2021 Styrian Grand Prix AUSTRIA

[Everso Biggyballies]

Bottom post of the previous page:

So Max wins from Lewis by a day or so with Bottas hanging on just to 3rd from Sergio.

[Everso Biggyballies]

POS DRIVERGAP PIT
1 Max VERSTAPPENLEADER 1
2 Lewis HAMILTON+35.743 2
3 Valtteri BOTTAS+46.907 1
4 Sergio PEREZ+47.434 2
5 Lando NORRIS1L 1
6 Carlos SAINZ1L 1
7 Charles LECLERC1L 2
8 Lance STROLL1L 1
9 Fernando ALONSO1L 1
10 Yuki TSUNODA1L 1
11 Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN1L 1
12 Sebastian VETTEL1L 1
13 Daniel RICCIARDO1L 1
14 Esteban OCON1L 1
15 Antonio GIOVINAZZI1L 1
16 Mick SCHUMACHER2L 1
17 Nicholas LATIFI3L 2
18 Nikita MAZEPIN3L 1
19 George RUSSELL-- 3
20 Pierre GASLY-- 1

[Everso Biggyballies]

Crikey Marko out on the Podium to take the constructors trophy

[Everso Biggyballies]

And he gets champagne sprayed into his eyes. Sorry, his eye.

[White six]

That was so dull I'm almost hoping Merc start improving again

[Everso Biggyballies]

18 points the gap now between Max and Lewis. The fight is on now, with Lewis having no answers today.

POS DRIVER PTS
1 Max Verstappen 156
2 Lewis Hamilton 138
3 Sergio Perez 96
4 Lando Norris 86
5 Valtteri Bottas 74
6 Charles Leclerc 58


Constructors.... .
Red Bull 3 points shy of bing a 1-2 ahead of Merc

1 RED BULL RACING HONDA 252
2 MERCEDES 212
3 MCLAREN MERCEDES 120
4 FERRARI 108
5 ALPHATAURI HONDA 46
6 ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 44

[John]

I wonder at which point RB and Merc will stop focusing on the 2021 car and plough all their resources into the 2022 car. If the title race is all square come Spa or Hungary there's gonna be a real chicken race.

[Picci]

I did think Mercedes would be faster here. I was surprised to see Lewis not keeping up with Max. What this race really needed was a bit of Perez getting in the mix. Checo and Bottas were too far behind by the time they passed Lando and the gap kept on growing.

[Circuitmaster]

That was so dull I'm almost hoping Merc start improving again

Good god no thanks. After 7 years of Merc's winning (With varying levels of ease) we've got a Red Bull looking good for the title and we've had mostly interesting races so far. I'm not going to start wishing away Verstappen's advantage because of a couple of dull weekends.

I'll take Red Bull dominance for the rest of the season any day if you offered it to me. Especially as it'll stop Hammy winning a record 8th title, and the rules are changing for next year, meaning that dominance this year is unlikely to translate into next year.

[White six]

18 points the gap now between Max and Lewis. The fight is on now, with Lewis having no answers today.

POS DRIVER PTS
1 Max Verstappen 156
2 Lewis Hamilton 138
3 Sergio Perez 96
4 Lando Norris 86
5 Valtteri Bottas 74
6 Charles Leclerc 58


Constructors.... .
Red Bull 3 points shy of bing a 1-2 ahead of Merc

1 RED BULL RACING HONDA 252
2 MERCEDES 212
3 MCLAREN MERCEDES 120
4 FERRARI 108
5 ALPHATAURI HONDA 46
6 ASTON MARTIN MERCEDES 44

Rb always seem to have a dnf in them. Merc probably reliant on that coming already

[Ruslan]

My feel is that the Mercs are probably around a tenth of a second slower on this track than the Red Bull’s. This could be the two races where Red Bull can put their stamp on the season.

According to Hamilton, they are .25 seconds a lap slower.

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/ ... _Red_Bull/

So 71 laps times 0.25 = 17.75 seconds behind at the end of the race.

Well, when Hamilton went in on lap 70 for new tires, he was 17.4 seconds behind Verstappen.

Anyhow, not a bad race. Some nice racing in the field. LeClerc did a great job of coming back up through the pack. I gather he won driver of the day, but as he speared Gasly's tire, I don't think I would give it to him. Kind of has to be Verstappen.

1-2: Solid capable races from both Verstappen and Hamilton. It is clear that Red Bull is the faster car at the moment.
3: Bottas finally did his job. About time.
4. Perez: Not a great race, considering he probably had the better car.
5: Norris: Love Lando. Certainly got the most out of the car.
6-7: Sainz/LeClerc: Good drives. LeClerc looked faster.
8. Stroll: Finished ahead of a two-time world champion, finished ahead of the 2007 world champion, finished ahead of a four-time world champion, who also happens to be his teammate. While I still don't believe he is really quite F1 quality, he is better than Latifi and Mazepin.
9: Alonso: looks like he is back to form.
10: Yuki: I like this guy. I find him entertaining.
12. Vettel: At least he didn't finish 13th.
13. Ricciardo: Was looking quite racy for a while, but I gather had some kind of electrical engine problem.
14: Ocon: mystified by his lack of form.

R: Russell: Real shame, but that is racing.
R: Gasly: Real shame. Accident was not his fault at all, but that is racing.

Anyhow, same race next week...same Bull-time, same Bull-channel, same Bull-track and I am guessing similar results.

[Picci]

I hope they'll bring different compounds. Obviously one-stop strategies are always boring.

And perhaps rain.

[Everso Biggyballies]

I hope they'll bring different compounds. Obviously one-stop strategies are always boring.

And perhaps rain.

Yes they are bringing different compounds next weekend....

For this weekend (The Styrian race) we had the same tyres as used in France – the C2, C3 and C4 compounds.

For the Austrian race we will be going a step softer.... using the C3, C4 and C5 compounds – their softest selection in their range. Not sure if that will move the preference to a two stop strategy, but sure we will hear something more in the coming days.

In addition and nothing to do with the race, but on the subject of tyres.....

New specification of rear tyre to be tested at the Austrian GP Friday Free Practice

Pirelli, in agreement with the FIA, Formula 1 and the teams, will test a new rear construction of tyre in free practice at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday 2 July to evaluate its effectiveness to further improve robustness of the tyres.

This decision has been taken in addition to the recently issued technical directive and the latest starting parameters prescribed by Pirelli, in light of the fact that it is not currently possible to monitor running conditions in real time. This will remain the case until next year, when standard Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) sensors will be introduced across all teams.

Next Friday, each driver will have two sets of these new tyres available for use during either free practice session. If the test is successful, the new rear specification will be introduced from the British Grand Prix onwards, replacing the current specification. The new rear construction incorporates some elements that have been developed for use in the latest 18-inch Formula 1 tyres from 2022.

http://www.automobilsport.com/race-cate ... e,news.htm

[Picci]

Thanks! Hopefully this means more pitstops.

[XcraigX]

Not a very entertaining race. The championship will finally be interesting for once in a long while, so we at least have that to look forward to.

[White six]

Not a very entertaining race. The championship will finally be interesting for once in a long while, so we at least have that to look forward to.

Max will be wrapping it up at Monza at this rate