Verstappen on fire: Explaining the 2021 Austrian GP

Red Bull rider is driving like a champ
Jul 5, 2021
PHOTO: AP

MAN, oh, man was that a way to close the season’s first triple header!

The drivers’ second run at Austria’s Red Bull Ring showed off a race worthy of a standing ovation. With all the on-track drama, wheel-to-wheel battles, and nail-biting moments, this definitely made up for last week’s race that admittedly lacked a bit of spice.

Amidst a sea of orange, championship leader Max Verstappen was once again on fire the whole weekend. When you’re in front of your orange-clad supporters and racing in your team’s home track, wouldn’t that motivate you?

After leading two out of three practice sessions, he came into Saturday’s qualifying ready for whatever that lies ahead. However, he certainly did not expect that his rival for pole would not be his teammate — nor any of the Mercedes drivers. His rival would be none other than McLaren’s Lando Norris, who almost snatched P1 from the Dutchman.

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The fight for the F1 Austrian Grand Prix

Norris had the qualifier lap of his life, going just 0.04s behind Verstappen, and this gave him the opportunity to be on the front row on Sunday for the first time ever in his budding Formula 1 career. Seeing as he was driving a papaya-colored car (with a hue that’s similar to what Verstappen’s fans were wearing) Norris jokingly said in a post-quali interview that those fans were all cheering for McLaren instead of Max.

As the lights went out on Sunday, only 19 drivers were able to finish the first lap as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon came in contact with the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi after being sandwiched between him and the Haas of Mick Schumacher. The Frenchman was forced to retire before he could even go into turn 4, continuing his points-less streak after signing the contract extension with his team.

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A couple laps into the race, the battle for the remaining podium positions became very tight as both Norris and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez turned up the hustle. In the end, Norris got his elbows out and was able to get ahead of the Mexican. This did not go in the Brit’s favor, however, as this move handed him a 5-second penalty ⏤ which he served during his pitstop ⏤ for “forcing another driver off the track.”

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Ironically, Perez got two 5-second penalties in the race’s closing stage for doing the same thing, twice, to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Despite these penalties, Perez managed to finish at P6 to help with their team’s championship bid.

Penalty train at Austrian GP

Joining the penalty train would be Giovinazzi, whistled for overtaking while the safety car is out, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda for crossing the line at pit entry twice, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll for speeding in the pit lane.

This could have been a monumental day for George Russell as he was able to bring his FW43B to Q3 on Saturday. It was the first time since 2018 that a Williams car has made it to the top 10 of the grid by pure merit. Starting in P8, after Sebastian Vettel was handed a 3-place grid penalty, Russell looked poised to score his maiden points for the Grove-based team and secure their 9th place in the standings.

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He might have gone down a couple of places after the first lap, but he was able to fight back and was in a fierce competition with veteran Fernando Alonso for the last point in P10. Russell strongly defended against him and his Alpine car, the A521, but the Williams was lacking in both pace and power. Ultimately, he had to concede and he finished the race in P11.

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Meanwhile, 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, struggled in the latter part of the race, nursing some damage on his car that forced him to the pit, eventually, emerging behind Lando’s McLaren.

The race ended with a grand slam win for Verstappen as he started from pole, led every lap, won, and finished with an additional point for fastest lap.

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Red Bull still dominant

“It's incredible to be honest… I’m a bit amazed [at] myself [with] how today went; I didn’t expect it to be like this. Incredible job by everyone to deliver something like this," said Verstappen as he continued his championship bid and extended his lead over main rival Hamilton.

Joining him on the podium were Lando Norris in P3 and Valtteri Bottas in P2. Norris, back again in the Austrian top three after he scored his first career podium here last year, also won “Driver of the Day''.

"I'm extremely happy with today’s result. Another podium and a lot of points for us as a team. A very good day. The only thing that's disappointing is the fact we could've been P2, but at the same time that's also a big positive. Our pace today was extremely strong, especially in the second stint against very fast cars and against Mercedes... a huge thank you to the whole team for their hard work and giving me such a great car,” said Norris after the race.

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It was indeed a good day as teammate Daniel Ricciard finished in P7. This gave them a 19-point lead over their constructor rival Ferrari whose drivers, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, finished in P5 and P8.

Pierre Gasly’s finish in P9 meant that AlphaTauri has been consistently in the points for every race this season. A great feat for the Faenza-based team, and this gave them a continued advantage over rivals Aston Martin and Alpine.

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It could have been a smooth, crash-less race, apart from Ocon and Giovinazzi’s early contact; but in F1, you never really know what would happen until every single car has passed the chequered flag.

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As the podium finishers were soaking in their victory, a crash happened between former teammates Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, which meant that a yellow flag had to be released.

As the dust cleared, Red Bull once again asserted its dominance. Verstappen has already claimed 5 out of 9 victories. As the season continues in Silverstone, would they be able to keep this momentum? Stay tuned as the Formula 1 races again on July 18 for the 2021 British Grand Prix.

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PHOTO: AP
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