Hamilton signed a one-year contract extension with Mercedes. At the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix, Hamilton fought with Max Verstappen for the race victory, starting second. In the last few laps, Hamilton successfully defended from Verstappen to take the victory. At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Hamilton took pole after Max Verstappen made an error in qualifying. However, Verstappen got a better launch at the start of the race and took the lead. While pursuing Verstappen, Hamilton slid into the barrier. He managed to reverse back onto the track but was now in 9th, a lap down on the leader. He eventually managed to recover to 2nd place, reducing his championship lead to 1 point over Verstappen. At the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix, he passed Verstappen and teammate Valtteri Bottas to take the victory.