July 2021

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton set the pace as Mercedes hit back to lead the way in second practice at the Austrian Grand Prix. Hamilton was only seventh-fastest in first practice but posted the quickest time of the weekend so far with a 1m04.523s to head Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas by 0.189s during the qualifying simulation runs. Hamilton survived a trip through the gravel following a lock-up at Turn 4 as the seven-time world champion was caught out as rain fell in the closing stages of FP2. Current championship leader Max Verstappen, who had topped the morning session for Red Bull, was third and 0.217s down on his title rival’s benchmark. Aston Martin enjoyed a strong afternoon as Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel took fourth and fifth, ahead of the AlphaTauri duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly. After China’s Guanyu Zhou made his practice debut in FP1, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was back in action for Alpine on his way to setting the eighth-fastest time. Lando Norris took ninth in his McLaren despite a spin at Turn 2, while Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi rounded out the top-10 order as he returned to the cockpit of his C41 after Ferrari test driver Callum Ilott had participated in FP1. Sergio Perez was only 11th in the FP2 order and ended up nearly a second off the pace in the second Red Bull. The drivers once again had the opportunity to test out Pirelli’s beefed-up prototype tyre construction that will be introduced at the British Grand Prix, providing the Italian manufacturer is satisfied with the analysis collected on Friday in Austria. 2021 F1 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (2) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m04.523s 2 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m04.712s 3 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m04.740s 4 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m05.139s 5 Sebastian Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m05.268s 6 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m05.356s 7 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m05.379s 8 Fernando Alonso CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m05.393s 9 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m05.466s 10 Antonio Giovinazzi GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m05.511s 11 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m05.516s 12 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m05.527s 13 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m05.620s 14 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m05.624s 15 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m05.698s 16 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m05.708s 17 George Russell ISR Williams Racing 1m05.819s 18 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m05.911s 19 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m06.014s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m06.173s

