In Saturday's qualifying, Max Verstappen, having led all three practice sessions in his Red Bull, took pole position for the fourth time in his career. In Sunday's race, Hamilton claimed victory over Verstappen, who had tried to overtake him previously but only managed to do so by exceeding track limits, and who was told to give the position back. Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton's teammate, rounded out the podium, giving their team Mercedes a large lead in the Constructors' Championship. The race was marked by controversy on the rules surrounding track limits, with leading figures from both teams criticising what they saw as unnecessarily complicated regulations. Starting from the fourth pole position of his career, Verstappen had taken control of the race early on, but lost his advantage when Hamilton was able to undercut the Dutchman into the lead in the first round of pit stops. Following a second stop for both drivers – Verstappen's coming 10 laps after Hamilton's – a thrilling finale was set up, Verstappen eating into Hamilton's lead before attempting a pass on Lap 53 but running too wide and giving the place back.
The documentary series features all the behind-the-scenes action from the paddock and with the 10 teams in the grid. The 2021 season of F1 was arguably one of the best title fights in history as Verstappen picked up his maiden F1 Driver World Championship title by defeating Lewis Hamilton in the final lap of the season finale in Abu Dhabi. At the same time, fans will also get to relive some of the other great performances by the teams in 2021. As has been the case for some time now, in the United Kingdom, Sky Sports F1 have near exclusive coverage rights for the season.
They will be showing all practice sessions, qualifying sessions, sprint qualifying and races throughout the season. The F season is all set to get underway with the Bahrain GP on March 20, nine days after the sports documentary series gets released. Teams have already started launching their new cars, complied with the new regulation and rule changes by the FIA. Haas, Red Bull, Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams have revealed their cars so far, while Aston Martin's car has impressed the motorsports fans more than the others. With the rest of the teams set to reveal their cars in the coming days, the season will officially start with the pre-season testing at Spain on February 23. Hamilton earned the 100th pole position of his career in Barcelona, but duly gave up first position on the first corner of the grand prix, having no option but to sacrifice the spot to an aggressive move by Max Verstappen.
A tense, race-long battle then commenced, but it was ultimately Hamilton and Mercedes, making excellent use of a two-stop strategy, who came out on top, overtaking Verstappen with six laps of the race to go for his third win in the season's first four races. Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez was disappointed with his performance on qualifying simulations relative to his teammate Verstappen, noting he had a lot to improve in this area but was pleased with his race run performance in practice. Following Friday's sessions, Toto Wolff remarked that he expected Mercedes and Red Bull to be in a close "dogfight" with each other at the front of the field throughout the rest of the weekend. The second of the back-to-back races at the Red Bull Ring saw Verstappen pick up where he left off, delighting the Austrian crowd with pole position and then leading every lap of his team's home grand prix.
A huge number of Dutch fans also mad there way to Austria to watch their hero dominate proceedings. However, this will tie down to an 18-month contract and you'll need to pay a one-time setup fee of £20. By the start of lap 51, Verstappen had closed to within a second of Hamilton, and launched his attack when Hamilton ran wide on the exit of turn 10. The next lap, he overtook the Mercedes around the outside of turn 4; however, since he completed the overtake by going off the track, he was instructed by the team to hand the position back, which he did between turns 10 and 11.
The Red Bull was then hit by oversteer caused by the dirty air off the Mercedes on the exit of turn 13, and Verstappen lost significant time trying to bring it under control. This gave Hamilton the opportunity to pull away, and the rapidly-closing Verstappen was not able to overtake before the end of the race. All 23 races in the championship will air live on ESPN Networks, including two North American races airing on ABC. Each race weekend also will feature live telecasts of all three practice sessions, qualifying and pre-race programs. The drama dutifully returned on the street circuit of Azerbaijan's capital, with a joint-record four red flags brought out during Saturday's qualifying session.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc managed to grasp pole position for the second race in a row but failed to keep it beyond lap two, when he was overtaken by Lewis Hamilton. After that the Monegasque went backwards down the order but recovered to fourth. One of Formula 1's closest title contests in years ended in dramatic fashion a couple of months ago, after a late call call from race control pulled focus from a top-tier battle between Mercedes' Sir Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen. In the end it was Max who won his first title, passing Lewis on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi grand prix following a controversial interpretation of the existing safety car rules in the FIA Sporting Regulations. Another exciting element of the 2021 F1 season was the debut of Sprint Qualifying. The 100km races determined the starting grid for Sunday's grands prix and awarded championship points to the top three drivers.
