2021 British Grand Prix Star Performers

2021 British Grand Prix

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Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly were RaceFans’ Star Performers of the British Grand Prix. Here’s why.

Stars

Fernando Alonso

  • Failed to make the cut for Q3 by just two-hundredths of a second
  • Produced a gem of a start on soft tyres in the sprint qualifying race, making up six places to run fifth. The McLaren drivers then passed him and he started the grand prix seventh
  • Unable to contain quicker cars like Sainz’s Ferrari, Alonso finished seventh, though indicated the team had more pace in hand

Charles Leclerc

Leclerc almost scored a shock win
  • Another fine qualifying performance saw him line up fourth on the grid
  • After an uneventful run to the same position on Saturday, he passed Bottas on lap one of the grand prix, and inherited the lead when Hamilton and Verstappen clashed
  • Leclerc had to manage a minor engine problem while Hamilton was breathing down his neck, but never lost the lead
  • Didn’t have the pace to contain the Mercedes on hard tyres, and ran wide when Hamilton attacked at Copse

Pierre Gasly

  • Was unhappy with the balance of the AlphaTauri from the off, especially on the soft tyres, and lamented the lack of opportunity to work on the set-up before qualifying under the new format
  • Came close to reaching Q3, missing the cut by 0.053 seconds
  • Fought well in the midfield, passing Giovinazzi and running a long first stint
  • Was on course for ninth place when he suffered a puncture, which he believed was due to gravel

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Strugglers

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Silverstone, 2021
It was a weekend to forget for Perez
  • Over six-tenths of a second slower than Verstappen in Q3
  • Lost two places at the start in the sprint qualifying race, then spun off and finished last
  • After starting the grand prix from the pits on hard tyres, Perez was up to 12th by lap nine, but further gains came slowly in the ‘DRS train’
  • He pitted twice, and had passed Raikkonen for 10th when the team called him in to fit soft tyres and take the fastest lap bonus point away from Hamilton. This cost him one point at most, and surely wouldn’t have been considered had he been much higher up

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And the rest

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton was considered chiefly responsible for Verstappen crash
  • Secured pole for sprint qualifying by less than a tenth
  • Lost sprint qualifying lead and pole to Verstappen on run to turn one
  • Made a fractionally better start than Verstappen on Sunday, but understeered into him as they fought for the lead at Copse, sending his rival into the barriers and collecting a 10-second penalty
  • Had great pace on hard tyres and after being waved passed Bottas he caught and passed Leclerc first time – at Copse – with three laps to go

Valtteri Bottas

  • Helped team mate take sprint qualifying pole by providing a tow
  • Took a gamble with soft tyres in sprint qualifying but was unable to trouble leaders
  • Lost places at each of the starts on Sunday – to Leclerc initially and Norris later
  • Regained a place from Norris after the McLaren driver’s slow pit stop
  • Quickly let Hamilton by when ordered to, and claimed third behind Leclerc

Max Verstappen

  • Secured front row grid for sprint qualifying being beaten to pole
  • Took lead of sprint qualifying race on run to turn one claiming pole position for the grand prix
  • Was as uncompromising as ever in his first-lap fight with Hamilton, which ended with the Red Bull in the barriers

Lando Norris

Slow pit stop cost Norris a place
  • Did his usual strong job in qualifying to take sixth, which became fifth on the grid after Perez’s sprint race spin
  • Gained a place when Verstappen crashed and passed Bottas at the restart to lie third
  • Slow pit stop dropped him behind the Mercedes and he couldn’t keep Hamilton behind, taking fourth place

Daniel Ricciardo

  • Despite returning to Q3, and being just two-thousandths of a second off his team mate, Ricciardo was somewhat disappointed after qualifying, noting that less than a tenth of a second would have put him fourth on the grid
  • Passed Alonso in the sprint qualifying race, like his team mate, for sixth on the grid
  • Couldn’t match his team mates’ pace and dropped back
  • Would have finished behind Sainz without the Ferrari driver’s slow pit stop

Lance Stroll

Stroll raced well after poor qualifying
  • Was over half a second slower than Vettel in Q2 and failed to reach the final 10
  • Made two excellent starts, gaining three places in each, to run eighth
  • Held the position to the finish

Sebastian Vettel

  • Made it into Q3 again, comfortably quicker than Stroll
  • Fell to the back of the field after spinning at the restart of the grand prix
  • Made little headway from there and retired from 18th place with cooling problems a dozen laps from home

Esteban Ocon

  • Looked much happier after a change of chassis and less than a tenth of a second off Alonso in qualifying, though neither reached Q3
  • Started the sprint qualifying race on softs, like his team mate, though his progress wasn’t as spectacular
  • Fell to 10th on lap one of the grand prix but repassed Raikkonen at the restart for ninth
  • Took the chequered flag in the same place, just four seconds behind his team mate

Carlos Sainz Jnr

Carlos Sainz Jnr, Ferrari, Silverstone, 2021
Sainz rebounded well from two setbacks
  • Was within two tenths of a second of his team mate in qualifying, though the pair were separated by five places on the grid
  • Fell to 16th at the start of the sprint qualifying race after taking a hit from George Russell, but recovered to take 11th on the grid, which Russell’s penalty turned into 10th
  • Gained two more places at the start of the grand prix
  • Was poised to jump Ricciardo but suffered a very slow pit stop which confined him to sixth at the flag

Yuki Tsunoda

  • Dropped out in Q1 for the fifth time in 10 races, complaining that the time lost at the weigh bridge compromised his preparation lap and put him in traffic
  • Lost more ground in the sprint qualifying race but was able to pass Latifi to regain his original starting position
  • Worked his way by the Williams and Alfa Romeos in the race for 11th place

Kimi Raikkonen

Late tangle with Perez spoiled Raikkonen’s day
  • Made his increasingly routine exit in Q1, and was almost half a second slower than Giovinazzi
  • The double race format played to his strengths: He made up four places at the start on Saturday, and the same again in the grand prix
  • Was running 11th when he tangled with Perez and spun out of points contention

Antonio Giovinazzi

  • Reached Q2 though the car clearly wasn’t quick enough to reach the final 10
  • Unlike his team mate, Giovinazzi used medium tyres in sprint qualifying, and dropped behind Raikkonen in the race
  • Two good starts on Sunday moved him up to 11th before he was passed by Gasly and Perez, leaving him to finish 13th