Lewis Hamilton was not in a great mood in the paddock on Thursday. The Briton returns to Spielberg where Max Verstappen was dominant last weekend, and according to Will Buxton and Lawrence Barretto, it showed on his face. It’s not yet the season start Hamilton had hoped for. In 2021, Mercedes are getting resistance for the first time in years, and Red Bull Racing even have the upper hand. The team and also Verstappen are on top of the championship, and the last four races have been won by Red Bull. Buxton and Barretto say they are tired at the end of this Triple Header, but also see that in Hamilton. poster”Lewis is [feeling tired] as well. He didn’t want to talk and wasn’t all that enthused about it. He was like ‘if it was a different track I’d be excited, but I’m not.’ I struggled to get anything out of him,” Buxton reveals in the Weekend Warm-Up. ”He has also had a tough couple races, so you can’t blame him for that. And he’s not delighted with the second race here,” says Barretto. ”If he had won last weekend, he would be like ‘loving it’ but now he has been in the simulator,” Buxton adds. That Hamilton had been in the simulator surprised many people, including Barretto. ”The fact that he has been in the simulator is interesting. Because he hates that, he never does that. So that suggests that he needs to find every bit of pace. If the simulator can give him that, he has to do it, even if he hates it,” Barretto concludes.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen picked up on Friday where he left off last week at the Red Bull Ring, leading the field in the opening practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix. The Dutchman edged the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz by a 0.266s margin, while Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda completed the top five. While the venue will look very familiar to teams and drivers this weekend, as a reminder, the field is running on a softer selection of compounds from Pirelli, with the Italian supplier opting for the C3, C4 and C5 tyres. But Pirelli was set to test a new, more durable tyre in FP1, with each team required to run on the new rubber during the session. Finally, FIA Formula Championship leader Guanyou Zhou took to the track in an official F1 session for the first time, the Chinese driver replacing Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. The young charger was also joined by Callum Ilott running in place of Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo and Roy Nissany enjoying another FP1 outing with Williams. After the usual period of installation laps and early flyers, Verstappen was quick to assert his position at the top of the timesheet, and the Dutchman was followed by his fellow Red Bull and Honda-backed colleagues, namely Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez and Tsunoda. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll endured a laborious start to his weekend, spinning twice in the first 20 minutes of the session. Sainz was the first driver to break the Red Bull formation at the front when he slot in just behind Verstappen. But a decent lap by teammate Charles Leclerc allowed the Monegasque to snatch P2, just 0.266s off the pace setter. Meanwhile, Bottas in P5 was the quickest of the Mercedes pair while Hamilton lingered down the order, just inside the top ten with 15 minutes to go. Positions remained unchanged among the front-runners, with Verstappen’s fastest time 1m05.143s going unchallenged as he led Leclerc, Sainz, Bottas and Tsunoda. Alfa’s Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed a solid work session, the Iceman clocking in sixth and ahead of Hamilton, Perez, Gasly and Lando Norris. Ocon and Ricciardo lined up just outside of the top-ten, while both Aston Martin were also sat in the second half of the field. Alpine junior Zhou did a decent job to finish his maiden FP1 a creditable P14, while Ilott also kept himself out of trouble to end his session P16. Further behind, fellow young driver Nissany in P18 was faster than his Williams teammate Nicholas Latifi, while Haas’ Nikita Mazepin brought up the rear once again. 2021 F1 AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1) POS DRIVER NAT. TEAM TIME 1 Max Verstappen NED Red Bull Racing 1m05.143s 2 Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m05.409s 3 Carlos Sainz ESP Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1m05.431s 4 Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m05.445s 5 Yuki Tsunoda JPN Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m05.474s 6 Kimi Raikkonen FIN Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m05.586s 7 Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m05.709s 8 Sergio Perez MEX Red Bull Racing 1m05.726s 9 Pierre Gasly FRA Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1m05.726s 10 Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team 1m05.880s 11 Esteban Ocon FRA Alpine F1 Team 1m05.980s 12 Daniel Ricciardo AUS McLaren F1 Team 1m06.181s 13 Lance Stroll CAN Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m06.203s 14 Guanyu Zhou CHI Alpine F1 Team 1m06.414s 15 Sebastien Vettel GER Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team 1m06.444s 16 Callum Ilott GBR Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen 1m05.564s 17 Mick Schumacher GER Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m06.583s 18 Roy Nissany ISR Williams Racing 1m06.683s 19 Nicholas Latifi CAN Williams Racing 1m06.978s 20 Nikita Mazepin RUS Uralkali Haas F1 Team 1m07.316s

Nikita Mazepin says he is driving a heavier car than the one raced more successfully by his high-profile teammate Mick Schumacher. “I wouldn’t say it’s unacceptable, it just complicates my job,” said the Russian rookie, whose Formula 1 debut this year has been tumultuous so far. “It does have quite a big impact on the weight distribution and the setup, but I’m surrounded by great engineers and I’m sure the situation will get better.” However, he will not get a new and lighter chassis until after the summer break. “When there are a lot of long straights and your car is heavier than the other one, it’s difficult stay ahead,” Mazepin insisted. The explanation for Mazepin’s heavier car is that the monocoque is older than the one used by Schumacher. “It’s a year old, and usually you do a new car every year. And sure, a chassis doesn’t get lighter after a year,” admitted team boss Gunther Steiner, referring to the fact that constant patch-up jobs add to the weight. “But the difference is not gigantic. It’s less than 20 kilos, or not even 10. Obviously a heavier car doesn’t make you faster. “Nikita will get a new chassis at Spa,” he added. The story may only now be breaking because of rumours that Mazepin’s father Dmitry – the team’s title sponsor via his company Uralkali – offered to pay more if Haas agrees to let his son drive Schumacher’s car. Auto Bild even claims that billionaire Mazepin snr would like Oliver Oakes – his son’s manager – to take over from Steiner as Haas team boss. When asked about his teammate’s heavier car, Schumacher said in Austria: “You have to ask the team.”

