More Austrian dominance for the man becoming the clear title favourite.
Seven days after his first domination at the Red Bull Ring, it was a similar serene drive to the win for Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.
As predicted, with no freak mechanical issues or weather to intervene, the Dutchman delighted the swathes of fans clad in orange.
Mercedes hoped to have found something to reduce the gap to their rivals in the days since the Styrian Grand Prix. But that was clearly not the case when they found themselves down in fourth and fifth on the grid, behind both Red Bulls and the excellent Lando Norris.
Once the lights went out, Verstappen sailed off into the distance and did not look back. He had a gap easily large enough to pit late on and earn himself the fastest lap – by nearly two seconds – and took the first grand chelem of his career, having also claimed pole position and led every lap.
Lewis Hamilton probably would have settled for more damage limitation in the shape of a second place, and he looked on for just that once he’d found a way past Norris on lap 20. But, just before his pit stop, a piece of crucial aero fell off the back of his car, leaving him with massively reduced rear downforce and costing him half a second per lap.
It remains something of a mystery what caused this. The World Champion did not run especially wide when the bodywork made a break for it – he was running over the kerbs at Turn 10 as normal. Team Principal Toto Wolff believes it was simply a case of fatigue as teams are forced to make parts last longer amid the new cost cap for 2021.
So, further bad luck for Hamilton and he was helpless to defend as teammate Valtteri Bottas and Norris repassed him. That left the 36-year-old in fourth and he is now a massive 32 points behind his title rival in the standings.
The Future May Be Orange, but It’s Also British
Whilst Verstappen demonstrated once again what we all know – that he will be a superstar for many years to come – there were two other drivers who showed their considerable potential.
Norris and George Russell.
Norris’s qualifying lap was extraordinary. He took his McLaren to within five hundredths of a second of the all-conquering Verstappen to take his first ever front row grid slot.
And Russell was equally impressive, dragging his Williams into Q3 for the first time and ending up eighth on the grid after a Sebastian Vettel penalty.
On race day, Norris defended against the Mercedes pair with nous and composure far beyond his years, even prompting Hamilton to say over the radio, “Such a great driver, Lando”. That is something you very rarely hear from a driver mid-race.
Bottas would only succeed in passing Norris after the young Briton received a debatable penalty for forcing Sergio Pérez wide following a safety car restart early in the race. And the Mercedes driver hardly disappeared into the distance once in front as Norris tailed him home to finish just two seconds back and earn his fourth career podium.
Further back, Russell had recovered from an iffy start to run in a legitimate 10th place through solid race pace and was heading for his first point with Williams. But then came Fernando Alonso. The 23-year-old defended hard from the man he has formed an unlikely bromance with, but eventually had to concede to the Alpine‘s far fresher tyres with just three laps to go.
After a mechanical retirement in the previous race removed Russell from eighth, his luck may not have improved but he continues to earn fans, including Alonso: “I felt a little bit sad for George because he drove an amazing weekend. When I saw P10, I was hoping anyone apart from him…but that’s the sport. He will have more opportunities hopefully for podiums and wins in the future.”
Earning compliments from legends like Hamilton and Alonso shows just how much respect these two young drivers have earned over their two and a half years in F1.
In Verstappen, Norris, Russell and Charles Leclerc, the future of the sport looks in safe – and exciting – hands.
Were the Penalties Fair?
The move for which Norris earned his penalty, was mirrored by Pérez himself as he ran Leclerc wide twice later in the race. Each incident earned a five-second penalty.
It is good to see consistency from the stewards for once – though perhaps not in the long term – but were they consistently right or wrong on this occasion?
It’s tricky. The issue is Turn 4, where the two main incidents happened. It is a demanding corner with significant adverse camber and a gravel trap on the outside. So, this was not simply a case of Norris opening the steering up and running Pérez out of road – something we have seen go unpunished many times before anyway. It was more a case of the McLaren naturally understeering towards the edge of the track.
So, the only way to avoid contact or forcing the car on the outside wide would be to get off the throttle and cede the position. Is that something the lead driver on the inside line should ever have to do?
The penalty seems more harsh given that it was on the first full lap of racing, when incidents are normally treated with more leniency due to cold tyres, cold brakes and the general mayhem. Case in point: Leclerc not even being investigated for clumsily ending Gasly’s race a week ago, a few seconds earlier in the lap.
Whatever your opinion on the decisions, the penalty points system is clearly broken.
Two penalty points for the incident leaves Norris on ten points – although two will be wiped before the next race – which is just two away from a race ban.
I have touched on the penalty points system as recently as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – when Norris and Nicholas Latifi were each given three points for tricky situations in which they found themselves somewhat helpless – and they remain unfit for purpose.
They should be reserved for seriously dangerous driving – such as the unpunished moment between the Haas driver in Baku – and safety violations that put people at risk.
Six instances of Norris’s arguably justified defence should be nowhere near worthy of a race ban.
And don’t forget the bewildering decision to hand Latifi and Nikita Mazepin a post-race stop-and-go penalty for ignoring double yellows, but none of the other drivers who appeared to go through them at least as quickly…
The Austrian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
Can Mercedes find anything to challenge Red Bull more than last weekend? Nope.
Will the softer tyres make much of a change to the pecking order? Alpine appeared to find some more pace but events conspired to prevent them utilising it.
Any chance of some rain this time? *sigh* Of course not.
