The 2021 Formula 1 season was full of moments that will never be forgotten. The After Lights Out team have compiled some of our favourite moments of the year to share with you.
Favourite On-Track Moment...
The most common response from our team when asked what their favourite on-track moment of the year was McLaren’s 1-2 in Monza. The McLaren cars had been performing outstandingly all weekend. Without their pace in qualifying and the quali sprint, it would not have been possible for them to achieve the result they did. Both drivers truly looked like they were having fun all weekend.
I think we can speak on behalf of the F1 community when we say that everyone enjoyed watching Daniel Ricciardo cross the line in P1 after a fairly poor start to the year (for Daniel’s standards). To have his teammate, Lando Norris, finish in P2 (his best ever F1 finish, by the way) was just the cherry on top.
To make the moment even better, we got a classic Daniel Ricciardo shoey. Of course, he roped his teammate, Norris, and his CEO, Zak Brown, into also drinking from his shoe. Valtteri Bottas, who finished third, somehow managed to avoid the tradition but Ricciardo later promised that he would make Bottas do one if they were to ever be on a podium together again.
(Photo from: Motorsport Magazine https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/why-mclarens-monza-win-was-on-even-without-max-lewis-crash last updated: 16/09/21, accessed 09/01/22)
Other moments that were mentioned were:
Lando Norris’ maiden pole position in Russia
(Photo from: Formula 1 https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.norris-beats-sainz-and-russell-to-claim-sensational-maiden-pole-for-russian.5im1e4xLa599XBsImt7Yb3.html accessed 09/01/22)
George Russell’s first F1 podium in Spa (something a lot of us enjoyed despite the race not technically being a race)
(Photo from: Formula 1 https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.maiden-f1-podium-was-reward-for-qualifying-performance-says-russell-after.HL5FdSNS9AnG0kILU4qbR.html accessed 09/01/22)
Fernando Alonso defending from Hamilton behind for 11 laps after the restart at the Hungarian Grand Prix to help his teammate, Esteban Ocon, take his maiden F1 win.
(Photo from: Formula 1 https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.ocon-thanks-alpine-team-mate-alonso-for-fighting-like-a-lion-to-help-him-to.7jzK2CudYsitlEaiveAwXk.html accessed 09/01/22)
Finally, Perez being an ‘absolute animal’ and earning his title of Minister of Defence, keeping Hamilton behind him and allowing Verstappen to catch up during the championship deciding race in Abu Dhabi
(Photo from: Speed Cafe https://www.speedcafe.com/2021/12/13/perez-recounts-critical-hamilton-battle/ accessed 09/01/22)
Favourite Off-Track Moment...
Here at After Lights Out, we are big fans of Sebastian Vettel’s off track moments. Vettel did many notable things this year that stuck out to us.
The important ones were his continuous support throughout the season for the LGBTQ+ community by wearing his rainbow shoes, shirts and masks to most races. The karting event he organised for women in Saudi Arabia, along with the shirts he wore throughout the year showing his support for gender equality, was lovely to see. And with his involvement in cleaning up Silverstone after the British Grand Prix, Vettel continuously proved that he was not just talk when it came to the causes he cares about by actively getting involved and genuinely taking steps to help, not just saying that he supports those causes.
Vettel also had a few different helmet designs this year to represent and promote some of the causes he is involved with. In Hungary his helmet featured a rainbow in support of the LGBTQ+ community, where same-sex marriage is still banned, transgender people are not recognised by the law, and in June of 2021 (only months before F1 raced there), passed an anti-LGBT law which bans “homosexual and transsexual propaganda.” He risked getting in trouble to show his support for the LGBTQ+ community.
In Turkey, his helmet had sea creatures and plants all over it with the slogan “water = life.” This design was to raise awareness around water pollution and the effects it has on nature and wildlife.
While he commonly wore a pink helmet throughout the year, his helmet in Saudi Arabia was an even brighter pink than usual and had #RACE4WOMEN written on the sash. This helmet coincided with his aforementioned karting event.