For those on a budget, once again there are extended highlights of all F1 races on Channel 4, with additional live coverage of the British Grand Prix in July. A last-minute rights deal meant the Channel 4 also showed live coverage of the Abu Dhabi finale, though using the Sky Sports F1 feed and commentary. Channel 4's commentator called the inaugural Saudi GP "an incredible day of confusion," which is an understatement – this will go down as one of the most contentious races of all time. But it delivered on thrills and means a final race of the season with the two leading drivers tied on points, as the incredible 2021 season reaches its conclusion. It was "won" by Max Verstappen, who had qualified on pole, with a delighted George Russell in the Williams finishing behind him after a sensational lap on Saturday. After a safety car, teams were told there would be a standing start from the grid, but just beforehand all the drivers except leader Hamilton dived into the pits for slick tyres, as the track was drying.
Verstappen is still officially ahead on race wins, but everything is now set up for a dramatic final showdown in Abu Dhabi to decide who is the 2021 F1 champion. Another minor change is that the driver who tops qualifying on Friday, when these sprint races take place, will be awarded pole position, not the winner of the sprint. Verstappen and Red Bull were both worried about his car's reliability after his teammate's issue, so he started to build a gap to Hamilton, which reached over 1.5 seconds by the end of lap 6. When Alpine told Fernando Alonso to pit from eighth place for fresh tyres on lap 11, it triggered a flurry of activity in the midfield, as teams sought to not be outwitted by the undercut strategy of others.
Up at the front, Hamilton pitted for hard tyres at the end of lap 14; Red Bull chose not to pit Verstappen, favouring a strategy that would see their driver on fresher tyres at the end of the race. Sergio Pérez stopped on the formation lap on the way to the grid, which prompted an additional formation lap and shortened the race from 57 to 56 laps. Pérez managed to restart his Red Bull, and was instructed by his team to start the race from the pitlane, in line with the regulations. The safety car was deployed until the end of lap three, and at the restart, Verstappen managed to hold off both Hamilton and Leclerc. Further back, Lando Norris, who had passed his teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap, managed to pass the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly and began challenging the Mercedes of Bottas for fourth place.
Gasly then made contact with Ricciardo's rear and lost his front wing, necessitating a pitstop, the contact with Gasly resulted in a loss of pace for Ricciardo for the rest of the race. Now is the time to tune into Formula One, just in case you've been sleeping on the most spectacular season in decades. After 21 races, the championship battle is tied as F1 screams into its title-deciding season finale in Abu Dhabi. F1 is back for a new season in 2021, with the first race taking place this weekend - the Bahrain Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Valtteri Bottas will be battling to start the season with a win on Sunday. Express Sport explains how to watch F1 this year, including TV channel and live stream information.
ESPN Deportes remains the exclusive Spanish-language home for all Formula 1 races in the U.S. Spanish-language coverage of Formula 1 races, qualifying and practice sessions will be made available to fans on the ESPN Deportes television network and ESPN3 all season. Norris led for much of the race, and regained the advantage shortly after a late stop for a set of fresh rubber. But rain began to fall on part of the track with around five laps to go, and while its increasing intensity meant most drivers pitted for treaded tyres, Norris believed he could stay out on slicks and overruled the team's request for him to do the same. If the first 21 races of the season have proved anything, it's that Verstappen is perfectly capable of stopping an in-form Hamilton from grabbing an eighth title and becoming the most successful F1 driver of all time, ahead of German great, Michael Schumacher.
Ultimately, it will all come down to the finest of margins at Yas Marina, where drivers will race a newly shortened circuit – adding another unknown to an already nail-biting finale. In what was the inaugural Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, the on-track action was the most dramatic of the year so far featuring three virtual safety car periods, two race-stopping crashes and a major incident between Verstappen and Hamilton. After cutting a corner on a previous lap, Verstappen was ordered to give first position back to Hamilton, only to then erratically break and cause Hamilton to drive into the back of him.
The British driver recovered and eventually took first place comfortably ahead of Red Bull's Dutch-Belgian, who finished second. The sprint races will be approximately 100km – or roughly a third of a grand prix distance – and will run on Saturday, with the traditional three-part qualifying setting the grid for the sprint and taking place on the Friday. You'll get comprehensive IndyCar Series coverage as well when the next season starts in February 2022.
