2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 21 of 22[a] in the 2021 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
Race details | |||||
Date | 5 December 2021 | ||||
Official name | Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 | ||||
Location | Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | ||||
Course | Street Circuit | ||||
Course length | 6.174 km (3.836 miles) | ||||
Distance | 50 laps, 308.450 km (191.662 miles) | ||||
Weather | Clear | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Mercedes | ||||
Time | 1:27.511 | ||||
Fastest lap | |||||
Driver | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | |||
Time | 1:30.734 on lap 47 (lap record) | ||||
Podium | |||||
First | Mercedes | ||||
Second | Red Bull Racing-Honda | ||||
Third | Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders |
The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021) was a Formula One motor race, held on 5 December 2021 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, in Saudi Arabia. The inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it was the 21st round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship.
Background
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was announced to be on the 2021 Formula One World Championship calendar in November 2020.[4] The race was originally to take place on 28 November, but it was rescheduled due to the postponement of the Australian Grand Prix owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
On 28 November, one week before the race, Williams co-founder and former owner Sir Frank Williams died at the age of 79.[6] Teams sported tributes on their cars,[7] and a minute's silence took place approximately one hour before the start of the race.[8] Alpine ran a special livery for the weekend to commemorate their 100th race with one of their sponsors Castrol.[9] On the eve of the race weekend, Williams CEO Jost Capito announced that he was tested COVID-positive, therefore missing the weekend with the team.[10]
Championship standings before the race
Max Verstappen was the Drivers' Championship leader with 8 points separating him and Lewis Hamilton, with 351.5 points and 343.5 points respectively. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes lead Red Bull Racing by 5 points. Behind them, Ferrari in 3rd place led McLaren by 39.5 points.[11]
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race or practice.[12]
Tyre choices
Sole tyre supplier Pirelli allocated the C2, C3, and C4 compounds of tyre to be used during this Grand Prix weekend.[13]
Practice
There were three practice sessions, each scheduled for one hour. The first two practice sessions took place on Friday 3 December at 16:30 and 20:00 local time (UTC+03:00) and the third practice session took place at 17:00 on 4 December.[14]
Qualifying
Qualifying took place on 4 December at 20:00 local time and lasted for one hour.[14]
Qualifying began with Sergio Pérez taking top spot of the first segment of qualifying (Q1) with a time of 1.28.021. The second segment (Q2) ended with Lewis Hamilton taking the top spot with a time of 1.27.712. Hamilton set this time on 8 lap old medium tyres giving him a strong tyre disadvantage for the race (when drivers in the top 10 have to start on the tyre with which they set their fasetest Q2 time) compared to his title rival Max Verstappen who had 4 lap old medium tyres. All cars who made it through Q2, qualified on the medium tyres apart from Lando Norris who ran the soft tyres. Carlos Sainz Jr. struggled with his Ferrari after spinning at turn 10 and brushing the wall with his rear wing, causing minor damage. On his final run in Q2, he had another loss of control, declaring the car was "undrivable"[citation needed] and being forced to back out of the attempt.
Q3 began with Hamilton having a slide and aborting his opening attempt. Hamilton then set his pole lap of a 1.27.511. Max Verstappen was on his flying lap at the end of the session, setting the fastest time of the session in the first two sectors, whilst almost clipping the wall at the exit of turn 2. Coming into the final corner, he locked his front left tyre and after going wide and applying the throttle he lost control of the rear and hit the wall causing his suspension to break. This gave Hamilton pole, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen.
Qualifying classification
Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Final grid | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | |||||
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:28.466 | 1:27.712 | 1:27.511 | 1 |
2 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:28.067 | 1:28.054 | 1:27.622 | 2 |
3 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:28.285 | 1:27.953 | 1:27.653 | 3 |
4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:28.310 | 1:28.459 | 1:28.054 | 4 |
5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:28.021 | 1:27.946 | 1:28.123 | 5 |
6 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:28.401 | 1:28.314 | 1:28.125 | 6 |
7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:28.338 | 1:28.344 | 1:28.180 | 7 |
8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:28.503 | 1:28.222 | 1:28.442 | 8 |
9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:28.752 | 1:28.564 | 1:28.647 | 9 |
10 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:28.889 | 1:28.616 | 1:28.754 | 10 |
11 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:28.216 | 1:28.668 | N/A | 11 |
12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:28.856 | 1:28.885 | N/A | 12 |
13 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1:28.944 | 1:28.920 | N/A | 13 |
14 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1:28.926 | 1:29.054 | N/A | 14 |
15 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:28.236 | 1:53.652 | N/A | 15 |
16 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1:29.177 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
17 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:29.198 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
18 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:29.368 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1:29.464 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin[b] | Haas-Ferrari | 1:30.473 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
107% time: 1:34.182 | |||||||
Source:[16][17] |
Race
The race started at 20:30 local time on 5 December and lasted for 50 laps.[14] The race was interrupted with incidents that resulted in two safety cars, two red flags, and four virtual safety cars.
Race classification
Notes
- ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.
- ^2 – Max Verstappen received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He also received a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Lewis Hamilton. His final position was not affected by the penalties.[18]
- ^3 – Yuki Tsunoda finished 13th, but received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sebastian Vettel.[18]
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
|
Constructors' Championship standings
|
- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
Notes
- ^ Formula One plan to hold twenty-two Grands Prix.[1] This remains subject to the cancellation of rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the replacement of any rounds which are cancelled.[2][3]
- ^ a b Nikita Mazepin is Russian, but he competed as a neutral competitor using the designation RAF (Russian Automobile Federation), as the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships. The ban was implemented by the World Anti-Doping Agency in response to the state-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes.[15]
References
- ^ Smith, Luke (28 August 2021). "Formula 1 reveals updated 2021 calendar, drops to 22 races". Autosport. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ Richards, Giles (12 August 2021). "F1's off-track drama heats up as Covid threatens to scupper busy schedule". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ Benson, Andrew (6 July 2021). "Australian Grand Prix: Formula 1 race and Moto GP round called off". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
- ^ "F1 adds Saudi Arabian Grand Prix night race to 2021 calendar". Formula1. 5 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
- ^ "F1 Schedule 2021 – Bahrain to host season opener as Australia moves later in calendar and Imola returns". F1. 12 January 2021. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "Legendary F1 team boss Sir Frank Williams dies, aged 79 | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ "F1 Teams Are Sporting Frank Williams Tributes In Jeddah". WTF1. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ "F1 outlines Williams tribute plans including FW07 lap of honour". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ "Alpine show off new-look livery for Saudi Arabian GP weekend". RacingNews365. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ "Williams CEO and Team Principal Jost Capito tests positive for Covid-19 ahead of Saudi Arabian Grand Prix | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ "Qatar 2021 – Championship". StatsF1.com.
- ^ "2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 2021 Season - Pirelli Unveils Tire Choices For All 23 GPs". F1Lead. 20 February 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c "Saudi Arabia timetable". Formula 1. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Luke Smith (5 February 2021). "Mazepin set to race under neutral flag after CAS ruling extends to F1". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 – Starting Grid". Formula 1.com. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c "Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 – Race Result". Formula1.com. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ "Formula 1 stc Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 – Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.