LEWIS HAMILTON moved within striking distance of Championship leader Max Verstappen with victory at the inaugural Grand Prix in Qatar as a bad-tempered title race enters its final stretch.
Seven-time champion Hamilton cut his deficit to the Dutchman down to just eight points, with a maximum of 52 available from the two remaining races in Saudi Arabia on 5 December and Abu Dhabi a week later.
Verstappen still has a points advantage for now then - but, after spending the majority of the season on the back foot, Mercedes driver Hamilton will be satisfied at just being in with a shout after back-to-back race wins.
In fairness, rather than being completely dominated by one team, this year has seen a seesaw battle straight from the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain, with the lead in the Drivers' Championship already switching five times between the pair.
Coincidentally, at my last write-up following the British Grand Prix in July, Hamilton had closed the gap on Verstappen to eight points then as well.
And it actually got better for the Briton prior to the summer recess after a crazy start to the Hungarian Grand Prix on an extremely wet day in Budapest.
At the very first turn of the race at the Hungaroring, there were two major shunts caused by Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll who were both too late on the brakes.
Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Bottas crashed into the back of Lando Norris who, in turn, careered into Verstappen, causing major damage to the Red Bull.
An out-of-control Bottas slid off Norris into the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez - while, further back, Stroll went into Ferrari's Charles Leclerc who, in turn, sent Daniel Ricciardo into a spin.
Hamilton had avoided all of the carnage but, on the restart from the red flag, he was the only driver to start from the grid on intermediate tyres.
The rest of the drivers still in the Grand Prix restarted from the pits having changed to slicks - and it soon became apparent that Mercedes had missed a trick as Hamilton fell through the pack after taking a belated pitstop.
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon took full advantage and eventually sealed his maiden Grand Prix victory with Hamilton happy to scramble back up to second and the hamstrung Verstappen down in ninth.
That gave Hamilton a lead in the Drivers' Championship of eight points at the four-week break but his advantage did not last for long into the autumn.
At Spa-Francorchamps, another weekend of soaking wet weather ended in farce as the 20 drivers - after hours of delays - pootled around behind a safety car to record the one official lap required for a classification to be determined.
It counted for half-points in the standings but it could not exactly be considered to have been a race. At least, there was no fastest lap point awarded.
Next, the calendar took the paddock over the border to the Netherlands where the Dutchman retook the Championship lead in his home race with a commanding win from pole position.
Rather disgracefully, second-placed Hamilton was booed on the podium by the Dutch fans - and, in recent races, the anomisity held by the rival fans has been further fuelled by the behaviour of the teams, especially that of Red Bull.
At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the two leading drivers were involved in their second massive flashpoint of the season following their earlier clash at Silverstone.
This time, Verstappen - behind and on the outside approaching the first chicane - turned in on Hamilton, taking both drivers off the track and out of the race on lap 26.
To add to the drama, Verstappen's Red Bull ended up flipping itself and landing on top of Hamilton's Mercedes - and, in a shocking lack of regard for his fellow competitor, the Dutchman walked off without checking if his rival was safe.
After both drivers had gone their own way bitterly blaming each other, Verstappen was officially censured by the stewards for the incident - though he still took two points from the weekend with second place in the sprint race.
In Russia, Hamilton regained the title lead once more, recording his 100th Grand Prix by overtaking long-time race leader Norris after the younger Briton found himself skidding all over the place in his McLaren on the wrong tyres during a late shower.
Hamilton's advantage in the Championship was short-lived again though, as a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change and a poor early pit-stop strategy meant he finished the Turkish Grand Prix down in fifth.
At least Verstappen did not win in Istanbul, after his own race was compromised by Carlos Sainz Jr, with victory instead going to Bottas.
Nevertheless, the Dutchman had turned a two-point deficit into a six-point lead and he used that momentum to extend his lead further with consecutive race wins in Mexico and Brazil.
Suddenly, Verstappen had stretched his Championship lead to 19 points - only once during the season had the lead been greater.
In short, he looked unstoppable at this stage with even Hamilton admitting on the team radio that his rival was too quick for him.
But the racing gods determined this engrossing battle deserved at least one more twist.
At the famous undulating Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo, where Hamilton won his first title on the final corner of the final lap of the last Grand Prix in 2008, he reinvigorated his pursuit for an eighth crown with a drive for the ages.
Disqualified from qualifying for a larger-than-permitted drag reduction system slot, Hamilton started from the back of the grid in the sprint race but fought his way up to finish fifth - only then to lose another five places on the starting grid for a change of engine.
The defining moments of the race itself came on laps 48 and 59, in failed and then successful overtaking attempts by Hamilton.
On his first attempt, Hamilton was forced off the track by Verstappen who missed the apex of the corner and left his his braking ridiculously late - and yet somehow avoided a penalty.
The second attempt was similar but Hamilton was closer and executed the move brilliantly around the outside to cap off a magnificent all-round performance.
Hamilton's win in Qatar was rather more straightforward lights-to-flag affair - but that, in itself, underlined the threat set to be posed by Mercedes in what is left of this season.
By contrast, Verstappen and Red Bull principal Christian Horner got into more hot water, with both called to the stewards.
First, Verstappen was penalised with a five-place grid penalty after ignoring double-waved yellow warning flags in qualifying.
Then, Horner was summoned following a controversial interview in which he accused a "rogue marshal" for the flags which led to his driver's penalty.
Red Bull are clearly riled - aghast at a Mercedes car which is finishing the season more strongly than expected based on its performances before the race in Brazil.
Horner and Verstappen suspect something is up, specifically the legality of the rear wing on the Mercedes, with Verstappen fined €50,000 for fiddling with Hamilton's car after qualifying in Sao Paulo.
