Verstappen is the first driver to win three F1 races in three weeks, Norris eclipses his 2020 points total and Honda win five races in a row for the first time since 1988. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix!
VICTORIOUS VERSTAPPEN
Max Verstappen won the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, recording the fifteenth victory of his Formula 1 career. While Verstappen recorded consecutive wins for the first time in his career last weekend, this weekend he became the 21st driver to record three successive wins. More impressively, Verstappen is the first driver to win three F1 races in the space of only 15 days.
Red Bull are the second team to win three races in three weeks. Mercedes achieved the feat at the opening three races of the 2020 season.
Having won last week’s Styrian Grand Prix, Verstappen becomes the first driver to win consecutive Formula 1 races held in the same country since Damon Hill won the 1995 and 1996 Australian Grands Prix. Verstappen is one of only five drivers to achieve this feat, the others being Stirling Moss, Alan Jones and Michael Schumacher.
Verstappen became the first driver to win four Formula 1 races in Austria. Alain Prost previously held the record for most wins in Austria, having taken a third Austrian Grand Prix victory in 1986.
For the first time since 1988, Honda power recorded victories at five consecutive Formula 1 races.
Red Bull became the sixth team to record 70 wins in Formula 1. The last team to reach the milestone was Mercedes, at the 2017 British Grand Prix. Lotus also reached 70 victories in Austria, doing so in 1978.
Verstappen recorded the 50th podium finish of his career, becoming the seventeenth driver to reach that milestone. As well as being the youngest driver to reach 50 podium finishes in Formula 1, Verstappen also becomes the youngest driver to record a Grand Slam in the sport. Verstappen is the 25th driver to take pole, win, set the fastest lap and lead every lap.
Verstappen has led the last 144 laps of Formula 1 racing – the equal-15th longest streak of laps led in Formula 1 history. It ties him with Hamilton’s longest streak of consecutive laps led in F1. Verstappen is less than half way to equalling Alberto Ascari’s record, set in 1952.
Verstappen now leads the Drivers’ Championship by 32 points. It’s the largest lead held by a driver other than Lewis Hamilton since Nico Rosberg led by 33 points after the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix.
ON THE PODIUM
Valtteri Bottas recorded his 61st podium finish, moving ahead of Nelson Piquet to tenth in the all time list of most podium finishes in Formula 1.
Bottas has finished on the podium at all of the last five Red Bull Ring races. His latest podium here sees Finland overtake Brazil as the nation with the second-most podium finishes at the Spielberg venue.
Lando Norris recorded his fourth podium finish in Formula 1, becoming the 105th driver to record four or more podiums. Norris has now scored more points in the first nine races in 2021 than he did in the entirety of the 2020 season.
Norris is the 25th driver to record multiple podium finishes in Austria.
This was the sixth Formula 1 race in which the polesitter won, with the driver who started fifth finishing in second, and the driver who started second finishing in third. It was the first time it has happened since the 2013 Italian Grand Prix.
THE POINTS SCORERS
Lewis Hamilton recorded his first fourth place finish since last year’s Austrian Grand Prix. This was Hamilton’s third fourth place result in Austria – setting a new record for most fourth place results in the country.
Both Hamilton and Bottas equalled John Watson’s record of most top ten finishes in Austria. Watson finished in the top ten on all nine of his Austrian Grand Prix appearances.
Carlos Sainz finished in fifth place, equalling his best Red Bull Ring result. He also finished fifth at the circuit in the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix.
For the third time in the last four Red Bull Ring races, Sergio Perez finished in sixth place.
Sergio Perez became the first driver to not win on their 200th race start since Felipe Massa at the 2014 British Grand Prix. The last three drivers to reach 200 starts – Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel – all won on their milestone appearance. Nelson Piquet was the last driver to finish sixth on his 200th start, doing so at the 1991 Italian Grand Prix.
Daniel Ricciardo finished in seventh place, recording his best result in Austria since his podium finish at the 2017 Austrian Grand Prix.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
After a late-race battle with Fernando Alonso, George Russell narrowly missed out on scoring points. Instead, he finished eleventh, equalling his best result in a Williams car. Russell also finished eleventh for Williams at the 2019 German Grand Prix and the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix.
With Pierre Gasly ninth and Yuki Tsunoda twelfth, this was the first race at the Red Bull Ring in which both of the Red Bull junior team’s drivers finished in the top twelve.
Along with Sergio Perez, Kimi Raikkonen set a new record for the most finishes in Austria. This was the tenth time that both drivers crossed the finish line in the country, surpassing John Watson’s former record of nine finishes.
On Lap 8 of the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen became the first driver to have raced 700 laps in Austria.
THE ONLY RETIREE
Esteban Ocon was the only driver to retire from the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix. He was out on the first lap. This was Ocon’s second retirement of the year. It makes the Austrian Grand Prix the fourth race in a row at which the Frenchman has failed to score.
Ocon was the first driver to retire on the first lap at the Red Bull Ring since Max Verstappen in 2017.