Hamilton vs Verstappen battle comes close as the rivals battle it out in the last 5 races

October 30, 2021 - Formula one enters the last 5 races of the season starting with the approaching Mexican Grand Prix as leading rivals Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battle it out for the 2021 Driver’s Championship.

In the span of 6 weeks, the season concludes in Abu Dhabi on December 12. Following the Mexican Grand Prix on November 8, 2021, is the Brazilian Grand Prix with a scheduled sprint qualifying and the Qatar Grand Prix occurring on consecutive weekends. After a 2-week break, we return with the introduction of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia’s inaugural grand Prix (the 33rd country to hold an F1 race).

Throughout the season we have seen the rivals go head to head to fight for that Grand Prix win as Max currently leads with 12 points after taking victory at the United States Grand Prix. While a 12-point difference may seem large, the current system makes it easy for Hamilton to gain points back as the first and second place difference is only 7 points.

Looking back at the race results in the season so far, the two have been trading the title lead back and forth weekend after weekend. The year started off in Bahrain with Verstappen taking pole but Hamilton proceeded to take the win for the first race. Verstappen then went on to win the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the start of 8 wins in the season.

The two are competing for that championship– as winning will be Verstappen’s first-ever title, yet a win for Hamilton will set the record as the driver with the most championship wins in history. Throughout this season the 2 drivers have experienced their share of fatal accidents fighting for the top spot. Most recently in Monza which caused both drivers to retire on lap 26. The lack of space as the dutchman attempted to pass Hamilton in the first chicane of the race resulted in the former's car launched on top of the latter’s landing on the car’s halo.

Both drivers are set to go head to head in the Mexican Grand Prix on the first Sunday of November. Can the Dutchman keep his lead and achieve his first win? Or will Hamilton hit back taking the eighth crown?