In the round-up: Charles Leclerc says he has already cleared the air with Sergio Perez after venting his frustration at the Red Bull driver during the Austrian Grand Prix.
In brief
Leclerc and Perez clear the air
Leclerc and Perez clashes twice during yesterday’s race, the Ferrari driver fuming at his rival on the radio. But speaking after the race he said the pair cleared the air soon afterwards.“We’ve spoken now,” said Leclerc. “The air is clear. There’s no bad feelings after this.
“Obviously in the car it’s very frustrating because twice I saw an opportunity, there was not many opportunities, but I went for it and it didn’t work because I had no space in exit. It’s part of the game, though.”
Raikkonen puzzled by Vettel crash
After receiving a 20-second time penalty for a collision with Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen was at a loss to explain the last-lap crash between the pair.
The Alfa Romeo driver admitted he could see his rival when they made contact at the exit of turn four. “I saw him there,” said Raikkonen. “I don’t know how we end up, I don’t know if I moved or he moved, I’ll have to see it [again].”
“Obviously our wheels touched and off we went,” he added. “An unfortunate end but it didn’t really change much, we were out of the points.”
Mazepin didn’t enjoy Red Bull Ring repeat
After finishing last and collecting a 30-second time penalty for a yellow flag infringement, Nikita Mazepin admitted he did not enjoy running two consecutive race weekends at the same track.
“I think I would have preferred to go somewhere else in the beginning of the weekend,” he said. “Preferably somewhere where I’ve never been so I could learn, at least, a new track. I guess the positives out of this is I’ve done shitloads of laps and burned some calories.”
Arthur Leclerc cleared after hospital check
The younger Leclerc sibling was taken to hospital following his alarming turn four crash with Clement Novalak in yesterday morning’s F3 race at the Red Bull Ring. The FIA said examination of the Prema driver “revealed no ongoing issues and he was discharged”.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Drivers and team’s quotes after the race (AlphaTauri)
"Pierre showed good pace today, especially in the last stint. He was able to catch the one stoppers and finish the race just behind them, without the yellow flag in turn four on the final lap Pierre would have also tried to overtake Leclerc."
Fernando takes home one point after measured drive in Austria (Alpine)
"We executed the one-stop strategy really well with a perfectly timed pit-stop and two good stints from Fernando. His pace was strong and it’s frustrating not to be able to capitalise on that today due to the outcome of yesterday’s qualifying."
IndyCar round 10: Indy 200, Mid-Ohio (IndyCar via YouTube)
USF2000 round 12: Mid-Ohio (USF2000 via YouTube)
USF2000 round 13: Mid-Ohio (USF2000 via YouTube)
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link relating to single-seater motorsport to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in via the contact form.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Comment of the day
A wide range of different views on the incidents involved Lando Norris and Sergio Perez yesterday were expressed:
I don’t think the Norris one was worthy of a penalty. There are subtleties of difference between the two similar incidents that make them different contextually.
Perez is already running in too deep on exit trying to go around the outside, I’m not convinced he was actually staying on track even if Norris didn’t squeeze him that hard, there was just enough room on the kerb and if Perez had lifted sooner, he’d have stayed on. He stayed in it trying to wall of death it around the outside and was probably off regardless, running out of grip.
For me that was hard racing. Norris probably ends up with the penalty purely because Perez lost so many places with the off.
The Perez penalty at the same corner was fair however, Leclerc was making the corner, in the corner and Perez squeezed him via a wheel bang onto the gravel.
Mark (@Mrcento)
Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
After seeing that onboard no WAY was that a penalty for @LandoNorris do you not want them to bother racing? 🙄 #f1
— Nick Yelloly (@NickYelloly) July 4, 2021
Shame. No written press conference from Hamilton this evening.
