Fastest lap: Max Verstappen
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2021 French Grand Prix
- The potentially crucial differences in how Bottas and Perez help their team mates
- How much-maligned Paul Ricard produced “one of the most exciting races for five years”
- Todt would “prefer less controversy” in Formula 1
- Wolff encouraged by ‘real progress’ from Bottas in French GP
- Red Bull’s French GP win disproves accusations over tyres and wings – Horner
JL (@j-l)
20th June 2021, 15:35
Simply lovely! We are so fortunate to be able to see these two giants go at it!
Emma
20th June 2021, 15:51
Agreed. I simply don’t understand anyone who comes here to denigrate either – they are both such talents that we are privileged to be watching this year.
trib4udi (@trib4udi)
20th June 2021, 15:56
+1
Dave
23rd June 2021, 10:18
And Ferrari is noob!
Jan (@netm)
20th June 2021, 15:36
Shocking strategy from Mercedes. If I didn’t know better I’d think that they didn’t want to win today.
Nigel
20th June 2021, 15:54
Yes, the power of the undercut was fairly clear from the early stoppers.
Why they didn’t bring Hamilton in the lap immediately after Bottas, which would have ensured his retaining the lead, is a mystery.
Clearly faster on the yards, he would have driven away from Verstappen rather than burning them in trying to chase.
The pitwall threw away the win.
Ditto for Bottas’ podium chance.
Nigel
20th June 2021, 15:56
Hards, not yards. :)
Ajaxn
20th June 2021, 15:37
Shame Bottas couldn’t last a little longer, Hamilton just needed another lap.
Tris
20th June 2021, 15:40
Did you mean one less lap? Maybe 2.
erikje
20th June 2021, 19:06
If so, another lap would have cost him the second place to Perez.
Jere (@jerejj)
20th June 2021, 15:37
Mercedes threw away the win and FLAP bonus point.
Ferrari’s lack of pace on the hard, though.
petebaldwin (@)
20th June 2021, 15:42
I wonder if they kept Bottas out because Perez was under investigation?
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
20th June 2021, 15:55
Ah yep that’ll be why
S
20th June 2021, 15:51
Totally agree. They left Bottas out in the cold again.
And why on earth didn’t Ferrari take a second stop at least for Leclerc? Madness.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
20th June 2021, 16:01
Leclerc pitted twice.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
20th June 2021, 16:04
Leclerc’s second stop came way too late. It was a poor strategy from Ferrari.
S
20th June 2021, 16:18
Well, there you go.
I didn’t even notice – he’d already lost so much time by that stage that I’d stopped paying attention.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
20th June 2021, 17:19
I think you’re confusing poor strategy for poor race car. Their car is obviously by now worse in race trim compared to Quali, this particular race worse than usual from lap1. Probably it wasn’t the best possible strategy, but the situation wouldn’t have been much different. They were the 1st team to pit, if stayed more laps on track, LEC would have been passed by those behind anyway. The outcome would have been pretty much the same: out of points (anyway).
erikje
20th June 2021, 19:07
@mg1982.
You obviously missed sainz.
Machinery
20th June 2021, 15:37
Nail biting race, congratulations to both HAM and VES for the great racing they displayed
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
20th June 2021, 15:39
Great racing around Le Castellet, we saw some extremely interesting tactical games today. Mercedes really screwed Bottas once again, the guy showed good pace overall but the team really didn’t help his race once again….
petebaldwin (@)
20th June 2021, 15:43
He’s not there to win – he’s there to help Hamilton and it nearly worked. If he didn’t lock up at the chicane, Hamilton might have won today.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
20th June 2021, 15:46
Currently Bottas is racing for his future and in today’s race he had really solid pace,till he was massively screwed by Mercedes willingness to alter his strategy. He couldn’t defend more with the condition of his tyres, but he lost a podium today…
petebaldwin (@)
20th June 2021, 15:48
Totally agree but Merc aren’t bothered about him finishing 3rd or 4th – it’s worth the risk to get Hamilton a win. 1st and 4th is better than 2nd and 3rd for both the Constructors and Drivers Championships.