Sky also recently aired the Race of Champions, a fun off-season tournament uniting racing drivers from different series in identical vehicles, on its sports service. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen talks to BBC sports editor Dan Roan after winning his first Formula 1 world title on the last lap of a thrilling season finale in Abu Dhabi. Kayo Sports – Australia's dedicated sports streaming service – has access to every Formula 1® practice session, qualifying session and full Grand Prix race live and on demand. Lewis Hamilton passed Max Verstappen with six laps remaining Sunday to win the chaotic inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and pull even on points with his rival as Formula One's thrilling championship race heads into the title-deciding finale. McLaren's Norris was one of the stars of the race, claiming P4 for the team as he did last year in Bahrain, three places up on new team mate Ricciardo, and with the second Red Bull of Perez and Ferrari's Leclerc in between.
Different tactics between the two teams then set up an absolutely thrilling battle between the two in the final laps of the race, with the young pretender to the crown hunting down the seven-time champ as the laps ticked down. Using the links above you can find the full weekend schedule, including details of practice and qualifying sessions, support races, press conferences and special events, plus the latest news headlines, circuit information and F1 race results. McLaren taking the season's only one-two finish at Monza, alongside, Hamilton's storming drive through the grid in the Sao Paulo Sprint and Grand Prix will be some of the highlights of the upcoming season of Drive to Survive. Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon's major race win, alongside Sergio Perez's dramatic win at the Azerbaijan GP and Max Verstappen's maiden F1 title win are also some of the events which were loved by the fans this season. Max Verstappen celebrating his 2021 victory with Christian HornerVerstappen took the F1 driver's championship in the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi to beat Mercedes and Hamilton last season, something that he'll be keen to build on going into the new term. Verstappen started seventh but made a storming start to reach fourth by turn one, but Hamilton capitalised on pole position and kept his lead.
By lap five, Vesrtappen was up into second place, driving the doors off his Red Bull , with Bottas and Perez also driving through the field to make up for lowly grid positions. It was an error that cost him his first victory, with Hamilton slipping by on the final lap to claim an historic 100th race win and return to the top f the driver's championship. Verstappen's first win in Monaco, after Ferrari pole-sitter Charles Leclerc could not start, sent him into the lead for the first time. He started on pole for the 100th time, lost out to Verstappen at the first corner and made a second stop late in the race to regain the lead.
Formula 1 Race Highlights 2021 Hamilton was third after a safety car restart but passed Verstappen and Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to win. Every car will be built to a completely new spec, a number of drivers are moving teams, and we have one new rookie and a returning familiar face on the grid next time out. Sergio Pérez, who had won his first Grand Prix at the track the previous year, albeit on the Outer Circuit, failed to progress from the second part of qualifying on his debut for Red Bull Racing when his team unsuccessfully gambled on a medium tyres run.
Similar events befell Yuki Tsunoda in his AlphaTauri, who struggled on the medium tyres having been second fastest at the end of Q1, and ended up 13th. The other drivers knocked out were the two Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen, who ended the session in 12th and 14th. Aussie F1 legend Mark Webber returns to offer expert opinions and inside knowledge of F1 qualifying and the big race on Sunday, when he commentates alongside Matt White. Mark and Matt will be joined by expert F1 commentator Tom Clarkson and F1 great Alan Jones, who celebrates 40 years since he won the driver world championship.
Alan will commentate Friday's practice round as well as special comments across the weekend. Lewis Hamilton wins inaugural Qatar Grand Prix Hamilton put in an inch perfect performance on Monday morning in Qatar as he cut Max Verstappen's world championship lead to eight points with just two races left on the 2021 Grand Prix calendar. The 2021 Formula 1 season was one of the most exciting in years, with title contenders Hamilton and Verstappen going into the season finale level on points.
The race that followed was, if anything, the most dramatic of the lot and ended in controversy after race director Michael Massi allowed five cars to unlap themselves, bringing Verstappen - who had just pitted - back into play for a final-lap showdown with Hamilton. While the various teams will launch their new cars during the month of February, it's March that will see things get up and running properly for what is sure to be another enthralling year of track action. Using the available data, it is likely that Friday's qualifying session peaked with 2 million viewers, Saturday's Sprint session with 3 million viewers, and Sunday's race with 4.5 million viewers. Live coverage of the W Series airs across More4 and Channel 4, the Saturday race airing on More4 with the season finale airing on Channel 4. Sky have seemingly reacted to Channel 4's qualifying conundrum by opting to simulcast their live coverage on their new Sky Showcase channel, enabling more viewers to watch qualifying across Sky, Virgin Media and BT TV.
