Max Verstappen Takes Fifth Win Of The Season In Austria

Max Verstappen demolished the competition to take his fifth win of the season at the Austrian Grand Prix, ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in second and Lando Norris in third for McLaren.

Verstappen enjoyed a comfortable drive to victory in the Styrian hills, leading from pole position and leading every single lap of the race and also picking up the fastest lap point too, which also meant he got his first career Grand Slam: Pole Position, every lap led and fastest lap. A dominant drive from the Red Bull driver, who delighted the thousands of Dutch fans at the circuit, resplendent in bright orange clothing and setting off orange flares to show their support for their man. Max has now increased his lead in the championship over Lewis Hamilton to 32 points, which means he has more than a victory as a buffer between himself and Hamilton.

Valtteri Bottas fought from P5 on the grid to P2 at the flag to pick up his fifth podium of the year, and the first time he has finished in the top 2 this season. A good strategy and some fine pace saw him finish on the podium for the second race in succession, after a pass on team mate Lewis Hamilton after the World Champion picked up damage. More on that later. It was another solid drive from the Finn, who seems to be getting back into his stride now after a decent qualifying performance last week at the Styrian GP, backed up with some good race pace at the Austrian GP. Hopefully he can get back in contention for victories soon.

Lando Norris has continued his incredible season with his third podium of the year after another incredible drive, which included a good tussle with Hamilton and an exceptional qualifying performance which saw him line up in P2 on the grid, which is McLaren’s highest grid position since 2012. He has been in the top 5 in all but one race this season and currently sits P4 in the championship, ahead of the second Mercedes of Bottas. A brilliant year so far from the British youngster.

Behind the podium, World Champion Lewis Hamilton endured another tricky weekend for Mercedes, lining up only P4 on the grid after some impressive lap times from the top 3. His race didn’t fare much better, as although he worked himself up into P2 behind Verstappen, he picked up aerodynamic damage after running over exit kerbs and was then losing 0.5 seconds a lap to the Red Bull of Verstappen. This saw him eventually passed by Mercedes team mate Bottas and also the McLaren of Lando Norris. He held on to finish fourth in the race, but has now dropped from 18 to 32 points behind the championship leader.

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez finished in fifth, but it was a case of what might have been for the Mexican, as he started in a fine P3 on the grid but there was a close fight between him and Lando Norris following a safety car caused by Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, and Perez was forced wide and into the gravel so he dropped down the order. Perez would then later do virtually the same move to Charles LeClerc in the Ferrari, and picked up a five second penalty for his actions. It seemed that he hadn’t learned his lesson, and he did the exact same thing to the exact same driver at a different turn, and picked up yet another time penalty. Although Perez crossed the line in P5, he was classified P6 because of the penalties, with Carlos Sainz, who finished sixth, benefitting and moving up a place. It was a fine race for Sainz, who ran on a long stint and powered up the field from P10 to P5.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line seventh after a strong fight back after another disappointing Qualifying saw him out in Q2 again. Charles LeClerc finished in eighth in the other Ferrari, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly in ninth and Fernando Alonso picking up the final point for Alpine in P10, after a lengthy and close battle with Williams’ George Russell, who came agonisingly close to scoring his first point for the team. Alonso passed George on the penultimate lap, and later was very complimentary of the young Briton.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was the only retirement of the race, following a lap 1 coming together when he found himself sandwiched between the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi and the Haas of Mick Schumacher, terminally damaging the right front of his car.

Red Bull Continue to Dominate

Five wins on the bounce for Red Bull, and their sixth overall this season out of nine races. Mercedes haven’t won a race now since the Spanish Grand Prix back in May, and Red Bull now find themselves 44 points ahead of the world champions.

this is turning into an incredible season for Red Bull. They were confident that they would be able to fight Mercedes this year, but I don’t think they expected the results they have got. Defeating Mercedes on a track like Circuit Paul Ricard in France, historically a Mercedes-favoured track, was incredible, and then to top it off with two quick back to back wins in Austria, appropriately called the Red Bull Ring, was the icing on the cake.

Red Bull have two very consistent drivers who are both capable of fighting for podiums and maximising the results for the team, something I feel they haven’t had since Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were team mates at the team. Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon, while both very good and talented drivers, never seemed to hit the level required when in that second Red Bull seat. There will be lots of opinions and conspiracies as to why that is, but Perez seems to be doing more than what is required, now he is up to speed. Yes, this Grand Prix was disappointing for him and the team, but he has been in the top five in all but two races, including victory in Azerbaijan, which was critical following Max Verstappen’s retirement from the race.

