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Tag: Max Verstappen
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Stunning lap gives Hamilton his 101st career pole
Budapest, 31 July 2021: Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix from the front of the grid after he grabbed an emphatic 101st career pole position at the Hungaroring beating Mercedes’ team-mate Valterri Bottas by three tenths of ahead with championship leader Max Verstappen over four tenths of a second off the pace in third in the 11th round of the Formula 1 World Championship qualifying session here on Saturday.
At the beginning of the hour-long qualifying session the expected frontrunners were quickly into action, with Bottas taking an early P1 with a lap of 1:16.610. However, he was soon demoted by Hamilton who stole top spot thanks to a lap of 1:16.424. Verstappen wasn’t far behind the Mercedes pair on track, though, and the Red Bull driver jumped ahead of both with his opening push lap of 1:16.214.
Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez looked to be struggling, however. The Mexican opened with a lap of 1:17.300 but as better laps flooded in he soon dropped to ninth place. He opted for a second attempt but only improved to 1:17.233 and still held ninth ahead of the final runs.
Despite the risk to Pérez, Red Bull chose to keep both drivers in the garage for the final runs. And it proved the right choice as there were few improvements in the final moments and Verstappen held top sport as Pérez progressed in P11.
Eliminated at the end of the first session were AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda in P16, Williams’ George Russell and Nicholas Latifi in P17 and P18 respectively and Haas’ Nikita Mazepin in P19. The Russian’s team-mate, Mick Schumacher, didn’t make it out on track in the session with Haas unable to repair his car following an earlier crash in FP3.
At the start of Q2, Hamilton set the pace on medium tyres with a lap of 1:16.553. Verstappen also opted for mediums and slotted into P2 with a time of 1:16.769. However, the Dutchman was pushed to P3 as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, on soft tyres, set an impressive time of 1:16.725.
The session was then halted as Carlos Sainz lost control of his Ferrari in the final corner and slid into the barriers. The red flags were quickly displayed.
After a short delay the action resumed and both Red Bulls mopved to soft tyres. Verstappen jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:15.650 while Pérez went through to Q3 in P4 thanks to an improved time of 1:16.443. Both Mercedes drivers opted to back out of their final laps and after progressing in P6 and P8 will start on medium tyres.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were 11th placed Danile Ricciardo of McLaren, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi and the unfortunate Sainz.
In the first runs of Q3, Hamilton laid down a tough marker with an opening time of 1:15.419. Bottas followed on 1:15.734 and Max sat in P3 with an opening time of 1:15.984. Verstappen then improved on his final run but the tenth of a second he found was not enough to trouble Hamilton and the Mercedes driver claimed pole position with Bottas second and Vrestappen third.
Pérez claimed fourth place on the grid with his opening run time, while Pierre Gasly put in an impressive lap of 1:16.483 to take fifth place on the grid ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris. Leclerc will start seventh for Ferrari with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Fernando in eighth and ninth. The final top 10 position went to Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.419 6 209.119
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:15.734 0.315 0.418 6 208.249
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:15.840 0.421 0.558 6 207.958
4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:16.421 1.002 1.329 5 206.377
5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:16.483 1.064 1.411 6 206.210
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.489 1.070 1.419 6 206.194
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:16.496 1.077 1.428 6 206.175
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:16.653 1.234 1.636 6 205.753
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:16.715 1.296 1.718 6 205.586
10 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.750 1.331 1.765 3 205.493
11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.871 1.221 1.614 6 205.169
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.893 1.243 1.643 6 205.110
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.564 1.914 2.530 6 203.336
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.583 1.933 2.555 3 203.286
– Carlos Sainz Ferrari 2
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.919 1.705 2.237 8 202.410
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:17.944 1.730 2.270 8 202.345
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:18.036 1.822 2.391 8 202.106
19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:18.922 2.708 3.553 9 199.837 -
Hamilton takes 8th British GP win despite penalty for Verstappen collision
Silverstone, 18 July 2021: Lewis Hamilton overcame a penalty for causing a lap one collision with Max Verstappen that ended the Red Bull driver’s race to take an eighth British Grand Prix win ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the Round 10 of the Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday.
Verstappen started the race from pole position and at the start the Dutchman made a good getaway to take the lead as the field streamed through the first corner. Hamilton, though, was quickly on the attack and though Verstappen resisted, the Mercedes driver attacked once again on the high-speed run to Copse. He went down the inside of the Red Bull and as Verstappen turned in the Mercedes clipped the right-rear wheel of the Dutchman’s car.
Verstappen was sent off track at high speed and he hit the tyre barriers hard, severely damaging his car. Fortunately, Verstappen was able to climb out of his wrecked car and was taken to the medical centre and later to a nearby hospital for precautionary checks.
With the tyre barrier severely damaged the race was soon red flagged and the race stewards quickly placed the incident under investigation.
Under the red flag, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was in first place, the Ferrari driver having passed Hamilton on track in the immediate aftermath of the lap one incident. And after a 35-minute stoppage the cars formed up on the grid once again.
When the lights went out, Leclerc made a good getaway from pole position to take the lead ahead of Hamilton, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
At the back, Sergio Pérez took the restart from 19th place on the grid but he was quickly on the march and within a handful of laps he had climbed to 12th-place and was chasing down AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, though his progress was halted as he joined a DRS train containing 10th-placed Kimi Räikkönen and 11th-placed Pierre Gasly.
