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2021 Saudi Arabia Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: Here's the thing. When the race got going for real after the second red flag, we feel all those shenanigans, collisions, and controversies were for naught. Because, in the waning laps, Hamilton would have had the fastest car by far anyway due to the tire situation and would have easily passed for the lead no matter what Verstappen did. But it sure was entertaining getting to that point!

EVENT: Like Qatar, a larger crowd than expected and seemingly a very international one.

TRACK: When is a road course defined as a street circuit? When you build a brand new track but put walls all around it? It was fast. It was fun for the drivers. But, did it bypass safety features because it was defined as a street circuit?

QUALIFYING: The most intense qualifying of the season. Bottas has to change an engine. Sainz taps the wall. Hamilton nearly crashes then gets the provisional pole. Which he keeps because Verstappen, turning in the lap of the year, locks up a tire and goes into the wall two corners from the end.

RACE: This will be one of the most talked about races in F1 history.

START: The frontrunners play it smart and clean, Perez nearly pulls the gaffe of the year, and the rest of the field avoid the chaos which occurred in all the F2 races.

RESTART 1: After the red flag gives Verstappen a huge break, Hamilton gets a great jump, Verstappen doesn't give up, Hamilton Verstappen's Max, causing Lewis to pay dearly, as Ocon says thank you very much. Meanwhile, the expected chaos finally occurs in the back of the field.

RESTART 2: The red flag offers a reset to essentially the original start, but this time Verstappen absolutely nails it, jumping two spots into the lead without having to go off, while everyone behaves themselves.

HAMILTON: This is clearly playing out to the cliche of old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance, as Lewis wins on his 31st circuit.

VERSTAPPEN: Think back to the collision years ago while lapping Ocon. Max clearly believes when he is on the track, nobody has the right to be on it at the same time.

BOTTAS: Once again, pulled off a last corner, last lap pass for a key position.

PEREZ: It does seem like Sergio forgot Norris was still there, losing points which may cost Red Bull the constructors' title.

MERCEDES: Seeing silver stars.

RED BULL: Seeing red.

OCON: Lost in all the mayhem -- well, everything else was lost in the all the title fight mayhem -- was an excellent race by Esteban. Sure, the red flags played to his favor, but he grabbed the opportunity and ran with it.

ALONSO: While Fernando suffered the bad luck of the red flags timing.

RICCIARDO: Copy and paste Ocon's comment here.

NORRIS: Copy and paste Alonso's comment here.

GASLY: A fine weekend for Pierre.

FERRARI: Generally speaking, a solid weekend with some bad luck out of their control during the race.

GIOVINAZZI: Not a bad run to start closing out his F1 career.

RAIKKONEN: Kimi is not going away quietly.

VETTEL: Sebastian seemed to be the designated punching bag this race.

WILLIAMS: The last of the independent team owners. Truly the end of an era. Godspeed Frank.

FIA: We've said this before and we'll say it again. The idea of being allowed to work on your cars during a red flag is insanely ludicrous. No other series does this, and it's wholly unfair to most of the field.

F2: The penultimate weekend for their championship as well was overshadowed by a terrible crash at the start of the feature race which sent Enzo Fittipaldi (fractured heel) and Theo Pourchaire (back pain but okay) to the hospital.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Controversy.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 0 -- The difference in points between the two title protagonists.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: The only time the world driving championship was tied heading into the final race was 1974. Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Ford) and Clay Reggazoni (Ferrari) each had 52 points with the USGP at Watkins Glen to end the season. Both qualified poorly -- Fittipaldi eighth and Regazzoni ninth. Regazzoni had handling problems throughout the race, finishing 11th, four laps down. Fittipaldi managed a fourth place, enough to take the title by three points.

TWEET OF THE WEEKEND: From the Formula 1 official twitter account: ONE RACE TO GO. ZERO POINTS IN IT. Who wins?!

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Doesn't matter when he said it, why he said it, or to whom he said it, but when Lewis Hamilton said, "Crazy, man," that's what we were all thinking after that race was over.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Lando Norris saying it even better than we did concerning the ability to change tires during a red flag, "Probably the worst rule ever invented by someone."

SCHEDULE: Two alpha males. Two hard nosed teams. One race. Deadlocked. Not even Netflix could have written a script like this and make it sound believable.

Copyright © 2021 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 50
2. Verstappen 50
3. Bottas 50
4. Ocon 50
5. Ricciardo 50
6. Gasly 50
7. Leclerc 50
8. Sainz 50
9. Giovinazzi 50
10. Norris 50
11. Stroll 50
12. Latifi 50
13. Alonso 49
14. Tsunoda(R) 49
15. Raikkonen 49
NC Vettel 44
NC Perez 14
NC Mazepin(R) 14
NC Russell 14
NC Schumacher(R) 8

Time of Race
2:06:15.118

Margin of Victory
21.825 secs.

Safety Car
2 for 7 laps

Virtual Safety Car
4 for 10 laps

Lead Changes
4 among 3 drivers

Lap Leaders
Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Esteban Ocon

Fastest Race Lap
Lewis Hamilton

Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Verstappen 369.5
  Hamilton 369.5
3. Bottas 218
4. Perez 190
5. Leclerc 158
6. Norris 154
7. Sainz 149.5
8. Ricciardo 115
9. Gasly 100
10. Alonso 77
11. Ocon 72
12. Vettel 43
13. Stroll 34
14. Tsunoda(R) 20
15. Russell 16
16. Raikkonen 10
17. Latifi 7
18. Giovinazzi 3

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 587.5
2. Red Bull 559.5
3. Ferrari 307.5
4. McLaren 269
5. Alpine 149
6. AlphaTauri 120
7. Aston Martin 77
8. Williams 23
9. Alfa Romeo 13
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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