Nah. It is a Redbull fest from now on. Mercedes are looking licked to me. But Mercedes are capable of turning things around, so l would not write them off just yet.
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We can't blame Bottas. He was left out way too long. He did not have the tyres for a robust defense against Perez. This was a race that Mercedes could have won with some smart thinking but didn't. I think the Mercedes pitwall dwelled too much on their lack of relative pace rather than thinking on their feet. They were strategically flat-footed as things unfolded. But the pit crew were very good today.
That said, Redbull put out a great race strategy and Verstappen was at his best today. Perez also did his job very well by ensuring that he at least beat Bottas to the line. Redbull is now ahead by 37 points in the constructors' championship. And Verstappen is 12 points ahead. Now twelve points is not a huge gap for Hamilton to recover. He has recovered from much worst situations in the past. But 37 point may prove difficult with Perez being able to tame Bottas at this stage of the season.
Verstappen recovered well to win this race. He is growing in stature with every race. He can feel it. But it is too early to count the chickens.
Verstappen triumphs over Hamilton after late pass in scintillating French Grand Prix
Formula 1
Red Bull took their third consecutive win of the season at a cracking French Grand Prix courtesy of Max Verstappen, who passed Lewis Hamilton with two laps to go to claim the thirteenth victory of his career, Hamilton finishing second as the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez completed the podium.
In a mirror of the Spanish Grand Prix – when Mercedes out-strategised Red Bull to claim the victory – Verstappen stopped twice to Hamilton’s one-stop, with the Dutchman then using his fresher tyres to close up to the Mercedes, passing on Lap 52 of 53 to check out for his third win of the year.
It more than made up for Verstappen losing out to Hamilton from pole at the race start, Verstappen taking the win as well as the extra point for fastest lap – with the result also marking the first time Red Bull have won three races on the bounce in the turbo-hybrid era.
Read MORE here;
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...FiaBxva2q.html
FORMULA 1 EMIRATES GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2021 - RACE RESULT
18 20 Jun 2021 Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ce-result.html
This was, finally, an exiting French GP at Paul Ricard!
Perez is finally giving RB an even challenge against Merc. No more two on one anymore and it is paying off.
What is this "rule that only hurts Mercedes" that some people have spoken about?
Tsunoda needs to go. Nowhere again.
Overall much better than the usual snoozefest at this circuit. Interesting to watch the strategy calls play out, both up front and for those starting on the hards as well.
RB made the call and blinked first. With numerous drivers complaining about grip and tire wear, Merc just sat on it. Once the undercut was successful, they STILL sat on it. To some extent Max going off on the second corner put RB on the back foot and in the position to try the undercut, but was also an indication of the lack of grip. Perez doing was he is good at also put them in the position of splitting the strategy, leaving Merc backed farther into the corner.
I understand Merc waiting for a chance at a safety car, but really that is a complete roll of the dice. The cars were close enough in pace that they should have covered and hope to push the RB pace hard enough to make it a battle of tires at the end. They just made the wrong call.
Good to see the Mclaren's and the Aston's in the top 10 as pairs, along with Alonso and Gasly staying at the fast end of the pack better.
Russel finishing ahead of a Ferrari shows how hard he is trying and what a crap race Ferrari had. The reds seem to be all over with consistency.
:cool: This is pretty cool:
F1Visualized on Twitter: "2021 #FrenchGP 🇫🇷 Timelapse #F1 #Formula1 https://t.co/HFayUQ6HhS" / Twitter
I like those visualized graphics. Done right you can see all the strategy differences very well.
I saw this as well. Cool overlay of qually comparison between Lewis and Max.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSCFCE27VVc