At the front, meanwhile, Hamilton was handed with a 10-second time penalty by the race stewards. Leclerc was now experiencing difficulties with his engine and that gave Hamilton hope that he might attack for the lead but the Ferrari driver managed to solve the issues with the aid of his pit wall.
Hamilton then made his way to the pit lane on lap 28. He served his time penalty and then switched to a set of hard tyres and rejoined in fifth place. Leclerc made his stop soon after and he was able to resume in the lead.
Further back, as the pit stops played out, Pérez rose to ninth but once again in a train of cars he was unable to salvage anything better for Red Bull. The result was that Sergio pitted again on lap 39 for another set of mediums and dropped back to P17.
At the front, Hamilton had overcome his penalty with relative ease and he was pushing to catch Leclerc. The Monegasque driver resisted as hard as he could but with two laps remaining Hamilton, armed with fresher tyres and more pace, powered past to claim the lead and then the race win.
With Hamilton holding fastest and the point associated with it, the gap to Verstappen in the Driver’s standings would have been narrowed to just seven points. Red Bull therefor sacrificed Pérez’s hopes of clawing his way back to the points and pitted the Mexican for
soft tyres. And in the closing moments he grabbed the fastest lap of the race to deny Hamilton and Mercedes.
Behind Hamilton and Leclerc, Bottas took third place ahead of Norris, with Daniel Ricciardo fifth in the second McLaren. Carlos Sainz fought back from a slow pit stop to finish sixth in the second Ferrari, while Fernando Alonso took seventh place for Alpine. Lance Stroll finished eighth for Aston Martin ahead of Esteban Ocon and the final point was taken by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
2021 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 52 1:58’23.284
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 1:58’27.155 3.871
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 52 1:58’34.409 11.125
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 52 1:58’51.857 28.573
5 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 52 1:59’05.908 42.624
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 52 1:59’06.738 43.454
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 52 1:59’35.377 1’12.093
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 52 1:59’37.573 1’14.289
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 52 1:59’39.446 1’16.162
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 52 1:59’45.349 1’22.065
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 52 1:59’48.611 1’25.327
12 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 51 1:58’23.643 1 lap /0.359
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 1:58’28.035 1 lap /4.751
14 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 51 1:58’29.618 1 lap /6.334
15 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 1:58’30.736 1 lap /7.452
16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 51 1:58’35.676 1 lap /12.392
17 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 51 1:59’29.823 1 lap /1’06.539
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 51 1:59’31.393 1 lap /1’08.109
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 40 1:41’35.184 Retirement
Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 0 Collision -
Verstappen wins F1’s first Sprint Race to qualify on pole
Silverstone, 17 July 2021: Max Verstappen made history by winning the first Sprint Qualifying of the FIA Formula One World Championship Round 10 at Silverstone after he beat title rival Lewis Hamilton off the line in a thrilling fight to the flag that left Hamilton with second place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas. However, the new format was tough on Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez who spun off early on. He dropped to 19th place and then retired his car just before the chequered flag.
Verstappen’s win was secured at the race start and he took the pole for the main race on Sunday ahead of Hamilton. From his P2 grid slot the Red Bull driver made a superb getaway to power ahead of Hamilton as the frontrunners roared towards Turn 1. Behind them, Bottas settled into third place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso who also made a great start, climbing from 11th place to fifth at the end of the opening lap.
Behind them, though, Pérez dropped back. He quickly fought back to seventh place but then, on lap six, as he pushed to close in on McLaren’s Lando Norris, he lost control and spun off. He managed to keep his car out of the wall but he rejoined in P19.
At the front Verstappen was beginning to build a gap and on lap eight he had two seconds in hand over title rival Hamilton. Bottas was a further three seconds back with Leclerc fourth, while Norris was now fifth after managing to get past Alonso.
The Alpine driver, who had started on soft tyres, was trying to hang on but Norris’ team-mate Ricciardo was next to attack and the Australian muscled his way past the Spaniard on lap nine.
With three laps to go, Verstappen was firmly in control and despite noticeable blistering on his front right medium compound tyre, the Dutchman was a comfortable 2.3 seconds clear of the Mercedes driver who was also suffering with tyre wear.
Towards the rear of the field Pérez was struggling. He had climbed to P18 but in the final moments his team told him to retire from the Sprint and he thus qualified for the race in last place behind the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and 19th-placed Nikita Mazepin.
Eventually, after 17 exciting laps, Verstappen crossed the line 1.4s ahead of Hamilton to claim the eighth pole position of his career in a novel manner.
In a reverse to the front row after qualifying yesterday, Hamilton will start second, while Bottas will line up at the front of row two alongside Leclerc. McLaren locked out row three, with Norris ahead of Ricciardo and Alonso took seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettell, Williams’ George Russell and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
2021 FIA Formula 1 British Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 17 25:38.426
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 17 25:39.856 1.430
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 17 25:45.928 7.502
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 17 25:49.704 11.278
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 17 26:02.537 24.111
6 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 17 26:09.385 30.959
7 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 17 26:21.953 43.527
8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 17 26:22.865 44.439
9 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 17 26:25.078 46.652
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 17 26:25.821 47.395
11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 17 26:26.224 47.798
12 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 17 26:27.189 48.763
13 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 17 26:29.103 50.677
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 17 26:30.605 52.179
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 17 26:31.651 53.225
16 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 17 26:31.993 53.567
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 17 26:33.588 55.162
18 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 17 26:46.639 1:08.213
19 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 17 26:56.074 1:17.648
20 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 16 25:09.289 Not running -
Verstappen achieves third consecutive victory: Austrian GP Analysis
Max Verstappen achieved his third consecutive victory of the season as he extended his championship lead over title rival Lewis Hamilton. Valtteri Bottas achieved his highest finishing position of the season in P2 as McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the podium positions.
