The sheer speed achieved around the Jeddah circuit raised many eyebrows. Add to this that is lined with barriers and you have yourself the perfect ingredients for chaos. And bedlam most definitely ensued. As has been true of the entire 2021 season Hamilton and Verstappen were far and away to biggest story of the race. Here follows a breakdown of events.

Saturday Qualifying – The first run of the Q3 session has Lewis Hamilton in pole with teammate Valtteri Bottas in second with Max Verstappen third. On the final run of the session however Verstappen is flirting with disaster as he skims the walls but is on his way to a stunning pole position. It wouldn’t eventuate though as he clips the wall on the final corner with his right-rear. He starts the race in P3.

Mick Schumacher crash, lap 10 – The Haas drivers crashes heavily into the Tecpro barrier of turn 23. A safety-car is immediately deployed which prompts both Hamilton and Bottas into the pits for hard tyres. Verstappen opts for track position and does not pit. The race is then red-flagged, which Hamilton deems unnecessary. However, since the death of Jules Bianchi, safety protocols dictate that whenever machinery is on track a session will be red-flagged.

Hamilton’s displeasure with the red-flag decision is motivated by the fact that Verstappen, per regulation, is allowed to change tyres under red-flag conditions. A rule Hamilton himself benefitted from earlier in the year at Imola.

From a standing-start Hamilton gets the better of Verstappen but the Red Bull driver cuts across the turn ½ runoff area and takes the lead. Hamilton clashes with Ocon and loses another place to the Alpine. Chaos ensues behind bringing to an end Perez, Russell, and the second Haas driver’s races. With a sea of carbon fibre littering the track another red-flag is shown.

Race director Michael Masi gives Red Bull the opportunity to drop behind Hamilton for the restart following Verstappen’s cutting on the chicane. This has been noted as controversial by some but is no different than race-control instructing a team to return a position on-track. Red Bull accept and Verstappen drops to third on the grid with Ocon now in P1.

Crucially, Verstappen takes the re-start on new medium tyres while Hamilton remains on hards. It works a treat as Verstappen pulls off a sublime move into turn 1 to take the lead of the race. Hamilton momentarily falls behind Ocon but is back into P2 by lap 22.

JEDDAH STREET CIRCUIT, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 05: Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B , leads Sir Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, and Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12 during the Saudi Arabia GP at Jeddah Street Circuit on Sunday December 05, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Sam Bloxham / LAT Images)

Virtual Safety Cars – On lap 24 Yuki Tsunoda clashes with Seb Vettel in turn 1 and strews debris over the track, prompting the VSC. On lap 30 another VSC is needed this time to collect more debris from a clash between Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel. Racing resumes on lap 33 with Hamilton within DRS range of Verstappen. However, the canny Dutchman stretches his advantage just enough in sector-1 to ensure he stays ahead. On lap 36 another VSC is called on to collect debris that had fallen off Vettel’s wounded Aston Martin.

Lap 37 – Hamilton is closer than ever on the main-strait and makes his move. Verstappen brakes late and again cuts across the run-off of turn1/2. Verstappen is instructed to give the place back to Hamilton and he slows on the back part of the track to do just that. However, because Hamilton doesn’t want to get to the DRS activation point first, thereby giving Verstappen DRS, he too, bizarrely, brakes and runs into the back of Verstappen.

Hamilton would allege that Verstappen had brake-tested him, while Mercedes would say that Hamilton was ‘confused’ about what was happening. The question remains however as to why Hamilton would not overtake a slowing car? The answer we now know is DRS. Laughably, Verstappen was given a post-race 10-second penalty for the incident, which did nothing to the final classification.

Lap 42 – Hamilton is back on Verstappen’s gearbox and makes a pass into turn 1. Again, Verstappen cuts across the run-off and maintains the lead. Verstappen then gives the place back to Hamilton but, peculiarly, still incurs a five-second penalty. To say that race control was a bit shambolic on the day wouldn’t be completely untrue.

To the end – Verstappen, with diffuser damage and worn medium tyres, nurses his Red Bull home in second place. Hamilton’s win means that both championship protagonists head into the finale this weekend equal on points. Verstappen still leads the championship by virtue of more race wins.

Third and fourth were Bottas and Ocon as the Finn just pipped the Alpine to the podium. In fifth was Daniel Ricciardo as Gasly, Leclerc, Sainz, Giovinazzi, and Norris occupied the rest of the top ten places.

The Saudi Arabian Gp could not have delivered a more chaotic and controversial race if it tried. And regardless of who has your loyalty and support it should be recognized that as fans of F1 it is an utter privilege to be living through one of the most intense and fascinating seasons in living memory.