Sky's schedules show that the broadcaster will simulcast their race day offering across Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event, but not via Sky Showcase, as they did last month for coverage of the US Grand Prix qualifying session. In 2016, the season finale aired live across Channel 4 and Sky Sports as part of the UK F1 TV rights agreement that was in place at that time. Verstappen complained of having worn tyres with five laps to go, but he couldn't pit without losing second place to Ocon. Hamilton nursed his own car home to take the win, with Verstappen 7sec behind – his time penalty making no difference to the order.
Completing the excitement, Bottas passed Ocon metres before the chequered flag to complete the podium. But when the leader slowed on the straight to hand back the place, Hamilton ran into the back of the Red Bull, causing damage to his front wing – a result of poor communication between teams and race control, it is thought. Both cars were able to continue and Verstappen yielded again but immediately re-took the position at the next corner. It's the new shortest ever F1 grand prix, lasting just three laps over eight minutes, all run behind a safety car with no overtaking, due to torrential rain.
His championship rival, though, in a damaged Red Bull had a worse afternoon and only scored a single point. At turn three, Esteban Ocon's Alpine was squeezed between Mick Schumacher and Antonio Giovinazzi, damaging his suspension and bringing out the safety car. The seven-times world champion again had to settle for second place, although he did snatch an extra point for the fastest lap thanks to a late pit stop. Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff admitted that, for the first time in the turbo-hybrid era that his team has dominated, Mercedes had "no weapons in our armoury". Hamilton agreed, estimating that Red Bull had an advantage of a quarter of a second on every lap of its home circuit.
The result was controversial and a fitting end to a rollercoaster of a year; one shaken up by the coronavirus pandemic, with races cancelled and replaced due to restrictions, but also easily one of the most exciting and dramatic we've seen in decades. It's more than 40 years since two drivers had entered the final round on equal points, and many believe Verstappen and Hamilton's titanic battle to be one of the all-time great F1 rivalries. A win and fastest lap for Verstappen, who started on pole but lost out to Hamilton at the start before regaining the lead at the first pit stops.
Following on from the trial of three sprint qualifying races in 2021, F1 proposed a doubling of that to six for the upcoming season. However, after a meeting on February 14 it was confirmed that just three sprint races would take place in 2022, subject to World Motor Sport Council approval. The curtain has closed on the a dramatic Formula One season as Max Verstappen walked away with his first drivers' championship following his final day victory over Lewis Hamilton. One key regulation change this year means that every regular driver has to sit out at least one FP1 session during the season, to encourage teams to evaluate up-and-coming talent or give their test and reserve drivers some on-track experience.
C4 also airs the British grand prix live every year, and you can now find coverage of the all-women's W Series and the all-electric Formula E world championship across its broadcast channels, its streaming service All4, and the Channel 4 Sport YouTube channel. The teams have started launching their cars already, and there will be a closed shakedown in Barcelona between February 23 and 25. It won't be covered like a full test, but we will find out what the best lap time are at the end of every day. Max is the first Dutch driver ever to win the Formula 1 world drivers' title, and only the fourth to win their first F1 drivers' championship before their 25th birthday.
Leading figures from both of the top teams expressed confusion over the regulations on track limits, especially those at turn 4. It was later reported that the confusion had stemmed from a pre-race instruction that turn limits at turn 4 would only be enforced in cases where 'a lasting advantage' was gained in the race. The stewards interpreted this as meaning that only overtaking off-track was not allowed; however, post-race analysis proved that Hamilton had gained almost three seconds at turn 4, with running wide worth at least 0.1 seconds per lap. Horner criticised the inconsistency of changing track limits between qualifying and the race, saying that this type of situation "shouldn't be shaded grey".
Hamilton noted that the situation "was very confusing", asking " is the boundary when you are overtaking?". Wolff compared the regulations at the event to "a Shakespeare novel", and called for consistency on the instructions from the FIA. Race director Michael Masi, however, insisted that the rules had been clear, saying "nothing changed at all during the race".
Six-time champion, Lewis Hamilton will be looking to start the season with a podium finish, as he chases a Michael Schumacher-equaling seventh drivers' title in 2020. Formula 1 races are basically car races for the world's best and most professional drivers of fast, specially made racing cars. This year, he is set out to break Michael Schumacher's record and become the most successful F1 driver in history. For free-to-air viewers, 10 Bold broadcasts race highlights on Monday night after each Grand Prix.
