The Raging Bull vs. The Silver Arrow: Verstappen and Hamilton’s Battle Heads to Abu Dhabi
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton following the Portuguese Grand Prix. (photo via Reuters)The final battle of the Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen war for the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship will take place this coming weekend in Abu Dhabi. With the two title challengers level on points going into the final race for the first time since 1974, is there anything else fans can ask for?
We’re in the 8th year of the turbo hybrid era that has been characterized by Mercedes’ domination, meaning that close championship fights have been hard to come by. The tightest battle in the turbo hybrid era that we’ve seen up to this point was the 2016 battle between Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, so it’s a welcome surprise to see two different teams battling at the front of the grid. It’s been a season marked by wild twists and turns, as both drivers have looked to have the upper hand at various points in the season.
Chart of the title fight between Hamilton and Verstappen. (chart via u/bragghy on Reddit)As you can see from the graph above, Hamilton got out to an early lead in the season before Verstappen managed to put in a superb run of races to give himself a 32 point lead heading into the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It was at Silverstone where Hamilton and Verstappen collided, with Verstappen being punted out of the race and Hamilton going on to take P1 at his home grand prix. While highly controversial, the incident at Silverstone was merely one of many contentious situations that the championship rivals would find themselves in. One has to look no further than the race following Silverstone in Hungary to find another high profile incident involving Hamilton or Verstappen. The Hungarian Grand Prix involved Valterri Bottas, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, severely damaging, among others, the car of Max Verstappen in the first corner of the race. It also saw Lewis Hamilton being the only driver to line up on the grid for the restart while the rest of the drivers opted to put on dry tires and start from the pit lane.
Lewis Hamilton begins the restart in Hungary as the sole driver starting from the grid. (photo via F1TV)It was an oversight by Mercedes that cost Hamilton dearly, as he had to fight his way through the field on his way to a 3rd place finish, a missed opportunity to further extend his lead over his rival in a race where Verstappen could only limp home to finish 9th. Max and Lewis stayed neck and neck for the next couple races until Max was able to produce good results in Turkey, the U.S, and Mexico to give himself a 19 point lead in the championship. Unfortunately for the Red Bull driver, Mercedes responded emphatically by dominating in Brazil and Qatar, in no small part because of a new engine they put into Hamilton’s car before the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Formula 1 circus stopped this past weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where we witnessed a crazy race that was emblematic of the rollercoaster ride this season has been. The new street circuit brought us chaos and carnage, and its fair share of controversy too. Hamilton and Verstappen clashed multiple times throughout the course of the race, with their final battle being a bizarre incident where Hamilton slammed into the back of Verstappen as they were both seemingly confused as to whether the Red Bull should be letting the Mercedes by. Remarkably, both drivers managed to bring their cars home in one piece, and Lewis’ victory put him level on points heading into the final round in Abu Dhabi.
Hamilton and Verstappen's crash in Saudi Arabia. (photo via Getty Images)As we head towards the season finale, the heavyweight title fight between Hamilton and Verstappen provides a reminder of the legendary title fights of the late 80s and 90s. Back then it was Senna and Prost, or Schumacher and Hill, or even Schumacher and Villeneuve. The title battles in 89, 90, 94, and 97 all ended in controversial fashion, with the title challengers crashing into one another in the closing races. While it certainly made for iconic finishes, I think I speak for F1 fans everywhere when I say that I hope the battle between Hamilton and Verstappen is decided on track, and not with one of the drivers left stranded next to his broken car off to the side of the track.