Max Verstappen suffered a major collision during the 2021 Azerbaijan GP. The Dutchman slammed the barriers hard after his Red Bull RB16B suffered a left-rear tyre failure on the main straight.
Max was leading the race and the 2021 Championship. But the collision ruled him out of the race and gave his title rival Lewis Hamilton a chance to cover the 4-point deficit Max had before the race.
But just like Max, Lewis too had a run with bad luck and had one of the most comical lock-ups in F1 history. So much so that even Verstappen could not believe, the 103 GP winner had thrown away the chance to claim a decisive championship lead on him.
How Max Verstappen knew about Lewis Hamilton’s lock-up
Max Verstappen suffered a massive shunt after his tyre blew up while travelling at 320 Kmh. The accident was similar to one suffered by Lance Stroll earlier during the race.
The race was red-flagged as a result and the Dutchman, who was shaken by the accident, was taken to the medical centre in the circuit for treatment. But he was quite eager to keep track as his Championship rival Lewis Hamilton was still racing.
Max said, “I was in the Medical centre and wanted to watch the race on my phone. But they were doing all kinds of tests. I could hear all the engines and then suddenly a loud sound of a screeching break.”
This was immediately followed by a loud cheer from the crowd. Max said, his phone immediately started buzzing with notifications. When he asked what happened, he got an answer “You are back in the lead!”
Max claimed he did not even know Sergio Perez was leading and had eventually won the race. This was his first win for Red Bull since he joined the team earlier that season.
What caused Lewis Hamilton’s lock-up in Baku?
Following Max Verstappen’s retirement, the race was Red-flagged. When the race restarted Hamilton was P2 behind Sergio Perez. But the Briton planned on reclaiming the lead as soon as the light went out.
Hamilton’s tyres were smoking ahead of the restart. Unbeknownst to him, Hamilton had triggered the ‘magic button’ that altered the brake balance to the front tyres.
He attempted to overtake on the inside of turn 1 but was unable to stop in time due to this brake mode selection. he suffered a massive lockup at a high speed, forcing him onto the escape road. As a result, Hamilton was relegated to last on the grid.
Mercedes utilizes the “Magic” system to aid its drivers in warming up their brakes and tyres during formation laps and safety car restarts. However, it is often switched off for the race start. Hamilton believes that the lock-up was caused by him hitting it in some way while he was lining up on the grid with Perez.
Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly finished the podium in Baku as Lewis Hamilton finished a lowly P15. And this was a result of human error that caused the comical lockup causing the Briton to finish outside of points for the first time since the 2013 Spanish GP.
Verstappen managed to maintain his narrow 4-point lead as Lewis filed to secure points. The slim margin of points would be the deciding factor and one could only wonder how the title could have swung had Lewis secured points that day or not suffered a lock-up.
