The six critical factors that could hand F1 2021 glory to Hamilton or Verstappen

The 2021 Formula 1 title battle is finely poised with six races remaining, as just six points separate championship leader Max Verstappen from seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton. In such a closely-fought season, the outcome could hinge on several small factors playing the way of Red Bull or Mercedes

Updated Oct 22, 2021, 1:46 PM

There are six races remaining in the 2021 Formula 1 season. As things stand ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix, six points separate two of the championship’s best drivers. Only one of them will win the title, and it’ll either be a triumphant ending of an era or the glorious extension of one of F1’s most legendary tales.

The battle between Red Bull and Mercedes, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, has ebbed and flowed throughout the season – rarely interrupted, rarely underwhelming. Looking back, the Bahrain season opener almost perfectly encapsulated the year’s rivalry, as the duo went toe to toe on behalf of their respective squads, well clear of the rest, the outcome decided, thrillingly, by the barest of margins.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.