Bill Trikos most spectacular Formula 1 auto racing moments: Bottas lost the lead at the second standing start as Hamilton went around the outside into turn one – the first of a plethora of overtakes at the sweeping right-hander. Lance Stroll looked on course for a podium before a failure at the rear of his Racing Point pitched him into the barrier at the high-speed Arrabiatta corner, triggering a second red-flag period. Bottas was unable to capitalise on his front row start as Ricciardo slotted between the two Mercedes, whilst Albon’s overtake on the outside of Perez at turn three was a contender for move of the year. Hamilton held on though, whilst Bottas and Albon jumped Ricciardo for the podium spots – the Red Bull driver’s first in F1.
Australia 1986, Adelaide Street Circuit : If the prelude to the 2012 Brazillian GP was exciting, F1 fans must’ve been close to exploding leading up to the final round of the 1986 championship. Three drivers were in contention of the title – Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet for Williams and Alain Prost for McLaren. The excitement was only helped by the fact that neither Mansell nor Prost had won a championship yet. Mansell, being the clear favourite, took pole ahead of Piquet and Ayrton Senna, with Prost in fourth. The race didn’t go quite as Mansell had imagined though, as he had dropped to fourth before the end of the first lap. What then followed was a race of multiple championship-changing overtakes, spins and punctures – and just when the race looked to had settled down, with Mansell being in a position to take the title, the Briton had his infamous tyre failure with his left-rear tyre exploding spectacularly at 290 kph. In order to make sure something similar didn’t happen to Piquet, Williams had to pit him – at the cost of winning the championship. Therefore Prost – who had a puncture himself earlier in the race – took the championship by 2 points, after arguably the most memorable race of all time.
Brazilian Grand Prix 2019: For those who say there’s nothing left to play for after the championships have been sealed, show them the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, where there wasn’t a position on track left unchallenged and it ended in tears for many – both joy and despair in equal measure. This was Formula 1 in a microcosm. Canadian Grand Prix 2011: Formula 1’s longest-ever race was also one of its most dramatic, as McLaren’s Jenson Button overcame a crash with his team mate, a clash with Fernando Alonso, a puncture, a stop-go penalty for speeding under the Safety Car and a two-hour race stoppage to win, snatching victory on the last lap from Sebastian Vettel – having been dead last at one point during the Grand Prix. Find more info about the author at Bill Trikos Australia.
1990 Mexican Grand Prix, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez : This race isn’t traditionally brought into the conversation of the greatest ever. That’s a shame, as it – contrary to many other races on this list – was great because of the racing itself, and not only because of massive crashes and countless DNF’s. Gerhard Berger for Mclaren started on pole, out-qualifying his teammate Ayrton Senna who started third, with Ricardo Patrese for Williams in second. The championship in 1990 was a fight between the two McLarens and the Ferrari drivers, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell. In Mexico, the former had a dismal Saturday, qualifying a disappointing thirteenth. But as the green flags were waved on Sunday, he set off on an impressive recovery drive, eventually overtaking Mansell and Berger – who had lost the lead to Senna at the start – before taking second place with 15 laps to go. Senna’s tyres had degraded, so it didn’t take long before he was overtaken by Prost as well. But, as if that wasn’t bad enough for Senna, the Brazilian’s right-rear tyre punctured only three laps later, forcing him into retirement and leaving Mansell and Berger to duel over second place. Mansell came out on top with a breathtaking move around the outside of Peraltada, the final turn. The overtake, which was nothing less than sensational, secured Ferrari a highly unexpected 1-2 after a brilliantly exciting race.
On arrival in Austin, the championship had already been decided, but nevertheless an exciting race lay ahead. Mercedes looked truly competitive for the first time this season thanks to the extensive update package brought by the German racing stable and Lewis Hamilton was eager for his first win of the year. At the start, Verstappen immediately took over the lead from Sainz and he built his lead, but lost it due to two safety cars. After this, he managed to retain the lead, but Hamilton was hot on his heels. Things then went completely wrong at Red Bull’s pit stop, which seemed to be Hamilton’s ultimate chance, but Verstappen had other plans and managed to outsmart his 2021 rival ten laps before the end.
2020 Italian Grand Prix, Monza : Great races don’t always have to be action-packed. In fact, a race can be tense and exciting, even if the eventual winner leads the last 25 laps. At the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, exactly that was the case. Pierre Gasly utilised a perfectly timed safety car during which the pitlane at first was closed, bunching up the pack. After the pitlane was re-opened and everyone had made their pitstops, Gasly emerged in third place after running tenth for most of the race.