© Getty ImagesThe Season So Far: Part 2Nine down and 14, to go, maybe. We take a look back at our successful rounds six to nine.
TheF1seasoninrecentweekshasbeensomethingofablur.Thetriple-headerinparticularisagruellingexperienceformindandbody,andthewhirlwindonlygetsstrongerwhenthere’sacompetitivecartoprepareandtwochampionshipstochase.
We’re all aware, however, that it only gets harder from here. With the prospect of a weekend at home ahead on home turf at Silverstone, everyone’s conscious that this might be the most relaxed anyone dares feel between now and December – at least we would hope that is the case.
So, in that spirit, we’re going to take a moment for a quick retrospective look from Baku through to Austria.
Fans Cheers Max Across The Line In Austria© Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool
RoundSix–AzerbaijanGrandPrix
It’s difficult to imagine two more dissimilar street circuits than Monaco and Baku. The wide, ultra high-speed boulevards of Baku are a world away from the tight, twisting lanes hewn into the rock of Monte Carlo. We did, however, have a similarly mixed grid with Leclerc once again showing Ferrari’s street track prowess with pole position. It was, in all honestly, one of the most disjointed qualifying sessions seen in a long time, lasting several hours and interrupted by four red flags. Max described it as ‘scrappy’ and professed himself disappointed with Q3, having entertained high hopes of pole position. Checo had a lock-up on his first Q3 lap and didn’t get chance to attempt another.
Sunday, however, saw the RB16Bs on dominant form, with Max assuming the lead of the race shortly before his first stop and Checo slotting into P2 once the stops had played through.
Max looked odds-on for victory, holding a steady four-seconds gap over his teammate six laps from home. Then in a split second it changed for Max, when a high-speed rear puncture sent him spearing into the barriers opposite the pit lane. Several laps of safety car were eventually followed by a red flag, leaving Checo with the lead of a race that would be reduced to a standing start followed by a two-lap sprint. He held his nerve, held his place and became the fifth driver to win a grand prix for the Team.
RoundSeven–FrenchGrandPrix
Circuit:CircuitPaulRicard
After two wins in two races, we were in a good place coming into the first of the season’s triple-headers – but the received wisdom said the long straights of Circuit Paul Ricard would be where Mercedes struck back. So, understandably Max was highly delighted to snaffle another pole position with a couple of tenths to spare. Emphasising how very tight it was in France, however, Checo’s starting position of P4 was less than two-tenths off making it a front row lockout.
The race for victory that followed was a mirror-image – albeit only the sort of mirror you get in a funhouse – of the Spanish Grand Prix. Max lost the lead to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton into the first corner but worked the strategy well and grabbed the lead back with an undercut at the first round of stops.
It would, perhaps, have been the only round of stops had Max and the strategists not elected to change things up by stopping again from the lead. The wisdom of this was very much in the balance, as Max lit it up over the last 20 laps, pushing his new tyres hard, eventually passing Hamilton for the lead on the penultimate lap.
Checo’s lurking presence on a long one-stopper had prevented Mercedes from either pre-emptively converting to a two-stopper of their own, or following Max into the pits – but Checo’s strategy paid off for himself also, using his tyre delta to pass Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas five laps from home, and give us our first double podium finish of the year.
French Grand Prix 2021: Race
Your Championship Leader© Getty Images
A Smile For Miles© Getty Images
Max-Attack On Mediums© Getty Images
"I Believe We Have The Best Team In The World." Christian Horner© Getty Images
Simply Lovely Max!© Getty Images
On His Way To Victory!© Getty Images
Checo Picks Up P3 In Paul Ricard© Getty Images
An Action-Packed Start© Getty Images
Bulls On The Charge© Getty Images
Taking The Chequered Flag© Getty Images
What. A. Drive.© Getty Images
RoundEight-StyrianGrandPrix
From Ricard to the Red Bull Ring isn’t the easiest back-to-back imaginable, with the long schlep over, under and through the Alps leaving teams scurrying to get set-up in time for battle to recommence in Spielberg for the second part of the triple-header and the first part of the Red Bull Ring back-to-backs. In a reversal of 2020’s running order, calendar politics and legalese meant the first race would be the Styrian Grand Prix and the second the Austrian Grand Prix.