However, Mercedes did not fall foul to any of the additional checks made by the officials in Qatar - and, instead, it feels as if it is the lack of composure shown by Red Bull which threatens to derail Verstappen's bid for a first Driver's Championship in F1.
At the same time, Hamilton will be well aware that he is still behind in this title race - and he will also know that, if Verstappen wins in Jeddah on 5 December, he will have to finish sixth to stand a mathematical chance of the title, or fifth if the Dutchman picks up another point for the fastest lap.
Surely, though, the improved Mercedes will manage better than that. After all, this enthralling adventure of a title race deserves to go to the wire.
| HAMILTON | v | VERSTAPPEN | ||||||
| 28-March | BAHRAIN | 1st | 25 | (+7) | 18 | 2nd | ||
| 18-April | EMILIA ROMAGNA | 2nd | 19 | 44 | (+1) | 43 | 25 | 1st |
| 02-May | PORTUGAL | 1st | 25 | 69 | (+8) | 61 | 18 | 2nd |
| 09-May | SPAIN | 1st | 25 | 94 | (+14) | 80 | 19 | 2nd |
| 23-May | MONACO | 7th | 7 | 101 | (-4) | 105 | 25 | 1st |
| 06-June | AZERBAIJAN | 15th | 0 | 101 | (-4) | 105 | 0 | 18th |
| 20-June | FRANCE | 2nd | 18 | 119 | (-12) | 131 | 26 | 1st |
| 27-June | STYRIAN | 2nd | 19 | 138 | (-18) | 156 | 25 | 1st |
| 04-July | AUSTRIA | 4th | 12 | 150 | (-32) | 182 | 26 | 1st |
| 18-July | GREAT BRITAIN | 1st | 27 | 177 | (-8) | 185 | 3^ | Retired |
| 01-August | HUNGARY | 2nd | 18 | 195 | (+8) | 187 | 2 | 9th |
| 29-August | BELGIUM* | 3rd | 7.5 | 202.5 | (+3) | 199.5 | 12.5 | 1st |
| 05-September | NETHERLANDS | 2nd | 19 | 221.5 | (-3) | 224.5 | 25 | 1st |
| 12-September | ITALY | Retired | 0 | 221.5 | (-5) | 226.5 | 2^ | Retired |
| 26-September | RUSSIA | 1st | 25 | 246.5 | (+2) | 244.5 | 18 | 2nd |
| 10-October | TURKEY | 5th | 10 | 256.5 | (-6) | 262.5 | 18 | 2nd |
| 24-October | UNITED STATES | 2nd | 19 | 275.5 | (-12) | 287.5 | 25 | 1st |
| 07-November | MEXICO | 2nd | 18 | 293.5 | (-19) | 312.5 | 25 | 1st |
| 14-November | BRAZIL | 1st | 25 | 318.5 | (-14) | 332.5 | 20 | 2nd |
| 21-November | QATAR | 1st | 25 | 343.5 | (-8) | 351.5 | 19 | 2nd |
^ Verstappen retired from the Grand Prix but won points in the sprint race
REMAINING CALENDAR
| (21) | 05-December | 5.30pm | SAUDI ARABIA | Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia |
| (22) | 12-December | 1pm | ABU DHABI | Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi |
FIA F1 DRIVERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2021
| Points | ||||
| 1 | Max Verstappen (NED) | Red Bull-Honda | 351.5 | (9 wins) |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton (GBR) | Mercedes | 343.5 | (7 wins) |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas (FIN) | Mercedes | 203 | (1 win) |
| 4 | Sergio Pérez (MEX) | Red Bull-Honda | 190 | (1 win) |
| 5 | Lando Norris (GBR) | McLaren-Mercedes | 153 | |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc (MON) | Ferrari | 152 | |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz Jr. (ESP) | Ferrari | 145.5 | |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) | McLaren-Mercedes | 105 | (1 win) |
| 9 | Pierre Gasly (FRA) | Alpha Tauri-Honda | 92 | |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso (ESP) | Alpine-Renault | 77 | |
| 11 | Esteban Ocon (FRA) | Alpine-Renault | 60 | (1 win) |
| 12 | Sebastian Vettel (GER) | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 43 | |
| 13 | Lance Stroll (CAN) | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 34 | |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) | Alpha Tauri-Honda | 20 | |
| 15 | George Russell (GBR) | Williams-Mercedes | 16 | |
| 16 | Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 10 | |
| 17 | Nicholas Latifi (CAN) | Williams-Mercedes | 7 | |
| 18 | Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1 | |
| 19 | Mick Schumacher (GER) | Haas-Ferrari | 0 | |
| 20 | Robert Kubica (POL) | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 0 | |
| 21 | Nikita Mazepin (RUS) | Haas-Ferrari | 0 |
FIA F1 CONSTRUCTORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2021
| Points | ||||
| 1 | Mercedes (GER) | Hamilton | Bottas | 546.5 | (8 wins) |
| 2 | Red Bull-Honda (AUT) | Verstappen | Pérez | 541.5 | (10 wins) |
| 3 | Ferrari (ITA) | Leclerc | Sainz Jr | 297.5 | |
| 4 | McLaren-Mercedes (GBR) | Norris | Ricciardo | 258 | (1 win) |
| 5 | Alpine-Renault (FRA) | Alonso | Ocon | 137 | (1 win) |
| 6 | Alpha Tauri-Honda | Gasly | Tsunoda | 112 | |
| 7 | Aston Martin-Mercedes (GBR) | Stroll | Vettel | 77 | |
| 8 | Williams-Mercedes (GBR) | Russell | Latifi | 23 | |
| 9 | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari (SUI) | Räikkönen | Giovinazzi | Kubica | 11 | |
| 10 | Haas-Ferrari (USA) | Schumacher | Mazepin | 0 |
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