Oracle Red Bull Racing

The Season So Far: Part 1

Five races in and it’s time to have a look back at the season so far.

Let’s

start

pointing

out

the

obvious

–

we’re

top

both

the

drivers’

and

constructors’

championships!

And

that’s

pretty

special

it’s

the

first

time

it’s

happened

the

hybrid

era

and

that’s

something

proud

of.

The season is only five races old, but you’d be forgiven for not remembering what’s happened so far, so let us remind you of how the first rounds have played out…

RoundOne–BahrainGrandPrix

Circuit: Bahrain International Circuit

Max: P2

Checo: P5

The season got off to a great start with Max claiming pole position in qualifying and was ready to race. It wasn’t the same story for on his debut for the team though, however. After having his first lap deleted because of track limits in Q2, he failed to set a time to progress to Q3 and had to settle for P11 on the grid.

Moving to race day and Checo’s weekend got worse before it got better. While on the formation lap the Mexican’s car started to slow and eventually stopped at the side of the track. It appeared he had suffered power loss, but stayed calm and was able to get the car running again, unfortunately it meant he had to start the race from the pit lane.

However, Checo showed off his talent as he battled through the field to claim a fifth placed finish.

Through The Lens: Bahrain GP 2021

Sparks In The Sakhir Spotlight

What A Debut Race For Checo

This Mexican Means Business

Max Starts Off On Mediums

What A Season Opener

Starting Off With Some Silverware

These Boots Were Made For Racing

Checo Never Gave Up The Charge

Bahrain Shines Bright At Night

Checo On The Charge

Max had a race long battle with Lewis Hamilton, with the Dutchman and Mercedes driver swapping the lead as each team’s strategy came into play.

On lap 53 of 56 Max was hunting down Lewis and went for the overtake around the outside of Hamilton intro turn four. The Dutchman managed to take the lead, but was deemed to have run too wide in the move and had to hand the place back to Hamilton on the run down to turn 11.

Max kept looking for the next chance to overtake, although none came, and he had to settle for P2. With just the season opener complete, the experts were already stating that this was going to be a close season and one to remember.

Max With The Second Place Silverware

RoundTwo–EmiliaRomagnaGrandPrix

Circuit: Imola

Max: P1

Checo: P11

It was another exciting qualifying at round two in Imola as Checo was P2 and Max P3. It was the first time Max was out qualified by his teammate since Mexico 2018. Sunday was set for a thrilling start.

Race day was set to have everything in place for a thrilling encounter as the rain poured heavily ahead of lights out.

The rain stopped and the track began to dry out, it was then that teams started pitting and Max came in on lap 27 for a fresh set of mediums. He came back out on track behind Hamilton, who pitted a lap later, but the Mercedes’ pit time of four seconds was slow compared to Max’s, so the Bull was able to comfortably regain the lead.

Max made a superb start from P3 passing both his teammate and Lewis to take the lead into turn one. Max was putting in fastest lap times for fun and at lap 16 had built up a five-second gap from Hamilton.

Through The Lens: Emilia Romagna GP 2021

Cheering Max Across The Line

Picking Up Race Win Number 11

Up Close With Checo

Practicing His P2 Start

A Strong Saturday For Sergio

Max Gets Sprayed On The Top Step

Running From The Spraying Red Bull

We Can't Wait To See You Soon

Lining Up Following Our Best Team Qualifying Since 2018

These Boots Were Ready For Racing

Sunday Smoke And Showers In Imola

Celebrating With The Team

Ready For The Trophy Cabinet

Soon after this on lap 31 Hamilton locked up heading into turn seven, he went into the barrier and damage his front wing in the process. The Brit slowly recovered his car by reversing it over the gravel.

Although there was then a major incident when Williams’ George Russel and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas collided on the way into Tamburello. This sent both spinning into the barriers and out of the race. This brought out the red flag and a long stoppage as track marshalls cleaned up the debris.