Mick Schumacher

  • Not a contender for Q2, though he comfortably out-qualified Mazepin again
  • Tangled with Mazepin at the start of the sprint qualifying race but finished ahead of him
  • Temporarily held 15th place in the grand prix until quicker cars passed
  • Was passed by Mazepin after their pit stops and finished the race on his team mate’s tail

Nikita Mazepin

  • Having finished behind his team mate on Friday and Saturday he turned it around on Sunday to come out ahead
  • Said his move on Schumacher was “probably my best overtake in the last three years”

George Russell

Russell was ‘Mr Friday’ for a change
  • Produced more qualifying heroics, this time dragging his Williams to a spot on the fourth row of the grid
  • Tangled with Sainz as the Ferrari driver tried to pass him at the start of the sprint qualifying race, and was given a three-place grid penalty
  • Lost further ground in the race, but was convinced that even without his penalty points wouldn’t have been possible

Nicholas Latifi

  • Was alarmed to discover he was losing over six tenths of a second on the straights in qualifying. His team put that down to a steeper wing angle and an untimely head-wind
  • Said he didn’t make good starts on either of his attempts on Sunday
  • Made an early pit stop to protect himself from Vettel, which worked, and came home six seconds behind his team mate

Over to you

Vote for the driver who impressed you most last weekend and find out whether other RaceFans share your view here:

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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115 comments on “2021 British Grand Prix Star Performers”

  1. I thought Alonso and Leclerc were absolutely excellent and it was nice to see Ricciardo closer to Norris in qualifying and finishing position (perhaps not overall lap time just yet).

    Perez was just nowhere all weekend and it was another stinker for Bottas from my viewpoint. Surely on a weekend in which Perez didn’t show up, Verstappen retired and Hamilton had a clash and a penalty, Bottas has to be capitalising. He should have been forcing Mercedes to make a very difficult team order for the win; instead he couldn’t even chase down the Ferrari ahead.

  2. Arguably Leclerc’s best weekend of his F1 career. Although, Monza 2019 was on another level regardless of Ferrari’s engine and his driving. Holding off Hamilton and Bottas on different strategies for the entire race in cars that looked considerably quicker is just stress at maximum.

  3. Leclerc, yes, but Hamilton was a star driver too, pole, brilliant racing at the start of the GP (were you not entertained?), marginal decision for the penalty, absolutely superb drive to the win against an excellent Leclerc. I do get why that opinion might be risky to express…

    1. RandomMallard (@)
      20th July 2021, 15:58

      @david-br I think it is a very marginal one, but as Keith didn’t give Charles a star rating in Styria despite him having what he called “his best race, after lap 1”. Sure Leclerc didn’t get a penalty from the stewards, but he lost his front wing and had to pit to last, which is arguably penalty enough. And part of what made Hamilton’s drive so impressive imo was his recovery. Without that penalty (which the stewards feel was justified, I’m not personally getting into that argument again), he undercuts Leclerc and wins without a challenge. It was a great performance, but like Leclerc’s incident in Austria, was a little bit overshadowed by lap 1.

      1. @randommallard I guess there’s flawless perfection, but also flawed stellar performance too. This was a warrior performance from Hamilton. Undoubtedly one that will provoke a warrior performance from Max, sooner rather than later. I think Hamilton’s worst moment wasn’t Lap 1 of the GP, where I think Max should have ceded more ground at Copse for multiple reasons, but the start of the sprint race, where Hamilton was slow off the line. He seemed to agree after the GP race.

        1. RandomMallard (@)
          20th July 2021, 16:26

          @david-br Oh yeah it’s definitely a very far margin from being a star or the rest. But I think a combination of the poor start on Saturday, and the lap 1 incident (even if it is a racing incident, which I’m moving more and more towards thinking it is, it doesn’t absolve him of all the blame, it just puts it more equally on both drivers), and his poor practice pace which is sometimes taken into account by Keith, means I see him to fit a bit better in “the rest” than anywhere else.

          1. RandomMallard (@)
            20th July 2021, 16:26

            Very fine margin, not far margin

          2. Seems like a good discussion there between the two of you @david-br and @randommallard, and I think indeed that with that collision and the resulting penalty (and maybe with his start of the sprint), HAM wasn’t quite in a star role, even though it resulted in about the best result he could have hoped for from this weekend. Or at least, not when we had Alonso and Leclerc’s weekends to put in that category.

          3. @bosyber Hamilton tends to be fairly good judge of his own races and he seems to put this one fairly high. I do get that anyone taking him to be mostly or entirely to blame for the first lap incident will downgrade his race performance, fair enough. I just see it otherwise, not only as a legitimate and brave attempt to pass, not only a error on Verstappen’s part to contest it so hard, on the outside and in a good position in the championship, but also because I’ve been saying all season that at some point Hamilton would and should stick in there in a 50/50 situation and not bail out as he had done. And to be really honest, he chose the ideal spot – not because he sent Verstappen flying, but because it really was the moment when the latter should have ceded the better line and speed, but continued racing. You simply can’t expect to win every corner and your (equally competitive and skilled) rival to back down every time – even more so when Verstappen was aware of the WDC maths.

    2. Rodric Ewulf
      20th July 2021, 17:26

      @david-br

      I do get why that opinion might be risky to express…

      Maybe because awarding star performer for a driver who made a dangerous Malodonado move, hit trouble from it and got saved by one more lucky safety car doesn’t bode well for someone with common sense. And Keith isn’t even known as unfavorable for the said driver, on the contrary.

      1. Is there much point debating this further? If you can’t acknowledge Verstappen turned in when he had the choice to compromise his speed/angle, then it’s probably futile. Both drivers were competing for the same bit of track. Hamilton has overtaken plenty of times at Copse, as Verstappen knows, hence his attempt to close down the inside – he didn’t go all the way right not to leave space on the outside, but then he had to know that there was a chance Hamilton would try. Hamilton was more than 50% level, which by the rules means Verstappen had to accept the corner wasn’t just his. His move suggested he didn’t accept that (or sufficiently so) and didn’t want to compromise his speed out of Copse. That’s the risk he took. Own it.

