2021 Austrian GP Review

Written by Luke Murray

Verstappen dominates the weekend with a grand slam victory

The race began in eventful fashion as a collision between Ocon and Giovinnazzi brought out the safety car on lap 1. Commotion resumed on the restart as Perez made a bold move around the outside of Lando Norris at turn 4, however he was forced wide onto the gravel, a move which the stewards deemed worthy of a 5 second penalty for the McLaren driver. From then on the race dulled a bit with the only things worth noting being Hamiltons car struggles, a few feisty battles in the midfield and a bizarre collision between Vettel and Raikkonen on the last lap of the race. In the end Max triumphed taking an uncontested victory to extend his lead in the drivers' championship to 32 points, which will undoubtedly start to make Hamilton and Mercedes sweat.

DRIVER WEEKEND REVIEWS:

Mercedes:

Hamilton:6/10, It was a disappointing weekend for both Hamilton and Mercedes as they somehow seemed even further adrift of Red Bull compared to the week prior. A 4th place start put him in good stead for Sunday, but he picked up damage from the aggressive kerbing which the track is known for and was only able to limp home to 4th.

Bottas:6/10, Again another disappointing weekend for Valtteri on what many consider to be one of his strongest tracks, he qualified behind his teammate in 5th but did manage to pick up the slack left by Hamilton when his car got damaged to claim a valuable P2 in the constructors fight against Red Bull.

Red Bull:

Verstappen:10/10, Pole, victory, fastest lap and lead every lap, there's nothing more you could've asked from Max Verstappen this weekend as he put in an absolutely dominant display akin to those of Sebastian Vettel way back when. A Verstappen world championship looks more and more likely with each race passing.

Perez:5/10, Just 2 tenths off the mighty Max Verstappen meant he started third on Sunday, however it would all unravel from there as Perez had a scruffy race picking up two five second time penalties as he fought his way back from an early race incident with Norris. He scored some solid points with a sixth-place finish, but not an ideal weekend for the Mexican.

McLaren:

Norris:9/10, An excellent weekend all round from Lando proving to many people in the paddock why he is future world champion material. He came agonisingly close to pole on Saturday and was able to keep pace with the Mercedes drivers on Sunday as well, earning himself a well-deserved 3rd place.

Ricciardo:4/10, Qualifying 13th whilst your teammate is in second is never a good look but that was the reality for Daniel this weekend. He did somewhat recover some pride in the race with a 7th place finish, however he's still nowhere close to what we would've expected from him this season.

Aston Martin:

Vettel:5/10, A penalty on Saturday for impeding Alonso meant he started 11th instead of 8th, putting him on the back foot for the race. He showed decent pace and lead his teammate for much of the race, but a poor strategy meant points were off the cards. His misery was further compounded by a bizarre crash with Kimi Raikkonen at the end of the race meaning in the end he finished just 17th.

Stroll:5/10, Outraced and outqualified by his teammate constitutes a disappointing weekend for Stroll, to add insult to injury he got a penalty for speeding in the pitlane during the race eventually coming home to claim 13th. He and Aston Martin will be hoping for better fortunes in Silverstone.

Alpine:

Alonso:6/10, All through practice it was evident that Alonso was quick however after being blocked in Q2 he was unable to convert said pace into a good grid position and thus lined up 14th. In spite of this, he put in a solid performance in the race to recover some points with a 10th place finish.

Ocon:4/10, He never quite looked like matching Alonso's pace this weekend and that was proven on Saturday after he managed to qualify just 17th on the grid. Things didn't improve from there as he collided with Giovinazzi on the first lap of the race which meant he had to retire, a promising season beginning to go sour for Ocon.

Ferrari:

Leclerc:6/10, An average qualifying by Leclerc's standards left him 12th and crucially behind his teammate Sainz. He did get free choice of tyres for the start however, which aided him in the race as he fought his way up to 8th.

Sainz:8/10, He outqualified Leclerc to claim 11th which is an impressive feat for the Ferrari new boy and the race was similarly successful. He made a bold call by starting on hard tyres, a strategy which proved to be the right one as he climbed up through the order to claim a well-deserved 5th.

Alpha Tauri:

Gasly:7/10: An impressive qualifying put him 6th for the race however he had to start on the softs giving him a disadvantage on strategy. This wasn't a problem for Pierre as he made the two-stop work, charging his way through the pack to an impressive 9th place finish.

Tsunoda:5/10, Things were looking up for Yuki as he was able to keep pace with Gasly in qualifying which has been a rare occurrence this season. However, things went downhill in the race as he picked up two penalties for crossing the line on pitlane entry meaning he could only manage to finish 12th, this adding to a collection of scruffy races in his rookie season.

Alfa Romeo:

Raikkonen:5/10, Once again Raikkonen's qualifying woes were highlighted with him being beaten by Giovinazzi on Saturday. However, he made it work come race day as a clever strategy and good race craft propelled him up into contention for points until a last lap collision with Vettel squandered those hopes.

Giovinazzi:5/10, Not too much can be said about Antonio's weekend, he did well in qualifying to beat his teammate, but he couldn't build on that performance in the race and only managed to a 14th place finish. A difficult weekend for him and the Swiss based team

Haas:

Schumacher:6/10, Mick put on a decent display this weekend once again making the best of bad machinery. He firmly outclassed his teammate in both the race and qualifying and kept his nose clean throughout the three-day event, not too much more you could ask of the young rookie.

Mazepin:3/10, It was the same old story for Nikita this weekend being bested by his German teammate yet again in both the race and qualifying. To add to his troubles, he was also awarded a 30 second time penalty for ignoring double waved yellows at the end of the race, not ideal the ideal weekend for the Russian.

Williams:

Russell:8/10, It was an amazing effort from Russell in qualifying to put his Williams in 8th for the start, he built on that performance in the race too, which meant was running in tenth until the last few laps where he was overtaken by a fast-charging Alonso. As he once again came agonizingly close to a points finish.

Latifi:3/10, Vastly outshone by his teammate this weekend, something which has become a regular occurrence in his time with the Grove based outfit. His pace all round left a lot to be desired as he came home to claim a disappointing 16th place finish.