F1: Max Verstappen’s damages beat Lewis Hamilton by £2MILLION in 2021 season

Newly-crowned Formula One world champion Max Verstappen cost Red Bull a huge £3.3million in damage fees last season – £2m more than title rival Lewis Hamilton chalked up at Mercedes. 

Drivers’ champion Verstappen finished a dramatic season with three retirements – at Baku, Silverstone and Monza – and, according to estimates by Sky Germany, cost his team £3.3m in repairs.

That is only good enough to see the Dutchman rank third on this alternative podium though as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who suffered a mixed year on the track, comes second with damages totalling £3.45m and Haas rookie Mick Schumacher is top of the pile with a whopping £3.6m. 

Max Verstappen (right) and Lewis Hamilton (left) clashed multiple times on track in 2021

Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari ranked second overall among 20 drivers in total cost of damages

Haas found themselves well off the pace all season as they propped up the rest of the field.

But Schumacher suffered some notable – and expensive – crashes which led to criticism from team principal Gunther Steiner during the summer break.

‘Mick in the last five races had quite a few big ones,’ the Haas boss said at the time. 

‘It’s a lot of money and for no good reason. They are getting a little bit too frequent and too heavy.’

The German rookie took major damage in Monaco, France, Hungary and Saudi Arabia which saw his damages tab soar.

Hamilton’s only DNF came in Monza when Verstappen’s Red Bull drove over the top of his car

Top of the standings in damages is Haas rookie Mick Schumacher, who totalled £3.6million

As for the other two rookies on the grid, Schumacher’s Haas team-mate Nikita Mazepin, who started the season incredibly erratically before settling down, ranks eighth at £2.1m.  

The third rookie, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, who was caught out in Abu Dhabi, leaving him with no front wing and brakes on fire, came seventh with £2.2m in damages to his car. 

Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, whose crash at the final race in Abu Dhabi brought out a safety car to help Verstappen win his first championship, ranked fourth overall with his car taking damages of £2.66m over the course of the season.

Latifi’s departing team-mate George Russell finished down in 10th with £1.57m.

Russell’s most noteworthy crash came early in the season against the man he will replace in 2022, Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes.

Russell later apologised for a ‘very bad judgement call’ on track in Imola as he looked to pull off a high-speed overtake which went wrong. It was one of the early flashpoints outside of Vertsappen and Hamilton’s title battle. 

Another rookie, Yuki Tsunoda, drew criticism for his inconsistent displays for AlphaTauri

Schumacher’s team-mate Nikita Mazepin started erratically but soon cut out serious errors

Bottas was furious and the Alfa Romeo driver from 2022 no doubt left his former employers at Mercedes livid with a £2.3m bill as a leaving gift to put him fifth overall. 

Hamilton enjoyed much more success on the track and his only DNF came as a result of Verstappen’s car going over the top of his at Monza, ending both of their races.

The seven-time world champion’s total damages came in at a fraction over £1m – at £1.05m – to place him 13th overall and a far cheaper prospect for his engineers than Verstappen’s boom or bust approach.

At the other end of the spectrum there will have been smiles inside Alpine’s garage to see both of their drivers sat 19th and 20th in the damages table.

Just £30,000 separated Hungarian Grand Prix winner Esteban Ocon, who sits 20th, and wily veteran Fernando Alonso, who is 19th.  

Leclerc found himself in the wars across the season, with major damage picked up in Hungary

Renault managed to keep their costs down with Daniel Ricciardo (front) finishing down in 17th