The Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton flashpoints at the Saudi GP

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix had just about everything. Controversy. Drama. A collision between F1’s two title protagonists, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with some controversial FIA decisions sprinkled in for good measure.

Remarkably, Verstappen and Hamilton are level on points heading to the final race of the season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Verstappen leads on countback as he has more victories, which means he will win the title if they stay level on points.

With just one week until Abu Dhabi’s race, the events of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix are likely to dominate the build-up to that winner-takes-all finale.

Here’s how it all unfolded and what the two title protagonists had to say about everything.

Lap 1: Hamilton made a clean start to lead Valtteri Bottas and Verstappen into Turn 1.

The uneventful start made it easy to think the race which followed would be fairly routine at a circuit with minimal overtaking opportunities and for the first 10 laps it was unfolding just like that.

One moment would flip the script and set in motion the incredible turn of events that followed.

Lap 11: Mick Schumacher’s heavy crash at Turn 22 immediately prompted the Safety Car. Schumacher was OK, but his car — and, as it turned out, the crash barrier — had suffered significant damage.

The deployment of a Safety Car is usually a good opportunity for teams to pit earlier than they otherwise would have at racing speed. Mercedes took the opportunity to pit both its drivers, although this was where the first controversial moment of the race took place.

With Hamilton comfortably out in front, Bottas slowed considerably to apparently slow Verstappen’s progress to the pit-lane. Speaking on…