Illusive (@illusive)
20th June 2021, 15:57
And they got 2nd and 4th, too much focus on Hamilton is bad for their own team constructors. They should have pitted Bottas the moment Max’s pitstop.
ian dearing
20th June 2021, 16:01
So why did they give Bottas the prime pit stop and leave Ham out on slower/older tyres? Not sure how that helped Ham and was detrimental to Bottas.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
20th June 2021, 16:07
They wanted to undercut Verstappen,have both cars leading and eventually control the race. It didn’t work out but it was close
ian dearing
20th June 2021, 16:17
They risked Hams lead on the assumption they could get Bottas out in front of Max? And then believed Bottas would protect Ham from Max? And when that went wrong they left Bottas out in no mans land. No wonder the strategists apologized.
LB (@burden93)
20th June 2021, 15:46
They did give him the undercut today and he had the same strategy as Hamilton, he just couldn’t look after the tyres as well. Ultimately, if he’d kept Verstappen behind him for longer Mercedes could have won today.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
20th June 2021, 16:08
At the latter stages he clearly wanted to follow the 2 stopper but Mercedes decided to let him out in order to slow down Verstappen. Eventually it didn’t pay off for any of them…
erikje
20th June 2021, 19:10
You know Bottas tires had more laps into them then Lewis.
Bottas was a sacrifice. But even that did not worked.
Chris (@cgturbo)
20th June 2021, 15:40
George Russell is the unsung hero of this race… How on earth did he finish 12th with no retirements, overtaking Yuki on pace towards the end!
John H (@john-h)
20th June 2021, 15:48
I guess they must have nailed the strategy @cgturbo as it took him quite some time to get back past Latifi at the start. Great race though, that moves Williams above Haas I think.
Chaitanya
20th June 2021, 15:41
Why was Bottas left out after perez overtook him? Merc strategy team making Ferrari strategists like rocket scientists today.
John H (@john-h)
20th June 2021, 15:44
They were out in the pit lane, maybe Bottas wasn’t in the right frame of mind to go for it? Not sure.
Dave
20th June 2021, 15:47
“Toto Wolff is noob, Mercedes’ strategists are noobs and Mercedes is noob
Binotto is noob, Ferrari’s strategists are noobs and Ferrari is noob
Steiner is noob, Haas’ development team are noobs…and Haas is noob”
John H (@john-h)
20th June 2021, 15:49
In-depth analysis lol! I enjoyed it anyway.
Dave
20th June 2021, 15:56
Probably the best one I’ve ever written. Ex dee!
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
20th June 2021, 15:57
As @petebaldwin picked up on, Perez was under investigation so they were hoping for a 5 second penalty
Chaitanya
20th June 2021, 16:11
Given how fast Perez was compared to Bottas and towards the end Perez had penalty covered off.
Dave
23rd June 2021, 10:16
Ferrari is Noob full lyrics:
“You see Ferrari now? And their performance? Here’s my take on it:
I’m telling you, Leclerc is noob and Sainz is noob
I’m telling you, Binotto is noob, their strategist is noob
Everyone at Ferrari are so much noobs…”
baasbas
20th June 2021, 15:57
Perez left the track while passing. I was actually sure he’d get a penalty. Therefore it was in Bottas’ interest to try and stay within 5 seconds for a possible 3rd place.
erikje
20th June 2021, 19:12
He did not left the track completely. So no punishment there.
Dave
23rd June 2021, 10:17
Ferrari is Noob full lyrics part 2:
“nanananana…Ferrari is noob (and I’m gonna say that out loud)
Ferrari is NOOB, FERRARI IS NOOB! I’M TELLING YOU, FERRARI IS NOOB”
Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
20th June 2021, 15:42
A great French Grand Prix! Can’t wait for the next two on an even better track!
David BR (@david-br)
20th June 2021, 15:43
It looked bad by Mercedes strategists and pitting Bottas before Hamilton was inexplicable, but the difference this race was Perez in second and going long on the first stint, that kept Mercedes worrying (correctly) all race. Also Verstappen was much more calculated this time in going to pass Hamilton, timing his runup and pass perfectly. Well deserved victory. Mercedes look all over the place now they’re under real pressure from a competent team unlikely to self-implode.
David BR (@david-br)
20th June 2021, 15:44
*Perez in fourth
Brownerboy (@brownerboy)
20th June 2021, 15:44
Mercedes doing their best to bottle and gift wrap both championships to RBR.
To not even try the 2 stopper with one of the cars whilst chasing Max after the first stop was a massive blunder.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
20th June 2021, 15:48
Apparently Ferrari were the 9th fastest car on hards, quicker only than Haas. At this rate Hungary might be the only race they finish in the points. Lots of pain in store for them at Austria 1 and 2, Britain, Belgium, Netherlands and Italy. Russia, Japan and USA too probably. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish 7th in the championship at this rate.
