#Formula1 BWT #StyrianGP 2021 Race Preview. #F1
Formula 1 Rolex Grosser Preis Der Steiermark 2020 Race Start, Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. Image credit to Mark Thompson/AFP via Getty Images. 2021 Styrian GP Preview, Styrian Grand Prix Preview.
The 2021 Styrian GP Preview is here! After Red Bull’s Max Verstappen out-foxed championship rival Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages to claim victory at the Circuit Paul Ricard, round eight of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship, is once again held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria for the Formula 1 BWT Grosser Preis Der Steiermark 2021. The second Grand Prix in a back-to-back-to-back series of race weekends.
2021 Styrian GP Preview – A look at the Red Bull Ring
The Red Bull Ring (Formerly A1-Ring) is a permanent racing facility in Spielberg, Styria, Austria.
The race circuit was founded as Österreichring and hosted the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from 1970 to 1987. It was later shortened, rebuilt and renamed the A1-Ring, it hosted the Austrian Grand Prix again from 1997 to 2003. When Formula One outgrew the circuit, a plan was drawn up to extend the layout. Parts of the circuit, including the pits and main grandstand, were demolished, but construction work was stopped, and the circuit remained unusable for a few years before it was purchased by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz and rebuilt. It was renamed the Red Bull Ring and the track was reopened on 15 May 2011 and hosted a round of the 2011 DTM Season and a round of the 2011 F2 Championship.
The old Österreichring was often referred to as being located at Zeltweg, which is bigger and better known. However, the circuit was only modified and never relocated.
In addition, the one-off 1964 Austrian Grand Prix was held at Zeltweg Airfield, so the name was already known.
The Red Bull Ring is a medium downforce circuit featuring fast straights and slow and medium-speed corners with historically just the first three taken in low gear. As such, lap times were low with sub-1:10s lap. Average speeds were high, with the 2003 race seeing Michael Schumacher win with an average speed of 213km/h.
The circuit runs in a clockwise direction and is 4.318km (2.683 miles) in length with ten corners.
The race distance is 306.452km with 71 laps in total.
Carlos Sainz holds the fastest lap record of the circuit set at last year’s event with a 1:05.619 in his McLaren Racing-Renault MCL35.
Four-time World Champion Alain Prost and Jo Stiffert have the record for most wins in Austria with three each to their name.
Ferrari and McLaren are the most successful constructor in Austria with six victories each.
2021 Styrian GP Preview – Onboard Pole Lap of the Red Bull Ring
Here is the onboard pole position lap of the Red Bull Ring from last season’s event set by race winner Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport F1 W11 EQ Power+. The reigning champion set a 1:19.273, which you can watch right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Eu77TjVRk
2021 Styrian GP Preview – Tyres
Pirelli will be bringing the same tyres to Austria this weekend for the Styrian Grand Prix, the white side-walled C2 Hards, the yellow-branded C3 Mediums and the red-marked C4 Soft rubber along with the green-marked Intermediates and blue-branded Full Wet compounds in-case of rain.
All drivers will have two sets of hards (C2), three sets of mediums (C3) and eight sets of soft (C4) rubber available to them.
2021 Styrian GP Preview – DRS Zones
There will be three DRS Zones at the Red Bull Ring. The first zone detection point is 160 metres before turn one, with the activation point 102 metres after turn one. The second zone’s detection point is 40 metres before turn three with the activation point 100 metres after turn three. The final DRS zone’s detection point is 151 metres before turn ten with the activation point 106 metres after turn ten.
2021 Styrian GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits
Pitlane speeds will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.
ICYMI: Verstappen out-foxes Hamilton to win French GP after start error
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen made a pass on the penultimate lap to beat Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and win the French GP with an aggressive two-stop strategy in an unexpected two-stop strategy the key to his triumph.
Verstappen lost the lead in the early proceedings by running off the circuit at the second corner before gaining first place back when the undercut caught Mercedes out in the initial pit-stop window.
But with the field struggling with more tyre degradation than expected in what were much cooler conditions at Circuit Paul Ricard on Grand Prix day compared to the rest of the weekend, this time it was Red Bull who done what the Silver Arrows did back to them in the 2019 Hungarian and 2021 Spanish Grands Prix by giving up the race lead in the second half of proceedings to setup another thrilling finish for the Dutchman to win.
When the 53 lap French Grand Prix began, pole-sitter Verstappen lead Hamilton away from the front row on the grid and looked to control from the get-go as he went through the first corner, but as the Red Bull driver slid through the quick left-hander and began to move towards turn two’s right, the Dutchman had to catch a slide.
Verstappen was suddenly moving right when he should have been positioning his RB16B racer to the left ahead of the second corner and ran off the track as caught the slide, keeping tight to the yellow bollards on the inside of turn two.
As Verstappen caught his slide, Hamilton passed by the Red Bull to easily take the lead.
Hamilton built the gap to 1.4 seconds by the end of the opening tour, despite having to catch his F1 W12 on the dirty slide coming onto the main straight at the end of lap one.
The front-runners rapidly dropped Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was fourth in the other Honda-powered RB16B, as Hamilton ran without trouble upfront, his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas pressured Verstappen’s second place – going in and out of DRS range towards the end of the opening ten tours.
