Max Verstappen and Red Bull have begun to consolidate their lead, as the Austrian car wins the fourth consecutive race. Some updates are expected at Mercedes for the next races, meanwhile, the minimum objective must be to limit the damage. Excellent race for Norris who takes the lowest step of the podium. Positive day for the two Ferrari cars: the strategy paid off with the SF21 which appears to have taken a step forward overall.
Let’s dive right into the analysis of the race. For the first stint most of the drivers used the Medium tire. AlphaTauri and Alpine were forced to start with the Soft, which was considered not ideal by everyone, while only Carlos Sainz and Kimi Raikkonen started on the Hards. With the white compound they struggled a lot in the first laps, as Carlos Sainz admitted that he initially thought the choice was not spot on. In the long run, this strategy paid off. The average pace of Carlos Sainz was 10.3, among the fastest in the central group. Charles Leclerc, who started on the Mediums, kept a good pace despite finding himself in the traffic, behind many cars. Up front, Norris tried to keep up with the leaders, as Max Verstappen flew away, while Hamilton and Bottas turned out to be more “human” than usual: the McLaren driver lapped on 9.7, just two tenths behind Mercedes.
The first to stop were the two AlphaTauri drivers: starting on the Soft they had to return to the box very soon, thus finding themselves in the rear. The comeback was long. Same strategy for the two Aston Martin cars of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, fighting with the Italian team. However, the Faenza team seems to have performed better on average over the course of the race. Bottas and Norris both stopped on the same lap. At Mercedes they could have thought of going a few longer laps to try an overcut on the Brit. The two drivers thus opened the pitstop dances. In the following laps Hamilton and the two Red Bulls also returned to the box.
The Austrian team has once again shown that it has excellent tire management, a quality that has allowed the two drivers to delay their stop as much as possible. As it also emerged from last weekend, the undercut was not very powerful. The sharpest weapon available to the teams was the overcut. Strategy on which the race of both Ferraris was based: Charles Leclerc did a great job delaying the stop for a few laps despite having the same tire as the leading group, the Mediums. Carlos Sainz, using the Hards, has in fact carried out an overcut on more drivers. In addition, the two Ferrari drivers were among those who made a single stop, a sign of good management of the compounds, certainly improved as compared to the French Grand Prix a few weeks ago.
For the second stint, almost every driver chose the Hard tire. To understand, this tire roughly corresponds to the Soft of 2018. That is a tire with a higher operating window, capable of completing many laps, features that have marked it as the ideal race tire. On this mix, the exchange rates have partially leveled off. Max continued undisturbed at the top, while on the other hand, Mercedes had more problems. Hamilton suffered from a lack of rear grip, especially in the fast corners of the second sector. The consequences can be seen by observing his pace: his lap times were at about 9.2, while his teammate wa running at 8.8. Excellent pace for the two McLarens, with Ricciardo fighting the two Ferrari SF21 cars and Norris with an average pace just three tenths from the leader.
Also for Carlos Sainz it was an excellent second stint. The Spaniard even managed to keep up with Max Verstappen’s times. The strategy allowed him to attack until the last laps, managing to overtake Daniel Ricciardo and finally also Sergio Perez, thanks to the penalty received by the Red Bull driver. Overall it was a good day for the Maranello cars if you consider that the Mediums corresponds to the Soft of the last Grand Prix. The softer compounds, combined with circuits that require a lot from the front axle, are kown to put the Ferrari cars in difficulty. In the short term, the problems appear to have been contained. However, there is still work to be done for the future. The next race at Silverstone is one of the worst for the Italian car. A so-called ‘front-limited’ circuit, which is very demanding for the front tires.
Some drivers decided to make a second pit-stop. Among these the two contenders for the title, as Lewis used another sets of Hards and lowered the pitch of the wing by a few degrees while making the pit stop. In this way, the balance problems encountered in the previous stint were partially solved. Verstappen instead decided to play it safe and make a free stop given the advantage he had over Bottas. Gasly sought a comeback at the end. The Frenchman remedied the damage done at the pit wall with a ninth place, but his teammate, on the same strategy, finished outside the points. The two Aston Martins also finished the race without a single point, due to a wrong choice of using the red tire to start the Austrian Grand Prix.
Good race for Fernando Alonso, who starting from fourteenth place managed to take home a point. The strategy was spot on: he started with the Medium and finished the race with the Hard. The Spaniard proved to be happy with the balance of his car during the race and once again showed us a champion performance. Especially considering the last races of his teammate, who has been in great difficulty for some weekends now.
Analyzing the race at a macroscopic level, McLaren showed a very competitive pace at the Red Bull Ring. After some uncertain races, they have returned to positive results. That said, the Maranello team responded well to McLaren’s performance , but in the Ferrari-McLaren battle, the Italian team can count on two drivers who continuously bring home valuable points. For Ricciardo finally a good seventh place. Still not at Lando’s level, but a step forward has certainly been made.
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