2021 Formula 1 Season
22 races · Champion: Max Verstappen
Driver Standings
| Pos | Driver | Team | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 395.5 | 10 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 387.5 | 8 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 226 | 1 |
| 4 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 190 | 1 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 164.5 | 0 |
| 6 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 160 | 0 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 159 | 0 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 115 | 1 |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 110 | 0 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine F1 Team | 81 | 0 |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine F1 Team | 74 | 1 |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 43 | 0 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 34 | 0 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 32 | 0 |
| 15 | George Russell | Williams | 16 | 0 |
| 16 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo | 10 | 0 |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 3 | 0 |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher | Haas F1 Team | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Robert Kubica | Alfa Romeo | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas F1 Team | 0 | 0 |
Constructor Standings
| Pos | Constructor | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 613.5 | 9 |
| 2 | Red Bull | 585.5 | 11 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 323.5 | 0 |
| 4 | McLaren | 275 | 1 |
| 5 | Alpine F1 Team | 155 | 1 |
| 6 | AlphaTauri | 142 | 0 |
| 7 | Aston Martin | 77 | 0 |
| 8 | Williams | 23 | 0 |
| 9 | Alfa Romeo | 13 | 0 |
| 10 | Haas F1 Team | 0 | 0 |
Races
The 2021 Season
The 2021 season produced one of the greatest and most contentious title fights in Formula 1 history, a season-long duel between seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen that went down to the final lap of the final race. Red Bull, powered by Honda, finally produced a car capable of matching Mercedes, and the two protagonists traded blows across 22 rounds with the lead in the standings swinging repeatedly. The intensity boiled over into a series of on-track collisions that defined the year and divided opinion.
The flashpoints came thick and fast. At Silverstone, a first-lap clash sent Verstappen into the barriers at high speed while Hamilton recovered to win, igniting a bitter war of words. At Monza the pair collided again, Verstappen's car ending up on top of Hamilton's with the halo widely credited for preventing serious injury. Brazil produced a sensational Hamilton charge from the back of the grid to victory, and controversial defensive driving from Verstappen at multiple circuits kept the stewards and the rivalry permanently in the spotlight.
The championship reached its climax in Abu Dhabi with the two drivers level on points, a winner-takes-all finale almost unheard of in the modern era. Hamilton led commandingly until a late safety car for Nicola Latifi's crash, after which race director Michael Masi's unconventional handling of lapped cars allowed Verstappen, on fresh soft tyres, to pass Hamilton on the final lap and seize his maiden World Championship. The decision triggered an enormous controversy, a formal Mercedes protest and an FIA investigation that ultimately cost Masi his role.
Despite losing the drivers' title in such agonising fashion, Mercedes secured an eighth straight Constructors' Championship, underlining how finely balanced the two teams were. The season transformed Verstappen from challenger into champion and marked the symbolic end of Mercedes' total dominance. Its dramatic, divisive finish reshaped F1's race-control procedures and fuelled a surge in global popularity, leaving a rivalry and a controversy that would be debated for years.