7/11/2023 0 Comments F1 2021 gridThere were signs of progress in Melbourne, but they were overshadowed by the poor race result. ![]() We took two pole positions and one podium finish with Charles and our overall points total, thanks also to Carlos’ fifth place, is satisfactory. "Overall, this has been a positive weekend for the team. Now I look forward to a reset, as Miami is just around the corner and I can’t wait to jump in the car again and keep pushing." On the Medium tyre I could push a bit more, but with the harder compound I simply didn’t feel the car. P5 brings home some points but I must put my hand up and admit I lacked confidence under braking and the pace was not there. The bottom line is that we have to focus on race pace and tyre management and push to make even more progress in the coming races." We maximised every session throughout the weekend and couldn't have done anything differently, so that’s something to be happy about and the team did a great job. "We are still not quite there in terms of race pace and we know that’s what we have to work on the most at the moment. READ MORE: Leclerc says Ferrari 'absolutely maximised' Azerbaijan weekend after claiming first podium of season Sainz lost out to Alonso after the Safety Car peeled in, and came close to losing a place to Hamilton but in the end managed his tyres well enough to have enough rubber left to defend hard in the closing stages. From there, he had a lonely race in third but at least scored his first podium of the season. Not to be for Leclerc, he tried his best and got a good start but couldn’t keep the might of the Red Bulls at bay. With each race comes moments to savour but just as many learnings, we take those and move to the next challenge, preparation for Miami is already well under way, see you at the beach!” Other than that it was an excellent performance from the whole team, another 1-2, our 25th! Things are clicking for us at the moment and it sets us up well for next week but it is still early days, there are 19 races and 5 more sprint races in this long season. ![]() Sometimes things like that don’t go your way but that is racing and we will learn from it. We were unlucky with the safety car and the pit stop for Max. He had the pace and really controlled the race, he benefitted from the timing of the safety car but it was a phenomenal performance from him today and all weekend. There are a lot of races coming up and we must make sure we are on it.” I am definitely in the fight for the title, not just because of Baku, I believe I can be very good anywhere this season and now I am just thinking of Miami. I think today we were the fastest car on track and regardless of the safety car we would have won the race. They have been tremendous all weekend, from the sprint race yesterday through to the way we executed the race today, it was perfect. The Team enjoy calling me the King of the Streets, I am super happy for them all. I want to say a big thanks to Thibaut, he is one of my mechanics who is at home for personal reasons, but he is still a very big part of our Team. ![]() “It has been an unbelievable weekend, I am super pleased and I cannot say more about the Team, it has been a tremendous day for us and I am so proud of everyone. I’m already looking forward to Miami and seeing what we can do there.” We bought it home and a 1-2 for the Team was ideal, Checo had a great race and did very well today. We used every centimetre on that track and touched a few walls! It was a good Team result and there were a lot of learnings from this weekend to take forward to the rest of the season. ![]() Of course, I was a bit unlucky with the safety car call, but I think in that second stint both of us were pushing flat out. READ MORE: ‘I learned a lot of things’ – Verstappen takes the positives from Baku despite losing out to team mate Perez Verstappen was struggling by contract with the balance of his RB19 and in the end had to settle for second. While the Mexican got lucky, from there he drove a superb race at a track he so often goes well at, and never seemed under undue pressure. A lap later when the Safety Car came out, Perez was able to dive in and leapfrog his team mate. But with de Vries in the wall, the team opted to pit Verstappen. Verstappen managed to get past Leclerc earlier on as did his team mate, with Red Bull running first and second.
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