F1 Report Cards: Russia 2021

After the snooze fests of recent years, I didn’t exactly have high expectations of the Russian Grand Prix going into this weekend… But this time around, Sochi delivered on its promise and exceeded all expectation – as both a wet qualifying and a little sprinkle of rain in the final stages of the race certainly added a bit of spice. 2021 is proving to be quite the extraordinary season!

Here are the top of the class contenders and struggle bus riders from the Russian Grand Prix:

Top of the class:

Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 20^th | Race: 2^nd

The Dutch driver would have to start from the back no matter where he qualified on Saturday, this thanks to engine penalties alongside the three-place drop for the role he played in the collision with Hamilton in Italy. So, Verstappen didn’t bother with qualifying on the Saturday, only making the briefest of appearances – and his main goal for Sunday was damage limitation.

The Dutchman had an average start, but from there he drove a superb recovery drive. Verstappen flew by others with ease, even edging close to title-rival Lewis Hamilton at one point, but I don’t think that even Max himself expected to be up on the podium by the end of it. His charge upwards cooled somewhat once he switched from hard to medium after the first pitstop, the yellow-cheeked tyres not working in the Dutchman’s favour. He then dropped back behind Alonso and seemed set for finishing the race in seventh position.

That was until a little raincloud came to cause some mayhem. Perhaps you could call it luck, but I’d say that Max and his team simply responded adequately to the weather conditions and made the right call by putting him on inters. Because that’s how Max could capitalise on the final few laps to earn himself a podium.

Thanks to his commendable recovery drive Max finds himself only two points behind title-rival Lewis Hamilton, which means that the weekend wasn’t the wash out Red Bull previously expected it to be.

Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 4^th | Race: 1^st

Lewis Hamilton reaffirmed his status of GOAT of the sport by breaking yet another record. He has now got an unbelievable 100 wins under his belt, which certainly is a commendable effort especially when you consider many drivers current and past have never seen their 100th chequered flag fall, let alone come anywhere close to standing on that top step for the 100th time!

Lewis’ start wasn’t necessarily anything to write home about. He got away just fine, but after being blocked by Norris, he found himself mixed up in the midfield as they all scrapped for positions. After the first 20 laps, he managed to settle into third position, but the Brit didn’t quite get a chance to elbow his way past the McLarens. Verstappen then began appearing into the Hamilton’s rear-view mirrors.

Whilst the Dutchman found himself lagging behind after the first pitstop, the Brit actually rediscovered both his pace and his racing rhythm after his stop, making moves on both Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz whilst simultaneously capitalising on Daniel Ricciardo’s slow stop. Lewis then kept the pressure on fellow countryman Norris until the weather came into play, pulling in for intermediates which ultimately ended up being the right call.

With Hamilton taking victory from fourth, he did not only become the first driver to win from outside the top three in Sochi – Mercedes as a team remains undefeated in Russia. He also retook the Championship lead in the process, but it is all still to play for as we head into the final third of the season.

Lando Norris – Qualifying: 1^st | Race: 7^th (+FL)

Alright, I know that many of you would have put Lando in the struggle bus riders category, I dare to bet on the fact that even Lando would put himself in that category, but I simply don’t have the heart to do so. One does not simply become driver of the day only to be relegated to the ‘loser’-category.

Lando did everything right on the Saturday, earning himself his very first pole position and the title of the 5^th youngest pole sitter. On Sunday, he briefly lost position to Carlos Sainz at the start, before retaking the lead once more.

From then on, there seemed to be very little which could keep Norris from his win. He kept Lewis Hamilton behind without too much trouble, and he looked capable of doing so until the chequered flag fell. At least, this was the case until the first raindrops fell. Whilst rivals ventured in for inters, Norris took a ballsy gamble by staying out on his slicks.

 

If there is anyone who deserves a hug after Sunday, it’s Lando Norris, and in a way, me putting him with the top of the class contenders is me giving him that hug. Because one costly mistake doesn’t necessarily make him a loser. He certainly has shown us a fine piece of racing craft, and sooner rather than later this must translate into a win.

Honourable mentions: The first of the two honourable mentions goes out to Kimi Räikkönen. The Finn elbowed his way up to 10th at the start, and with the team making the right call to box for inters when rain came into play, Kimi managed to leapfrog into 8th position. This is his best result since Brazil 2019, and also currently Alfa Romeo’s best result of the year.

Carlos Sainz also deserves an honourable mention. Partly because of that superb opportunistic move at the start to gain the lead, and partly because of Ferrari’s reactive strategy – allowing the Spaniard to claw his way back onto the podium in the final stages of the race.