        1. Rodric Ewulf
          20th July 2021, 18:37

          @david-br No, actually I can acknowledge Verstappen made a naive assumption while positioning himself in the corner, and it can be described as a misjudgement as well. But this is facing a danger that was there (Lewis going too deep into the corner illegally seizing the racing line i.e. he didn’t complete the move but acted like it was done) while shouldn’t be there according to the rules and proper racing conduct. It’s only that.

          1. OK, that’s more measured than describing it as a ‘dangerous Maldonado move’ though. By that I presume you mean a move with no chance of success, every chance of collision, perhaps intentional. That was what Red BUll seemed to want to depict with their frankly ridiculous ‘professional foul’ nonsense. At most Hamilton’s move was miscalculated, but I’m still not convinced of that either. VER and HAM had been alongside over the first part of the lap so I think it was unreasonable for Verstappen to expect to go through that corner unchallenged, and he should have driven with that in mind. Had Lewis been racing most other drivers, like Leclerc later, I’d have expected that. But it was little surprise they collided when Verstappen was in the other car, put it that way.

          2. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 1:06

            @david-br

            OK, that’s more measured than describing it as a ‘dangerous Maldonado move’ though.

            Still it was dangerous, and careless move like some Maldonado had done. The shared blame simply doesn’t nullify that, as being not 50/50, that’s why the penalty was issued. Rarely a race incident has one driver 100% accontable, but in some cases it’s very nearly there.

            That was what Red BUll seemed to want to depict with their frankly ridiculous ‘professional foul’ nonsense. At most Hamilton’s move was miscalculated, but I’m still not convinced of that either.

            If you’re still not convinced even after the references that I posted than you never will really. I’m still waiting any possible contrary evidence being shown by you that isn’t nothing more than your opinion trying to twist the rules.

          3. Lewis going too deep into the corner illegally seizing the racing line

            … really? Says who? Even the stewards say he ran wide of the apex, you’re saying he ran too deep.

            Which is it?

            Allison, while he is definitely partisan in this one, summed it up quite clearly– Lewis complied absolutely with the rules for overtaking– he was over halfway alongside Max approaching the corner, he chose his line (somewhat wide, yes, but he was staying off the kerbs), and held that line.

            Meanwhile, Max deliberately turned his wheel towards Lewis (after looking directly at him), straightened the wheel for a moment, and then turned again, even deeper, towards Lewis.

            I realize you’re going to be biased in favor of Max, and that’s fine– I admit I’m biased towards Hamilton. But one driver held their line, the other changed their line, expecting Lewis to yield. And that mistake cost Max 25 points and a chassis that Red Bull probably can’t afford any more than Mercedes could have afforded a new chassis for Bottas.

        2. Insane how many ham fanboys think not moving out of the way for him to get through justifies him punting you

          1. Max changed course. Lewis didn’t. Who punted who?

        3. But we’re not discussing Verstappen here, just Hamilton.

    3. Can’t see how Lewis was a star. The more I look at the replays the more I see him as fully responsible for the crash with Max. Looking closer, Max actually gave him plenty of room to make the corner; Lewis had acres of space to the apex but missed it by at least a cars’ width, then simply understeered into the back of the Red Bull. Max actually positioned his car almost exactly where Leclerc did on lap 50, the only difference was that Hamilton was tight to the apex and in full control of the car. Scott Mansell on the Driver61 YouTube channel gives an excellent explanation of this – worth checking out.

      Leclerc was the clear star of the race; Alonso was also mighty, save for his spin on the way to the grid!

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        20th July 2021, 18:15

        @Roly Grant Keep watching, eventually you’ll realize that Max clipped Lewis, not the other way around.

        1. How? Enlighten me. I think I’ve explained above why that’s patently not the case. As I said, look at the Driver61 Youtube channel

      2. Roly, I watched the interview and was disappointed not in Scott Mansell laying fault on Hamilton per se but his arguments, which failed to acknowledge the rule about being more than half level, with implications for Max’s way round the corner, and his later comment that ‘Max could have taken a different line/speed but that would have affected his speed out of Copse,’ which really undermines much of his argument. If Max was competing for the corner (with a legitimate pass by Hamilton) then he can’t expect to take an ‘ideal line’ without potential consequences. Seeing the incident, it’s fairly clear Verstappen did not want to compromise. You can still chose between 50/50 (racing incident) and one driver being ‘mostly’ to blame, but that doesn’t translate to the absolute form in which Scott Mansell depicts it. Much better analysis came from the Sky team, I think. Irrespective of level of fault, ‘star performer’ has to include other elements – which is what I was pointing out. Hamilton’s performance was concentrated, aggressive, intense and in my view extremely well controlled. Some acknowledgement from Max’s supporters that he was equally aggressive on the first lap, but more on the edge (driving off track, brushing into the side of Lewis on the straight) would be welcome, since that driving ultimately led to the intensity of them meeting at Copse. Two sides.

        1. Rodric Ewulf
          20th July 2021, 18:48

          @david-br So you’re disappointed with British commentators’ analysis about a move that a British driver (not any British driver, the king of all) had done? That’s amusing, it highlights the amount of unfathomable bias involved.
          Are you confused or willingly to analyse properly the accident? Then read the stewards’ justification of the penalty.
          https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-explains-hamilton-blame-for-verstappen-collision/6633212/
          Lewis had just half of the car alongside Max, which doesn’t make him entitled of the racing line at all. He didn’t complete the move but acted like it was done, therefore causing the collision. This type of incident isn’t rare in F1 actually, just the consequences due the high speeds involved were a little more severe.

          1. Rodric, yes disappointed! – do you want me to list all the other drivers, pundits and team principals who took it as a racing incident, or even edged towards laying most of the fault with Verstappen? I’m way past this thing of taking any pundit as ‘independent’. Nobody is really. It’s all about the quality of the argument and analysis. I’ve pointed out where I think Scott Mansell is partial in this case. I’m sure I could find one Dutch journalist with a view similar to my own, but I don’t speak or read Dutch, mores the pity :)

          2. Rodric Ewulf
            20th July 2021, 19:19

            @david-br I think the drivers and other people use the term “racing incident” as an indicator of shared blame, or even lack of ill-faith from both the opponents involved, what I’m even inclined to agree, in the terms stated before. But two drivers having shares of blame on an incident doesn’t necessarily mean equal blame. I will not repeat myself about the reasoning why Lewis is mostly to blame for the collision than Max is, so if you want to see a different analysis than yours (and of other Lewis fans, barely no one else), check the article that I left in my previous post of this thread. Again, not that any pundit is ‘independent’ but when even unsuspecting pundits (i.e. the ones who are actually pro-Hamilton most of the time) and other race analysts overwhelmingly point to one direction, you need to start suspecting this is the right one.

