Podium For Bottas, Hamilton Loses More Ground in Austria

Valtteri Bottas has driven to second in the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, but in a blow to his 2021 FORMULA 1 World Championship hopes, Lewis Hamilton suffered damage to the floor of his car and slipped down to fourth place, losing further ground in the championship standings.

Lando Norris defended P2 well for 15 laps before Hamilton could make the overtake. Bottas then passed Norris at the pit stops and Mercedes occupied P2 and P3 until Hamilton suffered the effects of kerb damage at Turn 10, losing downforce. He was passed by both Bottas and Norris on lap 53.

Hamilton pitted soon after for fresh tyres and a wing adjustment to try and re-balance the car for the lost downforce but was forced to settle for P4.

Podium For Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas completed a solid drive to take second place and maximise the points on offer for the second consecutive weekend.

‘For me personally, P2 one place better than last week and I started from fifth so not a bad afternoon. I think as a team we got some decent points considering the gap we have to Red Bull in terms of pure pace. For me it’s nice to be on the podium again in second place and I think we really maximised what we could get today. The tyres held on pretty well today which was a surprise. Next two weeks of hardwork and learning then Silverstone, it will be great to see the fans there and I hope we can pick up our pace to give it a real fight there,’ said Bottas.

Lewis Hamilton Losing Touch With Max Verstappen

After his title-rival Max Verstappen took his third consecutive race win, Lewis Hamilton is in danger of losing touch in the championship battle, as he now finds himself 32 points behind the Dutchman.

‘It’s not the result I wanted but it’s still some decent points. I sustained some damage just before I overtook Lando – the rear of the car started to feel strange and it just got worse throughout the race. Otherwise it would have been a straightforward second place for me. Max is clear out front at the moment so we need improve our car and start performing better each weekend. The team are working incredibly hard and we need continue that so we can find performance,’ added Hamilton.

Damage Limitation Weekend For Mercedes

For team boss Toto Wolff, it was another case of damage limitation, and his team will need to regroup before racing resumes in Silverstone in two weeks.

‘It’s not the result I wanted but it’s still some decent points. I sustained some damage just before I overtook Lando – the rear of the car started to feel strange and it just got worse throughout the race. Otherwise it would have been a straightforward second place for me. Max is clear out front at the moment so we need improve our car and start performing better each weekend. The team are working incredibly hard and we need continue that so we can find performance,’ concluded Wolff.