to the bare minimum of three short days, doubt crept in and hope rose: that of finally experiencing a season contested from start to finish.

More bothered by the changes imposed at the rear of the flat bottom as well as at the level of the diffuser, Mercedes seemed to have lost its splendor, while Red Bull gave the feeling of having finally produced a car competitive from the outset.

Despite the hope, we were then very far from imagining that we were standing at the dawn of a historic season.

Bahrain-Emilia-Romagna: one shot for you, one shot for me

Given in Sakhir, the kick-off immediately set the tone. As suggested by the pre-season tests organized on the same track, Red Bull had indeed reduced the gap on Mercedes. Confirmation came in qualifying, where Max Verstappen signed a 4th career pole position, with a comfortable lead of almost 4/10th over Lewis Hamilton.

The Dutchman maintained his position at the start before breaking away slightly. Mercedes then chose to take the initiative by stopping its leader before the competition. L'undercut worked and allowed Hamilton to take control of the race.

The seven-time world champion retained the lead after the second pit-stop waltz but found himself under threat from Verstappen wearing much fresher tires. A little earlier in the race, the Red Bull driver had been encouraged by his track engineer Gianpiero Lambiase not to respect the limits of the track at turn 4 since his rival had been doing the same since the start of the GP.

In a turnaround which would, here too, set the tone for the season to come, the race direction had in fact chosen not to control the famous track limits in this portion of the circuit… unlike what was in place during qualifying.

Ultimately, Hamilton and Verstappen were ordered not to veer too wide in the sector. A vital detail because it was precisely here that the Dutchman overtook the Briton on the outside of turn 4 on the 52nd of the 56 laps of the race. Verstappen, however, had to return the position a few curves further in order to avoid the penalty because he had put all 4 wheels outside the white line during his maneuver.

The Batavian was never able to make another attack and momentarily lost contact due to his Red Bull slipping away in the turbulent wake of the Mercedes. Hamilton therefore won a first round which served as a trailer for the rest because it was marked by an intense duel between the two heavyweights in the field, uncertain race direction, controversies regarding respect for the racing lines, and a tiny gap – 0”745 – under the checkerboard.

New very close duel between the Red Bull driver and his rival Mercedes in Italy / © DPPI

Verstappen responded in the following round, held three weeks later near Imola (Italy). Yet ahead of the grid by Hamilton on pole and his new teammate Sergio Pérez, the Flying Dutchman got a better start than those on the front row on a wet track.

Verstappen takes the lead approaching the first braking where he and Hamilton touch for the first time this season. The Mercedes driver cuts the chicane and damages his front wing on the curbs but can continue. On a drying track, Hamilton slides off the track and ends up in the gravel.

His race then seemed to be over when a red flag, triggered by the violent collision between the Williams of George Russell and the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, comes to get him out of this bad situation by putting him back in the saddle. Having fallen in the rankings, Hamilton made a good comeback but could not prevent his number 1 opponent from pocketing his first success and getting back into the championship. Author of the best lap in the race, Hamilton has 44 points in the Drivers' standings, compared to 43 for Verstappen. The others are already relegated to the rank of simple spectators.

The Mercedes is faster in Portugal but Max doesn't leave his share to the dog / © DPPI

Portugal-Spain: Mercedes with experience

In Portimão, Valtteri Bottas tried to get involved in the fight by taking pole position. The Finn keeps the lead for around twenty laps while behind, we talk among the tough guys. While the Safety Car which had intervened on the 2nd lap for contact between the drivers Alfa Romeo fades, Verstappen immediately attacks to steal 2nd place from Hamilton by overtaking him on the outside of the first corner.

The Mercedes driver did not panic and returned the favor a few laps later in the same place, but this time on the inside. A little later still, he ended up dispossessing Bottas of the race lead and went to reap a second success in 2. Behind, Verstappen managed to get the better of the Finn from Mercedes, whom he surprised when he last one leaves the pits on cold tires. On the evening of the 2021rd round, Hamilton is 3 points ahead of his closest pursuer.

Verstappen takes the lead at the start in Barcelona but Hamilton will have the last word / © DPPI

Arrives Barcelona, ​​a track traditionally considered as one of the benchmarks for calibrating the level of competitiveness of a single-seater. A sign of the very small gap in performance between Mercedes and Red Bull, Hamilton takes pole position by 36 thousandths ahead of Verstappen.