The relative pace, however, remained unaffected, with Max taking pole by a tenth from the Mercedes duo, with Checo a tenth behind them to complete row two. All weekend, the circuit had been threatened with apocalyptic thunderstorms but rarely did a drop of rain fall on the track. That held true for the race as well, which singularly failed to ignite as a sporting spectacle, running untroubled by safety cars.
For Max, that was absolutely perfect. He ran a textbook race, directing from the front, stopping after his rivals to ensure he retained track position and a minor tyre advantage, leading every lap of the race. It was his fourth victory of the season but the first weekend on which he had exerted complete control.
Checo’s race was slightly less comfortable. While the top three had got out of Q2 on the Medium tyre, Checo’s pace made him take the safety-first strategy and go for the soft. Thus, his first stint was correspondingly shorter than theirs. He held P4 at the start and made it up into P3 on lap 10, passing McLaren’s Lando Norris. Stopping when he did, however, allowed Bottas to go longer and take the final podium position. It was a very minor disappointment on a day where Max won his third race in four years on our home circuit, and the Team increased its lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
RoundNine-AustrianGrandPrix
In a quirk of the calendar, this year’s Austrian Grand Prix came 364 days after the last one, and in this Covid-affected calendar year, we’ve crammed in 26 grands prix – four of which have taken place at the Red Bull Ring. It is, as they say, nice to feel wanted.
To spice things up a little, Pirelli went one step softer with their tyres, bringing the C5 compound to Austria for the first time. It shook up the order a little, with McLaren looking very racy, but for Max it was a case of history repeating. He took pole position again, and stopped later than his rivals again to retain his lead. The deviation this time around was that he built up a sufficiently commanding lead to take the luxury of a second stop and fit fresh tyres to capture the extra point for fastest lap.
Checo’s race was rather more fraught. He’d qualified behind Norris and, on the restart after an early safety car, attempted to pass around the outside of the dangerous turn four. Norris didn’t leave enough room and received a 5s penalty for his pains, but Checo ended up in the gravel, and dumped back down to P10.
Max Is King Of The Ring
A Race Win Powered By Honda© Getty Images
Cheering The Winner Across The Line© Getty Images
King Of The Ring© Getty Images
The Look When You've Won Three In A Row© Getty Images
Celebrating His 50th F1 Podium© Getty Images
We've Seen This Sight Before© Getty Images
Winning In Front Of His Fans© Getty Images
Picking Up More Styrian Silverware© Getty Images
Running From The Red Bull Shower© Getty Images
Adding Another One To His Collection© Getty Images
Cooling Down After A Dominant Display© Getty Images
Christian took a dim view of the penalty for what he regarded as a racing incident – and whatever the merits of the rules, certainly the Team considered the penalty to add insult to injury, given that it didn’t help Checo at all – but did gift Mercedes an extra three points when Bottas able to jump Norris during the pit stops.
Checo’s race from then on was a recovery drive. He passed many of the soft starters when they were forced to make early stops, while a great tussle with Leclerc saw him collect ten seconds’ worth of penalties of his own. He was eventually able to take the place with an undercut, then squeeze past McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo on track, eventually to cross the line in P5, but demoted to P6 when penalties were taken into account.
It was the final act in a very good weekend to end an excellent triple-header. There is a sense that the balance of power has shifted, with us now being chased rather than chasing. However, with 60 per cent of the season still to go, then tension levels are ratcheting up to epic proportions. “We’ve now won the last five races, a first for us in the hybrid era, but we cannot get complacent and need to keep that momentum going,” said Christian during pack-down in Austria in preparation for the long trip home. “There’s a long way to go in this Championship, we don’t take anything for granted and we have to keep doing what we’re doing, session by session, race by race.”
Onwards to Silverstone.
