Monday, July 5th, 2021
Formula 1 lessons from Austria
Mercedes is dismantling worryingly quickly
Mercedes drives at full speed, but does not come close to Red Bull – on the contrary. After seven years of Hamilton dominance, Formula 1 appears to be facing a changing of the guard, and Max Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ championship is growing and growing. The entourage from Austria takes these and other lessons with them to England. Can Mercedes attack there again? In addition, George Russel impressed again, Sebastian Vettel and Aston Martin, on the other hand, are stuck in midfield again.
Verstappen drives like a world champion
Three wins in a row, five after the first nine races of the season – these are statistics that you only know from Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. There are still 14 races to go, but since the show of force in both Spielberg races, one should be prepared for the fact that the world championship title this year will only be won by Max Verstappen. The 23-year-old has always been super fast and determined, and now he has a vehicle without a weakness available for the first time. In addition, the Red Bull driver has the maturity of a champion this year and hardly makes any mistakes. “I was a little surprised myself how well it went. The car drove like it was on rails,” said Verstappen. “I hope we can continue like this.”
Mercedes is dismantling
In the drivers’ championship, Verstappen’s lead over defending champion Hamilton has increased to 32 points after the Austrian Grand Prix. “I did my best, I couldn’t do much more,” the British defending champion said worriedly on Sky TV. Or as Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko put it at Sky: “We didn’t drive at full speed, Mercedes drove at full speed and still couldn’t reach it. That is very reassuring.”
There are legitimate concerns that Hamilton is concerned, because instead of shortening the gap to Red Bull, Mercedes seems to be completely lost. The world champion racing team of the past seven years was never able to chase Verstappen in Spielberg, but suddenly had to fight back McLaren in the person of Lando Norris. Mercedes’ last hope is now Silverstone. In the past, Hamilton was almost unbeatable in his home race, the fast corners of the traditional track should suit his W12. But if the breakthrough in England does not succeed, the 2021 World Cup seems to be over.
Vettel doesn’t care about the “golden pineapple”
Sebastian Vettel will hardly have any special memories of his 34th birthday. On his special day, he was the only driver to be prosecuted in qualifying for an offense that almost the entire field had also committed: he drove too slowly in the last corner and thus hindered other drivers. Instead of eighth place, the race started from eleventh place, in the narrow midfield the speed was lacking to gain places. Vettel would probably have finished twelfth had his former Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen not overlooked and shot him on the last lap. That this incident in the fight for the “golden pineapple” didn’t bother Vettel says a lot about the performance of his car in Spielberg.
Russel proves his talent
The 23-year-old Englishman George Russell may be driving the second Mercedes next year. And that despite the fact that in two and a half seasons he is still without a World Championship point for Williams. But these lousy statistics have nothing to do with his performance. Conquering eighth place on the grid with the backbencher car deserves just as much recognition as the safe victory of Verstappen. In the race itself Russell had his first points in mind, only at the end did he have to admit defeat to the faster competition.
Fans are great – and dangerous
The drivers and team bosses outdid each other in their superlatives. 62,000 fans came to Spielberg on Sunday, the majority were euphoric compatriots of Max Verstappen. There was a mood like in pre-Corona times. Great pictures, great emotions, goose bumps – yes. But the pandemic is still not over. At the European Football Championship, full stadiums and fans without masks are viewed critically, including by politicians. In motorsport you are less carefree. Of course, a Formula 1 racetrack is much more spacious and airier than a stadium, but many fans stood close together and celebrated a multi-day party, some of them drunk, which continued on the campsites around the route. Formally, everything is fine, Austria relaxed on July 1st: the mask requirement is lifted if you have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative. Still, it is to be hoped that the Austrian Grand Prix will not cause negative headlines afterwards in a few weeks’ time.
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