Friday June 25th 2021
Verstappen beats Hamilton out
Vettel convinces with rain tactics
World championship leader Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton and is the favorite in the F1-GP of Styria after two best practice times. The world champion is only fourth after a mistake. If the track is briefly wet with rain, Sebastian Vettel can once again show what he can do.
With two best training times, world championship leader Max Verstappen keeps the pressure on Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton high at the Styrian Grand Prix. The 23-year-old was the fastest in both practice sessions in Spielberg and also benefited from a Hamilton mistake. The Mercedes star would actually have been just ahead of his challenger in the afternoon. Because Hamilton had meanwhile strayed too far from the track and thus violated the rules, the seven-time champion’s best time was canceled and he finished fourth.
Between the two title rivals, the Australian Daniel Ricciardo drove in a McLaren (+0.336 seconds) ahead of the French Esteban Ocon from Alpine (+0.378) in second place. Hamilton’s gap was 0.384 seconds, but the veteran made a good impression in his Silver Arrow on the longer trips. The four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel drove his Aston Martin to sixth and improved significantly over the course of the day. For newcomer Mick Schumacher it was only enough for 17th place in the defeated Haas racing car. The drivers expected a downpour in dark clouds and clocked a lot with changing tires. Except for a few short showers, it stayed dry.
Top ten again for Vettel?
Behind the top, Vettel would like to finish in the top ten for the fourth time in a row. “We are targeting the points,” said the 33-year-old from Heppenheim: “We want to continue our run.” Vettel is tenth overall with 30 points, while Schumacher is still waiting for something to be counted in his first season. In training, the 22-year-old was still able to keep up with the backbenchers from Williams. In order to finally get points, a lot would have to come together at the Grand Prix in Styria.
After three wins from the last three races, Red Bull is also the favorite in the first of two guest appearances in Austria. Before the eighth round of the season on Sunday (3 p.m. / Sky and in the live ticker on ntv.de.) twelve points ahead of Hamilton. In the previous year, the Brit won just as once as his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, in 2018 and 2019 Verstappen had triumphed on the Red Bull home track. Both Hamilton and Verstappen could catch up with record winner Alain Prost (3) with another success.
“We had good races here in the past, but that doesn’t mean that it will work again now. But we are of course motivated that it will go well again,” said Verstappen, adding: “We have a good, fast car right now.”
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