Formula 1: The battle that Max Verstappen did clinch in Jeddah

Max Verstappen clinched the tiebreaker over Lewis Hamilton during the inaugural Formula 1 race weekend at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

With four races remaining on the 2021 Formula 1 schedule, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the driver standings by 19 points over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, and he led him by four victories (9-5).

This meant that, in order for Hamilton to have a chance to clinch the tiebreaker over Verstappen, he needed to win each of the season’s final four races (and get help in terms of where Verstappen finished, since the two would only draw even with nine wins each and thus the tiebreaker would go down the order to second, third, fourth place finishes, etc.).

But in any scenario that saw Hamilton win all four races, he would lock up the title on points anyway no matter where Verstappen finished.

Three races later, it is now 9-8 in favor of Verstappen, and the two have drawn even on points.

But despite the fact that Hamilton has now won three races in a row, Verstappen has now officially clinched the tiebreaker.

The only way for Hamilton to tie Verstappen in wins is by winning the final race.

But in this case, Verstappen would still lead in second place finishes, as he currently leads 8-7.

However, we can’t neglect to mention that this battle really had no true relevance anyway.

Why? Because the only way by which Hamilton still could have had a small chance to secure the tiebreaker was by winning the season finale, and after winning three straight races to tie up the championship battle, a win in this race would naturally guarantee that Hamilton finishes ahead of Verstappen in points anyway.

The 2021 Formula 1 world champion is set to be crowned this Sunday, December 12 at Yas Marina Circuit. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 beginning at 7:55 a.m. ET. Start your free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss any of the action!