A maximum crowd of 60,000 can gather for the second race in Austria this weekend. Last weekend, local covid restrictions capped the spectator numbers at just 15,000. However, many of those restrictions are now easing. “The Dutch people are coming and they will give Verstappen a second per lap,” beamed Dr Helmut Marko, the top F1 official for the circuit owner Red Bull. According to RTL, while Red Bull had hoped for a full house, 15,000 spectators will be welcome on Friday, 30,000 on Saturday, and 60,000 on Sunday. “We have to go back to normal and that includes major events,” Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz says. “We have to remember that the vaccinations also work on the Delta variant.”

McLaren is turning up the heat on struggling team newcomer Daniel Ricciardo. Although earlier renowned as one of the best drivers in Formula 1, the 31-year-old Australian has notably struggled since joining impressive younger teammate Lando Norris this year at McLaren. The team is currently locked in a close battle with Ferrari to hold onto third place in the constructors’ world championship. “Daniel himself was very disappointed to not be able to continue his good development of the last races,” team boss Andreas Seidl, referring to the most recent race in Austria, is quoted by Marca. “But the fact that we are now going to race on the same track again is perfect for the learning process. We want to verify if we have drawn the right conclusions.” Seidl says McLaren needs Ricciardo to be scoring as many points as possible at each grand prix. “In the battle we are in, it is clear that we need to score points every weekend with both cars,” said the German. Ferrari, on the other hand, seems much more focused on preparations for the 2022 season rather than fighting for third place against McLaren this year. “How important is it for us to score more points than McLaren? Not very,” Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto is quoted by international media.” “I already said at the beginning of the season that our main task is to prepare for the new regulations by improving in all areas.”

After the Styrian Grand Prix the Formula One drivers remain on the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix. After a dominant performance in the first race at this circuit, Helmut Marko expects Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen to dominate in the second race as well. The Red Bull Ring will host two races this season, as it did in 2021, and that’s not a bad thing for Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen. Not only is it Red Bull’s home track, bringing a sea of Orange fans to the track for Verstappen, but it’s especially good because it’s a track that suits the RB16B well. That was evident at the Styrian Grand Prix when Verstappen managed to dominate the entire weekend. ”The circuit will stay the same and the cars will stay the same. The only thing that will change is the tyres. So I expect we can show the same dominance again, or maybe even more, with the softer tyres,” Marko told ServusTV. Pirelli will bring softer tyres to the Red Bull Ring this weekend, and that doesn’t usually benefit Mercedes. The Germans are better on Pirelli’s harder tyres, so a track that doesn’t suit them and even softer tyres won’t be ideal for Mercedes. Still Marko does not want to talk about a future world title. ”There are circuits where Mercedes will be strong again. I am afraid Silverstone is one of those circuits. The goal for us is to build up a margin for the races where we can’t win, and then take a two spot there a la Hamilton. That will continue to the end. We’re still a long way from predicting the world title,” concludes Red Bull’s chief executive.

