2021 Formula One British Grand Prix

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British Grand Prix 2021 Alfa Romeo Sauber Formula 1.jpg

How do you think the 2021 British Grand Prix will play out? Will Toto Wolff’s prediction come true?

  • Yes, Mercedes will be able to compete with Red Bull

    Votes: 125 49.0%

  • No, Red Bull’s domination will continue

    Votes: 126 49.4%

  • Other, let us know in the comments below

    Votes: 4 1.6%
  • Total voters
    255
How do you follow up the 2020 British Grand Prix, where the winner finished with only 3 working tires? A new qualifying system for 2021 and a second-place team expecting a sizable victory just might do it.

Formula One is back in action this weekend, taking on the Silverstone circuit for the 2021 British Grand Prix. Max Verstappen currently holds an impressive 32-point advantage over reigning champion Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' standings, while their respective teams rank in the same order with a 44-point gap.

Hamilton will look to gain back some ground in the standings after failing to get a podium finish at the Austrian Grand Prix on the fourth of July. This is Hamilton’s home race, and seven of his record 98 wins have come at this circuit. Hamilton’s recent dominance at the British GP includes winning six of the last seven races here, with his worst finish since 2014 being a second place in 2018.

Max Verstappen is favored to upset that dominance this weekend, amid his strongest season ever. Verstappen enters the weekend on a three-race win streak and has taken a podium in every race except Azerbaijan, a race he was leading before a tire failure.

Toto Wolff says that he expects his Mercedes team to take a 1-2 victory with a 30 second margin at Silverstone. Mercedes finds themselves trailing behind Red Bull so far this season, but Wolff believes that recent upgrades to their W12 car will put them ahead of their rivals.

Sprint Qualifying​

Fans can also expect some extra racing this weekend. Breaking from the usual FP1 > FP2 > FP3 > Qualifying > Race format, Formula One will introduce Sprint Qualifying this weekend.

There are two sessions scheduled for Friday: Free Practice 1 and Qualifying (Q1, Q2 and Q3). This qualifying session is to determine the grid order for the Sprint Race on Saturday. Free Practice 2 will happen in advance of the Sprint Qualifying, then the drivers will take to the track for a 100-kilometer race session to determine the starting grid for Sunday’s race. In addition to grid positions, the drivers and teams will also be vying for up to three championship points from the sprint race.

Verstappen in elite form​

With 14 races remaining on the calendar, Mercedes and Hamilton can still catch Verstappen and Red Bull, but there is a growing sense that if the momentum is to shift, it needs to happen soon. Max has been in elite form behind the wheel of his RB16B this year. The last two races at Austria’s Red Bull Ring had Verstappen taking both pole position and the race win.

Moving down the standings, 46 points behind Verstappen and Hamilton is Sergio Perez of Red Bull, who is the only driver other than the top two to score a victory this season. Perez has been overshadowed by his teammate this year, but his 104 championship points has helped elevate Red Bull well above Mercedes in the constructors' standings.

Norris aims for another strong show​

Further back in the field, Lando Norris hopes to continue his excellent season for McLaren with another strong showing, after having finished an impressive third last time out in Austria. Norris currently sits fourth in the drivers' standings, ahead of Valterri Bottas in his Mercedes. Bottas finished ahead of his teammate in the second race in Austria, but his inconsistent performance has led many to speculate about his future at Mercedes.

Norris’ teammate Daniel Ricciardo has had a less than stellar season so far. He has yet to break into the top five so far this year, and at the Styrian Grand Prix three weeks ago he finished a disappointing 13th.

Norris has proven that McLaren has the pace to beat all but Mercedes and Red Bull, so hopefully Ricciardo can find his groove with the MCL35M and start improving his results.

Ferrari​

The talented Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz find themselves just two points apart after nine races. Leclerc holds a slight edge in points, but Sainz has posted the only Ferrari podium this season with his third-place finish in Monaco.

