Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Red Bull Ring, 2021

Verstappen “amazed” by dominant Austrian Grand Prix victory

2021 Austrian Grand Prix

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Max Verstappen didn’t anticipate his domination of the Austrian Grand Prix, where he built such an advantage that he was able to switch to a two-stop strategy without losing the lead.

The Red Bull driver pulled away from his rivals during the first stint of the race on the medium C4 tyre, lowering the fastest lap until he switched to the hard C3 compound.

He raised his pace and ended up over 26 seconds clear up front. Red Bull took the opportunity to give him a second pit stop with 11 laps to go. That ensured he secured fastest lap and that there was no repeat of his Baku rear tyre blowout.

“The car was on rails on every tyre set we put on, it was really enjoyable to drive, and really insane,” said Verstappen.

“I’m a bit amazed myself how today went, I didn’t expect it to be like this. Incredible job by everyone to deliver something like this.

“Of course when you go into the weekend everyone sees you as the favourite, but it’s never easy to actually always deliver what we did today. A great effort by the whole team and also by Honda, I think the whole package. These two weeks here have been incredible.”

Verstappen also dominated last week’s Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, and brings his tally of Formula 1 wins at the circuit up to four.

Early on in the race he faced a challenge from McLaren’s Lando Norris, but held him off at the start as well as an early Safety Car restart where he left it as late as possible before returning to racing speed.

“I just had to be awake in the restart,” Verstappen explained. “I had a little bit of a gap and I knew that if I could go past lap one, or the restart, I could do my own race. But you always have to do that first. But today has been pretty incredible.”

Following the easing of pandemic restrictions, a larger crowd was present to witness his second consecutive race at the same circuit.

“It was insane today to see all the fans here, first of all, and of course so much orange is just incredible,” he said. “And a great motivation as well. Especially the last lap and the in-lap, there was a lot of orange all over the track, so than you very much for coming.”

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2021 Austrian Grand Prix

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Ida Wood
Often found in junior single-seater paddocks around Europe doing journalism and television commentary, or dabbling in teaching photography back in the UK. Currently based...

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32 comments on “Verstappen “amazed” by dominant Austrian Grand Prix victory”

  1. Well the informed fans are not amazed. Saw this coming after French GP. Will be ‘amazed’ now if Mercedes gets another pole this year or a win on merit.
    Redbull running away with the Championship. Hope it doesn’t become like second half of 2013.
    This kind of domination is not seen since 2016.

    1. How do you mean “not seen since 2016”? Last season at this point there were 8 out of 9 Mercedes victories and 8 out of 9 Mercedes poles. And then followed another 6 back-to-back Mercedes wins.

      1. True. But Hamilton was not “amazed” by those victories.

        1. Hamilton has had several years of experiencing such an advantage, for Max it’s a brand new feeling @rockgod

    2. pole i’m not sure but a win is still possible

    3. @amg64 I’m pretty sure I can look much closer than 2016 to see domination like this. 2020 perhaps!

      It makes a change to have Mercedes being schooled.

    4. @amg44

      This kind of domination is not seen since 2016.

      The RB16B, which does not have a single front row lockout or 1-2 finish after 9 races, is apparently more dominant than the 2020 Mercedes.

      This is why LH44 fans are mocked so often.

      1. Is the last part of your comment necessary? Do you even know for sure whether an anonymous internet user is a Lewis fan despite the label AMG44?

        1. It’s pretty obvious he’s a hamilton or actually mercedes fan, look at his comments, they match the name very well.

      2. So Lewis’ teammate is not that bad, huh?
        Seriously now, Max almost got two consecutive Grand Chelem, that is dominance, a strong one, in a team set for a one guy only.

    5. petebaldwin (@)
      4th July 2021, 17:35

      @amg44 Not seen this kind of domination since 2013? Lol. Let’s compare the Austrian GP for 2020 and this year.

      2020: Mercedes qualify 1st and 2nd with both cars over 5 tenths faster than Max in 3rd and a further 2 tenths in front of Lando in 4th.

      2021: Red Bull qualify 1st and 3rd. They get pole by less than half a tenth of a second and are 3 tenths ahead of Mercedes in 4th and 5th.

      1. Indeed, it’s got nothing to do with that level of domination; let me think, for now they have on balance the faster car on the tracks we’ve seen, and occasionally mercedes was better, what can be a comparable season so far? Maybe 2017, where mercedes was comprehensively stronger without being dominant. As in for now merc 2017 = red bull 2021 and ferrari 2017 = merc 2021, but that can still change, silverstone is next.

