Hamilton emerges from chaos to win: 2021 Saudi Arabian GP lap by lap

One the most chaotic races of the season saw Lewis Hamilton claim a dramatic win, after two red flags, multiple virtual safety cars and physical safety cars punctuated a dramatic first race in Saudi Arabia.

Hamilton and Verstappen traded places, with the Dutchman twice going off while defending from Hamilton, before the two collided when the Red Bull was instructed to give the lead back to the Mercedes.

The result leaves with drivers level on championship points with just one race remaining next weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Valtteri Bottas beat Esteban Ocon in a run to the line for the final podium place with Daniel Ricciardo fifth.

Verstappen and Hamilton have now both been called to the stewards to for an alleged breach of the Sporting Code – check back for updates.

Here’s the lap by lap report as it happened of the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

A solid start from Hamilton meant he converted pole into the lead, whilst Perez almost ran into Verstappen as he locked up going into the first corner on Lap One.

Antonio Giovinazzi fended off Fernando Alonso, whilst Tsunoda looked to try and get past the Spaniard as the trio squabbled in the opening exchanges, whilst Carlos Sainz scythed down the inside of Kimi Räikkönen for thirteenth place.

Hamilton pulled out a small gap of 1sec by the end of the first tour. The front three of Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen were pulling away from the rest of the field rapidly. As Lap Three started, they had a margin of 2sec over Charles Leclerc.

Sainz used his DRS to go round the outside of Tsunoda at Turn 1 – at the same time George Russell and Lance Stroll were trading places in the battle for 16th, the Canadian ultimately getting ahead to establish his supremacy.

Lap Five saw Alonso take to the run-off to keep Giovinazzi at bay, but he would lost the place a lap later as the Italian moved into the final points-paying place.

On Lap Six Hamilton set the fastest lap of 1min 33.397sec, his margin to Bottas now 1.4sec.

Alonso’s Alpine looked to be oversteering and he was now under pressure from Sainz too and there were moves elsewhere in the field as Ricciardo snatched eighth from Pierre Gasly at the first turn on Lap Eight.

Hamilton was still setting the pace as he clocked a 1min 33.214sec on Lap Nine, then improving it by a tenth a lap later.

Alonso reported he was unhappy with his Alpine as Tsunoda was the latest driver to turn the screw on the Spaniard.

Then on Lap 10 the much-predicted crash came – Turn 21/22 claimed its first victim as Mick Schumacher slammed into the barrier, destroying his Haas.

The yellow flag came out with many, including Hamilton, choosing to pit the reigning champion and taking the opportunity to fit hards.

Bottas came in too, meaning that Verstappen now led the field under the safety car.

The Finn had held up the Dutchman to allow Mercedes time to pit Hamilton – Verstappen radioed in to complain, receiving an expletive-laden response from his engineer in agreement.

On Lap 13 Michael Masi threw the red flag as more barrier repairs were needed, meaning Verstappen essentially got a free pit stop as he was allowed to change tyres during the stoppage.

“Why is there a red flag? ****,” reacted Hamilton over the radio. “There are still opportunities,” Mercedes race strategist James Vowles told him.

The race resumed on Lap 15 with a standing start, and from there chaos unfolded – Hamilton got a better start than Verstappen, with a clear lead into the first turn, before the Red Bull attempted to force his way back into the lead, having to take to the run-off when it became clear he wouldn’t make the corner.

Verstappen emerged in front as pushed Hamilton wide upon rejoining, allowing Ocon to get into second with the Mercedes in third.

Behind them Perez squeezed Leclerc into the wall coming out of Turn 2, meaning the Red Bull was turned into the barrier. Cars braked to avoid the carnage, which meant Nikita Mazepin smashed into the back of George Russell, eliminating both the Haas and Williams immediately.

The red flag was brought out again on Lap 16 to clean up the mess of carbon fibre strewn across the track.

A bizarre exchange then occurred between race director Masi and Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, the former offering the latter of Verstappen being shuffled down to third behind Hamilton, with Ocon in the lead in exchange for no penalty.

Red Bull accepted the offer, meaning they would start in in that order.

Once the race got underway for a third time on Lap 17, Hamilton initially had a good start, before Verstappen stepped as late on the brakes as possible to dive down the inside of Turn 1. Hamilton was squeezed between Ocon and the Dutchman, the Alpine taking to the run-off but keeping the lead for one corner.

Verstappen then got a better exit out of the corner, accelerating past the Alpine on the short straight to snatch the lead.

Hamilton shortly got past Ocon too, as Tsunoda went full-on IndyCar as he passed Leclerc round the outside on the banked corner.

The Mercedes closed in on Verstappen on Lap 20, the Red Bull driver reporting a “lack of power”, before the team informed him the battery was just topping up.

Hamilton set fastest lap with a 1min 32.532.sec as Lap 21 began, the gap now down to 0.8sec with the contest intensifying, before the Mercedes driver lost nearly a whole second after suffering a snatch of oversteer.