The 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship was one of the most dramatic and controversial seasons in F1 history, featuring an intense title battle between Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing). The season comprised 22 races and culminated in a controversial season finale at Abu Dhabi, where Max Verstappen claimed his first World Drivers' Championship.
Lewis Hamilton won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix after a thrilling late-race battle with Max Verstappen, who had to give back an overtake for going off track. This set the tone for a fiercely competitive season.
Formula 1 debuted its new Sprint Qualifying format at the British Grand Prix weekend. The 17-lap sprint race determined the starting grid for Sunday's main race, with Max Verstappen winning the inaugural sprint.
On the opening lap of the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen collided at Copse corner, sending Verstappen into the barrier at high speed. Hamilton received a 10-second penalty but still won the race, narrowing the championship gap.
At the Italian Grand Prix, Verstappen and Hamilton collided again when Verstappen's car landed on top of Hamilton's Mercedes after a battle at the Variante del Rettifilo chicane. Both drivers retired from the race, which was won by Daniel Ricciardo.
Lewis Hamilton drove from 10th on the grid to win the São Paulo Grand Prix after a grid penalty for a new engine. His drive-through-the-field performance, including a decisive overtake on Verstappen, was widely regarded as one of the greatest drives of the modern era.
Formula 1 held its first-ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the fast and narrow Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Hamilton won the race after Verstappen was penalized for a braking incident, tying the championship points heading into the finale.
Max Verstappen secured his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship with 395.5 points, ending Lewis Hamilton's bid for a record eighth title. Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship for the eighth consecutive year.
In one of the most controversial finishes in F1 history, Race Director Michael Masi allowed only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves under a late Safety Car, setting up a one-lap shootout. Verstappen, on fresh soft tyres, overtook Hamilton on the final lap to win his first World Championship.
