Russian Grand Prix – The Best / Worst according to the editorial staff

The TOP 3:

1. Norris, the cake without the cherry

Surely the driver of the weekend! Author of his first pole position on Saturday in tricky conditions, Lando Norris only lost one position at the start to Carlos Sainz, which is not bad at all considering this atypical circuit.

Behind the wheel of a McLaren that is less demanding on tires, Norris easily got rid of his former teammate after about ten laps to take the lead of the race.

The young Briton then led a masterful race, while seeing Lewis Hamilton quickly catching up with him. But it only took the rain and one bad decision to deprive him of his first Formula 1 victory.

No problem, Norris will once again have left a mark and set a date for the future!

2. The 100th: Hamilton at the forefront

It took him longer than expected, but he finally did it: since Sunday, Lewis Hamilton has once again left his mark on F1 by becoming the first driver to reach the milestone of 100 victories.

However, nothing has been simple for Sir Lewis. Making unusual mistakes, the Briton qualified in 4th place on Saturday before losing a few positions at the start to Stroll and Ricciardo.

Pushed by a hungry Mercedes team in the image of its boss Toto Wolff, Hamilton began his climb back by passing each of his opponents one by one at the cost of an excellent strategy.

Returning in Norris’ slipstream for the battle for victory, the seven-time world champion knew he would need a stroke of luck to win, having struggled immensely to overtake his teammate Ricciardo (due to a botched pit stop by McLaren).

But just a few laps before the finish, this stroke of luck comes with the timely arrival of rain for the Mercedes driver. Coming in at the right moment, unlike his compatriot, Hamilton was set to make history by crossing the finish line first for the 100th time.

History.

3. An exciting Russian Grand Prix, this season is definitely crazy!

Usually quite bland and lacking in overtaking, the Russian Grand Prix does not hold a high place in the hearts of Formula One Circus spectators and actors. But this weekend, it must be acknowledged that once again the magic of this 2021 season has worked to offer us an exciting Russian Grand Prix in every way!

The penalties suffered by top drivers (Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc), the capricious weather in qualifying giving us an absolutely crazy top 3 as well as a new pole man, a tense Hamilton but finally victorious for the 100th time, not to mention this end of the race worthy of the greatest dramas… A crazy mix that will make this 2021 Russian Grand Prix a great vintage!

The FLOP 3:

Norris / Leclerc: Failed bet with major consequences

With just four laps to go, these two drivers were commonly found at the top of the leaderboard because their races, albeit very different, were absolutely magnificent. Unfortunately for them, the arrival of rain came to dampen their hopes and spoil their performance.

If we can’t remove everything Norris did this weekend, the fact that he didn’t listen to McLaren’s board recommendations played a part in Sunday’s result and deprived the team, like him, of a more than well-deserved victory.

Instead, the 21-year-old driver only finished 7th with the fastest lap as a consolation, lost points that could prove very costly at the end of the season, in addition to the eternal regrets of the long-awaited first victory.

For Leclerc, the disappointment is immense too. Starting from the back of the grid, the Monegasque driver passed one by one his rivals both on the track and in the pit lane to deliver a performance worthy of his best achievements so far. However, the Ferrari driver also tried the slicks gamble and also got caught.

The bill is heavy: instead of 7th place, the Scuderia’s protege finishes outside the points. The focus is now on Istanbul!

2. Eternal understudy: Bottas, once again non-existent

We were waiting for Bottas to perform on his favorite circuit, with the Red Bull teams struggling a bit and his future now secured for a while at Alfa Romeo. However, that was without counting on Mercedes, which tried the option of changing his engine once again, demoting him to the back of the grid to block Verstappen in the championship race.

Alas, once again, the Finnish driver will have disappointed. Having overtaken the Dutchman in just a handful of laps, Hamilton’s teammate then struggled to pass his rivals on mounts much less speedy than his Black Arrow. For context, with 5 laps to go, the Mercedes driver is only in 11th place behind the two Aston Martins.

Saved by the rain this time thanks to a good call from his team, Bottas still managed to salvage the situation in terms of the standings. However, his tarnished image has been significantly reinforced by the extraordinary performances of his future replacement, George Russell, in his modest Williams.

3. The French struggling this weekend

It has been a long time since we have seen our two Frenchmen struggle so much throughout a Grand Prix. Promising on Friday on a dry track, Ocon and Gasly did not repeat their performances on a wet track on Saturday. While Gasly’s 12th time is also partly due to a risky strategy from AlphaTauri, Ocon could not have done better than his 10th place.

In the race, never have the two Frenchmen managed to show themselves capable of claiming points and both finish quite far behind one another: Gasly in 13th place just ahead of Ocon in 14th.

A race to forget in the Tricolor team!