        2. Appreciate the fair and nuanced response David. I think we can agree to disagree although I take your point that it’s rare that it’s 100% the fault of one driver, in this case I’d still say it’s 95% Hamilton. As far I’m concerned, Verstappen did compromise by leaving plenty of space on the inside; to an extent I agree that he could have turned in slightly less aggressively, but Hamilton should still have made the corner given the space he had. His trajectory was such that he would have barely made it regardless of whether the RB was there and given the understeer he’d picked up he’d probably still have tagged Verstappen even if the RB had been on a less ‘ideal’ line.

          Agree that Hamilton’s race was impressive, particularly his speed on the hard tyre, and his race management (waiting patiently and saving tyres behind Leclerc) was exemplary. However there were a few wobbles – I was sitting at Chapel and noticed a trip across the grass on his in-lap prior to switching onto hards, which could have been a crucial error had he been in a proper ‘undercut’-style battle. He was also ushered through by Bottas, which, while obviously inevitable, did mean that he only had to overtake considerably slower cars. It wasn’t exactly Piquet/Mansell ’87.

          1. Seriously, I think I may just watch the incident fresh next week! Sometimes it’s useful as a bit of distance. Maybe I’ll see it very differently or have a clearer idea of why I think it was a racing incident. I don’t think passing Bottas detracts from Hamilton’s race but certainly it didn’t add anything! I had expected Bottas to win it after the first lap, to be honest (irrespective of fault, I was fairly sure Hamilton would get a ten second penalty, even a drive through, because of the heavy impact for Verstappen, it’s just the way these things end up being calculated). But really he didn’t do anything Perez hadn’t done previously in getting out of the way. It’s normal even in non-championship terms for a faster driver to be let through if he can catch a rival team in so doing. True, the real racing action was in Lap 1…

          2. Rodric Ewulf
            20th July 2021, 19:27

            After the racing incident (for which he had most of the blame, as there’s no conspiracy against him by the stewards, just proper use of the rules), Lewis race was quite good actually, even though having superior machinery than competition, as he did what he knows how to do since a long time, and his racecraft is still one of the best from the grid regardless of what some may say. As for the easy pass on Bottas, it’s overreacting to say its a shame, to be honest. Checo would do the same for Max, as he already did at Paul Ricard.

          3. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 23:53

            @freelittlebirds
            Supposing that Lewis didn’t understeered, so what? Still a dangerous move, as he never look like going to the apex to avoid the collison with Max at all. And he should have done that for not being able to come not even a bit ahead of Max. That’s what the stewards noted, but now you’re trying your best to divert the topic.

        3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          20th July 2021, 19:40

          @Rodric Ewulf

          “Car 44 was on a line that did not reach the apex of the corner, with room available to the inside.

          “When Car 33 turned into the corner, Car 44 did not avoid contact and the left front of Car 44 contacted the right rear of Car 33. Car 44 is judged predominantly at fault.”

          Here’s the FIA’s explanation – could someone please explain to me what the apex of that corner is?

          Is there a diagram the FIA provided showing the apex and Lewis’s car position at the point of contact? Surely, we’ll all be able to see that and agree with their decision.

          1. Rodric Ewulf
            20th July 2021, 20:02

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBrWMQ3uhRo
            The stewards and most of racing analysts disagree that Lewis was in a trajectory to reach the apex. Just watch Karun Chandhok’s analysis from Sky Sports (who even said it was a racing incident, so an unsuspecting commentator to be anti-Hamilton).
            If you’re still in doubt go argue with the stewards also. There’s no way to distort reality and say it was an undeserved penalty for the collision that took Max out of the race and send him into the barriers, no matter how hard Lewis fans will try.
            https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-explains-hamilton-blame-for-verstappen-collision/6633212/

          2. Rodric Ewulf
            20th July 2021, 20:23

            More in-depht analysis about the aftermath:
            https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/31842892/was-lewis-hamilton-really-blame-collision-max-verstappen
            Here other analysis in which they conclude that it was a racing incident but still justified penalty.
            https://the-race.com/formula-1/our-verdict-on-the-verstappen-hamilton-british-gp-collision/
            All in all, can you send me videos or articles with different points of view? I’d rather appreciate to assess those ones.

          3. Thats an easy one. Its were he was when he overtook Leclerc. Thats where he should have been and they both would have made that corner. Brilliant racing up to then though and an mistake is easily made. Pity no responsibility was taken but it was turned into I sent a message narrative. So be it.

          4. There are excellent shots comparing the two overtakes. You can see Max gave even a tiny more space than Leclerc did. Lewis is however in different position. Had he been in front of Max, we could understand him taking the corner rather wide, thats seen more often. He wasnt however and secondly that taking it wide is usually done at slow speed corners, exactly for the 51g scenario when you get it wrong, like Lewis did. So, no biggy if you just own up to it. The fact that he didnt tells all about the mental state Lewis is in this year. He lets Max get under his skin, which inevitably would lead to this.

          5. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            21st July 2021, 13:35

            @Rodric Eowulf Watch the video again, Karun Chandhok goes off Jenson Button’s claim that he understeered which is a reasonable expectation of a Merc on the inside line ovetaking a Red Bull on a high speed corner. That part makes sense but you can’t assume a car will understeer into a corner. It’s also quite obvious that Jenson was wrong when Karun starts to draw the line to the apex only to realize that Lewis is pointing to that line :-) He talks about 2 lines but only draws one.

            I’ll ask you a simple question – is Lewis on the line to nearly clip the kerb that Karun drew?

          6. F1oSaurus (@)
            21st July 2021, 15:16

            Maybe this video makes it easier to understand:
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABKY6nbKIL4

            It’s another incident where the Verstappen is the overtaker on the inside and doesn’t even remotely attempt to make the apex. He just barges for the outside of the corner. Verstappen does get a drive through penalty for this incident. Oh wait …

          7. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 16:56

            @f1osaurus

            The stewards reviewed video and telemetry evidence,” the stewards said. “Cars 33 [Verstappen] and 44 [Hamilton] entered Turn 9 with Car 33 in the lead and Car 44 slightly behind and on the inside.

