Max Verstappen won the 2021 Formula 1 world championship, despite the fact that Mercedes, not Red Bull, won the constructor title.
On the final lap of a hotly contested 2021 Formula 1 world championship battle, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen passed Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to secure his maiden title, denying Hamilton what would have been a record-breaking eighth.
Verstappen led only the 58th and final lap of the season’s 22nd and final race, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, to seal the title after the two rivals entered the race level on points (369.5 each).
But Mercedes, not Red Bull, won the constructor championship.
Verstappen finished the season with 395.5 points while teammate Sergio Perez finished with 190, giving the Milton Keynes-based team 585.5 throughout the year.
Hamilton finished the season with 387.5 points while teammate Valtteri Bottas racked up 226, giving the Brackley-based team 613.5 throughout the year.
This marked just the 11th time that the driver who won the world championship did not drive for the team that won the constructor title.
Ironically, it had happened most recently in 2008, when Hamilton himself won his first title driving for McLaren. Ferrari won the constructor title that year.
The 2021 season ended the longest drought between two such occurrences since it happened for the first time in 1958 and for the second time in 1973.
During these 11 seasons, five different constructors were crowned champions. Mercedes became the fifth in 2021, and they became the first new one since 1981 when Williams won it despite the fact that the driver title was won by Brabham’s Nelson Piquet.
Piquet is interestingly the only driver to win more than one title during these 11 seasons, having also won it in 1983 with Brabham while Ferrari won the constructor title.
Take a look at these 11 occurrences.
- 1958
- Driver: Mike Hawthorn, Ferrari
- Constructor: Vanwall
- 1973
- Driver: Jackie Stewart, Tyrrell
- Constructor: Lotus
- 1976
- Driver: James Hunt, McLaren
- Constructor: Ferrari
- 1981
- Driver: Nelson Piquet, Brabham
- Constructor: Williams
- 1982
- Driver: Keke Rosberg, Williams
- Constructor: Ferrari
- 1983
- Driver: Nelson Piquet, Brabham
- Constructor: Ferrari
- 1986
- Driver: Alain Prost, McLaren
- Constructor: Williams
- 1994
- Driver: Michael Schumacher, Benetton
- Constructor: Williams
- 1999
- Driver: Mika Hakkinen, McLaren
- Constructor: Ferrari
- 2008
- Driver: Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
- Constructor: Ferrari
- 2021
- Driver: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Constructor: Mercedes
Will this situation unfold for a 12th time in the 2022 Formula 1 season with the new rules and regulations slated to go into effect? The season is scheduled to begin on Sunday, March 20 with the Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit.