Parth Sherla
The other winners of the British GP 2021
Yuki Tsunoda
Finally, he’s here! In the winner’s spot! After a terrible Q4, I mean, Sprint Qualifying, Tsunoda’s chances to redeem himself on Sunday were slim. But, boy, did he deliver! P10 from P16 and outperformed his teammate. He is not Red Bull material yet, but it’s a start. I guess Red Bull moving him to Italy is proving to be a good move. Let’s hope this wasn’t a one-hit-wonder.
Ferrari
‘Ferrari’s season goes up and down, up and down, up and down. Ferrari’s season goes up and down, all through the year!’ This took me some time.
Jokes aside, the British GP 2021 was ‘up’ for Ferrari. Both drivers in the points section and finally a podium for Charles Leclerc! I bet Ferrari didn’t expect one of their drivers to be leading the race and that is why they couldn’t work out any suitable strategy for Leclerc in time, or else he could have won the race. But, hey, this is Scuderia Ferrari. They’ll give you just enough to hang on.
Lewis Hamilton
Controversial, yes? Yes. Am I done? No.
Lewis’ battle against Max on the opening lap was fun to watch till he sent the Red Bull into the wall on the approach to Copse. But, here’s my opinion (we are all entitled to that), it wasn’t Lewis Hamilton’s fault. However, more on that later. Hamilton was lucky that the race was red-flagged as it gave his team the necessary time to make the repairs on his car. If the race wasn’t red-flagged, Lewis was looking at a retirement. The 10-second penalty, meaningless or trivial, did affect his race as it propelled him further behind the pack. Norris’s unusually long pitstop and the Mercedes’ ‘Valtteri, it’s James….’ 2.0 played very much to Hamilton’s benefit. He recovered from the crash, the penalty, as well as the racial slurs to win the British GP 2021. Needless to say that the gloves are off in this battle for the World Championship!
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The other losers of the British GP 2021
Pierre Gasly
I was not surprised when I concluded that I have to award Pierre Gasly a loser spot. What surprised me was the realization that if Sprint Qualifying becomes a permanent effect and it takes place without any race-like drama (which, lately, is rare to witness during the race as well), would we see Pierre Gasly starting P4 or P5 ever again? That’s a long shot. We will discuss that some other day. For the first time this season, we have witnessed a poor result from Pierre. He was even unable to outperform his teammate. Yes, that guy! But, even a tiger has to retreat two steps back to pounce ahead.
Sebastian Vettel
An advantageous position to start the race in, a disappointing way to finish it. Out of all the possible options to screw your race, Vettel decided to opt for his old-fashioned way, by spinning! He spun to the back of the grid and never recovered. Eventually, he had to retire the car nearing the end of the race. But at least Aston Martin had one car in the points with a decent finish. I believe he must have thought these things through while clearing the litter post-race.
Red Bull
Red Bull was still optimistic for the Sunday race as their star driver was starting on pole-position while their second driver, Sergio Perez, had earned a name by yielding astonishingly positive results by starting from the back of the grid. But, that did not happen. Sergio finished the race in P16. The only thing that Red Bull could deny Hamilton of was the fastest lap point. You see, it’s these little things that count. But, let’s address the elephant in the room. Max Verstappen!
I told you I wasn’t done. Since there isn’t much to say about his race, let’s discuss his accident with Hamilton, as that is the sole reason why he is on the loser’s podium. Let’s analyze his Lap 1 (since that was his entire race). He had a good start, not great, but good. So did Lewis. But here’s where things differ. Max was driving erratically. He was too aggressive, jeopardizing himself and Hamilton. On closer inspection, one can see Max going slightly onto the grass at a point. That’s how aggressive he was. Hamilton was already on the inside of that Red Bull before going into Copse. At that instance, Lewis had two choices, first was to back away and let Max safely pull away in the front. This would have reduced the gap between Lewis and Leclerc behind him. The other option was that he holds ground and hopes that Max gives him enough space to be at the least wheel-to-wheel. Any rational driver would opt for the latter. It’s safer and ethical. But Max turned in. The result was his 51 G impact into the wall. The crash was inevitable. You cannot expect to limp your way back to the pits with a flat tyre after having such a high-speed incident at that part of the track. On an individual level, I am supporting Max this season, but mistakes are still mistakes and I feel that his accident at the British GP 2021 was solely his mistake.
