Just 7 days after the conclusion of the Styrian Grand Prix around the Red Bull Ring, the teams and drivers were back at it again for the FORMULA 1 BWT GROSSER PREIS VON ÖSTERREICH 2021. Again, it was Max Verstappen who dominated from start to finish, in what turned out to be a penalty-filled Sunday.
All of the top four got away well off the line. Max Verstappen pulled ahead of Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton almost immediately started to pressure Sergio Perez for P3, getting alongside in turns 3 and 4.
The safety car was deployed before the end of the opening lap to recover the stricken Alpine car of Esteban Ocon. He was the meat in a Mick Schumacher and Antonio Giovinazzi sandwich in turn 3. Ocon damaged his front suspension on Giovinazzi’s rear tyre. Giovinazzi pitted under the safety car, but things got worse for him when he was given a 5 second penalty for overtaking under the safety car.
The race restarted on lap 4. Immediately, Perez began challenging Norris for P2 in the race. Perez tried going around the McLaren on the outside of the first corner, but ran wide over the kerbs. He tried making an overtake again on Norris around the outside of turn 4, but he ran wide into the gravel, dropping back to P10. The incident earned Norris a 5 second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track.
With Perez out of the way, that freed the two Mercedes up to chase down Norris. It took Hamilton many laps to get by the young Brit. Valtteri Bottas dropped back, but Hamilton stayed right behind the McLaren for well over 15 laps. Hamilton finally got by on the run down to turn 4 on lap 20. Norris earned compliments from Hamilton over the team radio.
Norris pitted ten laps later, also serving his 5 second penalty in the process. Valtteri Bottas followed him into the pit lane, leap frogging him to P3. Critically for his race, Norris rejoined the race in P4 ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton pitted the following lap for tyres and Max Verstappen, not keen on risking his comfortable 12 second lead, pitted the lap after Hamilton. Similarly to last week’s race at the Red Bull Ring, no one seemed to have an answer for Verstappen’s pace. The gap continued to grow after the pit window.
On lap 41, Charles Leclerc was battling with Perez for P8 in the race. He tried to make a move around the outside of the Red Bull in turn 4, but the two bumped in the corner and Leclerc was forced wide into the gravel, losing a lot of time. The stewards were quick to give Perez a 5 second penalty for forcing another driver off the track, similar to what they had done for the incident earlier in the race, which ironically also involved Perez.
Six laps later, Leclerc was back on the rear of Perez. Leclerc tried to put his Ferrari around the outside of the Red Bull in turn 6. He was forced off the track into the gravel again, losing more time. Sergio Perez’s penalty total grew to 10 seconds, with another 5 second penalty applied for forcing a driver off the track.
Meanwhile, near the front, Hamilton had damaged his car jumping over the kerbs in the first corner and Bottas was advised not to overtake his teammate to preserve Hamilton’s championship bid. But with Hamilton holding up Bottas, it was putting the duo under threat from Norris in P4.
The Mercedes pit wall was forced to allow Bottas to swap with Hamilton in turn 3, releasing him into P2. Hamilton fell back to Norris, who tried launching an unsuccessful late braking overtake around the outside of turn 3 the following lap. Norris was able to climb up to a podium position later that same lap on the inside of turn 6. Having been overtaken, Hamilton dove into the pit lane for a new set of tyres.
Max Verstappen made a trip into the pit lane with just over 10 laps remaining in the race. The team fitted a new set of tyres, as the team detected a cut on the right-rear tyre. He came out still more than 10 seconds ahead of Bottas and bettered his fastest lap for good measure.
George Russell and Fernando Alonso put on a good show for the Austrian fans in the closing stages in the race, battling for the final points position. Russell did all he could to keep the Alpine behind, defending many overtaking attempts by Alonso, but the F1 veteran finally got by the Williams at the run down to turn 4.
The two Ferrari drivers also put on a good show fighting Daniel Ricciardo for P6. Charles Leclerc was not able to get by the Australian and the team swapped their teammates to give Carlos Sainz a go at the McLaren driver. Sainz was able to get the job done on the final lap.
The drama was not over as Verstappen crossed the finish line to take the second Red Bull Ring victory, as Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel tangled in turn 4. Raikkonen was battling with Russell for P11 and Vettel tried to join the battle on the inside of turn 4. Raikkonen moved to the inside of the corner, collecting Vettel.
Leading from start to finish, it was Max Verstappen who came out on top for the second weekend in a row, strengthening his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton, who failed to make it to the podium. Valtteri Bottas managed to fend off Lando Norris for the second step of the podium. Sergio Perez finished the race in P5 on track, but was demoted a position due to the time penalties, bumping Carlos Sainz up the results.
It’s time now to leave the Red Bull Ring. The teams will be heading back to Britain for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on the weekend of July 18.
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| DNF |
