Gallingly for Red Bull, not only did the subsequent red flag again allow Mercedes to fix Hamilton’s car, but his 10-second time penalty for the contact didn’t stop him from winning. He was undoubtedly entitled to do so, but strayed wide and caused a huge crash for his rival. Unwilling to be cowed in another first-lap fight with Verstappen, Hamilton stayed alongside his rival as they entered Copse. But at Silverstone the title fight swung sharply in controversial circumstances. Second place was a major ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ moment, and not his last.Īs Mercedes got to grips with their car Hamilton added wins in Portugal and Spain – the latter again involving a near-miss between the title contenders at the start – before Red Bull took the upper hand and Verstappen grabbed the championship lead. Hamilton then slithered off a still-damp track at Tosa, losing a significant amount of time, only to regain it thanks to a red flag. Having taken pole position, he was mugged by off the line by Verstappen, who dealt with the Mercedes forcefully at the first corner. Hamilton immediately took the shine off that bravura start to the season with a crucial error at the very next race. But Lewis Hamilton drove a superb race to snatch victory away, hopping into the lead via a well-timed pit stop and resisting his rival’s attacks. Mercedes had plainly been forced onto the back foot by Red Bull, as Max Verstappen planted his car on pole position. The opening race of 2021 was an intriguing taster for the season which lay ahead.
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