The Styrian Grand Prix 2021 was the 8th round of the 2021 F1 season, and took place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, during the weekend of the 25th to the 27th of June.
Max Verstappen won the race from the pole, followed by Lewis Hamilton, and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium.
Final results
Race evolution
Pit Stops
There were a total of 24 pit stops during the race.
The most popular pit stop windows were:
- Laps 25-29: 11 stops
The fastest pit stop was Lance Stroll's, stopping the clock at 20.936 seconds during his pit stop on lap 28, while the slowest one was was George Russell's, who stopped the clock at 46.315 seconds, 25.379 seconds slower than Stroll, during his pit stop on lap 26.
These times include the time the driver spent going through the pit lane, as well as the actual time he stopped for the mechanics to work on his car.
Strategy
We saw a variety of options in terms of pit stop strategies during this race, however most drivers chose a 1 stop. Only Charles Leclerc, Nicholas Latifi, George Russell, Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton decided to try something different with a 2 stops strategy.
The race winner, Max Verstappen, was on a 1 stop strategy.
1 stop
-
2Nikita Mazepin
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-Antonio Giovinazzi
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1Yuki Tsunoda
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1Fernando Alonso
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2Sebastian Vettel
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2Valtteri Bottas
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1Lance Stroll
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-Max Verstappen
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2Lando Norris
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3Mick Schumacher
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7Kimi Räikkönen
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3Esteban Ocon
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-Daniel Ricciardo
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6Carlos Sainz
2 stops
-
-Charles Leclerc
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1Nicholas Latifi
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9George Russell
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-Sergio Pérez
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-Lewis Hamilton
Excluding those drivers who could not finish the race, those on a 1 stop strategy gained 1.71 positions on average, while those on a 2 stops strategy lost an average of 0.25 positions.
This difference in possitions gained, together with a deeper nalaysis of each strategy, reinforces the conclusion that a 1 stop strategy was the best option.
It is important to note that this might not always be the case for other races held at the Red Bull Ring, as the conditions might change from year to year, in terms of wheel degradation, accidents, safety cars, etc.
Incidents
There race went on mostly with no incidents. Only 2 divers were involved in circumstances that were severe enough to prevented them from finishing the race.
These included, George Russell, who suffered an engine malfunction on lap 36, and Pierre Gasly, who retired dure to damage caused by a collision with other cars on lap 1.
Engine
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George RussellLap 36
Collision
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Pierre GaslyLap 1
Qualifying
Max Verstappen managed to get the pole position by 0.194 seconds and a final lipe time of 1:03.841. Right next to him, completing the first line of the grid, was Valtteri Bottas.
Track evolution
As the qualifying session went on, with the track rubbering in, and the drivers testing the limits of the grip of their cars, the times per lap dropped, and 14 out of the 15 drivers that took place in Q2 were able to improve their times.
The Q3 is the time were all the remaining drivers put all their cards on the table, even those with a superior car who might have been managing their times in Q1 and Q2 push their cars to the limit in Q3. It therefore comes as no surprise that 9 out of the 10 drivers that took place in Q3 were able to improve their times.