Alternative World Championship standings: Verstappen rueing big lead

Max Verstappen had to give up the lead in the world championship after two bad Sundays in Great Britain and Hungary. He is now eight points behind Lewis Hamilton, but things could have been very different. How many points could Verstappen have collected in the most ideal scenario? We look at it in this alternative World Championship ranking.

Bahrain Grand Prix

1. Verstappen = 25 points

2. Hamilton = 18 points

Verstappen was able to overtake his rival Hamilton on the Bahrain International Circuit but was whistled back by the stewards. He had to give up his spot, which cost him the victory. Had race control been a little less strict, Verstappen could have taken an immediate lead of seven points.

GP Emilia Romagna

1. Verstappen = 25 points

2. Hamilton = 0 points

At this race in Italy, Verstappen looked set to gain a lot of ground in the world championship. On the wet tarmac of Imola Hamilton slid off the track. However, the world champion got lucky that his teammate Valtteri Bottas and George Russell skidded off the track, causing a safety car and later red flag. As a result, the Mercedes driver loses fewer spots on the track than expected and he is able to repair the damage. In fact, points had already been written off.

GP Portugal

1. Hamilton = 25 points

2. Verstappen = 19 points

Again, Verstappen could have had one point more if the stewards had been a bit more lenient. In the closing stages of the race, he makes an extra pitstop to get the extra World Championship point for the fastest lap. The Dutchman succeeds in this mission, but his time is deleted because of violating the track limits.

GP Spain

1. Hamilton = 25 points

2. Verstappen = 19 points

Red Bull Racing didn't look strong in the Spanish Grand Prix in 2021. Verstappen was unable to make a fist and nothing remarkable happened.

GP Monaco

1. Verstappen = 25 points

9. Hamilton = 3 points

Lewis Hamilton had a dramatic weekend with Mercedes, with a seventh-place being the maximum he could achieve. He was lucky that his teammate Bottas and Charles Leclerc both missed the finish, otherwise the seven times world champion would have finished ninth. He did pick up an extra World Championship point for the fastest lap of the day.

GP Azerbaijan

1. Verstappen = 26 points

3. Hamilton = 15 points

The story is well known: Verstappen was leading well on the streets of the Baku City Circuit, but a burst rear tyre prevented a maximum score for the 23-year-old Limburger. At that time Hamilton was in third place, behind Sergio Perez. Hamilton didn't actually score any points in Azerbaijan either but had Verstappen not crashed, he wouldn't have been able to brake on the restart and would have made it to the podium.

GP France

1. Verstappen = 26 points

2. Hamilton = 18 points

The updates Honda introduced in France worked well and Verstappen managed to outsmart his big rival and move up eight points in the World Championship.

Styria GP

1. Verstappen = 25 points

2. Hamilton = 19 points

Whereat Paul Ricard the maximum score was achieved, this was not the case at the Steiermark Grand Prix. Still, a great victory for the fifteen times Grand Prix winner.

GP Austria

1. Verstappen = 26 points

4. Hamilton = 12 points

Hamilton's weekend was not the best one yet, so Verstappen lost 14 points. Instead of Hamilton, we now saw Lando Norris on the podium in Spielberg.

GP Great Britain

1. Hamilton = 25 points (+2 sprint race)

2. Verstappen = 18 points (+3 sprint race)

At Silverstone, Verstappen managed to run up a point with his win in the sprint race, but on Sunday it was all doom and gloom. On the opening lap, Hamilton and his Dutch rival crashed. Verstappen was upfront and overtaking was proving difficult on the British circuit, although the W12's set-up was so much better that it's fair to say Hamilton would have passed the RB16B later on with DRS.

GP Hungary

1. Hamilton = 25 points

2. Verstappen = 18 points

The same applies here: Mercedes had the better car, so Hamilton would probably have won and Verstappen would have been second. The pity however was that he was torpedoed by Bottas at the first corner and thus didn't score many points because of the damage he had.

Alternative World Championship standings at the start of the summer break

If we add all the points together Verstappen could have scored 255 points if the stewards had been a bit less strict, Pirelli had spared him a DNF, Bottas hadn't have braked late in Hungary, Verstappen and Hamilton left each other more room in Silverstone and if Hamilton had had less luck with red flags. Hamilton would then have collected 191.

The difference, in that case, would have been 64 points. That would have been a luxurious position for Verstappen and Red Bull. However, Hamilton also could've had a bigger lead without crucial mistakes in Azerbaijan and a better strategy regarding the tyre change in Hungary.