Austrian Hills. A Dutch Hunter. A 7-time World Champion looking for payback. Ferrari searching answers. Midfield becoming tighter and Williams looking for points.
The Styrian GP had 71 laps full of storylines but one ultimate winner: Max Verstappen. After seeing Mercedes control the narrative from start to the finish since 2014, this was a welcome change. If you take Lewis Hamilton's second pitstop out of the equation, Verstappen did not just win but he won by a huge margin. Over 15 seconds when he crossed the line. Dominance is hard to describe but 15-second dominance is even harder.
The tiny changes introduced by FIA this year have definitely helped Red Bull Racing but it seems they have clawed back a lot of performance with their powertrain, chassis and most importantly, the entire race package including the car, the drivers and the personnel. Whether Max and Red Bull win the drivers and constructors championship or not, this is the kind of fight that F1 kept promising for far too long.
The momentum going into Styrian GP held at Spielberg, Austria was always in the favour of Red Bull Racing. They already showed phenomenal performance at French GP last weekend. At Styria, home to Red Bull and at a circuit owned by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, everything seemed to be lined up in their favour.
If you are a Red Bull Racing driver and your name is Max Verstappen then the recipe for success is quite simple: test the limits of the car during free practice, find the sweet spot with balance and grip, put the car on pole during qualifying and when the lights go out, make sure you are ahead at turn 1 and lead all the way to turn 3 and build over a second gap by the time DRS is enabled. Max Verstappen did all of that and he did some more.
Ahead of the start of the race, he told F1 that the key is to stay calm and focussed. He definitely did look calm, composed and focused on the big picture. He topped FP1 and FP2, showing that French GP gap to Mercedes was relevant even to Spielberg. He missed out on numero uno at FP3 due to traffic but that was a valuable lesson as well. With a short circuit like Red Bull Ring where there are only 10 corners, traffic is always a thing.
When the hammer time came, he did send it. Another qualifying where the first soft tyre run is all that mattered. Verstappen took pole. What happened behind him is what made the whole event interesting. Lewis Hamilton decided to not be stuck behind the train of cars and he leapt them and went wobbly and lost the possibility of a pole. I can't recollect the last time when Lewis made a poor judgement. He has been clinical for so long that even the tiniest mistakes look big.
Then came a banger lap from Valtteri Bottas, who already knew that he had a three place grid penalty. [That penalty for the pitlane incident seems harsh but he did put a lot of people at risk there]. He got P2 and then got bumped down to P5. All eyes on Lando Norris and Sergio Perez. Lando managed P4 while Sergio Perez's lap was only good enough for P5. They got promoted to P3 and P4 for the start respectively.
Pierre Gasly looked sensational all through the weekend and his P6 in quali was unsurprising. Charles Leclerc in P7 ahead of Yuki Tsunoda [3-place grid penalty], Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. If you asked for a mixed up grid then you got one. And what to say about George Russell? Missing out on Q3 appearance by eight one thousandth of a second. He was pipped by Fernando Alonso, who has praised Russell all he can since his return to the sport. Bittersweet indeed.
Starting Grid for the race:
Max Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton
Lando Norris
Sergio Perez
Valtteri Bottas
Pierre Gasly
Charles Leclerc
Fernando Alonso
Lance Stroll
George Russell
Yuki Tsunoda
Carlos Sainz
Daniel Ricciardo
Sebastian Vettel
Antonio Giovinazzi
Nicolas Latifi
Esteban Ocon
Kimi Raikkonen
Mick Schumacher
Nikita Mazepin
Lights out and away we go
That's how it started with both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton getting a good start. Verstappen managed to cover Hamilton and was able to build more than a second gap almost immediately. But drama unfolded right behind. Lando Norris also got a great start and was able to fend off both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. Pierre Gasly, however, got squeezed and ended up in contact with Charles Leclerc. Leclerc lost the front wing while Gasly had a puncture.
The lap 1 drama meant Leclerc pitted for a new set of hard tyres and took a new front wing in the process while Pierre Gasly had to retire after another squeeze. Poor Pierre. At the front, Verstappen kept building the gap on Hamilton while Sergio Perez took 11 laps to pass Norris, who was also passed by Bottas in the next few turns. For McLaren, their battle is with Ferrari and they don't want to waste momentum fighting with Red Bull and Mercedes.
While this battle was going on, there was another train of cars leading a different battle. Fernando Alonso ahead of George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz. We knew that midfield battle would be exciting but what we have got this year is a midfield battle involving a train of cars.
It seemed like a photo finish after a point but Daniel Ricciardo's struggle to stay in touch with the pack was baffling. George Russell having to retire from the race after a brilliant performance was gut wrenching. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz going long on his first stint and Charles Leclerc picking through the field was a delight. Fernando Alonso finishing in points once again shows it is coming back to him. He seems to be getting interns with the car and the tyres.
Checo Perez lapping almost two seconds quicker than Bottas after the second stop was mighty impressive. Lewis Hamilton stopping for the second time with two laps to go shows every single point matters. Yuki Tsunoda proved that the rookie has skills but needs to be patient. Verstappen, meanwhile, was sublime.
The start of the triple header was unknown territory. Two races later, Red Bull have won both the race and the roles are flipped. Mercedes is the hunter while Red Bull Racing is the one being hunted. With the teams heading back to the same circuit for Austrian GP next weekend, it is advantage Red Bull. Can Mercedes pull out something incredible? They have performed at the top for a really long time. No reasons to say they can't again but Red Bull seems to have answers for every punch that Mercedes throws at them this year.
Happy Racing!!!!
Other F1 News this week:
Turkish GP is returning to the calendar to replace Singapore GP
Russian GP moves to St. Petersburg from 2023
Rumour: Mercedes might confirm Geirge Russell for 2022 at Silverstone
Before you go:
Thanks for reading. See you next weekend!!!