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SUPER RARE POP 1 2021 season: World Champion [ edit ] Verstappen at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix At the Bahrain Grand Prix , Verstappen topped all the practice sessions and subsequently took a career fourth pole position. This was the first time he achieved back-to-back pole positions. [185] He fought Lewis Hamilton for the race victory, and on lap 53 Verstappen overtook Hamilton, but went off track whilst doing so, resulting in him being instructed by race control to let Hamilton back into the lead and ultimately finishing second behind Hamilton. [186] At the next race, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified third with teammate Sergio Pérez second, marking the first time he was out-qualified by a teammate since the 2019 Italian Grand Prix . [187] At the race start, Verstappen was able to pass both Pérez and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton to take the lead. He remained in the lead after the first round of pit stops as well as the restart, following the race being suspended on lap 33. Rival Hamilton finished second, reducing his championship lead over Verstappen to one point. [188] In the following Portuguese Grand Prix , Verstappen finished second after a long battle with Lewis Hamilton. [189] At the Spanish Grand Prix , the battle between Verstappen and Hamilton continued, with Hamilton employing a faster two-stop strategy versus Verstappen's one-stop race. This provided Hamilton the advantage of faster tyres, allowing him to overtake Verstappen with several laps remaining in the race. Hamilton took the victory, with Verstappen taking second and the fastest lap, increasing Hamilton's championship lead to 14 points. [190] At the next race in Monaco , Verstappen qualified second behind Charles Leclerc , [191] but Leclerc suffered a driveshaft failure on the way to the grid and was unable to start the race. Verstappen controlled the race from the front on the way to victory. Hamilton (who qualified seventh) finished seventh, though claiming an extra championship point by setting the fastest race lap. The result enabled Verstappen to take the lead in the Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career, by a margin of four points over Hamilton. [192] At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified third behind Leclerc and Hamilton. [193] Verstappen and Hamilton passed Leclerc in the opening laps before Verstappen took the lead by way of a faster pitstop. Verstappen would comfortably hold the lead until lap 46 when he suffered a tyre failure causing him to crash at high-speed and retire. [194] A mistake by Hamilton on the restart dropped him to last place, meaning Verstappen maintained his championship lead. [195] Verstappen took pole for the French Grand Prix . [196] Verstappen's mistake on the first lap allowed Hamilton to take the lead which Verstappen retook during the pit stop phase. Verstappen pitted for a second time from the lead and set after the Mercedes duo, overtaking Hamilton for the lead on lap 52 of 53. [197] He also took the fastest lap point, extending his championship lead to twelve points. [198] Verstappen clinched pole position again at the Styrian Grand Prix and led the race from start to finish, to give him his fourth win of the season and further extend his lead to 18 points. [199] Verstappen took pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix , led every lap from start to finish, set the fastest lap, and won the race for his first career grand slam, [200] being the youngest to do so. [201] With the win, Verstappen also became the first driver to win three races in three consecutive weekends, starting at the French Grand Prix on 20 June, then the Styrian Grand Prix on 27 June and ending with the Austrian Grand Prix on 4 July. [202] [203] At the next race; the British Grand Prix , Verstappen was involved in a high-speed collision at the Copse corner with Hamilton on the first lap. This resulted in a 51 g impact with the barrier. [204] [205] He was taken to the Silverstone circuit's medical centre after the crash and was then taken to Coventry hospital for precautionary checks and further assessment, before eventually being discharged at 22:00 local time on Sunday night. [206] Hamilton would go on to win the race, reducing Verstappen's lead in the championship to eight points. [207] At the next race, the Hungarian Grand Prix , Verstappen's car suffered damage in a multi-car collision on lap 1, where Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was deemed at fault. He ended the race in tenth which was promoted to ninth after Sebastian Vettel was disqualified. The outcome of the race allowed Hamilton to take the lead of the championship. [208] Following the summer break, Verstappen qualified on pole at the Belgian Grand Prix , ahead of Williams driver George Russell in second and Lewis Hamilton in third. [209] The race was run for three laps, all behind the safety car, with the race official race results taken from the running order at the end of the first lap, with Hamilton and Verstappen both retaining their qualifying positions. As less than 75% of the race distance was completed, half points were awarded, resulting in Verstappen closing the gap to Hamilton to three points. [210] At the Dutch Grand Prix Verstappen again qualified on pole, beating Hamilton by 0.038 seconds. [211] During the race Verstappen was able to fend off attacks from both Mercedes drivers to take the win, taking the lead in the Drivers' Championship by three points. [212] For the Russian Grand Prix , Verstappen was required to start at the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit components. [213] He made his way back up the field, and after taking an early pit stop for intermediate tyres late in the race, he finished second. [214] At the Turkish Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified second with Bottas on pole. [215] With the race being run in wet conditions and the drivers on intermediate tyres the whole race, Verstappen finished second behind Bottas, taking the lead in the Drivers' Championship by six points as Hamilton finished fifth. [216] Verstappen battling with Lewis Hamilton for the lead at the 2021 United States Grand Prix At the United States Grand Prix , Verstappen took pole position in qualifying, edging Hamilton by 0.209 seconds. [217] Verstappen won the race and extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship to twelve points as Hamilton finished second with the fastest lap. [218] At the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix , Verstappen qualified third with a gap to pole-sitter Bottas of 0.350 seconds. [219] Verstappen's main opponent Hamilton qualified second. At the race start, Verstappen took the lead from Bottas and Hamilton into turn 1 and won the race, and as a result extended his lead in the championship to 19 points. [220] Verstappen and Hamilton were on equal points in the Drivers' Championship going into the final round, [221] the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , with Verstappen leading on countback. Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the final lap to win the race, and his first Formula One World Drivers' Championship. [222] [223] Verstappen, who had qualified on pole position by nearly four-tenths of a second, had a slow start off the line at the start of the race and dropped to second place. Verstappen was trailing Hamilton by over ten seconds until a late safety car was called in due to a crash at turn 14 involving Williams driver Nicholas Latifi. [224] The withdrawal of the safety car and the resumption of the race following the safety car period was met with controversy. Race director Michael Masi allowed only a certain number of lapped cars through, which after the race brought from the Mercedes team a protest and stated intention to appeal against the race result, arguing that all lapped cars should be allowed through, Red Bull counter argued that this was not specified by the wording of the regulations. The protest was rejected, although subsequent investigation by the FIA ruled that Masi had misinterpreted the rule and the wording of the rule was amended for the 2022 season to specify that "all" cars will unlap themselves (at the race director's discretion) rather than "any". [225] [226] Verstappen passed Hamilton at turn 5 of the final lap of the race to become the 34th Formula One World Drivers' Champion. [227] Verstappen at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix , where he won his second World Drivers' Championship 2022: New Contract and dominant second title [ edit ] In March 2022 Verstappen signed a five-year contract extension with Red Bull Racing for the 2023 to 2028 seasons. [10] Verstappen suffered two fuel system related retirements in the first three races, finding himself 46 points behind championship leader Charles Leclerc. He responded by winning five of the next seven races, allowing him to take the championship lead and build a gap of 37 points over second place, by then held by his teammate Sergio Pérez. He would go on to dominate much of the season , winning 15 races, securing the World Drivers' Championship at the Japanese Grand Prix . [228]