Vettel’s final helmet of the year, for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, featured many things that he is passionate about. The words “stop making war”, “equal rights”, “trust the science”, “clean energy” were all featured on the helmet, along with many other issues.
Then there are Vettel’s more light hearted and wholesome moments that we loved seeing like his ability to recite every World Drivers Champion in order, playing football (soccer) in the Haas garage with Mick and their trainers in Belgium, and of course, when he asked “how did you get this number?” after winning driver of the day in Azerbaijan.
We can’t wait to see what he will do in 2022. Never change, Sebastian.
(Photo from: Formula 1 https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.vettel-sticks-around-after-dnf-in-british-grand-prix-to-help-collect-litter.1BLr8DLXOT1unaNLEybopi.html accessed 09/01/22)
The other off track moments that were mentioned was Lance Stroll’s recital of an excerpt from the Freedom speech from Braveheart in a Scottish accent during the press conference at the British Grand Prix, and Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly’s funny moments (as seen on the AlphaTauri social media pages).
(Photo from: nextgen auto Motorsport, https://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/fr/formule-1/officiel-alphatauri-prolonge-gasly-et-tsunoda,163368.html accessed 18/01/22)
The last moment that I’d like to mention is Vettel and Ocon having to run to the podium after having to park their cars on track following the Hungarian Grand Prix. It was quite a comedic moment, and was compared to the Olympics by the commentators. The Aston Martin driver had to pull over to preserve fuel - though it was later found that he did not have enough fuel for the FIA testing resulting in a disqualification. The Alpine driver, in his first win, accidentally drove past the pit lane entry in his excitement.
(Photo from: Motorsport network, https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/vettel-at-risk-of-hungary-f1-dsq-over-lack-of-fuel-sample/6640753/ accessed 18/01/22)
Favourite Race...
The most common response from the team when asked which race was their favourite of the year was Monza; the Italian Grand Prix.
The week started with the announcement that Valtteri Bottas would be moving to Alfa Romeo and George Russell would be replacing him at Mercedes in 2022. In the Friday qualifying (it was a sprint weekend), Bottas showed everyone that Mercedes would be missing him next year by qualifying P1 for the sprint race, which he would go on to win. P2 went to Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo qualified third. Bottas started at the back of the grid for the Sunday race due to a power unit change outside of their allocation.
Ricciardo got a fantastic start off the line during the race, overtaking Verstappen for the lead at Turn 1. Ricciardo would lead the race until his pit stop. While one McLaren was out front, Lando Norris’ McLaren was in third and the British driver was doing his best to keep his compatriot, Lewis Hamilton, behind him.
Ricciardo’s pit stop on Lap 23 triggered a chain of pit stops from the top runners, all trying to get an undercut on the drivers ahead. Daniel exited the pits in 6th position, everyone ahead of him yet to pit. Max Verstappen had his pit stop the following lap. Red Bull, who are known for their sub-two-second pit stops, had a nightmare of a stop with Max remaining stationary in the box for more than 11 seconds. He re-entered the track in 10th.
While Verstappen was in the pits, Hamilton managed to get past Norris and was now in first place. Norris had his pit stop on Lap 25, he came back out on track in eighth. The only person ahead of him that had already had their pit stop was his teammate. Hamilton boxed on Lap 26, leaving Charles Leclerc to lead the race. He rejoined the track just ahead of Verstappen.
We could all see it was going to be tight going into Turn 1 for the two championship contenders, but no one could’ve predicted that Verstappen’s car would end up quite literally on Hamilton’s head. Thankfully, both drivers walked away from the incident.
The safety car was deployed, prompting any driver who hadn’t already pitted to pit. All of the pit stops allowed for Ricciardo to retake the lead and for Norris to move back up to third, with only Leclerc between them. Lando Norris would steal second place from Leclerc through the Curva Grande after the restart.
Leclerc didn’t appear to be having a good few laps following the restart as he would soon find himself being overtaken by Perez (who went off track to complete the move and would later receive a 5 second time penalty for not reinstating the advantage he gained in doing so). Valtteri Bottas battled with Leclerc for the next few laps but eventually got the move to stick for fourth place.
