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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 2nd position
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Opinion

The line Verstappen finally crossed in F1's first Jeddah race

OPINION: Max Verstappen has made the 2021 Formula 1 championship. He’s taken the fight to the all-conquering Mercedes squad and its dominant champion, produced driving displays few can match. But he’s been on a controversial course too, and finally crossed a particular line in Jeddah

There are two main ways of assessing Formula 1’s first race in Saudi Arabia.

One, that it was an action-packed thriller – a race of unpredictable drama and spectacle on a challenging track that set up the first season finale in 47 years to have two contenders level on points. Or two, that it was a disrupted, disjointed event on a needlessly dangerous track, where the fight between the title rivals went too far, too often.

Lewis Hamilton seemed to straddle both camps, saying after clinching his 103rd F1 win and eighth of the season “what a great circuit we have here” but also that it was “an incredibly difficult race”.

Previous article Masi: Jeddah only needs "fine-tuning" despite F1 drivers' concerns
Next article McLaren to run tweaked F1 livery for Abu Dhabi GP

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