            That’s the part which doesn’t get into your fanatic head. I’ve said it before but let’s make it clearer now. The driver ahead doesn’t need to make it to the apex, but the driver slightly behind does. Half a car alongside his rival is not a nailed overtake, for god’s sake. Only a driver and a fanbase who is incessantly trying to find some excuse to blow competition away and have an easy ride once again could ever have thought that.

          8. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            21st July 2021, 16:59

            @f1osaurus I thought you were serious… ;-) That was a really, really bad overtake…

          9. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 17:08

            @freelittlebirds

            It’s also quite obvious that Jenson was wrong when Karun starts to draw the line to the apex only to realize that Lewis is pointing to that line :-) He talks about 2 lines but only draws one.

            Which other line? A imaginary one out of convenience, must be. It’s easy to subjectively interpret pointing directions (and get it all wrong due to bias) so I’ll go for telemetry and graphical analysis, made with proper techniques, not the metrics set by a delusional fan-boy head. After all, subjective by subjective interpretation, Lewis didn’t look like really going to the apex to avoid the collison with Max at all.

          10. F1oSaurus (@)
            22nd July 2021, 7:30

            The F1 drivers (even including Albon) and pundits all agree that Hamilton had the racing line. What does that mean if he’s not allowed to go one meter wide?

            At that point Hamilton needs to leave space for Verstappen and he did. Verstappen had half a track open to his left.

            Why have rules for overtaking and then not apply them?

            Just watch this video to see how they judged ” not hitting the apex” as a criminal offense before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABKY6nbKIL4

          11. F1oSaurus (@)
            22nd July 2021, 8:40

            Roderic beowulf or whatever

            I’ve said it before but let’s make it clearer now. The driver ahead doesn’t need to make it to the apex, but the driver slightly behind does.

            Every time you say this you remain wrong.

            A car overtaking on the inside needs to have his front wheel at least alongside the middle of the car on the outside at the start of the corner. That’s the stewarding guidelines for overtaking. Hamilton was further up alongside on Verstappen than that. So he had the line. And therefore Verstappen had to leave him space not the other way around.

          12. @f1osaurus
            Or more fitting, @fool1osaurus !
            I just wanted to know if you can show me the sporting regulations articles that give support for your point of view, without it that’s just your unfathomably biased opinion taken out of some brainwashing idolatry for Hamilton/Mercedes. Why else do you need to copy/paste their version of the strory without even obthering to check if it stands, if it has any validity? Notice that I didn’t made that for Horner/Verstappen, they’re saying some things that do not quite make sense also. So stop following herd behaviour and try to check your beliefs for once! I’ve already showed you from which official source I’ve based my oppinion, so we’re not equal in terms of approach. You’ve been too much Mercs’ partisan since basically always.

          13. F1oSaurus (@)
            24th July 2021, 11:50

            @rodewulf Yeah so that was a waste

        4. come on man @freelittlebirds
          you’re acting like you are better than Roly Grant, because he has a different opinion?
          I also disagree with you about the incident and have watched it more than enough times

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            21st July 2021, 17:17

            @johnever I’m not saying I’m better. We are talking about the incident and there’s no one who has shown that Lewis was understeering and had missed the apex. If Lewis took a screenshot of his wheels and showed them to the stewards, they wouldn’t know where to hide… They’d probably say “well, this guy told me that you understeered and I believed him”. Then the other person would say “wait, I thought you’re the one who said he understeered. Obviously he hasn’t. Boy, did we get that wrong!”

  4. How is Gasly a star? He (and the whole team) was lost pretty much all weekend because of setup choice and couldn’t really climb up through the field.
    Stars: HAM, LEC, and ALO.
    Strugglers: BOT, TSU, GAS, PER, VET, and SCH.

    1. Rodric Ewulf
      20th July 2021, 17:13

      Lewis as a star and Max not whilst the former caused a serious collision sending the latter into the barriers just isn’t a very impartial choice, even if you call that “only” a racing incident.

    2. Rodric Ewulf
      20th July 2021, 17:17

      But I agree about Gasly not being a star, also Leclerc and Alonso were the two biggest stars of this GP, that’s plainly undeniable. But your strugglers list is overcrowded. Even Mercedes critics must admit that Bottas wasn’t a struggler this time round and Perez pretty much was.

    3. I agree that Gasly shouldn’t be a star performer, but making him a struggler is too extreme as well. He did a decent job, in my opinion, but not star-worthy. Lando Norris would be more worthy as the third ‘star’ in my opinion.

      For the strugglers, I think Perez is the only slam-dunk, but Vettel could potentially be added after spinning (but he was very good in qualifying). Maybe the Haas drivers too, as I don’t believe that Grosjean or Magnussen would have finished a minute behind the rest in that car.

      1. Rodric Ewulf
        20th July 2021, 19:42

        @f1frog Agree with all your points except maybe that I’m not so sure about the Haas drivers being so bad but anyway up to that point we all don’t know if its mostly the car that is so slow or mostly on them. The sure thing is that Mazepin finished ahead Schumacher on merit for the first time, so Mick is at least a little closer to be a struggler than his team-mate this time.
        Vettel was definitively struggler material with his spin putting him aside Perez as the drivers who made the most costly mistakes of the GP.

  5. These articles are great comedic value.

  6. Bottas didn’t miss the Strugglers threshold by much IMO.

    1. Well, he ended up 3rd, surely better than his colleague in red bull who was scraping for points?

      1. Where does he rate, notwithstanding his FLAP bragging rights?

  7. i guess an unpopular opinion but i feel it is slowly becoming time to acknowledge that Perez really isn’t much of an improvment over Albon

    1. the poisoned chalice. The last 3 drivers to go there with good previous histories have had their reputations ruined. Gasly has been able to rebuild his, Albon hasn’t. Either Reb Bull are really poor at providing support to the second driver, or Max is an extraordinary driver. I suspect a bit of both :-)

    2. Perez hasn’t really challenged Verstappen, but he has still been a massive improvement on Albon. He has had a few poor races: most notably Imola and Silverstone, but he has generally been at a similar level to Bottas (but a little slower), and has helped Red Bull in terms of strategy a few times, which Albon never did. He also won a race, of course, and would have beaten Hamilton to that win even before the red flag after Verstappen’s misfortune. It is a shame that Perez hasn’t been closer to Verstappen, but I think his pace has been around what I expected, and he has certainly been an improvement on Albon. Obviously the Red Bull is a quicker car this year, but Perez already has more points than Albon had in the entirety of 2020. However, I would still like to see Albon get another chance in Formula 1, as Pierre Gasly has done a great job since leaving the main Red Bull team, and I think Albon could do the same.