There is a midfield fight for fifth place in the constructors' championship, with AlphaTauri just four points ahead of Aston Martin. Behind them is Alpine with 32 points scored so far. And rounding out the field are Alfa Romeo, Williams, and Haas, with two Alfa Romeo 10th place finishes accounting for the only points between the three teams.
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About author
Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

K
Sasha Jednak said:
2) As for Max, in onboard you can see that he steers in, sees Lewis and opens a bit to leave what looks like even 2 car width room. But it is not enough as 15 year F1 experience driver has overcooked it heavily.
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You're leaving it out the most important bit: after "opening a bit" as you wrote, he closes the door right after. In other words, he steers briefly to the left when he notices that Lewis is next to him but then he steers immediately back to the right and closes the door. But it's too late by then, Lewis is commited and there's no time to back off. A collision is inevitable.

That's why it's a racing incident: both drivers are at fault. Lewis was a bit too aggressive but Max defended his position also too aggressively. He should have realized that the odds of a collision were too big. It was the first lap, there was 51 laps remaining, more than enough time to pass Lewis. Instead of that, he ends up in the wall.
 
muzikant
Things went wrong in the first round between the two title rivals. Right from the start there was a hard battle on the track between Hamilton and Verstappen and it all went just fine. Until Copse Corner where Hamilton tries to overtake Verstappen and taps Verstappen's right rear tire with his left front wheel, which goes off the track at high speed.

On the NOS News, Jan Lammers gives his view on Verstappen's crash. "Lewis could have avoided that contact," says the director of the Dutch Grand Prix. “You can say 'Max steers in', but there is a right turn. What do you expect? That he drives straight? You could clearly see that Hamilton had a meter and a half left on the inside. Why doesn't he use it?"

Especially Verstappen punished
Hamilton was then given a ten-second time penalty and eventually managed to win the race. Lammers believes that Verstappen has now been punished at Silverstone. “Hamilton makes a mistake, but takes 25 full points and Max will be punished with maybe a headache for the rest of his life, because with such a blow you have to wait and see what it does to you in the long term. Maybe for a million damage. And he has zero points. So who was punished now? The penalty was disproportionate to the consequences for Max.”
 
K
muzikant said:
Things went wrong in the first round between the two title rivals. Right from the start there was a hard battle on the track between Hamilton and Verstappen and it all went just fine. Until Copse Corner where Hamilton tries to overtake Verstappen and taps Verstappen's right rear tire with his left front wheel, which goes off the track at high speed.

On the NOS News, Jan Lammers gives his view on Verstappen's crash. "Lewis could have avoided that contact," says the director of the Dutch Grand Prix. “You can say 'Max steers in', but there is a right turn. What do you expect? That he drives straight? You could clearly see that Hamilton had a meter and a half left on the inside. Why doesn't he use it?"

Especially Verstappen punished
Hamilton was then given a ten-second time penalty and eventually managed to win the race. Lammers believes that Verstappen has now been punished at Silverstone. “Hamilton makes a mistake, but takes 25 full points and Max will be punished with maybe a headache for the rest of his life, because with such a blow you have to wait and see what it does to you in the long term. Maybe for a million damage. And he has zero points. So who was punished now? The penalty was disproportionate to the consequences for Max.”
Click to expand...
Lammers is the director the Dutch GP. So I'm reading his comments with a grain of salt... Actually, the whole bottle of salt.
 
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muzikant
Kingkoenig said:
Lammers is the director the Dutch GP. So I'm reading his comments with a grain of salt... Actually, the whole bottle of salt.
Click to expand...
because you defend Lewis of which he was also found guilty by the fia says enough

we no longer have any respect for him in the netherlands and people on youtube are also done with the ronaldo of motorsport.

we race as one what a joke


I am against any form of violence but he will certainly receive a cool reception at Zandvoort. Not going to be a fun weekend for him. but it's about celebrating extensively without worrying about Max's condition
 
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Sasha Jednak
Kingkoenig said:
You're leaving it out the most important bit: after "opening a bit" as you wrote, he closes the door right after. In other words, he steers briefly to the left when he notices that Lewis is next to him but then he steers immediately back to the right and closes the door. But it's too late by then, Lewis is commited and there's no time to back off. A collision is inevitable.