The top three were the only runners lapping in the low-mid 1:39’s throughout the initial stint, where Hamilton coolly built a solid gap over Verstappen.
The Briton’s lead reached three seconds when Mercedes brought Bottas in at the end of the 17th tour to switch his C3 yellow-marked medium compounds for the hards, after drivers who stopped earlier and were running in the pack – Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo – made significant gains with the undercut.
Red Bull reacted by bringing in Verstappen at the end of the next tour and the Dutchman was able to emerge in a comfortable second place, also the C2 white side-walled hards.
Hamilton made the same swap a lap after, but Verstappen’s undercut stunned the reigning world champion by making it ahead into the first corner as the Mercedes, which was stable for a tenth less than a second at its stop compared to Red Bull, was still getting back to speed.
Verstappen was back in P1, but under intense pressure from both Mercedes who were running in DRS range behind net race leader (Perez lead until he made his stop of the 24th tour having sequenced to the front when the leading runners came in).
The ten laps after Verstappen reclaimed the lead, Hamilton was able to run within a second of the Red Bull, but, as the leaders were looking at the possibility of changing to a two-stop strategy, the gap began to edge out.
On lap 32, Verstappen had a 2.2 second lead as he remained in the 1:32’s margin, whilst the following Silver Arrow’s slipped into the mid 1:38’s, but at the end of the lap, Red Bull called the Dutchman in to go back onto the medium rubber.
After completing his out-lap, Verstappen had an 18 second gap to hunt down for the lead and began eating into that advantage by lapping two seconds quicker as he ran in the 1:36’s, while Hamilton was running in the mid 1:38’s.
Perez let team-mate Verstappen by at turn 11 on the 35th tour, with Mercedes reporting to Hamilton the catch would depend how long it would take his championship rival to pass by Bottas and if Verstappen could keep his tyres in good condition than most drivers could in their initial stints.
Verstappen caught Bottas with ten laps remaining, his rate of catching the two Silver Arrows slowing after his first charge, with Hamilton getting back to lapping regularly in the 1:37’s, as they made their way through traffic.
On the 44th tour, Verstappen charged in on Bottas with DRS down the first half on the Mistral Straight, and when the Finn defended on the inside of the first part of the turn eight and nine chicane, Bottas lost momentum.
This allowed Verstappen to run alongside the Mercedes on the rundown the rest of the straight and snatched second as they went through Signes corner, which gave Verstappen 5.1 seconds to chase down race leader Hamilton with nine laps remaining.
The gap came slowly down in little amounts, but as Hamilton was running in the 1:38’s as the race reached five laps to go, Verstappen was able to gain a second a lap as the traffic between the top two disappeared.
At the beginning of the penultimate tour, Verstappen made it into DRS range – the gap was 0.7 seconds – and he recaptured the lead heading into the chicane on the Mistral Straight.
Verstappen closed in fast with DRS, and although Hamilton defended the inside, the Red Bull got alongside the Mercedes approaching turn eight and Verstappen secured the lead at the apex of the first part of the chicane.
Verstappen moved clear to win the French GP by 2.904 seconds, with Perez completing the top three in-front of Bottas as the Mexican was able to bring his one-stopper life to his advantage in the closing stages.
Perez claimed third sweeping around the outside of Bottas at Signes, with the latter furious had he could not swap to a two-stop strategy.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was another driver who made a late stop on the one-stop strategy work to his advantage, as he made his way to finish fifth and ahead of team-mate Ricciardo who came home sixth.
Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished the race seventh and in-front of Alpine F1 Teams Fernando Alonso who was eighth and the two Aston Martin’s of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll who completed the final points positions.
Stroll finished in the points after starting on the hards and at the rear of the grid – and ran long in the Grand Prix before pitting.
Leclerc, the first driver to pit in the race, fell down the field as his harder rubber degraded and was eventually put onto a two-stop strategy and ended the race in a low 16th.
His Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, also struggled with tyre life and came home in 11th after starting in fifth, with Williams Racing’s George Russell beating AlphaTauri’s pit-starter Yuki Tsunoda to 12th place.
Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon was 14th and in-front of Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi who took 15th and the aforementioned Leclerc 16th.
The other Alfa of Kimi Raikkonen ended the race 17th and ahead of Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi who was 18th and the Haas duo of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin who brought up the rear.
2021 Styrian GP Preview – The Situation
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen heads to Spielberg sitting on top of the World Driver’s Championship standings with 131 points, and a 12-point lead over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who is second on 119 points while the Dutchman’s team-mate Sergio Perez is a further 47 points in third on 84 points.
Red Bull Racing returns to its home circuit on top of the World Constructor’s Championship with 215 points, and a 37-point advantage over reigning champions Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team who are second on 178 points, while McLaren Racing-Mercedes are a further 105 points behind the Milton Keynes based-outfit in third place on 110 points.
The Formula 1 BWT Grosser Preis Der Steiermark 2021 weekend kicks off Friday June 25 with Free Practice 1 and 2, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday June 26 and the 71 lap Austrian Grand Prix Sunday June 27.
