The final ‘Sprint Race’ of the 2021 season was greeted with the announcement that Lewis Hamilton had been disqualified from Friday qualifying after a DRS infringement, throwing him to 20th and last on the grid for the ‘Sprint’ – promoting Max Verstappen to the front.
A ‘Sprint Race’ which, without the comeback of Hamilton or the chaos of the opening lap, was another half an hour of little action.
Valtteri Bottas was promoted to second on the grid after his teammate’s exclusion, and managed to get the better of the Red Bull at lights out on his soft tyres compared to Verstappen’s mediums. Bottas was left with open air in front of him and had to ensure he would stay there for the coming 24 laps, something that he managed to do – securing pole position for Sunday’s real race and three extra points.
Despite falling to third on the opening lap after being jumped by Carlos Sainz, who was also on softs, Verstappen would make his way back past Sainz with ease with DRS just a handful of laps later to reclaim second and set after the fast starting Bottas. Getting within touching distance was all that the Dutchman would do, trailing the Finnish driver over the line by 1.1s and securing two crucial points for the championship.
Impressing from the start in his Ferrari on wearing softs, Sainz would see himself trail the leading two by a whooping 18.7s in just 24 laps. The Spaniard not only secured the final point, but also managed to keep Sergio Perez behind for the entirety, with the Mexican driver only coming within DRS range, with the potential for an overtake, a handful of times.
Perez’ fourth put an end to a disappointing Saturday for the Red Bull team. And with the apparent straight line speed of Bottas and especially Hamilton, they will have their work cut out come Sunday.
Hamilton would make up four places on the opening lap from 20th on the grid, before ticking off driver after driver as the laps ticked on. The mega straight line speed left his rivals with no answer in the run to turn one, as he worked he way up to fifth on the final lap as he dived past Lando Norris. Red Bull have been suspicious of the rear wing of the Mercedes in recent weeks, but the recovery and speed Hamilton showed will give them more cause for concern. The British driver found his overtakes to be similar, and easy as the midfield could show no answer at all. However, this result means he will start the actual race from tenth on the grid – but based on the pace from today, that should not be a problem.
Despite getting done by Hamilton on the final lap, Norris managed to secure sixth over the line. In usual ‘Sprint Race’ fashion, Norris found little to none overtaking, yet the McLaren man was able to pass Charles Leclerc in the opening laps after a very entertaining duel. Leclerc would trail Norris at the finish by two seconds in seventh.
Pierre Gasly saw a stumble in his form, as his fourth on the grid became seventh in a matter of corners, before Hamilton easily eased past down the straight to demote the Frenchman to eighth – a position he would stay. A full nine seconds behind Leclerc.
Esteban Ocon needed just one more lap behind to make his way past Gasly, but unfortunately for him, the race ended on the 24th – leaving him in ninth. Sebastian Vettel would trail by a further two tenths.
This fight could lead somewhere, but the 24 lap dash did not provide enough movement for anything to happen. Daniel Ricciardo tagged on to the back of this group, but will be disappointed to find himself down in 11th over the line.
Fernando Alonso usually becomes the king of the sprint starts, but that title was not on him today. Starting in the top ten, Alonso was quickly dropped to 12th on the opening lap and could not move to another position before the chequered flag dropped.
Alfa Romeo experienced what no team wants. On the second lap, Antonio Giovinazzi attempted to make his way past his teammate of Kimi Raikkonen. With Raikkonen put on the squeeze, the two came together, sending Raikkonen into a spin. Whilst Giovinazzi would bring home 13th, Raikkonen would trail in 18th.
Lance Stroll could only gain two positions from his Friday performance to take the 14th grid slot, with Yuki Tsunoda two seconds behind. The worry for Tsunoda is the fact that he had both Williams cars in his DRS over the line.
Nicholas Latifi continues his strong weekend, managing to maintain his position ahead of George Russell as both drivers placed their names in the 16th and 17th grid slots.
And, to nobody’s shock, the Haas drivers will once again fill out the final with Mick Schumacher 11.6s away from the fighting cars in front, but nearly six seconds ahead of his teammate, Nikita Mazepin.
Although this attempt of the ‘Sprint Race’ seemed more action packed, strip back the opening lap and Hamilton cutting his way past the slower cars, it could be defined as another procession. Maybe not a great omen for Sunday.
The Motorsport Formula 