The Dutchman responded as soon as the lights went out with an authoritarian start, which had become his trademark. Arriving alongside his rival at the first braking, the Red Bull driver refuses to hand over control to his competitor Mercedes, who prefers to move out of the way to avoid a collision.

Verstappen leads comfortably when Red Bull is surprised by Mercedes who choose an offensive two-stop strategy. Taking advantage of his much fresher tires, Hamilton managed to pounce on the leading RB16B, which he overtook six laps from the goal on the outside of the first corner. Red Bull is trying to limit the damage by stopping Verstappen to fit a set of new tires which will allow him to pocket the bonus point for the best lap in the race.

After four exciting races in 2021, Hamilton is 14 lengths ahead of Verstappen and we say that Mercedes, after a less convincing start to the season than expected, is off to sail calmly towards a new double. This was without counting on the response from the opposing camp.

The time of redemption has come for Verstappen in the Principality / © DPPI

Princely Verstappen in the streets of Monaco

The Monaco circuit has crowned the greatest hoops handlers. Verstappen is undeniably one of them and yet the Dutchman has never had the opportunity even to get on the podium in the Principality.

He could have done it several times but he had often erred by rushing, notably in 2018 when he missed qualifying after a crash in Free Practice 3.

The following season, he harassed Hamilton throughout the race before attempting a maneuver in the final moments, in vain. Penalized for pushing Bottas into the pits, he finished just off the podium.

2021 is the year of redemption for Max, even if he has to admit defeat in qualifying against the local hero, Charles Leclerc, in circumstances that are strange to say the least. Holder of the provisional pole, the Monegasque of Ferrari is on the attack in his final flying lap when he misses leaving the swimming pool and crashes his SF21 into the wall.

The accident triggers a red flag which confirms Leclerc's pole, to the great dismay of Verstappen and the other drivers present in Q3. The Dutchman will, however, have the way clear ahead of him on Sunday because the Ferrari driver was betrayed by his mechanics during his grid lap, the Scuderia having taken the risk of not changing his gearbox to avoid a penalty.

Verstappen retains control at Sainte-Dévote and will never be worried, while his rival Hamilton is experiencing an ordeal at the wheel of a Mercedes lacking pace. Only 7th under the checkerboard, the Briton abandons the leadership of the championship to his rival Red Bull for 4 small points.

Verstappen had won the race in Azerbaijan before his tire problem / © DPPI

Baku: heartbreak for Red Bull

The Austrian team was calmly heading towards a resounding double in the streets of the Azerbaijani capital when the left rear tire of Verstappen, comfortable leader after having got the better of pole sitter Leclerc then Hamilton's Mercedes during the pit-stops, suddenly sags in a straight line.

The Dutchman then had 5 laps left to score a second success in a row. Furious, Verstappen did not hesitate to show his anger by kicking the destroyed tire. In view of the debris present on the track, the race direction decided to bring out a red flag then restart the race for a sprint of just two laps, with a standing start! At the forefront of this new procedure are Pérez and Hamilton.

Mercedes believes it is carrying out the operation of the century when its leader takes off better and takes the lead at the first corner. Unfortunately for him, the Briton had mistakenly activated the wrong braking mode and suffered a serious lockup of the rear wheels, which caused him to pull straight ahead.

Pérez didn't ask for so much and went to snatch a second career victory after the 2 Sakhir GP, while Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) complete an unprecedented podium. The gap between the two leaders in the championship remains unchanged (105-101).

Verstappen's best lap in the race does not bring him any bonus points since his retirement deprives him of them. In the end, the two contenders for the crown start back to back but it is the Red Bull driver who loses big, since he was on the verge of taking 10 points (or even 11 with the best overall) from his opponent.

Verstappen scores a relentless double on Red Bull land / © DPPI

France-Styria-Austria: Verstappen untouchable at the start of summer

While the French Grand Prix had sometimes been mocked for its lack of on-track action since its return to the calendar in 2018, the Circuit Paul Ricard offers a superb strategic duel between Verstappen and Hamilton. Qualified in pole position, the Red Bull driver made a small mistake approaching the first corner and went off the track, which immediately took advantage of his best enemy.

Hamilton leads during the opening stint but slips behind Verstappen during the pit stops. In a scenario mirroring that of Barcelona, ​​Red Bull then takes the initiative to stop its leader a second time, while Mercedes tries to go to the end with a single tire change for Hamilton. As in Catalonia, risk-taking is rewarded.