It is brilliant to see Red Bull consistently challenging for victories, something we haven’t seen since the ‘Red Bull era’ of 2010-2013. They are going to take some beating this year, as all tracks seem to suit the Red Bull equally well, be it either a tight narrow street circuit like Monaco, or a fast and flowing circuit like Paul Ricard or the Red Bull Ring.

Mercedes just don’t seem to have an answer right now, but you should never count of a team who has won all of the championships in the turbo-hybrid era. They’ll fight back, and I’m sure there will be plenty more victories for them this season. Whether it will be enough though, remains to be seen.

Penalties upon Penalties

If the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix is to be remembered for one thing, it may well be the amount of penalties given out to drivers by the stewards.

It started on lap 4, when Lando Norris was penalised for seemingly forcing Sergio Perez off the track. It was a harsh penalty, and most people seem to be of that opinion. There was no contact between the drivers, Lando held the racing line, and had the position. Going around the outside is always a dangerous manoeuvre; think back to Albon trying the same thing on Hamilton last year, with Albon eventually pirouetting in the gravel, a move which Hamilton was also penalised for. Perez was understandably unhappy, but it was an undeserved penalty in my opinion, as there was no malice in it, there was no contact, it was just hard racing, which is something every F1 fan loves to see.

Perez may have been on the receiving end of one move, but he later orchestrated a couple of similar ones. He did the exact same thing to Charles LeClerc, who was trying to go around the outside at turn 4. Perez forced him wide, but not as cleanly as Norris. It looked like there was some small contact, and the Ferrari was left behind in the gravel, losing valuable time. A few laps later, LeClerc tried around the outside again at a different turn, and was greeting with the same response. Both of those moved from Perez earned him 5 second penalties.

Further back, Yuki Tsunoda picked up two penalties for crossing the white line on pit entry; something you should not do. He did it once, picking up a 5 second penalty, but seemed to not have learned his lesson and did it when he came in for his second stop, picking up yet another! It must have been frustrating for him and the team, but at least the FIA were consistent with the penalties.

There were more, with Antonio Giovinazzi picking up a 5 second penalty for overtaking while the safety car is deployed and Lance Stroll also picking up one for speeding in the pit lane. There were also a couple of black and white flags, shown to Raikkonen and Mazepin, for exceeding track limits.

It was certainly a busy weekend for the stewards, but at least they were consistent.

Agonisingly Close For Williams and Russell

One week on from the heartbreak of Russell retiring from a points position with a mechanical issue, it seemed that maybe this could be the weekend when the drought ends.

Mr Saturday was in fine form once again, as he got a Williams into the top 10 shootout for the first time since the Italian Grand Prix back in 2018. A poor start however, saw him lose a few places and he sent most of the race just outside the top 10.

He fought back later on and following a good strategy and some good race craft, he found himself in P10 for the latter stages of the race, but with double World Champion Fernando Alonso bearing down on him in the quicker Alpine. Following a tense and close battle, which I was watching almost through my fingers, Alonso managed to pass the Williams, and Russell had no answer, dropping away from the Spaniard and finishing in P11.

There were positives and negatives. The negative being that, of course, he missed the chance to score the team’s first points since the 2019 German Grand Prix, and he came so close to doing so. If he hadn’t lost those places at the start, you have to wonder if he could have finally got that point.

The positives, however, far outweigh the negative. He got into the top 10, showing that progress is being made with the team and the car, and was fighting faster cars around him throughout the race. Being that the only retirement was behind him, he finished P11 on merit.

So, while it was a tough one to take, there are plenty of positives to take away for the team, and I’m sure they’ll come back fighting in Silverstone. It also helps Williams in the constructors championship, as they are currently ninth ahead of only Haas. This means Haas will have to get a top 10 finish to jump ahead, of a couple of 11th place finishes, which so far this season, seems unlikely to happen.

What Does The Championship Look Like Now?

Verstappen has extended his lead to 32 points over Hamilton, with Perez third on 104. Lando Norris is only three points behind Perez after another great race, with Bottas fifth on 92.

LeClerc stays sixth, with Sainz in seventh and Ricciardo moving up to eighth. Pierre Gasly is ninth with Vettel rounding out the top 10.

In the constructors, Red Bull are 44 points clear of Mercedes with McLaren a further 101 points behind them. Ferrari are fourth with AlphaTauri fifth.

Only Williams and Haas are still yet to score.

Where Are We Next?

After a triple header, the teams and drivers get some time off before we head to the home of Formula One: Silverstone. The British Grand Prix on the weekend of the 16th, 17th and 18th.

A race I absolutely cannot wait for, as I am going! It’ll be my first time at a Grand Prix, so hopefully, it will be a good one!

As always, thank you very much for reading, and make sure to join us on Monday evenings for the F1 Fans Show Live!

Take care and stay safe,

Steve Thomson