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
20th June 2021, 16:05
@wsrgo
I wouldn’t jump to such conclusions just yet. At Barcelona Ferrari had very good tire managment and finished about a pitstop ahead of McLaren.
Something has obviously gone horribly wrong for them this weekend (partly also last weekend, because their pace on the Hard/C3 at Baku was also nothing to shout about) and they need to analyze that as quickly as possible.
Sainz’s pace on the Hards was more than a second slower (on average!) than what Leclerc had managed on his long run on the same tire in FP2. That’s very strange and not good for them at all.
Frank
20th June 2021, 15:48
There is a new sheriff in town – Max has turned the corner
ian dearing
20th June 2021, 16:03
Apart from on the first lap
erikje
20th June 2021, 19:13
Yep, but he recovered in style.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
20th June 2021, 15:48
What surprised me was how bad the Ferrari’s were. They just seemed to drop off into nowhere.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
20th June 2021, 15:52
Yeah, reminded me of some of their races from the 2017-2019 years. And some still consider they were a genuine contender to the titles in those years.
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
20th June 2021, 15:49
What a race! So much for this track being awful for racing. All races this weekend offered great battles (and not just DRS passes).
Great job by the top 3, the McLarens, Alonso and Aston Martins!
Can’t wait to see the cars live for the first time at a race weekend next week in Styria ☺️
MG1982 (@mg1982)
20th June 2021, 15:50
“Simply lovely!”
Well, if VET had the car to win the WDC in 2017-2019, then HAM (aka THE GOAT) should mop the floor with VER… ’cause his car is at least as good as Ferrari between 2017-2019. Mercedes also failed big time in the strategy department.
Emma
20th June 2021, 16:04
Your logic is worse than Ferrari’s race pace.
Dave
20th June 2021, 19:55
Ferrari is noob, you know?
Cristiano Ferreira
20th June 2021, 16:06
People are going to make a lot of excuses for “Sir” Stupid Hypocrite when the season is over.
And his is only considered a GOAT because of Mercedes and lack of competition. That’s how he got his hollow stats.
Dave
20th June 2021, 19:57
Mercedes, Ferrari and Haas are noobs, but there are more noobs: Red Bull (Horner noob), AlphaTauri (Marko noob) and Williams (Noob by only 1%).
Sviat
20th June 2021, 15:51
I can’t believe two things:
1. How could Mercedes mess up twice? Verstappen made an error (again), and Hamilton could easily win. They should have seen that Leclerc was last in his group, and then overtook almost everyone thanks to the early first pit stop. Not only that, it was obvious that Hamilton needs to go for another stop after he stuck behind Verstappen.
2. How could Bottas lose two positions to Red Bull in the same way? Verstappen is too far behind, but Bottas gives him a perfect opportunity to overtake by going into a tight corner from a slower line. And then repeats the same with Perez. It seems to me that Bottas doesn’t care anymore.
PS: Alonso does what Alonso does. Ocon was nowhere in this race.
PPS: Mercedes are losing this championship. They have lost 3 races in a row, and they don’t seem to find the right path.
baasbas
20th June 2021, 16:06
I’m not sold on Merc losing the championship. Last year the Mercs dominated Austria. If they can do that again they’re every bit as much in it as RBR. I just hope the RBR charge doesn’t deflate like Ferrari’s did and we get to enjoy a tight battle to the end…
Frankl
20th June 2021, 23:06
Lewis might also have increased the chance of winning had he not gone off track towards the end (a mistake from Lewis again). It was interesting how Max gained fast after that, while the gap after passing Bottas stayed 4 to 5 seconds for a certain period.
S
20th June 2021, 15:57
A race of tyre strategy… Seems that most people liked it.
Will Pirelli get any love for their part in it? I doubt it.
erikje
20th June 2021, 19:16
To be honest. When I looked at the aw metrics about Ham’s tires I was expecting a blow up every moment.
Not a nice thought BTW, but thanks to pirelli.
S
21st June 2021, 3:19
How accurate do you think those graphics really are? They are only there to build some (fake) suspense.
lucifer (@lucifer)
20th June 2021, 17:16
exactly the early stoppers was a given for merc
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
21st June 2021, 1:26
This was one of those races where everyone who started the race completed it too. Altogether there have been 10 F1 races where everyone who started the race finished it. The previous race where this happened was the 2019 Austrian GP, which was also won by Max, and he got the Fastest Lap Bonus point too.