The Finale: Formula One 2021 Wrap-up Races
Checo Perez spinning out after being sandwiched on the restart.
During this past weekend on December 5, 2021, the second to last Formula One race of the 2021 season happened. The race took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Going into the race, two teams and two drivers from those teams were the main events of the night. Red Bull went into the race with an overall 541.5 points, and Mercedes went into the race with 546.5 points, a very close matchup. Max Verstappen, a Red Bull driver, went into the race with 351.5 points, and Lewis Hamilton driving for Mercedes with 343.5 points.
The race in Saudi Arabia was the newest addition to the schedule and has never been raced before for Formula One. The track has 27 separate turns and was supposed to be the fastest track of the year as a result of its long skinny shape and multiple straightaways. The skinniness was a recipe for disaster though. The number of crashes resulting in red flags (complete race stops) was the highest this year, and in addition to the yellow flags (slow pace behind a pace car) made it one of the slowest. A casualty of one of these crashes was Verstappen’s teammate Checo Perez, whose unfortunate crash by no fault of his own and disqualification from the race caused the two teams to grow extremely apart in the points with almost no chance for redemption apart from if a Mercedes driver does not finish the last race. Verstappen was also setback by crashes and collisions on the track. In an attempt to give back a position he illegally stole (by cutting a corner), he was rear-ended by Hamilton who was not told that he was giving the place back, which the race stewards deemed Verstappen’s fault and allotted him a 10-second penalty. On top of this, he was also given a 5-second penalty for another mistake. An avid Formula One fan, Stephen Cibulas, when asked about what happened this weekend said, “There were so many incidents happening because of the tight track layout, that not all messages were relayed to all teams, causing a gap in team knowledge and an overall confusion on the track.” This caused mixups in the driving order, giving Hamilton the win. Hamilton’s win this weekend ties him with Verstappen in the overall runnings, which means whichever driver wins next weekend will be the World Champion. The next race will take place in Abu Dhabi, and favors Verstappen as his car is more geared towards the tight precise turns of the track. Verstappen won this race last year, and if he can pull it off again he will get his first World Championship title.
With the final race of the 2021 Formula One season coming up fast, fans are on the edge of their seats to see who will win both the race and sequentially the Drivers Cup making them the World Champion.