Verstappen manages to come back and overtake the two Mercedes in the final laps to snatch victory in the Var. The Dutchman continues his momentum with a masterfully executed Austrian doublet. During the Styrian Grand Prix, Verstappen easily dominated from pole position and continued to widen the gap in the Drivers' standings.

Powerless in the face of the burst of speed of the Red Bull in the lead, Hamilton minimized the damage by stopping at the end of the GP in order to set the best lap in the race, synonymous with a bonus point. The scenario repeats itself almost identically a week later, except that Verstappen's demonstration is even more brilliant with his first career Grand Slam (pole, victory, fastest lap in the race, and in the lead from start to finish) .

For Hamilton, things got worse as the English driver failed to reach the podium. The first triplet of the season is therefore one-sided with a hat-trick from Verstappen, who has a 32-point lead in the championship when he heads to the land of his rival at Silverstone. It is there, in Sir Lewis's garden, that this 2021 campaign, already exciting, will definitely enter the legend of great wines.

The Verstappen-Hamilton duel moves into another dimension at Silverstone / © DPPI

Silverstone-Budapest: Smashing comeback for Hamilton

The Silverstone circuit is designed on a former airfield which served as a base for the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War. In 2021, it was the scene of another conflict, fortunately non-lethal. But particularly deleterious all the same.

While the first Sprint in history is about to take place under the already amazed eyes of Ross Brawn and the other leaders of the F1, Hamilton was the fastest during qualifying, less than a tenth ahead of his great rival. When the lights went out in the shortened format race, Verstappen got off to a better start and went on to win an inaugural Sprint saved by the enthusiasm of Fernando Alonso.

The next day, it was Hamilton who fought better from the front row but his opponent Red Bull managed to contain his attacks for half a lap at the cost of an insane and magnificent fight. It is nestled in Verstappen's gearbox that the Mercedes driver swallows the old start/finish straight and approaches the ultra-fast Copse curve.

The Briton tries to infiltrate inside even if the Batavian pushes him somewhat towards the wall. And what was eventually supposed to happen in 2021 happened. Hamilton catches Verstappen's right rear wheel, who finds himself spinning, surfing on the gravel, and crashing into the wall of tires at high speed.

Measured at 51G, the shock required a trip to the medical center even if the Red Bull driver was able to get out of his injured car. He will then be transferred to hospital. Judged mainly guilty of the collision, Hamilton, whose Mercedes was spared, received a 10-second penalty but managed to recover to deprive Charles Leclerc of victory with three laps to go. The atmosphere after the race is electric.

In the Red Bull clan, we are on a roll. Christian Horner likens Hamilton's maneuver to a desperate move, while Verstappen fumes at the sight of Mercedes celebrations in parc ferme. Helmut Marko is calling for the British driver to be suspended from one race. The hatchet is well and truly dug up.

Before the next round in Budapest, Red Bull asks to use its right of review because the Austrian team considers that Hamilton's sanction was too lenient. Request refused.

Upset in Budapest / © DPPI

The Hungarian Grand Prix scenario will do nothing to ease the situation. The Mercedes monopolize the first row of the grid but a terrible start from Bottas on a wet track allows the two Red Bulls and the McLaren de Norris to surpass it. The Finn then completely misses his braking.

He sends Norris to mow down Verstappen and ends his race by eliminating Pérez! In the ensuing chaos, Lance stroll proves too greedy and harpoons Leclerc, thus opening the door to Esteban Ocon, who climbs into 2nd position behind Hamilton. The red flag is waved to clean the track.

At the restart, all the drivers, except Hamilton, decided to put on slicks at the end of the second training lap. Hence this lunar image of the Mercedes, alone on the grid while the lights go out! Realizing his strategic error, the English driver was forced to use dry track envelopes on the next loop.

He then fell to 14th place but managed to climb back to 3rd position, despite fierce resistance from Alonso. Ocon took the opportunity to take his first career victory, ahead of Vettel, who was downgraded for a technical infraction. Hamilton therefore climbs to 2nd place and still does well in the championship since his rival Verstappen cannot do better than 9th.

While he had a 32-point lead before Silverstone, the Dutchman entered the summer break 8 points behind his rival Mercedes. The championship is completely relaunched.

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