Austrian GP: Max Verstappen waltzes to second win in a row at Red Bull Ring

Verstappen started from pole position for the third straight race and has also managed to win on three successive weekends.

Verstappen, Bottas, and Norris after the Austrian GP. (Image: Twitter/F1)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Jul 4, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Yet again this season, it was the Max Verstappen show. The Red Bull driver dominated the entire race to grab pole position in the Austrian Grand Prix (GP) on Sunday. He led the race from start to finish and seemed comfortable sitting in first for the most part. Title rival Lewis Hamilton cut a rather woeful picture as he finished in fourth place, behind his teammate Valterri Bottas in second and McLaren driver Lando Norris in third. Verstappen’s win means that he is well and truly on his way to becoming the F1 world champion this season, and deny Hamilton his record-breaking eighth title.

What was even more impressive than the victory was how Verstappen did it. It was reminiscent of Hamilton’s driving in a few ways. The dominating nature of his performance, the fact that he did not lose his first place at any moment in the race proves that the 23-year-old is finally coming into his own as a top-quality driver. Verstappen started from pole position for the third straight race and has also managed to win on three successive weekends. He also managed to set the fastest lap to take his tally to 182 points after nine rounds. Hamilton is currently on 150 points, with Mercedes 44 points behind Red Bull on the constructor’s championship table. It was the fifth successive win for Red Bull.

“The car was on rails,” Verstappen said after the race. “Every tyre set we put on it was really enjoyable to drive. I’m a bit amazed how today went, I didn’t expect it to be like this,” he added.

Looking at Verstappen’s form ahead of the race, the result was not a surprise by any stretch. Add to that the fact that it was held at the Red Bull Ring. A sea of orange rose when Verstappen drove past the checkered flag. It is one of those tracks where the Red Bull dominance is, quite simply, ridiculous.

HAMILTON FAILS TO IMPRESS

A disappointed Hamilton said that Mercedes were miles behind Red Bull.

“We’re miles away from them so we’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. What makes it interesting is that it comes in the backdrop of the Brit signing a new contract with the silver arrows after an argument over car upgrades this season. The seven-time world champion had warned that more losses would eventually follow if Mercedes did not upgrade the car.

Bottas finished second despite being initially told not to race Hamilton. The Brit was ahead but was forced to give the go-ahead with 20 laps remaining as it became clear that his car was damaged and Norris was closing fast.

Norris, who had started on the front row for the first time had dropped to fourth after a five-second penalty for pushing Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez off the track. He was voted driver of the day for his performance but felt the penalty was unjust.

“He (Perez) tried to go around the outside which is a bit stupid, and he ran off the track himself, I didn’t even push him,” he said.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fifth, with Perez sixth and Daniel Ricciardo came seventh. Charles Leclerc was eighth while Pierre Gasly took ninth for AlphaTauri. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso took the final point for Alpine.





Related Post

HIGHLIGHTS

Buzzwords