The 2021 F1 Grand Prix is arguably the most intense and controversial. Verstappen and Hamilton on the track, Red Bull and Mercedes off the track do not give in to each other, coupled with the continuous injection of "Drama" factor by the authorities, so that this season's F1 process is full of ups and downs and dramatic tension.
FIA: The stage is big enough not to be afraid of too many plays
controversy
The 2021 season of F1 came to an end in great controversy, with FIA's F1 race director Michael Massy leaving the Yas Marina circuit close to midnight local time. The controversy "created" in the final moments of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of the season made mercedes teams dissatisfied and appealed, and also made it impossible for verstappen, who won the world championship, to really stand up and enjoy the joy of victory.
From the opening game bahrain's Turn 4 circuit to profite from the demand to give up position, to the 51G runaway wall crash in the UK station; from Monza's riding to the overhead, to Jeddah's rear-end collision. In the 2021 season, Verstappen and Hamilton, and even their Red Bull and Mercedes, raised questions for the FIA in the context of fierce competition, but unfortunately, as the competent authority, they turned sports competition into a controversial and dramatic tension "series", and even at the end of the play, the contradictions and conflicts reached their peak. Who wins and who loses?
The new king of Verstappen is established
The New King
The number of miles led by Hamilton is nearly double (2989 km vs 1582 km), the number of sub-station champions (10), the most pole positions (10), the most Pole to win (7), the most hat-tricks (3), the number of podium claims in a single season (18 times)... Verstappen delivered a good enough report card in 2021, that is, his seventh season in F1. His talent and desire to win exploded in the face of the seven-time champion Hamilton, and finally fulfilled his childhood dream.
Although in the long and fierce race for the drivers' championship, Verstappen has deviated, created controversies, and even handled some aspects of the process compared with Hamilton is not so sophisticated and mature, but do not forget that he is the fourth youngest driver to win the world championship for the first time, compared to his own reckless debut, Verstappen's growth and maturity are visible to the naked eye. The new king has been established, and the old king is not old, so let's look forward to a more exciting and fierce competition in F1 in the 2022 season.
Verstappen and Hamilton face each other several times throughout the year
compete
For the first time since F1 entered the V6 hybrid era in 2014, Mercedes has encountered unprecedented challenges, and even as Ferrari pressed in 2018, the trident star was locked up as ahead of schedule. This season, both the drivers' world champion and the constructors' world champion need to be decided at the last leg of the season; the last time in 2008 was the endgame of the two-line showdown. In the end, Mercedes completed the team's eighth consecutive championship, but lost the drivers' championship, and the last time the two championships belonged to different teams was in 2008.
The most obvious manifestation of F1 competition on the track is overtaking, which is also a major attraction of F1 racing, and in August this year, an overtaking award was added to reward the driver with the most overtaking in a season. In the end, Vettel pressed two other veteran drivers, Alonso and Raikkonen, to "win this award".
In addition to Vettel, who won the title of Overtaking King, Bottas finished on the podium in the last corner of the last lap of the Saudi Arabian race, Alonso overtook several times in the "master" of the Russian Grand Prix, Hamilton won the 10th place in São Paulo with a series of beautiful overtakings, Verstappen finished second in the late start of the Russian team, etc. These are all "overtaking" masterpieces of the season, and of course, the No. 5 turn on the last lap of the Yas Marina circuit that determines the overall winner of this season....
The 51G event at Silverstone
accident
There haven't been horrific car accidents this season like Grosjean's at the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2020, but several accidents have still impressed fans. At Silverstone, Hamilton collided with Verstappen at Copse Bend, the Dutchman's car got out of control and crashed into the tire wall at high speed, and F1 medical coordinator Dr. Ian Roberts confirmed that Verstappen had endured about 51G in the collision.
By Monza, Verstappen was too "riding" on lap 26, and the Dutchman and Hamilton did not give way to each other after entering Turn 1 and eventually collided. The RB16B rode the W12 and 'slowly' ran over the cockpit; the Halo device allowed Hamilton to escape injury. In addition, the rear-end collision between the two on lap 37 in Saudi Arabia is also quite controversial.
In Azerbaijan, Stoll and Verstappen's punctures hit the wall; Hamilton's qualifying in Mexico, Leclerc's qualifying in Monaco and Mick Schumacher's mistakes in the Saudi Arabian regular race were out of control, as well as the hungarian rain battle including Bottas, Leclerc and other serial accidents; such as azerbaijan's qualifying tournament has shown four red flags to tie the race record. In addition, Latifi's accident near the end of the final leg of the season is a "historical event" that changed the outcome of the final game.
Goodbye, Kimi!
farewell
In that year, Williams founder Sir Frank Williams, former FIA president Max Mosley, F1 legend Murray Walker, 1981 F1 runner-up Carlos Rutmann, Campos founder Adrian Campos, former F1 drivers Johnny Damfres and Bobby Anser all left us forever.
The 42-year-old Raikkonen ended his last F1 race in a very KIMI-style manner, with the Finnish Iceman ending his F1 career as a world champion, 21 station titles, 18 pole positions, 46 fastest laps, 103 podiums; Giovinaz, who will celebrate his 28th birthday on Tuesday, also wants to end his F1 career; in addition, Honda Engine also withdrew from F1 again after the season. (Liu Xiyao)