The race was restarted on lap 35 with a rolling start, after a brief scare for Max on the penultimate corner, he composed himself and went off into the distance.

Max was in complete control for the rest of the race and took the chequered flag 22-seconds in front of his rival.

Checo’s race was the complete opposite of Max’s. After spinning under the safety car on lap two he dropped two places, which he soon after regained, still under the safety car conditions. This not being permitted, saw him handed a 10-second penalty, which he’d later serve during a pit stop. The Mexican span again on lap 38 and dropped from P4 to P15. He did however manage to regain some places and cross the finish line in P11.

Max On The Imola Podium

RoundThree–PortugueseGrandPrix

Circuit: Portimão

Max: P2

Checo: P4

In Portugal, the Bulls were kept off the front row of the grid by the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Max had to settle for P3 and Checo just behind in P4, with the former visibly disappointed that he hadn’t got onto the front row.

An early safety car was deployed in the race following Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen had crashed into his teammate Antonio Giovinazzi. On the safety car restart at lap seven Max was able to get a good run at Hamilton and pass him for P2.

Through The Lens: Portuguese GP 2021

Sergio Sticks On The Softs

Podium 45 For Max

Shining Bright On The Algarve

Heading To The Office

Practice Makes Perfect In Pit Stops

Eyes On The Priza

Brightening Up The Garage

Watching The Bull From Behind The Fence

Taking In The View

A Rollercoaster Ride In Portugal

Hamilton was then able to fight back passing the Dutchman four laps later and claimed the lead after passing his teammate Bottas.

That left the Mercedes teammates fighting it out for P1 and P2 with Max sitting in third. The team called Max into the pits and he was able to undercut Bottas, who was called in a lap later. Max crossed the line in P2, just missing out on a fastest lap bonus point from track limits infringement.

For Checo, it was a lonely race to fourth. The Mexican put in an epic 51-lap first stint on starting medium tyres and took the lead of the race as Max and the Mercedes made their stops. But as any chance of a safety car ebbed, his pace began to drop on the old tyres and after his own stop he dropped to his starting position of fourth place – his best result of the season so far.

Max Picks Up P2 In Portugal

RoundFour–SpanishGrandPrix

Circuit: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Max: P2

Checo: P5

Max qualified P2 in Barcelona, behind championship leader Hamilton, who made history becoming the first driver in Formula 1 to claim 100 pole positions, with Checo starting eighth on the grid.

At lights out Max made a brilliant start to draw alongside Hamilton on the long run to turn one. The Dutch driver got a nose ahead as they turned in and he powered into the lead as they swept through the following corners.

In taking the lead, Max forced Hamilton wide and as he recovered the Mercedes man held up teammate Valtteri Bottas, which allowed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to sneak past and steal third.

Still leading the field, Max made his first pit stop at the end of lap 24, but in unlikely fashion the halt was a slow one as a problem with the rear left kept the Dutchman in the box for 4.2 seconds. He re-joined in third, but began to claw back time on Hamilton, who now led.

Through The Lens: Spanish GP 2021

Sending It Into Turn One

Podium 46 For The Dutchman

Dou-Bull Trouble

Bringing In The Bull For New Rubber

Sergio's Stint On Softs

Checking In On Checo

Picking Up Points For The Battle

P5 For Sergio In Spain

Congratulations On Pole 100 Lewis

Ready To Put The Pedal To The Metal

Max Qualifies P2 For The Spanish GP

The Brit was then brough into the pit on lap 28 and with a good use of the undercut for Max, Car 33 was now leading by six seconds.

Max was managing the gap to Hamilton, although the time difference between the two was a nervy, tight single second. But then, at the end of lap 41 Hamilton arrowed into the pit lane and took on a fresh set of medium tyres. The Mercedes driver emerged P3 behind Bottas and 23 seconds behind Max, who stayed out on track to keep track position and hope his tyres would hold enough pace to keep Hamilton at bay.