London, 5 July 2021: Max Verstappen made a clean sweep of the triple header with a win in France, Styria and now Austria as Valtteri Bottas finished a distant second just being able to stay ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who got his third podium of the season. Lewis Hamilton nursed his car to P4 as he suffered downforce loss, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Sergio Perez recovered to P6 after falling to P10 on the opening lap. Daniel Ricciardo recovered his McLaren to P7 after a disappointing qualifying on Saturday ahead of Charles Leclerc in P8. Pierre Gasly could only manage P9 in AlphaTauri and Fernando Alonso completed the points paying position.
George Russell finished P11 after a long battle with Alonso, losing out at the end of the race. Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda finished in P12 and Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll crossed the line in P13. Both Alfa Romeo drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen finished P14 and P15 respectively, with Raikkonen having a late coming together with Sebastian Vettel, the German not finishing but classified in P17. Williams’ other driver Nicholas Latifi finished P16. Both Haas cars finished two laps down with Mick Schumacher in P18 and Nikita Mazepin in P19. Esteban Ocon was the only non- classified DNF as he retired due to contact on lap one.
Rain threatened once again this week but eventually failed to materialize. Verstappen got off cleanly from pole on lap one. Behind, Ocon’s contact meant he retired, and a safety car was called out.
Racing got underway on lap 4, with once again Verstappen starting smoothly. In P2 was Norris who being challenged by Perez. Perez tried to pull off a move outside turn 4, but the gap closed,and he ended up in the gravel falling to P10. Meanwhile, Bottas got past teammate Hamilton, but Hamilton returned the favor by passing Bottas after 2 corners.
With Perez out of the way, Hamilton chased Norris trying to overtake him. Finally on lap 20 Hamilton was able to get past his countryman. But the damage had already been done as Verstappen already had a lead of 5s in the lead. The stewards gave Norris a controversial 5 second time penalty for the incident with Perez after the safety car restart.
Spectators seen during the FIA Formula One World Championship 2021 in Spielberg, Austria on July 4, 2021. Photo Philip Platzer for Red Bull Content Pool The AlphaTauri pair of Tsunoda and Gasly were the first cars to pit as they started on the soft tyres and changed to hard tyres. They pitted on lap 12 and 13 respectively. Everyone else was on mediums in the points, hence, they carried on longer.
In the midfield Ricciardo was the first one to pit for hard tyres. In the lead Bottas and Norris pitted on the same lap, Bottas getting ahead of Norris as the McLaren driver served his 5-second time penalty before the pit stop could be completed. Hamilton pitted on lap 31 and Verstappen followed him one lap later. The last one to pit and change to hard tyres was Leclerc on lap 34. The only exception being his teammate Sainz who started on hard tyres and went long. Finally pitting on lap 48 for a set of medium tyres.
Ahead Hamilton was unable to close up to Verstappen and started losing time relative to the Dutchman. Behind Bottas and Norris were closing as well. As it emerged, he had lost a piece of bodywork on the left rear of his car due to the aggressive nature of kerbs at the Red Bull ring. It cost him 30 pints of downforce according to Mercedes. He let Bottas past him and tried to defend from Norris but to no avail lost out to him. He pitted again on lap 53 for a new set of hard tyres but remained P4 for the rest of the race.
In the midfield four cars were involved in the fight for P5, the leader of them being Perez. Leclerc tried to pass Perez on the outside of turn 4, much like the Mexican had tried at the start of the race. Leclerc got squeezed on the gravel and Perez was duly handed a 5 second time penalty. Leclerc once again tried to pass Perez on the outside of turn 6, again resulting in the same outcome with Perez getting another 5 second time penalty. Sainz who was on fresh medium tyres got past Leclerc and Ricciardo. He finished ahead of Perez due to the Red Bull driver’s penalties.
Alonso overtook Russell at the dying moments to extend his point scoring streak after a proper battle with the Williams driver. On the last lap ex-teammates Vettel and Raikkonen tangled with the Finn getting a 20-second time penalty for the mishap. The day belonged to Verstappen as he took a dominant victory and made a clean sweep of the triple header.
Red Bull have wind in their sails and their car on average is faster than their German title rivals. With Perez up to speed and supporting Verstappen, arguably it’s their championship to lose for the first time since 2013. Mercedes’ W12 clearly lacks pace especially in qualifying trim as they were outqualified by a McLaren. They have confirmed that they will bring upgrade packages in the near future to claw back performance, but it remains to be seen if it will be enough to return to the front.
McLaren, especially in the hands of Norris almost got pole position, missing by less than 0.05s. Ricciardo is still struggling to extract one lap pace from the car but does well to recover positions in the race, exhibiting the McLaren’s race pace. Norris was just about to keep up with Bottas in the race as well. This is a positive step for the team who are looking to stamp their authority on P3 in the constructor’s championship. Ferrari struggled in qualifying as both cars were eliminated in Q2 but were the fourth fastest car in the race. Leclerc even had the pace to challenge Perez for positions. Ferrari need to solve the consistency problems with their car as some tracks they are faster in qualifying but struggle in the race and vice-versa.