      2. We will see the numbers and stats at the end of the year. Difference is some see it way before than others.
        I see Redbull Domination this year. The numbers will show everything at the end of the year. A domination not seen since 2016.

        1. @amg44 I hope you’re right but already we have not seen 2 RBR’s on the front row consistently if at all, and LH has won races not just Max. So obviously it is there for all to see that 2016 and 2020 were pretty much completely Mercedes front row lockout years, and already RBR have not done that, but hey if they are and/or Max is about to now dominate the rest of the season, that’s great imho. But I’m still taking it a race at a time, thanks. Mercedes’ 7 year run has me wary of them finding their way yet this year. They’ve got upgrades as I’m sure RBR does, there’s new rear tires coming, and there are tracks where Mercedes will be stronger I’m sure. There’s a reason they wait until the end of the season to hand out the trophies.

        2. Rodric Ewulf
          6th July 2021, 5:35

          It’s already impossible for Red Bull to proportionally dominate in as much GPs as Mercedes did in 2020. Mercedes had the fastest car in Imola, Portimao, Barcelona and Paul Ricard this season. Even in the egregious assumption that Red Bull will be the fastest in every round for the rest of the year, Mercedes would be the #1 car in 4/23 whilst in 2020 they were arguably the strongest in all bar one race (Abu Dhabi), and even in the 70th Aniversary race which Max won they still looked the fastest, it was in Mercedes stronghold Silverstone anyway. Red Bull pretty much stole the victory on that round, so they had the better machinery in a “staggering” frequency of 1/17, way below Mercs will enjoy this season. Incredible how pervasive Mercedes propaganda is, though.

  2. Max was amazed by the domination and put in faster laps after saying his tyres were not at their best. Who does he think he is. Hamilton?

    1. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s so easy for them out front, tyres not being totally perfect are about the only thing that focuses their attention.

      1. As Ham has said, you end up racing yourself to keep focused. Do every lap a bit better than the last.

        1. For this race I am visiting family and so I saw the race fleetingly and the volume was on low and there was much conversation going on so I missed much of the commentary and post-race interviews. That said, I would be surprised if RBR are assuming some sort of domination for the rest of the season, and I expect at Silverstone and with some upgrades Mercedes to at a minimum have Max in a spot where he has to think about a lot more than just tires.

          1. Yes, silverstone is really interesting to see now, could be even if merc didn’t bring an upgrade, since hamilton is usually strong there, unlike in austria, and merc is also more suited (remember past years’ silverstone vs austria results).

          2. Well if you think the Merc/Ham have a chance, get to the bookies. Basically 1/4 for Max and 3/1 for Ham for the WDC.
            Odds seem a little better for Merc taking the WCC. Nearly 4/1.

  3. Car was on rails Max eh in ya own words. But yup you defo outperforming the car in another league Lewis was just lucky last season to have the best car…

    On another note anyone see how giddy DiResta is at the moment jesus man does he want a spoon with that bowl. But yh Sky like racefans are apperntly all pro Hamilton. Even today Crofty after being told Hamilton has damage said isit pace or isit the damage well duh, Lewis was making Bottas look silly early on. Bottas suddenly becomes 6tenths faster and you think it maybe his lack of pace. HAHA.

  4. Jonathan Parkin
    4th July 2021, 16:49

    Did he get the Grand Chelem

    1. Yes. Pole, led every lap and fastest lap. Complete domination. Kudos to him and his team for coming up with the ultimate package this season.

      1. Please don’t forget the FIA and the rule change ahead the first budget capped season of the hybrid era.
        Redbull has the luxury of only putting a ‘B’ (and has no reason to drop it) on the car’s name, and probably to make all upgrades on pipeline work properly even being planned last year.
        Sometimes this sport is… Well, let’s carry on.

        1. That’s nothing so far, compared to Mercedes winning 7 in a row simply because of the hybrid regulations

    2. Wow, great, wasn’t sure about leading every single lap, but I thought he had come in after his most direct competitors, it’s very rare to get grand chelems.

  5. Jonathan Parkin
    4th July 2021, 17:56

    Another stats for the guys. I believe Verstappen is on currently 143 laps in the lead without reply. If he leads the first 14 or more in Silverstone he beats Alain Prosts 156

    1. Wow, is prost the leader in this ranking?

      1. Pjotr (@pietkoster)
        5th July 2021, 0:37

        like they say in China: even the longest journey starts with the first step.

  6. I’m guessing Max was just amazed that Mercedes hadn’t seemed to improve so much from last weekend considering same track and all. He didn’t expect to have it as easy as last weekend.

    1. Yes that was it. Just like the rest of us @robbie

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