With 15 laps to go Hamilton had halved the gap to Max, who was still leading Bottas by nine seconds and Hamilton by 11. However, a handful of laps later the gap was down to 3.0s and Max was struggling with his tyres. On lap 60 Hamilton had closed to within DRS of the RB16B and on the pit straight powered past the helpless Dutchman into turn one.

With the win now beyond Max, the Team pitted the Dutchman at the end of lap 60 for a new set of soft tyres and on lap 62 he set a lap of 1:18.149, claiming the bonus point for fastest lap.

Checo who began in P8, had a solid race and managed to steal three places – scalping Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon – to finish in fifth.

Second In Spain For Max

RoundFive–MonacoGrandPrix

Circuit: Circuit de Monaco

Max: P1

Checo: P4

Qualifying was breath-takingly exciting in Monaco, with Max outpacing both Mercedes, however due to a blistering lap set by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc couldn’t quite move to the top of the Q3 timesheets.

With time in the session on the Dutchman’s side he had time to beat Leclerc’s pole lap. So, with his last attempt he began by laying down a purple first sector. Although as Max was on course for a faster time, Leclerc crashed into the barriers by the swimming pool and the session was red flagged. Max had to settle for P2 with Checo however was starting down in P9.

As the pit lane opened Ferrari had given Leclerc’s gearbox a clean bill of health. However, on his laps to the grid the Monagasque’s left-hand driveshaft suffered an issue and with 30 minutes before the race was due to start, it was announced that Leclerc would not start the race. This meant an empty grid spot in P1.

Through The Lens: Monaco GP 2021

Leading The Charge

Sparking The Streets

Dou-Bull Trouble At The Hairpin

Bull Straight Out The Blocks

Straight Up Those Streets

Making Memories In Monaco

Checo Shines In Monaco

Taking The Bull Through The Tunnel

Harbour Side Bulls

Admiring The Monaco Master

Charging On To Celebrate

Max, starting in P2, got a great start to take the lead and managed to hold off Bottas, who started in P3.

As Max built a small but solid gap of 1.5s over Bottas across the first 15 laps, Checo began to reel in Vettel, setting a sequence of fastest laps in the opening phase to close to a little over a second behind the Aston Martin.

Max was pulling away from Bottas and by lap 27 was almost five seconds clear of the Mercedes driver who was visibly struggling on his starting softs and falling back.

As always with Monaco, it was the pit stops that were to become crucial. Hamilton pulled the trigger first at the end of lap 29, pitting for hard tyres. Bottas pitted at the end of the next lap, but his pit crew could not remove the front right wheel and with the wheel nut resolutely stuck, he was forced to retire from the race.

Crossing The Line To Claim A Maiden Monaco Win

Max then made his first and only stop. And after taking on a set of hard tyres, the Dutchman re-joined in second place just behind Checo who had jumped up the order as the field pitted around him.

One of those to pit ahead of the Mexican was Sebastian Vettel and a good stop for the Aston Martin driver saw him jump both Hamilton and Gasly. That was the cue for the Team to then pit Checo and after a couple of superb in-laps – the first being the fastest of the race to that point – the Red Bull driver was able to make a 2.8s stop and still re-join ahead of Vettel, in a superb fourth.

From there, for Max, the race became one of precise management and over the second half of the race the Dutch driver was ticking off the laps with perfect precision and after 78 laps took the win by nine seconds from Carlos Sainz in P2.

In the final third of the race, Checo showed exceptional pace to turn a nine-second gap to Norris into a one-second deficit in the closing stages. However, Monaco’s unforgiving streets offered no opportunity to make an overtaking move and Sergio had to settle for fourth behind the Briton at the flag.

So, with five races down and 18 more to go, Max is sitting top of the Drivers’ Championship four points above Hamilton, with Checo in P5 Also, the Team is top of the Constructors’ Championship, just one point ahead of Mercedes.

As we head to the next race in Baku, Max is the only driver to finish on the podium in every race this season, and only one car has done that as well – the RB16B.