      1. Do not forget albon experienced the Hamilton move twice. Ruining his career as it stands.

      2. Rodric Ewulf
        22nd July 2021, 0:22

        @f1frog Albon didn’t seem capable of doing drives like Perez did in Baku and Paul Ricard, as he never could take the fight with the frontrunners (even remotely, granting that Red Bull has a better car now than last year) without some external factor. But despite that Perez’ performance is still irregular and even slightly inferior overall to Mercedes’ puppy Bottas.

    3. petebaldwin (@)
      20th July 2021, 18:21

      @mrboerns – I think a lot is down to the pace of the car. The Red Bull is quick enough that you can be 3 tenths slower than Max and not get swallowed up by the midfield. Albon and Gasley didn’t have that luxury.

      Perez is a decent midfield driver just as Albon and Gasley are but in equal cars, I don’t think either of those 3 would dominate the others.

  8. Alonso? Gasly? Not Hamilton?
    I have read ridiculous reviews on this page, but this is one of the most wild, absurd and out of place.
    Obviously they are on the anti-Hamilton camp. Pity. It was a good place to find out what happens in formula 1. It stopped being so.

    1. Not Hamilton?

      Never knew this section was for dirty and reckless driving and sending a fellow driver to hospital.

    2. someone or something
      20th July 2021, 16:50

      Keith? Anti-Hamilton camp? Whatever you’re smoking, I don’t want it.

      1. Rodric Ewulf
        20th July 2021, 16:53

        This guy either doesn’t watch Formula 1 or look to a TV screen but doesn’t get it at all.

        1. Jorge is one of ‘those’ commenters.

          1. Evolution is catching up though.
            He slowly moved from pro Vettel, anti Alonso to pro Hamilton, anti Verstappen.

            Soon he’ll discover iron tools.

          2. And in comparison to “Jeorge” who is a Ferrari fan too, Jeorge is pro-Leclerc/Sainz and anti-Hamilton/Bottas. He dislikes Verstappen, but he considers him an underdog.

          3. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 23:47

            jff

            He slowly moved from pro Vettel, anti Alonso to pro Hamilton, anti Verstappen.

            Interesting how he always chooses the title contender who makes less and/or more erratic use of their machinery to root for. Always on the entitled side of the fight.

    3. Really?
      Alonso had a fabulous weekend. Dragging that Alpine into places it doesn’t deserve to even think about being.
      Gasly – true, I agree with you, I’m a bit stumped on this one.
      Hamilton – no. He got pole, yes, but then lost it in the start of sprint qualifying, had no answer to Verstappens pace all of Saturday, crashed into him on Sunday, and then got stuck behind Leclerc for most of the grand prix, only managing to overtake with 3 laps to go. Sure, Hamilton did well to win, but to say he was a star performer is a bit much.
      And finally, to question Keith’s judgement? Well, feel free to leave and never come back. If you can’t see the extremely high level of Keith and the whole teams journalism just because you disagree with an obviously subjective opinion piece, then you are not worthy of visiting the site.

      1. Rodric Ewulf
        21st July 2021, 23:42

        Alonso had a fabulous weekend. Dragging that Alpine into places it doesn’t deserve to even think about being.

        Ocon has been showing lately the place where Alpine belongs if not being driven by an experienced driver capable of using his racing IQ to take it to almost absolute maximum: lower positions points or even pointless finish.
        Many people praised Alonso’s superb start in the sprint race but I noticed some misconception about how he did that: Fernando didn’t actually went for gaps that didn’t existed on his charge. A little bit on the contrary, he waited for the best opportunities to make the moves and snatch the positions, not carelessly jumping for the first gaps available only to likely cause a collision or spin-off/being pushed out the track (something typical of daring racers but with inferior race expertise and ragged racecraft, like Perez). Of course drivers with weak racecraft, like Bottas, hardly could eventually become so ballsy to pull such moves anyway, so it requires a combination of bravery and discerning to find “gaps that don’t exist”, that is, mesmerise people on how to make difficult overtakes look like rather easy ones and give the impression they were naturally nailed on along the way.

  9. Lol, Verstappen was as uncompromising as ever…yet gave Mad Lewis more than enough space to avoid contact in Copse.

    Star Performer in the reckless and dirty class:
    “Sour” Loser Hamilton

  10. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    20th July 2021, 17:00

    I keep hearing and seeing the words “understeer” but I didn’t see it in any videos I watched and I think I would have noticed it in the first 50 views:-) Sure, the Red Bull is in a class of its own on corners and therefore any other F1 car automatically understeers in comparison including the mighty Mercedes. Is that what they mean? Essentially, Max tried to take a corner so sharply that the Merc could never match it.

    Is there a video of the Mercedes not being able to make that corner and drifting outward? If anything, in all videos I’ve watched at the point of contact Lewis is pointing right at the white line on the inside and is pointing it in the best possible way for Max.

    1. @freelittlebirds Me neither, still haven’t seen it, not to say it doesn’t exist, but I haven’t a video showing it.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        20th July 2021, 18:43

        @david-br someone just pointed me to this video where driver 61 talks about understeer again and says he could see it and Lewis wasn’t going to hit the apex.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2fn0D2wqko

        Yet, at the point of contact, Lewis’ car is perfectly positioned towards the apex (the inside white line).

        1. @freelittlebirds Yes I watched the YT video and was waiting for a graphic or onboard showing the oversteer, but I don’t remember it. Likewise, the overhead photos he showed seemed to actually weigh in Lewis’s favour.

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            20th July 2021, 19:26

            Check out this video @ 2:03
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzmkhotpaRw

            Lewis is completely pointing at the apex (the inside racing line)

          2. If you do not see the understeer it is clear how bias can influence decisions.
            But it is possible that technical terms like under or oversteer are not in your vocabulary.
            Something to develop then.

