Formula 1 VTB are-we-allowed-to-say-Russian? Grand Prix 2021Formula 1

[Grayfox]

Max Verstappen walking away from this race 2 points behind Hamilton after starting at the back of the grid is huge. The rain saved him. Can't say the same for Norris though. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

Come next race which is Turkey.
If he qualifies well(most likely) he will win(barring anything stupid happening).
He has the power advantage due to the new PU.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Talking of Turkey, this race was pretty similar to last year's race there.

Random driver scores well-deserved maiden pole in wet qualifying session (Stroll/Norris).
Hamilton doesn't start in top 3 and gets written off as past it.
Pole Sitter takes convincing lead during first stint and pulls away.
Weather conditions change and leader makes wrong decision for change of tyres.
Pole Sitter who'd looked like they were on for maiden win drops to bottom half of top 10.
Hamilton gets the tyre choice absolutely perfect and wins race by over half a minute after being nowhere in the early parts of the race.
Hamilton gets an historic statistic at end of the race (7th title, 100th win)

 

[Nessy]

What a nail-biter of a race eh? I'm so happy Mercedes and Hamilton made the right call, and managed to claw back a slight championship lead over Max and Red Bull. I feel for Norris and McLaren though, to come so close only for the weather gods to cruelly snatch it away like that, must feel devastating. At the same time though, i hope it boosts his confidence in his skill and race winning capabilities, as along with Max and Russell, he's a future world champion for sure!

Even though I'd personally prefer to see Lewis and Mercedes running away with the championship again this year, there's no arguing about the fact of whoever you're a fan of (be it driver, team or F1 fan in general), this season so far (barring Spa), has been one of the most exciting in recent years. Let us all hope next years season provides more of the same!

Edit: Congrats to Lewis on his 100th win! What a milestone achievement!
Edit 2: Also congrats to Bottas! Managing to get 5th after such an awful early start to the race, is a pretty good result.

 

[Fat Tyre]

Bottas just got super lucky. He was horrendous during the whole race.

 

[MaxAttack]

Talking of Turkey, this race was pretty similar to last year's race there.

Random driver scores well-deserved maiden pole in wet qualifying session (Stroll/Norris).
Hamilton doesn't start in top 3 and gets written off as past it.
Pole Sitter takes convincing lead during first stint and pulls away.
Weather conditions change and leader makes wrong decision for change of tyres.
Pole Sitter who'd looked like they were on for maiden win drops to bottom half of top 10.
Hamilton gets the tyre choice absolutely perfect and wins race by over half a minute after being nowhere in the early parts of the race.
Hamilton gets an historic statistic at end of the race (7th title, 100th win)

I was thinking this while watching, in the first couple of laps of drizzle and thinking "I do reckon Lando will show he's a class above Stroll here and not bottle it when it comes to the tyre decision"...

I'm heartbroken but, in such a crazy conclusion, I think it's unfair to accuse Lando or the team of tunnel vision, the pit wall should have been firmer with him but we aren't privy to the difference in info they had to Mercedes, who clearly saw the deluge coming.

As I said off the back of the Monza 1-2, Lando's time will come - I didn't quite expect it to look like it would come so soon. Being honest, the Sochi performance surprised me, and it doesn't seem 100% that was Norris' only chance at a win this year. Keep plugging away and we will get it. 3rd in both championships is a reasonable aim.

 

[Rossell2]

To make the perfect omelette you gotta wreck a few eggs first. He's on the right lines though so as you say, keep chipping away at it.

 

[Liquid]

Bottas Masterclass

 

[PeterJB]

Near perfect inversion of Leclerc.

 

[NickGuy]

that was damn entertaining

 

[andrea]

So is Bottas going for the world record of PU's this year?

 

[Liquid]

So is Bottas going for the world record of PU's this year?

His driving has been pretty PU for a long time.

 

[TheElbows]

Entertaining race, but again showcasing that external factors and bizarre occurrences must occur to make F1 entertaining. I'll take that over the normal F1 race I suppose, but it does highlight how poor the actual racing has been for years in F1.

 

[ThePotatoKing]

Entertaining race, but again showcasing that external factors and bizarre occurrences must occur to make F1 entertaining. I'll take that over the normal F1 race I suppose, but it does highlight how poor the actual racing has been for years in F1.

Really? There was plenty of good racing even before the rain, Sainz and Norris for example had a good battle early in the race and of course Vettel and Leclerc had a scramble too.

 

[DG_Silva]

Really? There was plenty of good racing even before the rain, Sainz and Norris for example had a good battle early in the race and of course Vettel and Leclerc had a scramble too.

Agreed, the midfield has been fantastically close for racing, but as always the majority of focus is always on the front.