The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 was the 21st round of the 2021 F1 season, and took place at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, during the weekend of the 3rd to the 5th of December.
Lewis Hamilton won the race from the pole, followed by Max Verstappen, and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 47 pit stops during the race, although only 12 which can be considered "normal". Several red flags on laps 13 and 15 forced all drivers to pit on those laps.
The most popular pit stop windows, considering that these were affected by the red flag, were:
- Laps 9-10: 9 stops
The fastest pit stop was Fernando Alonso's, stopping the clock at 20.405 seconds during his pit stop on lap 10, while the slowest one was was Kimi Räikkönen's, who stopped the clock at 34.489 seconds, 14.084 seconds slower than Alonso, during his pit stop on lap 26.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
The race was not obvious in terms of pit stop strategy, with different teams and different drivers choosing to make anywhere from 1 to 4 stops.
The race winner, Lewis Hamilton, was on a 3 stops strategy.
1 stop
-
2Nikita Mazepin
2 stops
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5George Russell
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12Sergio Pérez
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1Sebastian Vettel
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6Daniel Ricciardo
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1Max Verstappen
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7Carlos Sainz
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5Esteban Ocon
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1Antonio Giovinazzi
-
-Pierre Gasly
3 stops
-
7Lance Stroll
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-Lewis Hamilton
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1Valtteri Bottas
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3Charles Leclerc
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3Lando Norris
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4Nicholas Latifi
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3Kimi Räikkönen
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6Yuki Tsunoda
4 stops
-
-Fernando Alonso
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 2 stops strategy gained 3.33 positions on average, the ones on a 3 stops strategy lost an average of 0.63 positions, while those on a 4 stops strategy didn't gain or lose any positions on average.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 2 stops strategy was the best option, even if Lewis Hamilton managed to win the race making 3 stops.
That is for this particular race, with all its unique circumstances, amongst which, let's not forget was the red flag on lap 13, so it is very likely that this would have not been the ideal strategy under normal circumstances.
Incidents
There were some incidents during the race, with 5 drivers who didn't manage to cross the finish line.
These included, Sebastian Vettel, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 44, Sergio Pérez, Nikita Mazepin, and George Russell, all of whom retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars, and Mick Schumacher, who had to retire due to an accident on lap 8.
Collision damage
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Sebastian VettelLap 44
Collision
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Sergio PérezLap 14
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Nikita MazepinLap 14
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George RussellLap 14
Accident
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Mick SchumacherLap 8
Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton managed to get the pole position by 0.111 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:27.511. Valtteri Bottas was right behind him, helping Mercedes score a one-two and monopolize the first line of the grid.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 9 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 6 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.