AlphaTauri showed impressive qualifying pace once again. They lost out to superior cars of McLaren and Ferrari in the race, admittedly a big part of it was due to an inferior strategy as they had to start on the soft tyre instead of the mediums. Tsunoda had a positive race as well if not for penalties received for crossing the pit entry line, an amateurish mistake on his behalf. Alpine were on the fringes of points as Alonso got P10, but they still lack the pace to challenge the midfield front runners. Alonso was blocked by Vettel otherwise he could have made into the top 10 in qualifying. Ocon retired on lap 1, therefore it was a race of ‘what could have been’ for Alpine. Aston Martin struggled in qualifying and race, as the softer allocation of tyres did not seem to suit them compared to last weekend. They made it to Q3 but were unable to convert position into points as both cars finished outside the top 10.
Williams have showed a turn of speed since France with Russell progressing into Q3 on the medium tyres and then holding onto P10 until a late pass by Alonso. It is not long before Williams score points with their current form. Alfa Romeo similar to last weekend lacked pace in either of the main sessions as they finished well outside the top 10 and points. Haas’ struggle continue as scoring points looks bleak with an underdeveloped car and rookie drivers.
Saturday Qualifying Results were:
P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P2: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P3: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P4: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P5: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P6: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P7: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P8: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P9: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P10: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P11: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P12: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P13: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P14: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P15: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P16: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P17: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P18: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) Note – Vettel penalised three grid places for impeding Alonso in Q2.
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Max Verstappen takes pole ahead of Norris and Perez
Spielberg, 3 July 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took his second Red Bull Ring pole position in a week with a dominant performance in qualifying for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix. However, despite topping every segment of the hour–long session he was push closer in the final top 10 shootout by Lando Norris who claimed the first front-row start of his F1 career just four hundredths of a second behind the championship leader. Sergio Pérez took third place for Red Bull as Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth.
In Q1 Verstappen went out earlier than usual and with his first flying lap he jumped to the top of the order with an opening flying lap of 1:04.249. Hamilton wasn’t far behind the Dutchman on track and when he crossed the line he slotted into second place with a lap of 1:04.506, six hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Bottas. Pérez, meanwhile, found his way to sixth place with his opening lap of 1:04.833. However, as rivals crossed the line he dropped to eighth place and while Verstappen would stay in the garage for the final runs, Pérez had to go again.
In the end of though, the Mexican didn’t need to the boost of an extra flyer and as McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second behind Verstappen and ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Pérez backed out of his final flyer as other failed to make significant gains he settled for his opening lap time and P8.
Eliminated at the end of the first segment were Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in P16 ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
In the second segment Pérez was first out on track, on medium tyres, and the Mexican gave the remaining drivers in the field a target of 1:04.554 to aim at. Verstappen then headed out on mediums and immediately jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:04.208.
Hamilton then took second but was soon eclipsed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Pérez who went for a second attempt of 1:04.483.
In the final runs, Verstappen went quicker again hold top spot with a lap of 1:03.927, while Hamilton rose again to take P2 over three tenths down on the Red Bull. Bottas took third place ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris and Pérez settled for P6 thanks to his second run time.
Fernando Alonso though appeared to be blocked by seventh placed Sebastian Vettel and the stewards quickly announced that they would investigate the incident after the session. George Russell did make it through, however, taking Williams into Q3 for the first time this season.
It meant that both Ferraris failed to make it through, with Carlos Sainz being eliminated in P11 ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Alonso and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
In the first runs of the top-10 shootout Verstappen once again set blistering pace to open his Q3 account with a lap of 1:03.720. McLaren’s Lando Norris also showed good pace to take P2 just over two tenths of a second behind the Dutchman, with Hamilton in third place almost three tenths off Verstappen. Pérez, though, found himself in P5 after the first runs, a little under two tenths of a second behind Bottas.
The Mexican would need to find good gains in the final runs and when the final runs began he was third in the queue out of the pit lane, behind Norris.
Verstappen was at the head of the pack and though the Red Bull driver tried to find more time on his final run he couldn’t make an improvement. Aided by a tow from the championship leader Norris found more time but the Briton couldn’t quite match Verstappen’s opening time and the Red Bull driver’s opening lap was good enough to claim the team’s 67th pole position.
Pérez also benefited from a tow, this time from Norris, and the Mexican found the pace he needed to leapfrog both Mercedes drivers, taking P3 ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.
Behind the Mercedes drivers Pierre Gasly took sixth for AlphaTauri ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. Vettel finished eighth but will face investigation, while Russell qualified in P9 ahead of Stroll.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:03.720 7 243.954
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:03.768 0.048 7 243.771
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:03.990 0.270 7 242.925
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.014 0.294 6 242.834
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:04.049 0.329 6 242.701
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.107 0.387 6 242.482
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.273 0.553 6 241.855
8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.570 0.850 6 240.743
9 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:04.591 0.871 3 240.665
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.618 0.898 6 240.564
11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:04.559 0.632 6 240.784
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.600 0.673 6 240.631
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.719 0.792 6 240.189
14 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:04.856 0.929 6 239.681
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.083 1.156 6 238.845
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.009 0.760 9 239.117
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:05.051 0.802 6 238.963
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:05.195 0.946 6 238.435
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:05.427 1.178 9 237.589
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:05.951 1.702 9 235.702 -
Dominant victory for Max Verstappen ahead of Hamilton
Spielberg (Austria), 27 June 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took a flawless lights-to-flag Styrian Grand Prix victory, beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by 35 seconds as Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes car kept hard-charging Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull at bay in the closing stages to take third place.
At the start of the race, Verstappen made the perfect getaway and he took the lead ahead of Hamilton, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Pérez as the field streamed through Turn 1.
