The Styrian Grand Prix is ​​the first of two races on the Austrian circuit. Although heavy rain was forecast for Sunday, it remained dry and mostly sunny. A great day for Red Bull Racing to take on the reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton. With the win at the Red Bull Ring in Austria - his fourteenth F1 victory - Verstappen retains the lead in the world championship. He also took his second pole position in a row.

Grid penalties for Bottas and Tsunoda

The race itself was nowhere near as exciting as the one at Paul Ricard in France a week ago. The most exciting moment of the entire weekend was during qualifying on Saturday. After his pit stop, Valtteri Bottas decided to drive away in second gear, which led to a big spin. Fortunately, no one was injured and his car also remained intact. A number of McLaren crew members pushed him in the right direction again, after which the Finn calmly drove out of the pit lane. “I just warmed up the tires,” he joked when his engineer asked what had just happened. The FIA ​​couldn't help but laugh. The incident was punished with a three-place grid penalty on Sunday. Too bad for Lewis's teammate, as he qualified second, just behind Verstappen. Not much later, Bottas found that he was being hindered by Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri). That did not go for the onrushing Mercedes with number 77 aside. That also cost the Japanese dear: he also received a three-place grid penalty.

Furthermore, in qualifying, the good performances of Lando Norris (McLaren), who started from P3 due to Bottas' penalty, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in P7 and George Russell (Williams) in P10. For Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), who had a very good Friday, qualifying was quite disappointing. The sympathetic Australian got no further than P13 on the starting grid, with Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) next to him in P14.

Styria Grand Prix

Verstappen's start has been perfect all season and he has made it happen again. He easily kept Hamilton behind him and got through the first corner well. Sergio Pérez (Red Bull Racing) fought together with Lande Norris (McLaren) for P3, but still had to let the orange car in front. The Mexican did feel the pressure of Valtteri Bottas behind him, who also had a good start.

On the way into turn three, chaos ensued when Charles Leclerc smashed his front wing into the left rear tire of Pierre Gasly's Alpha Tauri. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) just managed to get around the two drivers. Nicholas Latifi (Williams) did get a push from Gasly, however. For example, three drivers had to return to the pit lane in the first lap of the race. Latifi got a new set of tires and Leclerc a new front wing. They were able to continue the race at the back. Unfortunately, it was over for Gasly.

Leclerc clearly had no problem with his position at the back of the field. He sat down and fought his way back to P7 with some nice overtaking moves!

Bottas vs Perez

Hamilton tried to keep up with Verstappen, but saw the gap widening lap after lap. Bottas (P5) had less trouble with Pérez (P4) and increased the pressure considerably.
For team McLaren there seemed to be problems with the two cars. Ricciardo couldn't get past the P13 he started on. And Lando Norris also seemed to lose power and had to give up his third position.
On the 29th lap, Pérez dove in for his tire change. The pit stop didn't go as quickly as we're used to from the Red Bull mechanics, so he got back on track behind Bottas. Bottas' pit stop, one lap later, went quickly and the Finn retained his third position. Hamilton's pit stops on lap 32 and Verstappen on lap 34 did not change the lead of the race.

Technical issues for Russell

George Russell (Williams), who had qualified well in P10 and also settled comfortably in the top 10 in the race, already almost believed he would take the first points for team Williams in Austria. But in the end, he would become the second dropout of the day. Despite a few pit stops and some adjustments, he eventually had to park the car with engine problems in the pit garage.

Fifteen minutes before the end of the race, Verstappen fans received a disturbing message over the on-board radio: Max had problems with his brake pedal. Fortunately, his engineer was able to explain to him what the problem was and how to prevent it. At that stage of the race, Hamilton had lost all hope of a victory and opted for a tire change to at least get that one point for the fastest lap.
Pérez was still fighting for P3 and also opted for an extra pit stop. He was more than a second behind Bottas every lap and was literally on the tail on the last lap. But the black and white checkered flag ended the race and Valtteri was finally able to take the podium again. Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Charles Leclerc (chosen driver of the day), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) finished behind Pérez. Yuki Tsunoda took a point on P10.

World Cup standings F1 season 2021

The big winner was of course Max Verstappen! From start to finish, the Dutchman drove unthreatened in the lead in the eighth race of the season. Red Bull Racing is again just as dominant as when Sebastian Vettel became world champion four times with this team. In the World Cup standings, Verstappen leads with 156 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton with 138 points and Sergio Pérez with 96 points. Bottas still has a lot of work to do. He is now fifth with 74 points. Lando Norris can be satisfied: with 86 points he is neatly fourth in the standings.

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