F1 2021 - Race 6

Quite a lot to say about this one.. 😅

Mercedes were once again pretty absent heading into qualifying, failing to top the timing charts in any of the three practice sessions. Perhaps this wasn’t too surprising - we were aware that their car isn’t great around street circuits after their performance in Monaco. Saturday was still a surprise though.. we thought the Ferrari was good, but not this good. Charles Leclerc took pole for a second consecutive race, and this time he was able to make the starting grid on Sunday!

Leclerc’s pole advantage unfortunately didn’t mean much for him, as he quickly lost the place. The main talking point of the race was, for once, not the drivers but the tyres. Pirelli had a lot to answer for after two tyre failures that caused serious accidents. Thankfully, no drivers were injured but the failures came with no warning on very high speed sections of the track. Max Verstappen looked set to win but his tyre blow out just a couple of laps before the end changed the game completely.

After Verstappen’s crash, the Red Bull pit wall radio called the FIA suggesting it might be an idea to red flag the race, giving every driver the opportunity to change their tyres. After a lengthy pause as a result of the red flag, the race got back underway with a mini sprint race to the chequered flag. Drama at the first corner on the first lap after the restart caused Lewis Hamilton to go straight ahead and ceed the lead to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Unbelievably, Vettel and Gasly took the remaining top three places, with those three enjoying a podium together for the first time ever. No points at all for Hamilton or Verstappen leaves things as they were at the top of the driver’s championship, with Red Bull pulling away slightly in the constructor’s after Perez scored top spot this weekend.

Things look exciting as we head to France for the first race of a triple header in a couple of week’s time!