Behind them AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly tangled with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in Turn 1 and as the pair rejoined Leclerc’s front wing tagged the left rear of Gasly’s car. The Frenchman sustained a puncture. Then in Turn 3 he collided with the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi. The collisions left Gasly with heavy damage at the left rear corner of his car and he limped back to the pits to retire as Leclerc also pitted for repairs.
By lap 10 of the short and fast Red Bull Ring Verstappen had managed to eke out a three-second gap to Hamilton, while behind him Pérez was closing on Norris. The Mexican got the job done in Turn 3 of the same lap, diving down the inside of the McLaren driver to steal the podium place. Bottas pulled off a similar move on the McLaren but Pérez’s pace was strong and by lap 15 he had already extended the gap to the Finn to 3.5 seconds.
Pérez was the first of the leaders to make a pit stop. The Mexican headed for the pits on lap 27 but when he stopped on his marks there was a problem with the rear left wheel and he spent a costly 4.8 seconds stationary before being released with a set of new hard tyres.
The delay prompted Mercedes to pit Bottas at the end of the next lap and after a clean switch to hard tyres the Finn rejoined in third place ahead of Pérez.
Hamilton was the next of the leaders in and he too made a good stop of 2.2s as he sought to undercut Max. The Team responded, however, and after a brilliant stop of two seconds dead, the Dutchman rejoined in the lead, over four seconds clear of his championship rival.
Pérez then began to chip away at the gap to Bottas and by lap 42 he was just 2.8s behind the Finn. At the front Verstappen was managing the pace well and the gap to Hamilton remained stable at 4.4s.
At the front, Verstappen slowly but surely began to pull away from Hamilton and on lap 48 the gap had stretched to 6.5 seconds. Pérez, meanwhile, was still trying to find a way past Bottas. He steadily chipped away at the Finn’s advantage and on lap 49 was just 1.6s behind the Mercedes man.
He could find no way past, however, and at the end of lap 55 the Team brought the Mexican into the pits for a new set of medium tyres.
He quickly began to set purple laps and with 10 laps to go had turned a 20s deficit to the Finn to a gap of just 11 seconds. Five laps later and the gap was under six seconds.
With just a few laps remaining, the race to overhaul Bottas was always going to be close and despite a heroic effort in the end Pérez missed out by a tiny margin, crossing the line in fourth place, just 0.5s behind the Finn.
Verstappen was in cruise control at the front of the pack. With 15 seconds in hand over Hamilton in the final stages, Mercedes went into damage limitation mode.
On the penultimate lap Hamilton headed for the pits and took on a set of soft tyres. He claimed the race fastest lap on the final lap and reduced the damage caused by Verstappen to seven points.
After crossing the line 35s ahead of Hamilton to claim Red Bull’s third victory at its home track after Austrian Grand Prix wins in 2018 and 2019, Verstappen now leads the Drivers’ championship on 156 points, 18 ahead of Hamilton. Pérez, in third place, now has 96 points, 10 ahead of Norris.
In the battle for the Constructors’ championship crown Red Bull Racing now have 156 points, 40 ahead of Mercedes.
Behind the top four, Lando Norris took 10 valuable points for McLaren with fifth place. The result keeps McLaren in third in the Constructors’ Championship, on 120 points, 12 clear of Ferrari.
After a difficult build up to the race the Scuderia enjoyed a profitable afternoon with Carlos Sainz working a long stint well to rise up the order and eventually claim sixth place after starting from P12. Team-mate Charle Leclerc pitted at the end of the first lap following his clash with Gasly and dropped to the rear of the field. The Monegasque driver made an excellent comeback, however, to finish seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. The final point on offer was taken by AlphaTaauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 71 1:22’18.925
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 1:22’54.668 35.743
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 71 1:23’05.832 46.907
4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 71 1:23’06.359 47.434
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:22’24.281 1 lap /5.356
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 70 1:22’31.243 1 lap /12.318
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 1:22’43.757 1 lap /24.832
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:22’59.121 1 lap /40.196
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 70 1:23’00.099 1 lap /41.174
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 70 1:23’00.774 1 lap /41.849
11 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:23’03.208 1 lap /44.283
12 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:23’08.210 1 lap /49.285
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:23’09.506 1 lap /50.581
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 70 1:23’10.959 1 lap /52.034
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:23’17.947 1 lap /59.022
16 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 69 1:23’01.861 2 laps /42.936
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 68 1:22’22.430 3 laps /3.505
18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 68 1:22’30.819 3 laps /11.894
George Russell Williams/Mercedes 36 44’25.454 Power Unit
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1 2’03.661 Collision -
Max beats Hami with superior Red Bull strategy: Race Analysis
Max Verstappen extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton as he took his 3rd victory of the season with Hamilton finishing 2nd and the other Red Bull driver Sergio Perez completing the podium.
London, 21 June 2021: Red Bull claimed their third consecutive win in 2021 after Max Verstappen used a superior strategy to pass Lewis Hamilton one lap from the end of the race. Sergio Perez completed the podium as Valtteri Bottas finished P4. McLaren finished best of the rest with Lando Norris in P5 and Daniel Ricciardo in P6. Pierre Gasly finished in P7 in his home race ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P8. Aston Martin got double points finish as Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll finished in P9 and P10 respectively.
