This year's Formula One season will go down in history.The battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton has been continuous, fiery and sometimes outright dangerous.Seasons before this, such tight competition for the world championship hasn’t been as tantalising, but with the title changing hands so much this time around, it has kept immense amounts of intrigue on the sport.The fight for the title has inevitably spilt into their respective teams, especially for both Toto Wolff (the Mercedes chief) and Christian Horner (the team principle for Red Bull) who have both shared a bit of back and forth over previous years.It’s clear to see that their genuine passion is being exude during each race; they are willing to do what it takes for their driver to win.Both drivers have seen themselves being caught up in controversial settings throughout the year as well, in Monza for example, but more recently in Saudi Arabia.The Saudi race was one of the most emphatic races that has ever been seen. The race itself was red flagged twice and there was carnage up and down the track, but focus was primarily on the collision which took place on the 37th lap between Max and Lewis.
To give a backstory to the race, there had been a collision early on that led to a safety car being deployed. This saw several cars go in for a pit stop, including Hamilton, but Verstappen had stayed out; this safety car was then converted into a red flag and all cars had to be brought in, so it worked out perfectly for Red Bull.
However, the worst was still to come for Red Bull as the Dutchman had to hand back position twice, more crucially for the lead, but it wasn’t as simple as that.
Red Bull informed their Dutch driver to hand first place to Hamilton. Verstappen was clearly informed to do this strategically by his team; he was intending on moving aside before the final corner so he could introduce DRS into the final straight, but this hadn't played out in the way it was intended.
The FIA were not able to inform Mercedes in time that Verstappen was giving the position, meaning the Brit ended up driving straight into the back of his title rival. This led to Wolff going into a state of absolute frustration as, from their perspective, it was as if the Red Bull driver had ‘brake tested’ them.
Understandably, it was a bit bemusing for the team after Hamilton had received a message informing him that Max was letting him get past after contact had already been made.
Afterwards, Wolff described the overall experience as 'spectacular, but not good racing.’
After the race, it was concluded by the stewards that Verstappen had broke ‘suddenly and significantly’ and it was described as being ‘erratic’, so he was hit with a 10-second penalty.
Verstappen had also received a five-second penalty midway through the race for another incident with Hamilton.
Both drivers finished the race on level points going into the final Grand Prix, leaving that result to define who wins the title.
The Dutchman currently sits on top as he has won more races than Lewis, but it’s down to whose raw skill can allow them to take home the title.