We’ve been treated to a classic F1 season so far, with 2021 featuring an epic title fight for the ages, surprise winners, and loads of fascinating storylines at both ends of the grid.
With 12 races scheduled yet to come, there are many twists and turns in the promised second half of the season.
But for now, here are our best moments from the first half of the campaign …
The realization of a blockbuster title fight
Pre-season tests suggested Mercedes could be challenged properly, but confirmation that a real title fight would take place in 2021 didn’t come until the season opener in Bahrain.
Max Verstappen stormed to pole and the ensuing battle for victory between the Red Bull driver and Lewis Hamilton was just a foretaste of what was to come.
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Verstappen and Hamilton went wheel to wheel four times in the first four races as they split wins. Initially only the smallest margins separated the pair, but Red Bull threatened to pull clear with five wins in a row.
That run eventually ended with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which was the most dramatic moment of the season on the track when Hamilton and Verstappen first met.
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The subsequent rainfall has only contributed to one of the most exciting title fights in years, with the Hamilton swing pendulum swinging dramatically just before the summer break.
Lewis Larkam
A symbolic crash at Imola
The fall of George Russell and Valtteri Bottas at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was symbolic.
After struggling early in the race, Bottas had Russell right behind him, who was on course to end Williams’ points drought.
On the descent to Tamburello Bottas turned slightly to the right, Russell reacted and hit the slippery curb, turned his car and impaled Bottas, which ended both races.
Russell’s reaction afterwards was atypical, but the fact that he wanted to overtake Bottas in his Williams was impressive in itself.
The Brit’s impressive performance at the Sakhir Grand Prix meant Bottas was on the wall regarding his future at Mercedes.
Being overtaken by a Williams at pure speed in Imola was perhaps the last straw for the Finn and his chances of staying with the reigning world champion.
Connor McDonagh
Sebastian Vettel’s first Aston Martin podium
A roller coaster weekend ended with an incredible climax for Sebastian Vettel when the German took his first podium in the colors of Aston Martin.
The four-time world champion had a difficult start in life in his new team after his rather unspectacular departure from Ferrari.
But Vettel started to turn a curve in Monaco with a brilliant drive and tried to carry that momentum to Baku. The weekend started off frustratingly as Vettel narrowly missed the third quarter, but things got in his way on Sunday.
Vettel put in a great first stint and even led a Grand Prix for the first time since Brazil in 2019 before causing chaos.
Two dramatic high-speed punctures for teammates Lance Stroll and race director Verstappen turned the race upside down, and a cunning portrayal of Vettel allowed him to capitalize.
While Sergio Perez was saving the figures for Red Bull, Vettel took a step back and overtook Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly to move up to fourth place before Verstappen was out.
Third came second as Hamilton loosened his lines at the start, a position Vettel held to the finish to land a memorable first podium and send a message to his doubters.
Lewis Larkam
Review of 2007
The fight between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at the Hungarian Grand Prix was a nice look back at their time at McLaren in 2007.
With Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon at the top, it was up to Alonso to leave behind the fast-charging Hamilton, who had fitted new medium tires to his Mercedes.
Against all odds, Alonso showed one of the best defensive performances we have seen in Formula 1 in several years, which ultimately cost Hamilton the victory.
Alonso’s stern defense allowed Ocon to take his first win over Vettel, securing the Enstone team’s first win as a works team since 2008.
The two-time champion hasn’t lost any of his racing skills and having two great legends of the sport compete at the top makes it even more enjoyable.
Connor McDonagh
The rise and rise of Lando Norris
Lando Norris was undoubtedly one of the stars of the 2021 season.
The Briton was under pressure to improve on his performance after an impressive second season in F1 with the arrival of seven-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo as his teammate.
Norris took off in 2021 and hasn’t looked back. He has shown a number of outstanding performances and finished third in the championship after the first 11 races, ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.
The 21-year-old’s speed has always been evident from the moment he stepped into F1, but this season Norris has added consistency to his game.
That was reflected in the fact that Norris was the only rider to score points in every race until the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he became an unfortunate victim of the slaughter sparked by Bottas, which included a series of 15 races in the top 10 finished.
Three podiums, the mix with Verstappen and Hamilton at the top of the grid and some breathtaking qualifying laps have been the highlights of Norris 2021 so far.
Norris’ level of performance underscores the progress he’s made and justifies McLaren’s decision to sign him on a new long-term contract.
Lewis Larkam
Alonso magic
Alonso also received the award for the best start to the year when he went from eleventh to fifth place in the first lap of the sprint qualifying at the British Grand Prix.
We saw it over and over again during his years at Ferrari in the early 2010s, and this season it was more of the same.
Without Alonso’s heroics in the Silverstone sprint race, it would have been a full snooze festival.
Silverstone wasn’t the only time we’ve seen Alonso at his best from the start.
In Azerbaijan he went from tenth to sixth place after the red flag break and thus secured his best result of the season at the time.
Connor McDonagh
Lewis Hamilton inspires loud home audiences
Seeing the full grandstands at Silverstone on all three days of action was one of the highlights of the first half of the 2021 season.
The atmosphere was electrifying, all the more so as the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in most events being held behind closed doors in the past 12 months.
It was absolutely brilliant and reminded F1 of what it was missing.
But the noise was never louder than on Sunday when Hamilton wowed his home crowd by making them rave as he crossed the finish line to claim his eighth British GP win after beating Verstappen after his lap one collision had struck remarkably.
Hopefully we will continue to see scenes like this when more fans return in the second half of the campaign.
Lewis Larkam
Leclerc reminds us that he is still one of the best
Even though Charles Leclerc sits behind team-mate Carlos Sainz in the drivers’ standings, the Monegasque 2021 has once again shown that he is still one of the top Formula 1 drivers.
His pole laps in Monaco and Azerbaijan were breathtaking and confirmed Ferrari’s impressive step forward over the winter.
His most impressive drive came at Silverstone, where he led for 50 laps before relinquishing the lead to Hamilton.
Connor McDonagh
Esteban Ocon’s redemption
Ocon’s first shock victory in Hungary felt like a real moment of redemption for the French.
The alpine rider has faced many obstacles over the course of his career, no more than when he cruelly lost his seat at Racing Point in late 2018 and left F1 for the following year.
There was a time on the sidelines as a Mercedes reserve before Ocon sealed his return to the F1 grid with Renault for 2020.
Ocon took its momentum into 2021, where it took another step and has been outstanding so far. The 24-year-old had the upper hand over his two-time world champion team-mate Alonso in the first few laps, a form pattern that only recently reversed.
After being rewarded with a well-deserved new contract with Alpine, Ocons form suddenly deteriorated as he entered a difficult period, including consecutive Q1 eliminations in Austria, before bouncing back with a top 10 result at the British GP.
Ocon took his chance in Hungary with both hands and drove to his groundbreaking F1 victory with a brilliantly executed drive, which underscored Alpine confidence in him.
The realization of a dream he had since childhood was a joyful moment.
Lewis Larkam
Williams ends his drought
It took Williams a long time to end his points drought on the Hungaroring – Nicholas Latifi finished seventh; Russell in eighth place.
The Grove-based team has made a significant leap in performance over the winter, with Russell having advanced at least in Q2 of every race but one so far.
Williams has missed points many times in the past, despite being a crazy race and losing to main rivals Alfa Romeo and Haas.
Williams took advantage of the chaos in Hungary when Latifi moved up to third in the first round, benefiting from the two separate incidents.
Russell followed his teammate and scored Williams’ biggest point haul in a single weekend since 2017.
It was a big weekend for Williams and you could see how much it meant to everyone after the race.
Connor McDonagh
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