Carlos Sainz finished in P11 and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in P16, both cars unable to score points. George Russell gave Williams another solid finish in P12 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in P13. Esteban Ocon finished a lowly P14. Alfa Romeo pairing of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen finished P15 and P17 respectively, ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin rounded up the grid with all 20 cars finishing the race.
Hamilton got ahead in the lead after polesitter Verstappen lost control and went off track in turn 1. He slotted into P2 ahead of Bottas in P3 and Perez in P4. Meanwhile, Ricciardo made up two places as Alonso passed Norris as well. Norris ultimately losing two places at the start.
Hamilton maintained a gap of 2s over Verstappen with both matched on pace with Bottas not far behind. Perez was in P4 and behind him were Sainz, Gasly, Leclerc, Alonso, Ricciardo and Norris. Ricciardo hunted down Alonso and was finally able to pass him on lap 11, with Norris getting past Alonso two corners later.
Leclerc triggered the pitstops in the midfield by pitting on lap 14 for hard tyres to undercut his rivals. Ricciardo following in the next lap with Sainz and Gasly, Alonso pitting another lap later.Leclerc emerged ahead of everyone as he undercut his rivals including Ricciardo.
Meanwhile, at the front Mercedes triggered the pitstops as they called in Bottas on lap 17 for hard tyres, to make gains on Verstappen. Verstappen pitted on lap 18 to cover Bottas. Hamilton pitted a lap later and to no avail emerged behind Verstappen as Mercedes had underestimated the undercut. Hamilton hunting Verstappen but unable to get past him. Perez pitted on lap 24 to emerge back in P4.
Both Verstappen and Mercedes drivers were vocal about their tyre degradation as they were increasingly favoring a two stopin the cockpit. With the wounds of Barcelona still fresh in the minds of Red Bull, they pitted Verstappen on lap 32 for medium tyres to not fall prey to Mercedes’ undercut. Both Mercedes cars decided to stay out favoring track position.
In the midfield, both Ferrari’s were struggling due to tyre wear and Leclerc pitted for a second time emerging out of the points. Norris had pitted on lap 24 and Ricciardo let him by so he could utilise the superior pace of his McLaren.
On lap 44 Verstappen had closed up to Bottas and made the pass before turn 10. Bottas making his frustration known to Mercedes pit box about not changing to a two stop. With 9 laps to go Hamilton was 5s ahead.Verstappen closed up by lap 52, passing the Briton using DRS and re-taking the lead.
Verstappen extends his championship lead on a track where Mercedes was expected to be dominant. It is a good momentum for Red Bull heading into the next two races of the triple header which will held in Austria.
Red Bull had a clear advantage in qualifying over Mercedes. Race pace wise they were closely matched, but a superior strategy by Red Bull enabled them to win. Red Bull had the upper hand this weekend where Mercedes previously dominated. This shows that their car has clearly improved compared to Barcelona, which was the last conventional circuit visited by Formula 1. Red Bull did not suffer with high tyre degradation and ran lower downforce to achieve higher straight-line speed. Mercedes were running with higher downforce levels than Red Bull, thus, having inferior straight line speed. This was to keep the tyre temperatures under control by preventing them from sliding. Their race pace was on par with the Austrian squad but with an inferior strategy were forced to stay out and concede the win. It has been three races since Mercedes has not won a race and they have lost ground in both drivers and constructors’ championship.
McLaren were best of the rest. Their qualifying pace is not the benchmark of midfield, but they were miles faster than their immediate rivals Ferrari in race. They did not suffer tyre degradation unlike their Italian rivals and maximised points with both their cars. McLaren brought a small upgrade to their rear wing endplate. They retake 3rd in the constructor’s championship from Ferrari. Ferrari had the worst weekend of their 2021 season, with no cars scoring points and losing 3rd in the championship. They showed encouraging qualifying pace, with Sainz qualifying best of the rest in P5. However, in the race they struggled with tyre degradation and inferior straight-line speed meant they were sitting ducks down the two straights.
AlphaTauri in the hands of Gasly showed its points potential with good qualifying performance as well. Gasly has been able to extract the full potential of the AT02. On the other side of the garage Tsunoda has struggled with consistency as he got knocked out of Q1 due to his mistake. Alpine too has shown improvement in pace after introduction of new upgrades in the previous races. Like the AlphaTauri, Alpine showed encouraging qualifying and race pace with Alonso achieving points and Ocon not far off. Aston Martin have scored points for the third consecutive race in what has been a turnaround compared to the start of the season. The 4-time champion is more comfortable with car and with Aston Martin executing good strategies they seem to maximise their races.
Russell in the Williams had a commendable race as he finished P12 on merit with the FW43B showing signs of improvement in race pace and being less affected by the winds which was a problem at the start of the season. Alfa Romeo had a mediocre race as they could not challenge for points. Both drivers lamenting that the car was too slow to be in the top 10. Haas reached Q2 for the first time this season with the help of Schumacher, admittedly due to a red flag caused by him. Nevertheless, it is a silver lining for them and another positive step for the young driver.
Saturday Qualifying Results were:
P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P2: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P3: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P4: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P5: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P6: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P7: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P8: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P9: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P10: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P11: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P12: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P13: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P14: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P15: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P16: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P17: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P18: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) P19: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P20: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) Note – Stroll and Tsunoda failed to set a time within the Q1 107% requirement and race at the stewards’ discretion.