When the chequered flag was waved it was Daniel Ricciardo who crossed the line first, closely followed by his teammate, Lando Norris, to make it a McLaren 1-2. This was Ricciardo’s eighth career win, and his first since Monaco 2018 when he was still with Red Bull. His win also made it McLaren’s first win in 9 years.
Sergio Perez crossed the line in third but his time penalty pushed him down to fifth, leaving Bottas in the final podium position. Bottas had started at the back of the grid and drove brilliantly to score that podium.
Seeing the McLaren team celebrating their drivers excellent result was one of the highlights of the season. The podium celebrations at Monza are usually some of the best but 2021’s involved another iconic shoey for Ricciardo, who also roped a reluctant Norris into drinking from his shoe. McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, eagerly drank from Daniel’s boot as if he had been waiting for this moment all his life.
This race had everything you could ever want from a Grand Prix; a battle between the championship contenders, a last place to podium finish, an unlikely winner, and of course, a bit of drama and theatrics. It’s safe to say that the 2021 Italian Grand Prix will go down as a classic.
(Photo from: F1 chronicle, https://f1chronicle.com/daniel-ricciardo-wins-mclaren-goes-1-2-in-italy/ accessed 21/01/22)
Favourite Driver...
There were many answers given to this question. Most of the team couldn’t pick just one driver as their favourite for the year, and that is completely understandable because many drivers performed well this year.
Nearly every person mentioned the 2021 World Drivers’ Champion, Max Verstappen, as one of their favourites of the year. Verstappen performed well for most of the year, barring a few races in which he DNF’d due to crashes, and tyre blowouts (I’m looking at you, Baku). The 24 year old finally had a car reliable enough to bring the fight to 7-time World Champion, Lewis Hamilton. And boy, he sure did fight.
In 2021, Verstappen achieved 18 podiums (a new F1 record for a single season), 10 of which he stood on the top step, 652 laps led (more than the rest of the grid combined), 6 fastest laps and 10 poles. He had an average finishing position of 1.84 and ended the season on 395.5 points.
Prior to this year, Max had only managed 3 pole positions and 10 wins across 6 seasons, proving that the 2021 season was his best yet.
(Photo from: The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/sports/autoracing/f1-schedule.html accessed 18/01/22)
Lando Norris was mentioned by our team the same amount of times as Max Verstappen. Norris finished the season with 4 podiums (3x third place, 1 x second place) and 1 pole position (his maiden F1 pole position). He finished 20 out of 22 races in the points; from Bahrain to Britain and from the Netherlands to Abu Dhabi. The only races he did not score points in were Hungary (when he was forced to retire after the first lap), and Belgium (due to his crash in qualifying resulting in a 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change).
He had his best season yet, finishing 6th in the Driver’s championship, only losing 5th place in the last race of the year. Hopefully in 2022, he can continue fighting at the top of the field and maybe even get a win or two.
(Photo from: Planet F1, https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-norris-mclaren-first-monza/ accessed 18/01/22)
Carlos Sainz was also a standout this year. He had the most consecutive points finishes; 15 in a row from Austria to Bahrain. He also finished with 4 podiums (3 x third place, 1x second place). He was the only driver to finish every single race this season; he finished in the points in 20 of the 22 races. His move to Ferrari appeared to be the right move for Sainz as this has been his best season yet, and he finished two places ahead of his teammate in the drivers championship (5th place). His success this year also contributed to Ferrari getting third in the constructors.
(Photo from: Motorsport Network, https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sainz-good-sign-ferrari-podium-chances/6679543/?nrt=54 accessed 18/01/22)
Special mention to George Russell (his qualifying form was superb this year), Sergio Perez (for his excellent defence and teamwork), Pierre Gasly (his achievements this season were overshadowed by the drama), and Mick Schumacher (who out-qualified his teammate in every regular qualifying session that he participated in and managed to get that Haas into Q2 twice).
Best/Favourite Team...
Ferrari and McLaren had a tight battle all year for P3 in the constructors, so it’s understandable why these two teams were voted as the After Lights Out members’ favourite teams.
Both teams seemed to have a lot of confidence and trust in their drivers this year, and they were both able to produce a car that achieved multiple podiums throughout the year.
After a shocking 2020 season, Ferrari certainly moved in the right direction in 2021. The addition of Carlos Sainz to their driver lineup was certainly a big step and was doubted at first, but Sainz proved that he deserved that seat by scoring his first podium for the team in only the fifth race of the year. Charles Leclerc also scored his fair share of points for the team and topped it off with a podium in Silverstone.
The car and the drivers were consistent throughout the season. Ferrari finished the year with 5 podium finishes and third place in the constructors championship with 323.5 points.
McLaren had a decent start to the season as well. Ricciardo came seventh in Bahrain while Norris came fourth. It became clear, early on, that Norris was likely to be the more dominant McLaren driver in 2021 and that Ricciardo needed some time to adjust to his new team and his new car. It only took two races before McLaren were on the podium; Norris third place in Imola.
While Ricciardo wasn’t necessarily performing as well as his team mate, he wasn’t doing terribly, still scoring points in 9 of the 11 races before the summer shutdown. He came back from the break in great form, finishing fourth in Belgium (though can we really count this as a proper race? Probably not.) It was in Italy where we really saw him come to grips with his new situation. We all know what happened there.
During the early stages of the season, it seemed as though McLaren would secure third place in the constructors. The later stages of the year is where the problems (and unlucky situations) began and caused the team to finish a respectable fourth in the constructors.
(Photo from: Planet F1, https://www.planetf1.com/news/ferrari-can-fight-mclaren/ accessed 02/02/22)
Best Duo/Rivalry...
Our final topic was best duo/rivalry. The Ferrari driver pairing was voted as After Lights Out: The Rundown’s favourite duo on the 2021 grid. We hadn’t seen much of this pair together prior to 2021 but it was clear that the pair were quite competitive with each other, as proven in the C2 (c squared) challenges on the Scuderia Ferrari YouTube channel and in their on track battles.
Despite the competitive nature of this duo, there didn’t appear to be any animosity between the drivers. Their relationship was often compared to the relationship Sainz had with his former teammate, Lando Norris. Those two were inseparable at McLaren and still were despite Sainz moving teams. The 2021 season could be the beginning to a beautiful friendship between the Ferrari drivers.
(Photo from: Motorsport Network, https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/sainz-data-shows-i-can-be-as-fast-as-leclerc-in-qualifying/6496390/?nrt=54 accessed 02/02/22)
Best Rivalry of the 2021 season was, of course, Max and Lewis- more specifically Red Bull and Mercedes. After Mercedes dominated 2020, it was a nice change to see a team really bringing the fight to them. Of course, Ferrari had in previous years but they weren’t as successful in their challenge to the big dogs as Red Bull had been in 2021.
The championship went back and forth at the top of the constructors all season between the two teams, as well as in the drivers championship with Lewis and Max. Up until Silverstone, both teams appeared to be respectful towards each other. Of course there were some digs at each other but nothing major but following the Lap 1 incident at Silverstone, the claws were officially out. Well, at least for Red Bull they were.
Following the British Grand Prix there were quite a few more incidents on track between the Max and Lewis; Monza, Brazil and Saudi Arabia were the most notable up until the final race of the season. Lewis drove flawlessly the whole race, even on the last lap; if he had’ve won it would’ve been the textbook definition of a perfect race. While Max wasn’t having the best race of his life, at times more than 14 seconds behind Hamilton, luck (or the race director/stewards, depending on your view of the race and the verdict of the investigations) was on his side.
Despite all of the kerfuffle, it was a brilliant last lap from both drivers; it was good to see them battle cleanly for once.
It was a truly entertaining season and most of it was down to these two teams and these two drivers. With the new regulations in 2022, it is unsure whether these two will be at the top again but hopefully we’ll be able to see them battling at some point because despite all the drama, we all want to see two of the best drivers on the grid fighting it out on track.
(Photo from: Sky Sports, https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/36667/12070080/tuscan-gp-mercedes-vs-red-bull-and-the-mega-mugello-unknowns accessed 02/02/22)
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