The Austrian Grand Prix brought a comfortable win for Max Verstappen when he took his third win in a row and his lead at the top of the FIA World Drivers Championship 2021.
Lando Norris took another step forward in a stellar season when he took his third podium of the season. The ninth race of the season continued to be hectic in midfield Red Bull Ring in the Spielberg, Austria.
Best in class …
Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing Honda
Qualification advantage over teammate: -0.270s | Race distance to team mate: -57.915s
Max Verstappen had a racing weekend that he was able to enjoy at the Red Bull Ring for the second week in a row. The Dutchman simply ran away with the race win in front of a sea of orange-clad fans.
Verstappen was not happy with his pole lap and was almost eclipsed by Norris on the final flying lap. But after that he simply sailed to his fifth win of the season. It was his first Grand Slam victory with pole position, all laps advantage, fastest lap and victory.
Verstappen has now increased his lead in the drivers’ standings to 32 points Lewis Hamilton and seems unbeatable at the moment.
Lando Norris – McLaren F1 Team
Qualification lead over teammate: -0.304s (Q2) | Race distance to team mate: -40.376s
Lando Norris has an outstanding season and is fourth in the drivers’ standings. The young Briton simply wiped out his seasoned teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the team-internal rivalry.
In a breathtaking flying lap, he missed the pole lap of Verstappen by just 0.048 seconds. In the race he was able to assert himself against Hamilton until lap 19.
If not a tough 5-second penalty for his tough wheel-to-wheel battle with Sergio Perez, the young Brit could have taken second place.
Norris regularly competes with the drivers of the two top teams and in this race overshadowed the Mercedes drivers in qualifying.
Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes AMG Petronas Team
Qualification margin to teammate: + 0.035s | Race distance to teammate: -28.479s79
Valtteri Bottas took a respectable second place in the race. This was the first time since the start of the season that the Finn finished ahead of Hamilton in a points standings.
Bottas struggled in the races and was also followed by bad luck like the pit stop accident in Monaco. He’s under immense pressure to keep his drive going through 2022.
Races like this one with a battered Mercedes team could help him to keep a place on the grid next season.
Fernando Alonso – Alpine Renault F1 Team
Qualification margin to teammate: -0.579s (Q1) | Race distance to teammate: N / A
Fernando Alonso overtook his young team-mate in the last few races and was in his fighting best form. The Spaniard seemed well on his way to another top 10 finish in qualifying before being hindered by Sebastian Vettel in qualification.
In the race he worked his way up from fourteen on the grid. In the end, he was in an almighty battle with George Russell to get tenth place and the last single point.
The experienced driver has not lost any of his passion for tough races and can finally cope with the car and the Pirelli tires.
Do homework…
Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes AMG Petronas Team
Qualification margin to teammate: -0.035s | Race distance to team mate: + 28,479s
Lewis Hamilton qualified for fourth place and finished the race in the same position. The Brit ran in second place when a floor damage led to a loss of downforce and he had to be content with fourth place.
At the beginning of the season, Hamilton was able to get the maximum performance out of the W12 and take three wins in the first four races. But he has not won the last five races.
The RBR16B has made a decisive leap in performance in the last three races and Verstappen has outclassed the reigning world champion.
Hamilton is 32 points behind in the drivers’ standings and faces a faster car and a rock solid rival. Can he fight his way back from this position in front of his enthusiastic home crowd in the next race at the British Grand Prix?
Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin F1 Cognizant Team
Qualification margin to teammate: -0.048s | Race distance to teammate: N / A
Sebastian Vettel fought his way back after a miserable start to the season. The German qualified eighth, but started eleventh after a penalty of three places.
Vettel was not aware of Alonsos behind him on his flying lap, although he was stuck behind a line of cars in the final minutes of the second qualifying session.
The penalty put Vettel on the soft compound tire in eleventh place and he never recovered from it. On the last lap when he drove outside of the points, a collision with Whom Raikkonen finished his race. A race to forget and even more work for Vettel.
Sergio Pérez – Red Bull Racing Honda
Qualification margin to teammate: +0.270 s | Race distance to team mate: + 57.915s
Sergio Perez qualified well for third place after not going up the pace in practice sessions. The Mexican has got off to a good start and fought a tough duel with Norris for second place.
In the duel, Pérez dropped to tenth place when he went off the track and tried in the gravel to overtake Norris on the outside. In further duels with Charles Leclerc, the Mexican received two 5-second penalties for pushing another driver off the track.
With patience, Pérez could have landed on the podium instead of sixth.
Esteban Ocon – Alpine Renault F1 Team
Qualification margin to teammate: + 0.579s (Q1) | Race distance to teammate: N / A
Esteban Ocon has had a miserable run since signing a long-term contract with the Alpine F1 Team. At his home race in France he was overtaken and overtaken by team-mate Alonso.
The same pattern followed in both races at the Red Bull Ring. The Frenchman hasn’t scored a point in the last four races.
Alonso, on the other hand, scored points in all four races. Ocon has to turn around quickly or he will be eclipsed by the crafty veteran Alonso.
The rest…
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc after qualifying outside of the top ten positions, positions five and eight recovered. Daniel Ricciardo after another miserable qualification, the race recovered in seventh place.
Pierre Gasly even finished ninth as a teammate Yuki Tsunoda threw away points with an unnecessary penalty for violating the pit lane entrance.
George Russell after another stellar weekend for the Williams Racing Team was defeated by Alonso in the final laps and lost points for his team.
The Uralkali Haas F1 Team, Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Team, Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 Team, Williams Racing F1 Team went through a pointless race.
All teams will be up for that Great Britain Grand Prix at the Silberstein in two weeks (July 16-18, 2021)
The post Assessing The Grid – Austrian Grand Prix 2021 first appeared on monter-une-startup.