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Max Verstappen powers to pole ahead of Hamilton, Bottas
19 June 2021 Sat: F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton by almost three tenths of a second to claim pole position for tomorrow’s 2021 FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. Valtteri Bottas took will line up in third place on the grid ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez for the Round 7 FIA Formula One World Championship on Saturday.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton (in the pic) said: It’s great to see the fans here and it warms my heart to see people coming together finally after this difficult period for us all. It’s been a really hard weekend trying to get the car into a happy place and you wouldn’t believe all of the changes I’ve made since FP1. Congratulations to Max, he did a great job today.
On long run pace I think the Red Bulls were a tenth or two quicker than us in FP2 but my car is in a much different place now so I’m just going to stay hopeful and do everything that I can tomorrow. Obviously in second you’ve got a fighting chance down to Turn 1 and there’s going to be some interesting strategy calls tomorrow. Maybe it’ll rain so we’ll potentially get to see the rain masters do their thing! We’re loving the battle so we’re just going to keep pushing, keep fighting, and giving it everything.
The opening Q1 segment got off to a stuttering start and the hour-long session was barely three minutes old when the action had to halted. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda tried too too much kerb in Turn 1 and spun. He slide backwards off track in Turn 2 and hit the barriers. Apart from severe vibrations at the rear of his car as hew slid across the run-off the impact to the back of his car did not seem bad but after reporting that he had no gears race control red-flagged the session.
After a 10-minute delay the action resumed and Verstappen vaulted to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:31.001, eclipsing Bottas by more than six tenths of a second. Pérez then shuffled the Finn down to third place ahead of Hamilton. The Briton made a second attempt, however, and his improved lap time of 1:31.237 earned him P3 ahead of Pérez.
In the final moments of the session Haas’ Mick Schumacher crashed at Turn 6 and the red flags were shown for the second time and race control announced that with less than a minute on the clock the session would not be restarted. The stoppage meant that a number of drivers were not able to complete final flying laps and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Haas’ Nikita Mazepin and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were eliminated without getting an opportunity to escape the drop zone.
In Q2 the majority of the remaining field headed out on medium tyres and in the first runs Pérez took an early lead with a lap of 1:30.971, a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton, who sat sixth after his first flying lap extended his run for a second attempt and he duly took top spot with a lap of 1:30.959.
Both Red Bulls and both Mercedes drivers went out for the final runs but while Bottas and Hamilton completed another medium-tyre flyer, with Bottas taking top spot on 1:30.735 and Hamilton improving, both Pérez, and Verstappen backed out of their laps leaving the top two placings to the Mercedes pair.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel exiting in P12 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams’ George Russell.
In the first runs of Q3 Verstappen seized an early advantage, claiming provisional pole with a lap of 1:30.325, almost four tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton who slotted into P2. Pérez grabbed P3 a little under two tenths clear of Bottas.
But if there were any thoughts that the final runs would be a comfortable march to pole for the Dutchman they were dismissed as Verstappen and his chief title rival raised the level again in the final runs.
The pair traded purple sectors across through but when Verstappen crossed the line it was in a time of 1:29.990, 0.258 seconds ahead of Hamilton, and a fifth career pole position belonged to the Red Bull driver.
Bottas jumped ahead of Pérez in the final run and the Mexican will start fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, AlphjaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris will start in P8 for McLaren ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and the second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.
2021 FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:29.990 6 233.705
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.248 0.258 0.287 6 233.037
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:30.376 0.386 0.429 6 232.707
4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:30.445 0.455 0.506 6 232.530
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.840 0.850 0.945 6 231.519
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:30.868 0.878 0.976 6 231.447
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.987 0.997 1.108 6 231.145
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.252 1.262 1.402 6 230.473
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:31.340 1.350 1.500 6 230.251
10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.382 1.392 1.547 6 230.145
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:31.736 1.001 1.103 6 229.257
12 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.767 1.032 1.137 6 229.180
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:31.813 1.078 1.188 6 229.065
14 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:32.065 1.330 1.466 6 228.438
15 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:32.942 1.941 2.133 7 226.283
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:33.062 2.061 2.265 7 225.991
17 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:33.354 2.353 2.586 7 225.284
18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:33.554 2.553 2.805 7 224.802
Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 2’12.584 41.583 45.695 7 158.625
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 2 -
Verstappen tops FP2 times
Paul Ricard (France), 18 June 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen narrowly took top spot in second practice for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix, beating Valtteri Bottas by eight hundredths of a second at Paul Ricard Circxuit. Bottas’ Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished third.
Bottas set the pace in the early stages of the afternoon session, setting a target of 1:32.880s on medium tyres. Hamilton and Verstappen took scond and third places respectively during this phase, with Hamilton four tenths off his team-mate, while Verstappen was a second down on the Finn’s P1 time.
In the morning session Bottas has clattered over the kerbs in Turn and damaging the front wing of his Mercedes. And in the opening half hour of the second session Verstappen suffered in a similar fashion. The Dutchmen went wide on entry, bounced across the yellow kerbs and snapped a section of front wing in the process. With two races in Austria coming in quick succession after France and with the Red Bull Ring’s kerbs known to be harsh on front wings, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner requested the the part be recovered from the track and returned to the team for repair.
With Bottas secure at the top of the order on medium tyres, the Finn was among the first to then make the move to soft tyres for performance runs around 20 minutes into the session.
However, for the Finn, the expected improvement on the softer tyre did not arrive and though he set a purple time in the opening sector of the lap, his soft tyres wilted as the lap wore on and he finished three tents of a second slower than his best time on mediums.
Hamilton found an improvement on the red-walled tyre but his best time of the session was still not good enough to move ahead of his team-mate’s medium-tyre time.