          3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            20th July 2021, 19:45

            @erikje Please show me the understeer. I’ve shown clearly that Lewis’ car was pointed towards the apex at the moment of impact with multiple videos which disproves the FIA’s claim and is an auto-reversal of the penalty.

            How can Lewis’ car be pointing to the apex IF there’s understeer prior to contact?

          4. @david-br @freelittlebirds To me, the heli shot from the video Michael shared around 2:22 is the most telling. Lewis was never going to hit the apex, he braked too late (most likely because of the lost downforce due to the presence of Max’s car) for the line he was on. Max did cut across quite aggressively, but well within what he was entitled to in this situation.

          5. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            21st July 2021, 13:01

            @j-l Yeah, but the onboard of that moment shows Lewis’s car perfectly aimed at the apex without understeer.

            Is there any possible way those tyres would be pointing inside the apex if he’s understeering?

            We’ve beaten this to death and if I can’t find one shred of evidence on this forum and all of Formula 1’s websites, then there was no understeer and Lewis was about as tight to that line as he could have been making the stewards the laughingstock of motor racing.

            I can understand Lewis’ anger and it’s hilarious that Horner and Max and Red Bull’s fans are upset – they should be hiding somewhere and thanking the stewards. They got away with a penalty that would have carried onto the next race and put it on the other driver.

          6. F1oSaurus (@)
            21st July 2021, 15:19

            @j-l There is no braking for a flat out corner. Hamilton brakes because he sees Verstappen turn into him going for the crash.

    2. I would give Hamilton the benefit of the doubt here. If he didn’t understeer he must have chosen the wide line intentionally which would have been a very stupid thing to do given he arrived at a fast corner from a tight angle with a car next to him…

  11. Rodric Ewulf
    20th July 2021, 17:07

    Well, what I predicted was sort of right in effect, when I thought they’d put some ice over the wounds and cover the blemishes of the racing incident last race (still caused by Lewis, still a dangerous drive by him undoubtedly worth of an effecitve penalty, which didn’t quite was applied) by calling Hamilton and Verstappen as star performers given their rivalry definitively caught fire, no turning back. Leclerc was an obvious choice, and ultimately Alonso was as well, even noobie fans in Formula 1 are getting to know what he’s capable of now. But as they chose to leave the two title gladiators out, Gasly as star performer surprised me a little bit. I don’t think he did something that much special this weekend, to be honest, but I wouldn’t protest it either. Norris still made at least a little most than him with his machinery, even if he only narrowly beat Ricciardo in the one-lap qualifying he was somewhat more solid on sprint qualifying mini-race and in the main race as well.

  12. How? Enlighten me. I think I’ve explained above why that’s patently not the case. As I said, look at the Driver61 Youtube channel

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      20th July 2021, 18:54

      @Roly Grant was that reply directed at me? I watched the video – not a single shred of evidence of understeer.

      As I’ve pointed out in the video with Will Buxton, Lewis is pointing to the apex (the white inside line) when Max hit Lewis. Lewis couldn’t point that car 1 degree better. The merc perfectly positioned towards the inside white line.

      Do you need the url?

      1. Rodric Ewulf
        20th July 2021, 19:51

        The stewards and most of racing analysts disagree that Lewis was in a trajectory to reach the apex. Just watch Karun Chandhok’s analysis from Sky Sports (who even said it was a racing incident, so an unsuspecting commentator to be anti-Hamilton).
        If you’re still in doubt go argue with the stewards also. There’s no way to distort reality and say it was an undeserved penalty for the collision that took Max out of the race, no matter how hard Lewis fans will try.
        https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-explains-hamilton-blame-for-verstappen-collision/6633212/

      2. Look at the on-board of Lewis and notice how he looses control.
        It was a rookie error. One of many this year.

        1. Rodric Ewulf
          20th July 2021, 20:36

          erikje The pile is getting bigger actually: Imola, Monaco (weak race pace as well), Baku, Red Bull Ring II and now Silverstone are races in which he screwed up big time, only saved by striking lucky safety cars in Imola and last race. Not saying he’s a slow driver or that he isn’t capable of doing wonders pretty often, but despite of that his record this season has been as inconsistent as Tsuonoda’s.

        2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          20th July 2021, 22:33

          @erikje I watched the onboard – Lewis is in total control on the corner before the accident. I get it, Lewis at fault cause you don’t like him…

          1. Rodric Ewulf
            20th July 2021, 23:15

            The minimum is a car’s width from the the apex if not having preference for the turn i.e. not clearly ahead, and half car alongside is not enough. If Lewis understeered before causing the collision that took Max out or not just isn’t more relevant than his illegal positioning as explained above.

          2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            21st July 2021, 1:11

            If Lewis understeered

            That’s the issue, though… We all talk about theoretical understeering but at the point of contact, Lewis’ wheels were pointing towards the apex showing no understeer.

          3. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 2:20

            @freelittlebirds
            Not towards the apex at all. Not with the required minimum car’s width, and going too deep into the corner despite not being ahead, only half car alongside, hence causing the collision. Here the grafical analysis, that’s the last time I’ll post that because there’s just too many Hammy fans coming with the same laughable arguments twisting the rules to fit their views that it’s becoming somewhat tiresome.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBrWMQ3uhRo

          4. F1oSaurus (@)
            21st July 2021, 15:22

            Rodric Ewulf Hamilton did have preference for the turn as that is given to the attacking driver when he’s halfway up the inside.

          5. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 17:39

            @f1osaurus

            Hamilton did have preference for the turn as that is given to the attacking driver when he’s halfway up the inside.

            A one-sided rule made up by you, of course. Driver has to come ahead for that, it’s what the actual rules say and exactly what the stewards applied.

      3. Watch his later pass on Charles. Lewis knew exactly what he was doing

        1. F1oSaurus (@)
          21st July 2021, 15:25

          @realnigelmansell Yeah he was penalized for not hitting the kerb so the next time he made sure he was on the kerb.

          When driving on his own he doesn’t go over that kerb though. He stayed away from that kerb in Q3 as well. So his natural line is away from the kerb.