The struggle bus:

AlphaTauri

Pierre Gasly – Qualifying: 12^th  (started 11^th due to penalties) | Race: 13^th

Yuki Tsunoda – Qualifying: 13^th (started 12^th due to penalties) | Race: 17^th

Normally, when I put a team on the list rather than a driver, I like to elaborate on the performances of both drivers – but there is just not that much to say for either of the Alpha Tauri drivers this weekend and this also a second consecutive appearance for the team in this list. Their Friday looked promising, as their long-run pace really was quite impressive, but things just didn’t quite work out on both Saturday and Sunday. Something Pierre Gasly was quite vocal about.

Both drivers had bad starts, and whilst their pace in clear air was as predicted, both struggled to make progress. The gamble of staying out when rain made an appearance never paid off. Gasly also got tangled up with Stroll late in the race, for which the Canadian received a 10-second penalty, whilst Tsunoda disappeared off the face of the earth, not the first time for the rookie. In all the rain chaos, Yuki was the only driver to stay in the same position between lap 46 and the chequered flag, 17^th.

Really, the main reason Alpha Tauri got put behind the wheel of the struggle bus is that this was their second successive non-scoring race. Leaving them 25 points adrift from Alpine in the fight for P5 in the constructors’ championship.

Valtteri Bottas – Qualifying 7^th (started 16^th due to engine penalty) | Race 5th

The man who supposedly the King of Sochi arrived in Russia expecting to challenge for victory, but he just couldn’t quite deliver in qualifying. This triggered the decision to tactically change his engine and take the grid penalties associated, demoting him to 16th on the starting grid.

I know that many fans suggested that Valtteri had to take his engine penalty in hopes of keeping Max Verstappen behind and help out Lewis. I personally don’t believe this, as he could have done the exact same thing by starting 7th position as well. If it is true, then he did quite the botched job of it, as the Dutchman passed him on his first attempt.

Valtteri himself couldn’t cut through the field and spent most of the race stuck behind Gasly, lagging behind in 14th whilst rivals in comparable situations – mainly Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen – began elbowing their way to the front.

The fact that he managed to capitalise on the late change in weather redeems him somewhat, as an early switch to intermediates vaulted him up to five whilst others in front disappeared into the pits. I have to commend both him and Mercedes for making the right call, but equally the Finn drove an absolutely unremarkable race up to then, so it isn’t quite enough for me to allow him to exit the struggle bus just yet.

It is now over a year since he last tasted victory further illustrates why he still ended up in the struggle bus despite his late-race recovery, because the rain and a gamble on the right call was all that saved the Finn from certain embarrassment.  

Aston Martin

Lance Stroll – Qualifying: 8^th (started 7^th due to penalties) | Race: 11^th

Sebastian Vettel – Qualifying: 11^th (started 10^th due to penalties) | Race: 12^th

The team had two flashes of brilliance during the race. Lance Stroll, who had an incredible start found himself fourth. He was then the first to pit out of all drivers of the grid. He began setting mega pace and looked set to pass several of the cars ahead. The pace wasn’t sustained however, and he ended up only jumping George Russell.

Sebastian Vettel then took advantage of the drizzle of rain towards the end, gaining on the drivers who felt a bit more ill-at-ease. He was kept out too long, however, which resulted in him ending out of the points just like his teammate. This could have been a race where they could have taken advantage of the mayhem as a mid-field team, but instead they leave Sochi empty handed.

It didn’t help matters that Stroll hit Vettel into the wall at turn 9 as the rain came down, whilst under the impression that he was defending from Bottas. The pair escaped with minor damage but cost the team a points shot. To compound Stroll’s day in particularly, he then had contact with Gasly at turn 8 to ruin a pretty promising day for him, and he now sits on eight penalty points.

Dishonourable mentions: The first dishonourable mention is on Sergio Pérez. Although I must admit that this isn’t entirely his doing. He was actually in contention for the podium, but just like others on the struggle bus he was caught out by the rain. Whilst Red Bull made the right call in pulling his teammate Max in for inters, they left Sergio out on slicks. I get spreading your bets 50/50, but Pérez drew the short end of the stick yet again.

Then the second dishonourable mention goes to Charles Leclerc. I have to commend him for a brilliant first lap surge to 13th, and a late first pitstop looked like it would allow Charles to bring home a decent haul of points, but he too ended up victim of the ‘pitted far too late’ category.

He started in the back with Valtteri and Max, but whilst they managed to climb up to 5th and 2nd respectively, Charles finished an anonymous P15. I’ve put him down under dishonourable mention rather than struggle bus rider simply because I feel that just like Lando, for Charles it’s another case of a gamble not paying off. Until then, he drove a superb race, and that cannot be left unsaid. But with crazy conditions like this – you either win or lose, and unfortunately for Charles, he lost this time around.

Next up is the Turkish Grand Prix, which returns to the calendar for a second consecutive year, this time in place of the Singapore GP. We’ll have a week off before moving to Istanbul Park, where the race will commence on Sunday 10th October at 2pm UK time.