Verstappen was next to bolt on softs and thanks to purple times in the first and last sectors he managed to edge just ahead of Bottas thanks to a lap of 1:32.872.
It was a less successful session for Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Pérez. The Baku winner, who later admitted to taking a wrong turn on set-up, failed to significantly improve on soft tyres and finished in P12, a full second off his team-mate’s pace.
Fernando Alonso took fourth for Alpine, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished in seventh place with Carlos Sainz eighth for Ferrari ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and McLaren’s Lando Norris.
2021 FIA Fomrula 1 French Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 21 1:32.872
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 27 1:32.880 0.008
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 23 1:33.125 0.253
4 Fernando Alonso Alpine 25 1:33.340 0.468
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 23 1:33.550 0.678
6 Esteban Ocon Alpine 23 1:33.685 0.813
7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 25 1:33.696 0.824
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 24 1:33.698 0.826
9 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 26 1:33.786 0.914
10 Lando Norris McLaren 24 1:33.822 0.950
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 23 1:33.831 0.959
12 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 24 1:33.921 1.049
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 25 1:33.955 1.083
14 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 24 1:34.079 1.207
15 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 25 1:34.447 1.575
16 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 24 1:34.632 1.760
17 George Russell Williams 25 1:35.266 2.394
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams25 1:35.331 2.459
19 Mick Schumacher HaasHaas 24 1:35.512 2.640
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas Haas 23 1:35.551 2.679
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Sergio Perez wins; Verstappen, Hamilton fail to score
Baku, 6 June 2021: Sergio Pérez took his first victory as a Red Bull Racing driver after team-mate Max Verstappen crashed out from the lead due to a puncture with just six laps left and Lewis Hamilton finished outside the points after locking up under braking on the re-start following the red flag for Verstappen’s crash.
At the race start pole sitter Charles Leclerc got away well and took the lead for Ferrari ahead of front-row starter Hamilton. Verstappen made a solid start from third on the grid to take up position behind the Mercedes driver.
Just behind the top three Pérez made a superb start from P6 and halfway through the opening lap he was past Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and had slotted into fourth place.
Hamilton then passed Leclerc on the long straight to taker the lead but with the Ferrari driver soon getting a DRS boost from the defending champion Verstappen was unable to immediately follow suit and pass the Monegasque driver.
But unable to match Hamilton’s pace, Leclerc lost DRS on lap six, however, and as the leaders crossed the line to start the next lap, Verstappen was power past the Ferrari to take P2. Pérez then repeated the overtake on the next lap to steal P3.
Hamilton headed for the pits at the end of lap 11 and moved to hard tyres, but the Mercedes driver was forced to wait on his marks for a few crucial moments as Gasly passed the Mercedes box.
Red Bull responded to the delay by pitting Verstappen at the end of the next lap. And after a quick 1.9s stop the Dutch driver rejoined ahead of Hamilton.
Pérez made his stop for hard tyres on the following lap, but the Mexican overshot his marks sligfhtly and his stop took a slow 4.3 seconds. Despite the delay he emerged ahead of Hamilton.
At the halfway mark, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll held fourth place having not made a pit stop to switch his starting hard tyres. But on lap 30 the Canadian’s left rear tyre suffered a puncture and he crashed into the wall near to the pit entry. The Safety Car was immediately deployed and the pit lane was closed.
After a short delay while Stroll’s car was recovered racing resumed. Verstappen controlled the re-start well and kept his lead ahead of Pérez and Hamilton. Behind them a ferocious tussle for fourth developed among Gasly, Leclerc and Vettel and it was the Aston Martin driver who profited most.
He made a good move past Leclerc to steal fifth after the re-start and soon after powered past Gasly to claim fourth place.
The race then settled again with Verstappen managing the gap to Pérez and with Mexican resisting constant pressure from Hamilton.
But the race took a dramatic turn on lap 46. As he crossed the line Verstappen RB16B slid sideways and he was pitched into the wall on the straight apparently due to an issue with his rear left tyre.
The race was quickly red-flagged and all cars returned to the pit lane. That allowed teams to change tyres ahead of a standing restart.
And when the lights went out it was Hamilton who made the best start. He pulled alongside pole sitter on the inside line as they powered towards Turn 1. But as they hit the brakes Hamilton locked up. Pérez swept through to claim the lead and Hamilton slid down the escape road. He would rejoin but finished in 15th place.
And two laps later Pérez claimed a deserved second career victory. Sebastian Vettel claimed an equally well worked second place for Aston Martin, with Pierre Gasly grabbing another podium for AlpahTauri. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, while Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh to give AlphaTauri a double points finish. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished in eighth place ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and the final point was taken by Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Race
1 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 51 2:13’36.410
2 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 51 2:13’37.795 1.385
3 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 51 2:13’39.172 2.762
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 51 2:13’40.238 3.828
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 51 2:13’41.164 4.754
6 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 51 2:13’42.792 6.382
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 51 2:13’43.034 6.624
8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 51 2:13’44.119 7.709
9 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 51 2:13’45.284 8.874
10 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 2:13’45.986 9.576
11 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 51 2:13’46.664 10.254
12 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 51 2:13’47.674 11.264
13 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 51 2:13’50.651 14.24
14 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 51 2:13’50.725 14.315
15 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 51 2:13’54.078 17.668
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 51 2:14’18.789 42.379
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 48 1:33’22.206 Not running
18 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 45 1:25’35.564 Tyre
Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 29 52’15.262 Tyre
Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 3 6’01.705 Power Unit
