Verstappen becomes the second driver to win three races in Austria, Mercedes fail to win four successive races for the first time in the V6 hybrid era and Honda record four consecutive wins for the first time in over 30 years. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN WINS
Max Verstappen won the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, recording the fourteenth win of his career and his third in Austria. Verstappen is only the second driver, after Alain Prost, to record three wins in the country.
Verstappen’s win makes this the first time that Honda-powered cars have won four consecutive races since Ayrton Senna won with McLaren at the four races between the 1991 United States and Monaco Grands Prix.
The 2021 Styrian Grand Prix was won by a margin of 35.743 seconds; the largest win margin at the Red Bull Ring since the circuit’s return to the calendar. It is also the sixth largest win margin at the track since the Spielberg venue joined the calendar in 1970, and the largest win margin in Formula 1 since Nico Rosberg won the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix by 37.776 seconds.
Verstappen won the Styrian Grand Prix from pole position, making this the first time that three successive races in Austria have been won from pole. It is also the first time that two consecutive F1 races have been won by the polesitter since the 2020 Spanish and Belgian Grands Prix.
ON THE PODIUM
Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas shared the podium with Max Verstappen for the seventeenth time. For the first time in the V6 hybrid era, Mercedes failed to win for a fourth consecutive race.
Already the driver with the most wins in Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton recorded his 43rd second place finish, equalling Michael Schumacher as the driver with the most second places.
Hamilton’s wait for his 99th win continues. After failing to win at the Styrian Grand Prix, Hamilton is now on his longest losing streak since failing to win the six races between the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix and the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix.
This was the first time that Hamilton finished as runner-up at two consecutive races since the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest lap of the race, equalling David Coulthard as the driver to have set the fastest lap on the most occasions at this track.
Valtteri Bottas recorded the first podium finish from fifth on the grid in Austria since Rubens Barrichello also finished third in 2003. The Finn equals Barrichello as the driver with the most third place finishes at the venue.
Bottas recorded his 60th podium finish, equalling Nelson Piquet as the driver with the tenth most podium finishes in Formula 1 history. Bottas also overtakes David Coulthard as the driver to have taken the most top three finishes in Austria.
With their podium finishes, Hamilton and Bottas scored at this venue for the eighth time. They set a new record for the most points-scoring appearances in Austria.
THE TOP 10
Sergio Perez finished fourth in the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix, recording his best result at the Red Bull Ring. His previous best finish here was sixth; the position in which he finished both of 2020’s races at the venue.
Having started third, Lando Norris finished in fifth place. It marked the first time that Norris has lost positions from where he started in 2021. This was Norris’ fourth consecutive top five finish. The Spanish Grand Prix remains the only race this year in which Norris has not finished in the top five.
Carlos Sainz finished the Styrian Grand Prix in sixth place, marking his fourth consecutive points-scoring appearance in Austria. It’s the equal-longest points scoring streak at the track, joint with Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris.
With Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda all finishing in the top ten, the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix was the 300th F1 race in which a Honda-powered car has scored.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
On the day that he set a new record as the driver to have started the most races with a single car number, Kimi Raikkonen saw the chequered flag in Austria for a ninth time, equalling John Watson’s record as the driver with the most finishes in the country.
Raikkonen gained seven places from his grid slot to finish the race in eleventh. It’s the most positions he has gained in a race at the circuit.
Daniel Ricciardo finished the race in thirteenth place, failing to score at the Red Bull Ring for the fourth time in the last five races at the circuit.
Ricciardo’s thirteenth place made this the first race at the Red Bull Ring since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix in which only one McLaren driver has scored.
Antonio Giovinazzi finished the Styrian Grand Prix in fifteenth, marking the first time he has finished where he started in Austria.
THE RETIREES
Pierre Gasly was the first driver to retire from the Styrian Grand Prix. His retirement brought an end to his six-race points-scoring streak; the equal longest streak of his career. This was the eighth retirement for a Red Bull junior team driver in the nine races at the Red Bull Ring since the circuit returned to the calendar in 2014. It was Gasly’s first retirement at the track.
Gasly’s retirement from sixth on the grid means that fourth is now the only grid slot to score at every Grand Prix in 2021.
Gasly was the first driver to retire from sixth on the grid at the Red Bull Ring since Kimi Raikkonen in 2002. The driver starting here had scored in all of the previous eight races at the track.
After running as high as eighth in the opening stages of the race, George Russell was the second driver to retire from the Styrian Grand Prix. He recorded his third retirement of the 2021 season. It’s the second time that Russell has retired at the Red Bull Ring. He remains Williams’ only retiree at the circuit in the past six races at the track. Russell became the first driver to retire having started tenth on the grid in 2021.
This was the fifth time in the last six races at the Red Bull Ring that the driver starting tenth has retired from the race.