— Ben Hunt (@benjhunt) July 4, 2021
Side Note: My guys were fastest on pit lane today! Hell of a crew on car 3 I’ve got! Let’s go boys proud of ya! pic.twitter.com/8N3nANa5Ji
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) July 4, 2021
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Ben73!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
On this day in motorsport
- 40 years ago today Alain Prost won his first grand prix. It was a thoroughly French affair: Prost triumphed for Renault at Dijon on Michelin tyres. The race was run in two parts due to rain.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
5th July 2021, 1:06
CotdI agree that Perez was not as close as lec was but in the end there was not enough space, if you are going to penalise one you must penalise the other. IMO no penalty.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
5th July 2021, 1:46
It was a stupid cotd. But at least Mark (@Mrcento) was consistent. Perez on the wrong side are constant.
Casanova (@casanova)
5th July 2021, 12:43
Bit unnecessary. Just say you don’t agree with the comment, no need for name-calling.
Nuv
5th July 2021, 2:07
Why do they resort to the name calling?
WhoMe?
5th July 2021, 2:47
Checo was in for a change this weekend. Very good on a Saturday and Maldonadoesque on Sunday.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
5th July 2021, 4:57
Before the weekend
During the weekend
After the weekend
It is rather sad that this guy is racing in F1…
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
5th July 2021, 8:03
Agreed. The rare opportunity for a 2nd race at the same venue is a perfect opportunity to show that you are learning, improving and can put in a stronger performance, even with a bad car.
Clearly he’s not keen on exposing the fact that he isn’t improving. A new track to learn gives him an excuse.
S
5th July 2021, 12:25
Because he answered questions in the media?
Let me guess – you’ve never gone into something with optimism or confidence, had a bad day and changed your feeling about it when questioned immediately afterwards?
It’s rather sad that people focus so much of their time and effort on him.
Dave
5th July 2021, 18:43
Money matters now. Unless…the tally is 3 numbers higher than his number.
Kribana (@krichelle)
5th July 2021, 5:05
COTD: To me Norris’ move did not look deliberate to push him off track, while Perez on Leclerc, based on the body languages of the car and steering wheels, definitely looked on purpose to force Leclerc onto the gravel. But one thing about Leclerc, he has tried moves at unusual spots ever since he moved to Ferrari. I was really shocked to see how good the Ferrari was at turn 4 and turn 6 yesterday. He outbraked a Red Bull….
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
5th July 2021, 8:08
Indeed. Leclerc gets some stick for being messy at times (last week), but when he’s on it (this week), he is outdriving the car. Had he made it past Perez at the first attempt, there is no reason to think that he couldn’t have stayed ahead and taken 5th. Instead, he used up his tyres behind Perez and ended up dropping back.
At least Sainz was able to steal 5th thanks to Perez’s time penalties. It would have been a pointless penalty if Perez had managed to get a +10s gap.
Jere (@jerejj)
5th July 2021, 9:01
@eurobrun And Perez was very close at nullifying the combined penalty impact until Sainz got the gap back below 10 seconds through his tyre advantage.
Ldom (@ldom)
5th July 2021, 8:04
I was at that race, 40 years ago in Dijon, was a teenager, Prost first win. Only F1 race I attended live.
We passed below the barriers and watched the race from behind the rails on the inside at the end of the straight line. No one kicked us out. Imagine doing this now.
Balue (@balue)
5th July 2021, 11:07
nice 👍
Jere (@jerejj)
5th July 2021, 9:03
At least some positives for Mazepin, if nothing else, LOL.
Partly excuses, but also understandable.
The only penalty which I disagree with is for the latter Perez/Leclerc incident.
Srdjan Mandic (@srga91)
5th July 2021, 10:02
Just shows that these team radios, after two drivers make contact, are just for entertainment purposes and nothing else. The media just want to sell us a great story, regardless of the real facts. Just like the last two years, when they wanted us to believe that Seb and Charles hate each other.
As Seb said a couple of years ago: In the heat of the moment you may say some words you don’t really mean. The frustration just gets the better of you and you can’t think rationally.
I wonder what might have happened if RB told Perez about Norris’ penalty. Would he have done the same? I believe he wouldn’t have.
Dave
5th July 2021, 11:03
Re Perez/Leclerc: Eight years ago, no air was cleared.
Re Raikkonen: First time that two former teammates collided since Singapore 2019.
Re Mazepin: I liked it though. Opinions differ.
Re Alonso: He won league titles, made turnarounds, won by big margins and even sent teams to the Championship.