That's why it's a racing incident: both drivers are at fault. Lewis was a bit too aggressive but Max defended his position also too aggressively. He should have realized that the odds of a collision were too big. It was the first lap, there was 51 laps remaining, more than enough time to pass Lewis. Instead of that, he ends up in the wall.
Click to expand...
i didn’t leave out anything. Max turned, saw Lewis, opened wheel to give him more than enough room and continued turning right (because you know it os right turn) while leaving same space on inside for Lewis. Only thing that changes until moment of impact is increasing distance between right white line and black car, white line distance to blue car stays constant after Max’s correction.

P.S. It was the first lap, there was 51 laps remaining, more than enough time to pass Max. It works both ways.
 
K
Sasha Jednak said:
i didn’t leave out anything. Max turned, saw Lewis, opened wheel to give him more than enough room and continued turning right (because you know it os right turn) while leaving same space on inside for Lewis. Only thing that changes until moment of impact is increasing distance between right white line and black car, white line distance to blue car stays constant after Max’s correction.

P.S. It was the first lap, there was 51 laps remaining, more than enough time to pass Max. It works both ways.
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I know it works both ways. And that’s why I have always said that it was a racing incident. I have never written than Hamilton is not responsible. Lewis tried to pass at a spot where it was very difficult to do so. Max defended his position too aggressively. Both drivers made mistakes.

What I disagree with is this narrative from Horner, Marko and Verstappen fans that Hamilton deserves a bigger penalty and that he « sent Verstappen to the hospital » as if he wanted to hurt him. As if Max was this little innocent angel... This is F1, it’s ruthless and it’s risky. Sometimes, drivers make mistakes and sometimes, accidents happen. It’s funny, people say that they want close racing but when there’s an accident, suddenly it’s the end of the world. What happened yesterday was two highly skilled and aggressive driver fighting for the same corner. They touched, one ended up in the wall. Nothing new here and nothing I haven’t seen before in my 43 years as a F1 fan.
 
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muzikant
Kingkoenig said:
I know it works both ways. And that’s why I have always said that it was a racing incident. I have never written than Hamilton is not responsible. Lewis tried to pass at a spot where it was very difficult to do so. Max defended his position too aggressively. Both drivers made mistakes.

What I disagree with is this narrative from Horner, Marko and Verstappen fans that Hamilton deserves a bigger penalty and that he « sent Verstappen to the hospital » as if he wanted to hurt him. As if Max was this little innocent angel... This is F1, it’s ruthless and it’s risky. Sometimes, drivers make mistakes and sometimes, accidents happen. It’s funny, people say that they want close racing but when there’s an accident, suddenly it’s the end of the world. What happened yesterday was two highly skilled and aggressive driver fighting for the same corner. They touched, one ended up in the wall. Nothing new here and nothing I haven’t seen before in my 43 years as a F1 fan.
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but Lewis was not even next to Max he taps him from behind in a corner where you are asking for trouble. He could have picked a better angle. and two Max sat there on the race line with 300 km. . do you think he can disappear for a while?
 
Guido Trampe
Premium
muzikant said:
because you defend Lewis of which he was also found guilty by the fia says enough

we no longer have any respect for him in the netherlands and people on youtube are also done with the ronaldo of motorsport.

we race as one what a joke


I am against any form of violence but he will certainly receive a cool reception at Zandvoort. Not going to be a fun weekend for him. but it's about celebrating extensively without worrying about Max's condition
Click to expand...

please dont pretend to be a spokesman for all the Dutch people. Your opinion isn’t valued by me at all. Also the hostile approach to Lewis isn’t sportsman like at all. it sounds more like the voice of a football holigan then a true race fan. F1 is a dangerous sport. Accidents happen and are part of the exiting package. Live with it and move on
 
Stefan Woudenberg
In the end Red Bull and Max are punished double.
All the damage need to go off the budget cap, new gearbox, probably Honda might not save the engine, so grid penalties due to the 3 engine rule.
Mercedes and Lewis must be very pleased for just the 10 seconds penalty.
I am pretty sure Max lost his respect for LH.
 

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