          1. He was behind max, so he has to cede his line like he did with leclerc

          2. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 17:47

            @realnigelmansell There’s a reason why the rules are this way and not how @fool1osaurus think. If a driver who is slightly behind thinks he has the preference for the turn they’ll almost certainly crash unless the onther driver is not fighting hard for position, like Leclerc when losing the lead. And I’m not even going into the question of Lewis missing the apex against Max (not a coincidence) and not with Charles. The two title contesters were in a couple of moves for the make-or-break advantage, of course, that’s understandable, but still proper racing rules must be addressed. Or else it’ll start to get pretty dangerous.

  13. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    20th July 2021, 19:08

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIKel6jVD3Q

    0:28 Look at Lewis’ car and look at Verstappen’s rear wheel as he’s turning in. Maybe I’m missing something but short of Lewis keeping his car in the garage, there’s nothing else he can do there. He’s so close to the inside and is pointing at the apex.

    1. He’s so close to the inside

      More then a cars width available. He totally missed the apex.
      Driver error, again.

      1. Rodric Ewulf
        20th July 2021, 20:38

        He ignored that one with graphical analysis. It’s wonderful how powerful cognitive dissonance is.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBrWMQ3uhRo

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        20th July 2021, 22:34

        More than a car’s width available – where, oh where does it say that the driver overtaking must only take 1 car’s width?

        1. Rodric Ewulf
          20th July 2021, 23:01

          Any driver needs to leave a car’s width available if they didn’t managed to complete the pass and as such must not go for the inside line, or else they’ll crash pretty often whenever two are tightly fighting for a position.

        2. Rodric Ewulf
          20th July 2021, 23:15

          The minimum is a car’s width from the the apex if not having preference for the turn i.e. not clearly ahead, and half car alongside is not enough. If Lewis understeered before causing the collision that took Max out or not just isn’t more relevant than his illegal positioning as explained above.

        3. I understand where you are getting at. Yes, the one on the inside can stretch the corner so to say. There is no need to touch the inside off the corner for the car on the inside. It’s just that first of all this only counts if and only if you are ahead (which he wasn’t) and secondly it is usually done in slower corners (for the 51G reason..). In the end we all know what happened. Lewis lost it in fear of seeing Max driving off into the distance at his home grand prix and a grand prix of which was said that if the RB would win there, they could win anywhere. So, he needed to act. And did.

      3. F1oSaurus (@)
        21st July 2021, 15:32

        Hamilton’s line is not hitting the kerb. So that’s exactly Hamilton’s natural racing line.

        To which he’s entitled since he is the attacker and halfway up the inside of his opponent:
        https://youtu.be/T_-NNXnV2JQ?t=224

        Only when he’s forced to take the kerb because the stewards penalize him for driving his natural line does he throw it up the kerb for the pass on Leclerc.

        1. Rodric Ewulf
          21st July 2021, 18:17

          There’s a reason why the rules are this way and not that distortion you created. If a driver who is slightly behind thinks he has the preference for the turn they’ll almost certainly crash unless the onther driver is not fighting hard for position, like Leclerc when losing the lead. And I’m not even going into the question of Lewis missing the apex against Max (not a coincidence) and not with Charles. The two title contesters were in a couple of moves for the make-or-break advantage, of course, that’s understandable, but still proper racing rules must be addressed. Or else it’ll start to get pretty dangerous. If it was for the driver behind having the preference it would mean a huge blow in the title fight. Everybody would have to back off for the entitled driver behind and it be a less vibrant contest, no doubt abot that. But Lewis would like it, the one who says he relishes competition with Max but don’t act accordingly. Whine like that against the “aggressive” Max when he was the one who did such a dangerous move… Oh, the hypocrisy!

        2. this is not true
          I watched 3 laps on board, and he is using the kerbs every lap!
          Please, there are opinions and facts… facts are facts

          1. Rodric Ewulf
            21st July 2021, 23:14

            Every time comes a brand new uninformed Ham fan to the talk, so let’s post it again.
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBrWMQ3uhRo
            Graphical analysys: Lewis was found not in the apex’s direction through the corner without really completing the pass on Max, thus being held responsible for the collision. He was about half a car alongside, so not enough to have preference of the inside line. Why does Max need to back off if he’s still ahead? Not that Lewis couldn’t go slightly more close to the apex to avoid the collision either. That’s the reason why the stewards came to the conclusion of applying the penalty. Here’s the document text with their statement.

            “The stewards reviewed video and telemetry evidence,” the stewards said. “Cars 33 [Verstappen] and 44 [Hamilton] entered Turn 9 with Car 33 in the lead and Car 44 slightly behind and on the inside.
            Car 44 was on a line that did not reach the apex of the corner, with room available to the inside.
            When Car 33 turned into the corner, Car 44 did not avoid contact and the left front of Car 44 contacted the right rear of Car 33. Car 44 is judged predominantly at fault.”

  14. Gasly is a star in being mediocre.

    1. Rodric Ewulf
      20th July 2021, 23:03

      Last GP was Sainz the driver this site talked up, now it’s Gasly. His drive wasn’t nothing special if you compare with the two other star performers: Leclerc and Alonso.

  15. Rodric Ewulf
    20th July 2021, 23:04

    *was nothing special

  16. Stars are Leclerc, Norris and Nandito.
    Struggler, and badly, was Perez.
    Vettel was a disappointment.

  17. Bottas not being in the struggler category seems mostly due to it being nearly impossible to finish lower than 4th in the Mercedes, although both drivers have done so this year. People sometimes equate him to a modern day ‘Barrichello’, but this was exactly the kind of race the real Barrichello would have won in the early 2000s. Bottas struggled through multiple bad starts and lost positions, couldn’t get close to Leclerc despite the Ferrari having a mechanical issue, and when the team instructed him to follow Hamilton (after another team order to let him by) he instead dropped back multiple seconds and apparently had no idea how to make the most of what the Mercedes was capable of. He was lucky that his teammate caused the one major talking point that took all the attention, and that his Mexican counterpart at Red Bull had an even worse weekend.

    1. Rodric Ewulf
      21st July 2021, 23:22

      Yes, Bottas hasn’t quite been on Barrichello’s level of solid second driver this year, Perez even less (but it’s his first year on the team, Bottas had more time, even though that excuse may soon start to wear thin). As much as affected fans want to portray one as really much above the other, depending on how convenient it is, in fact they’re closer than many want to admit. They’ve been somewhat close to each other (including on the standings) but well within mediocrity zone this season actually.

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