2021 - Race 15 Russia [Sochi]

[Fortitude]

FORMULA 1 VTB RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX 2021 - RACE RESULT
24 26 Sep 2021 Sochi Autodrom, Sochi

https://www.formula1.com/en/results....ce-result.html


MAX VERSTAPPEN
Verstappen amazed: I definitely didn't expect this result!
26th Sept 2021, ‎15‎:‎16
Author Anna Francis

Max Verstappen expressed his amazement at climbing from the back of the grid to second in a dramatic Russian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen admits he was surprised to claim second place in the Russian Grand Prix after starting from the back of the grid.

The Dutchman had worked his way through the field during the race but was able to gain the most ground due to the rain that hit in the final laps, with Red Bull making the call to switch to Intermediate tyres at the ideal time.

The decision enabled Verstappen to take second behind title rival Lewis Hamilton.

"It was pretty tricky on the in lap to make the call to go to Inters," Verstappen told Sky Sports. "I think we decided at the right time to pit.

"To come from last to second is very, very good. The race itself was not very easy as it was very difficult to pass, and once you got stuck it was very easy to damage your tyres. The rain helped us to make that last jump.

https://racingnews365.com/verstappen...ct-this-result


Horner: "It feels like a victory for Max Verstappen today"
26-09-2021 15:11 | Updated: 26-09-2021 15:23
by Matt Gretton

Christian Horner says Max Verstappen's P2 "feels like a win". The Dutchman decided to take his new engine this weekend and therefore started from the back of the grid for the Russian Grand Prix. For a while, it looked like Verstappen was stuck in P7 but he benefited from the rain at the end.

It was all about damage limitation for Verstappen. Mercedes remain unbeaten in Sochi, but Hamilton only holds a two-point lead in the World Championship. This gap was expected to be much bigger before the Grand Prix started.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/95004...pen-today.html


Verstappen more like my father than Hamilton – Hunt
SEPTEMBER 26, 2021

Max Verstappen, not Lewis Hamilton, is the new ‘James Hunt’ of Formula 1.

That is the claim not of a random pundit, but the son of F1 legend James Hunt himself – 31-year-old Freddie.

“2021 is probably the best season I’ve ever experienced,” Hunt told Sport1.

“It’s similar to 1976 – extremely close and exciting. However, my dad and Niki Lauda were friends. Max and Lewis are clearly not.”

Some have suggested the culturally-relevant and fashion-minded Hamilton is like a new James Hunt for Formula 1 – but Freddie doesn’t see it that way.

“Verstappen is more like my father than Lewis is. Actually, Lewis is not like my father at all.”

However, he says neither of them have the mutual respect that Hunt and Lauda shared.

“They had more respect for each other and left more space in a battle. They knew that if they raced too hard, you could kill your friend,” Hunt said.

He uses Verstappen’s 51G crash and brief hospitalisation as one example.

https://grandpx.news/verstappen-more...hamilton-hunt/


Horner/Wolff respond to Stewart’s Verstappen criticism
Date published: September 26 2021 - Jamie Woodhouse

Red Bull principal Christian Horner did not want to directly say Verstappen was Formula 1’s fastest, but does feel his driver has shown a great level of maturity.

“Of course I always respect Sir Jackie’s opinion but I think Max has shown great maturity this year and, of course, you’re always evolving, always learning and I’m sure Sir Jackie made a few mistakes in his time,” said Horner in response to a question from The Daily Mail.

“So that’s the journey of life. I think you learn from every experience and I think when you see the progression from a 17 year-old, when he came into Formula 1, to the driver he is today, it’s pretty impressive.”

Pushed again on whether Verstappen is the outright fastest, Horner replied: “It’s always going to be subjective and open to debate. I’m just glad he’s driving our car.”

https://www.planetf1.com/news/max-ve...cism-response/

[Zico]

Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry!

Did you do the rain dance today... or are you the real messiah? What's your beef with Lando anyway?

[Bagwan]

"Several sources are stating that it was in fact again the break magic button defeating Lewis that caused the incident. Surprising being that it's been in use for quite a while apparently, and the issue has bit him twice this year."-Shifter .

In this case , it was in the pits , and could have hurt the jack-man badly , but the first was in racing circumstances where it could have been much more serious .
They need to fix it quickly so nobody gets hurt .

[Tazio]

Did you do the rain dance today... or are you the real messiah? What's your beef with Lando anyway?

No beef, I'm cool with him. I'm just having a little fun! + =

[Tazio]

Everyone hear Toto giving "encouragement" to Lewis , saying he could win ?

Was that encouragement , or was the OK to win because Max was close enough to keep that championship close enough ?

Does Lewis really need that encouragement when he'd won 99 times before ?

There's that smell again .

+ =
+ =

[The Black Knight]

This was definitely the best Russian GP to date and by quite some margin. I am gutted for Norris, he could have won today had he pitted and he thoroughly deserved his first race win but you have to get it over the line.

If I was Toto I would fire Bottas and replace him immediately with Russell after the way he just let Max by at the start of the race. He has no business driving that car anymore after what he did. He made zero effort to defend and just let him through.

Max made the most of the rain, got a little bit of luck with it.

I've always felt one of Hamilton's achilles heels is he can't judge weather conditions very well. It wad clearly obvious to drivers like Ricciardo etc that they needed to go to inters and he wanted to stay out, meanwhile the team overruled him and he got the race win because of it in what, at the end of the day, was a mediocre race for him.

[N. Jones]

Boring race until the rain came. Poor Lando but he'll learn.

[F1nKS]

Terrible pitstop by rbr. There goes p3 minimum for Perez. All his hard work undone

Perez couldn't catch a break. The terrible pitstop then he got caught out on the wrong part of the track when the rain came in.

[Tazio]

Well played by Fred!
https://twitter.com/i/status/1442223045335080965

[Mia 01]

Kimi drove wery well yesterday, cheers Rainman!