And if race 1 of a record 23 race season is anything to go by, this could be the great year-long battle everyone wants to see.
The 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix delivered the ‘Duel in the Desert’ that had been promised. Ever since pre-season testing, anticipation had grown that finally, in 2021, we would see a true Lewis Hamilton versus Max Verstappen battle for the World Championship.
Since the start of the turbo-hybrid engine era in 2014, Mercedes has dominated Formula One so that only one of their two drivers could be World Champion. Ferrari did briefly threaten this dominance in 2018 and 2019, but, more often than not, the title battle has been between Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate–most recently Valtteri Bottas.
Many fans have wanted a different team to develop a car capable of challenging Mercedes at the front. Many have also wanted that team to be Red Bull with their superstar driver Max Verstappen.
Most fans believe this will bring the best two current drivers head-to-head in equal cars and with no team orders possibly favoring one driver or the other. As the saying goes, “Let the best man win.” If the Bahrain Grand Prix events are anything to go by, F1 may finally have its wish.
At the moment, it seems Red Bull has the better car, and they are the current favorites. The Bahrain weekend’s start seemed to confirm Red Bull’s supremacy as Max Verstappen topped all three practice sessions and then qualified on pole position. However, Lewis Hamilton qualified 2nd, and the battle was on.
Much of the race was dominated by team strategy as Hamilton pitted early to gain the lead from Verstappen using the ‘undercut’ tactic. That forced Red Bull to play the long game and concede track position in the belief that Max would re-take Lewis’s lead towards the end of the race with their faster car and on much fresher tires.
That is how it looked to be playing out as Verstappen caught Hamilton with five laps remaining and with tyres 11 laps younger than Hamilton’s. This is where the drama started. On lap 53, both drivers approached the backmarker of Giovannazi, and Verstappen sensed his opportunity.
Max attempted to pass Hamilton around the outside of turn 4 but, in doing so, he ran wide and completed the overtake with all four tyres off track. That meant that rather than face a penalty, he had to concede the position back to Hamilton. He did so in the belief that he would get another opportunity in the four laps that remained. However, Lewis drove perfectly from this point onwards to complete a remarkable against the odds victory.
For Lewis Hamilton, the victory will feel even sweeter as, since 2014, there have been many false accusations he has only been winning races and championships as he drives the fastest car. In Bahrain, he faced a rival with a faster car, on much fresher tyres, and on a circuit with 3 DRS zones to assist overtaking. With the odds stacked against him, Lewis Hamilton still won the race to once and for all dispel the ‘it’s only the car’ myth. With seven World Titles and now 96 race wins, Hamilton proved that he is the greatest racing driver of all time.
For now, Red Bull will certainly be ruing a missed opportunity to put Mercedes on the back foot at the start of the season. Meanwhile, Mercedes will enjoy this victory, but they will also know they must improve the car’s overall performance if they are to stay ahead over the whole season.
With 23 races in total taking place worldwide and on many different types of circuits, the advantage is likely to change from one team to the other from race to race. Still, if all of the races are as close at the chequered flag as in Bahrain, then the 2021 Formula One season may be one the best there ever has been.
Photo courtesy Planet F1