Ross Brawn says that the winner of the Sprint Qualifying race will be the driver credited with having won pole position. The F1 MD was keen to clear up confusion over the fact that many had assumed the driver quickest in qualifying for the Sprint Qualifying race – and therefore starting it from pole position – would be credited with having won pole. However, Brawn says that it is the driver who wins the Sprint Qualifying race, and therefore starts the Grand Prix from pole, that is officially the pole winner. “I probably have to correct something I’ve said before because initially we thought it would still be the Friday qualifying,” said Brawn, according to Motorsport.com. “But, in fact, after discussions with the FIA, they feel pole position is the guy in front of the grid for the grand prix. “So it’s the person who finishes a sprint in first place, it’s the one who is on the front of the grid and has pole position for the race, the Grand Prix, on a Sunday. And that’s what we’ll count statistically towards the number of poles, because it is the sprint qualifying. “That’s one of the reasons the FIA want it covered that way,” he added, “so that we can ensure that the race is the race, the Grand Prix is the Grand Prix. And we don’t cannibalise the Grand Prix.” Brawn also confirmed that there will not be a podium ceremony following the Sprint Qualifying race, nor will the event feature the usual pre and post-race procedures. “We are trying to give a little bit of a fresh flavour, so that there’ll be a shorter period going on to the grid. There won’t be the driver parade, but there’ll be opportunities on the grid to interview the drivers. “And we’ve got some interesting things we want to try after the race, short, sharp,” he added. “There won’t be a podium, it will be rather like qualifying, because we want to keep the podium for the big event of the weekend. “We’ll just keep that in the bag, but there are some fresh things that we’re doing with the sprint, which I think will be nice to try. “We’re going to have a real competition on a Friday,” he said of qualifying for the Sprint Qualifying race – still with us? – and a new competition on a Saturday, and all of that should enhance the grand prix on the Sunday. So I don’t believe we cannibalise the grand prix in any way. This is all additive, and will contribute towards the whole weekend. “I guess to meet the criticism head-on, some people like the traditional approach and think we’re messing with something that doesn’t need messing with, and I understand that. “As you know, I’ve been in the sport a very long time. I think the way we’re exploring this opportunity is not going to damage F1 at all, and it will become clear, after the second or third of the events, how well this is succeeding, and how well the fans are engaging with it. “We’ve got new graphics, we’re doing a lot on social media in the next week or ten days. So we’re doing a lot to explain to our fans, what this is all about so that, when they turn the telly on at any stage, over the Silverstone weekend, they know exactly what’s going on.” Of course, while there won’t be a podium or any of the ‘traditional’ pre or post-race procedures there will no doubt be time allowed for the event’s newly announced sponsor, Crypto.com, and any other sponsors F1 can pick up along the way.

Mercedes’ upgrade plan for its 2021 car involves more than just new aerodynamic parts, the team has confirmed. The world champions’ strategy for developing the W12 was cast into doubt following the Styrian Grand Prix weekend, where Lewis Hamilton and CEO Toto Wolff indicated no further upgrades were coming.But earlier this week technical director James Allison confirmed new parts are still in the pipeline for this year’s car. Chief strategist James Vowles yesterday gave more detail about their plans to develop the W12 as they bid to catch championship leaders Red Bull. “This package has a number of ways that we can improve it,” Vowles explained in a video released by Mercedes. “We still have more performance that we can add to it and aerodynamic improvements are just one facet of car performance. We have other elements of this car that we can add performance to and we are continuously doing so. “Furthermore, you can always optimise and improve the package you have. You don’t normally extract everything out of it from the word go. Every time you run on track [you] get more and more information and data, you learn a little bit more about how to use the car, how to use the tyres and how to optimise the package together.“The result of that is that yes in terms of big aerodynamic upgrades, will they be reduced for us, but not just us, all teams this year? I suspect so. However, that doesn’t mean that the car performance will be static.” Vowles believes Mercedes’ pace disadvantage to Red Bull at the Styrian Grand Prix was partly due to the characteristics of the track, notably its higher altitude than most venues. A particular area of concern for Mercedes, which Hamilton has repeatedly noted, is Red Bull’s superior straight-line speed. The team believes it was losing around a quarter of a second per lap on the straights to Red Bull last weekend. Their rivals have run visibly flatter rear wings recently, reducing drag at high speed. Vowles said Mercedes have equivalent wings available but believe using them at tracks like the Red Bull Ring would not offer the gains they need. “We have a suite of rear wings available to us, as do Red Bull and as do other teams on the grid,” he explained.“You could have less rear wing and go faster [in a] straight line but you would be sacrificing cornering performance and that also comes with effects on degradation. Conversely, less rear wing allows you, perhaps, to overtake a little bit more, there is a balance. “We use simulation tools to run through all of the rear wing settings that we have available to us and come up with an optimum of what we should be running at this track. What we should be running for both overtaking, qualifying and race and in our case, it comes out with the rear wing setting that you see.” Vowles said the differences between the rear ride height on the Red Bull to the Mercedes allows them to run the flatter wing without sacrificing cornering performance. “Where we are running on rear wing is optimal for lap time and ultimately that is what both qualifying and really the race is all about,” he said.