These Were The Biggest Moments In Mercedes' Fight With Red Bull For F1 Glory

In case you hadn't heard, the 2021 Formula 1 season concludes on Sunday. After 10 months, 21 grand prix and 1,239 laps of racing, we are finally at the end of the season, and will finally crown a World Championship winner.

And way back since March at the Bahrain International Circuit, two teams and two drivers have led the charge for thatWorld Championship title. Red Bull and Max Verstappen have tried all year to overcome the might of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton, and they are now painstakingly close to toppling the reigning champions.

It's been such a tight fight that going into the final race of the season, just 28 points separate the two constructors and both drivers are matched at 369.5 points. In fact, it's the closest title fight F1 has seen in years!

2021 has also served up one of the most dramatic seasons we've seen in years, as the two titans of the sport, and their teams consistently came head to head.

So, to remind you of some of the biggest upsets, most contentious moments and dramatic incidents we've seen between Red Bull and Mercedes this year, here's ten of those well-talked about dramatic moments from the 2021 F1 title fights.

The first race of the season was a strong showing for Max Verstappen and Red Bull. Vertsappen claimed pole position and was more than half a second quicker than Lewis Hamilton.

But it all came down to tire strategy as Hamilton was able to undercut Verstappen to take the lead after the first pit stops. The real drama came in the closing stages of the race, as Verstappen attempted a pass on Hamilton that sent the Red Bull driver wide. He was ordered to give the place, and the win, back to Hamilton.

Formula 1 returned to Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix this year. A wet track saw our two protagonists fight it out in the opening lap, and both Verstappen and Hamilton kept their elbows out as they fought for position.

But, F1 is a team sport, so you need to have a reliable second driver to bring home extra points. And that was lacking in Mercedes number two Valtteri Bottas that weekend. Instead of out in front, he was racing down the bottom with Williams' driver George Russell, who will be taking over his Mercedes seat next year. In a terrifying moment, the two drivers came together and crashed at the Tamburello corner. Both drivers were shaken, but unhurt.

When the F1 circus rolled into Monza, it was the sport's second trial of Sprint Qualifying. During the trial, Hamilton dropped back from the front row to fifth after a poor start. This meant he had his work cut out on Sunday, as Verstappen started the race at the front.

It was an exciting race from the off, and Hamilton was already battling with Verstappen by the time the cars reached the Curva Grande.

A slow stop for Verstappen at lap 24 meant he was now in danger. Hamilton had a much quicker stop and came out on the race track level with Verstappen. Into the first chicane, neither driver gave the other any space and they collided. Verstappen's car ended up on top of Hamilton's and forced both drivers out of the race.

At the start of the year, Mercedes seemed like a different team. They were off Red Bull's pace and both drivers apppeared to be struggling to get to grips with this year's car. That all came to a head in Monaco, where the race went from bad to worse for the Silver Arrows and cleared the way for Red Bull and Verstappen to take the lead of the championships.

Max had a blinding race, and after pole-sitter Charles Leclerc failed to make the start of the race, the Red Bull driver had a clear path to victory. Across the pit lane though, Hamilton qualified a lowly seventh and a threaded wheel nut forced Bottas into retirement as the team couldn't change one of his front tires. In fact, it took the team until the Tuesday following the race to remove the wheel from the car!

After a dramatic British Grand Prix at Silverstone, more on that later, everyone was just hoping for a nice clean race that wouldn't divide the fans. However, Valtteri Bottas had other plans.

It was a wet start to the race, and off the line Bottas locked up and careened into the back of Sergio Perez's Red Bull, which in turn collided with that of Verstappen. Perez and Bottas were out the race, and Bottas was penalized for the incident, which brought out the red flags as debris was cleared up.

Before the summer break, Verstappen looked unstoppable, well unless he was being punted off the road by a Mercedes. At this point in the season, I was in awe of his form and could see no way he would lose his lead of the championship.

Nowhere was this more present than during the triple-header of France, Austria and Styria. In the traditional Mercedes stronghold of Le Castellet, Verstappen won from Pole to flag, which was followed by a similar performance at the Red Bull Ring in Austria and again at the Styrian Grand Prix on the same track. During that final weekend, he also picked up his first Grand Slam of pole position, race win and fastest lap.

Less than six months later Verstappen looked like a different driver. His confidence and dominance on track appeared replaced by a scrappy racer who was clinging onto his lead. This was probably a result of the form his rival Hamilton showed in the races leading up to the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Yes, the race was fraught with troublesome stewarding decisions, but Verstappen was aggressive in his defense from Hamilton's moves, and did pass the seven-time world champion off the track. Then his questionable timing to give back the position as a result of his off-track antics saw the championship leaders collide yet again!

If Verstappen's confidence on track was dwindling, at this point in the season it looked like Lewis Hamilton's was shining through and brightly.

In Brazil, Hamilton was disqualified from qualifying, so he had to start Saturday's Sprint Race from the back of the pack. No bother for the seven-time Champion, it seemed, as he fought through the grid to finish in fifth.

Then, he was given a five place grid drop for Sunday's grand prix as he took new engine components. Again, this was no problem for Hamilton who raced past everyone to claim victory in Brazil. It was, without doubt, my highlight of the season.

After a triumphant showing in Monaco, Verstappen looked sure to repeat his impressive form when F1 raced in Azerbaijan for the first time since 2019. He was comfortably ahead of Hamilton by lap 13 and took the lead of the race soon after. But then, disaster struck on lap 46 when a dramatic tire blowout saw Max crash on the pit straight. It was a scary incident that brought his race to an end.

At this point, it looked like Hamilton would inherit the win as he only had to pass Perez at the restart. But there was further drama when the Mercedes driver locked up and went straight on at the first corner! In the end, he finished 15th and Perez took the win for Red Bull.

Remember Silverstone 2021? I don't need to, people haven't stopped talking about it ever since!

In case you missed it, or haven't witnessed any of the following fallout, Max Verstappen led Lewis Hamilton off the line at Silverstone. In a desperate attempt to take the lead, Hamilton tried a risky move on Verstappen, who then aggressively defended his line. The two collided and Vertappen ended up in the wall and out of the race.

Hamilton was found at fault, and handed a penalty. But, he managed to recover through the pack and eventually won the dramatic race. Many people will cite this as the reason Hamilton wins the title, if he does on Sunday. But, if Verstappen had defended a little less aggressively, he'd now be at least 18 points clear of Hamilton.