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Red Bull has been chasing a championship victory for the past eight years. Their last run with Sebastian Vettel's glorious four consecutive championship wins came to an end after the 2013 season. This year, the Austrian team lost the constructors' championship to Mercedes by 28 points. Max Verstappen, however, took the team right to the top with his first world drivers' championship victory at the end of an exhilarating final race in Abu Dhabi.
Sergio Perez. or 'Checo', as he is fondly known, joined the team at the start of the 2021 season. While his drives may have been inconsistent in terms of points, he played the role of the perfect wingman to his teammate. He ended the season at P4 in the drivers' standings and the team finished at P2 in the constructors'.
Stats and information
- Team: Red Bull Racing
- Team Principal: Christian Horner
- Points: 585.5
- Wins: 11
- Laps Led: 698
- Podiums: 23
- Pole Positions: 10
What went right for Red Bull in F1 2021 season?
The season started on a high note for Red Bull. Max Verstappen dominated all three pre-testing days and appeared to have one of the fastest cars on the grid for 2021. Having won his maiden podium in Bahrain last year, Sergio Perez came to the Sakhir Grand Prix for the first time with Red Bull with complete motivation. The Mexican ended the race at P5 with Verstappen at P2 behind Lewis Hamilton. While this wasn't the greatest team result of the season, the team started the season in a relatively positive way, considering that Checo started the race from the pit lane and made it to a reasonably strong P5 finish.
The next race at Imola was disappointing for Perez, who finished outside the points in P11. Verstappen, however, took his maiden race win of the season and equaled Lewis Hamilton in points. In doing so, he proved to be a real title contender for the 2021 season. This race was also deemed to be one of Verstappen's most impressive this year.
Red Bull had an extremely strong weekend in Monaco. Verstappen took his second win of the season and Perez narrowly missed out on the podium with a solid P4 finish. This also happened to be the race where the Dutchman took the lead of the drivers' standings for the first time in his F1 career.
The very next race in Azerbaijan saw Sergio Perez take his maiden race victory for Red Bull and the very second of his F1 career.
Red Bull's aggressive under-cut strategy was executed perfectly at the French Grand Prix, where the team had a double podium finish with Perez at P3 and Verstappen taking the race win.
The Dutch Grand Prix, as well as the Mexican Grand Prix, home races for Verstappen and Perez respectively, went extremely well for the Red Bull drivers. With total support of the "orange army", Verstappen took a glorious victory in the Netherlands. Additionally, the team scored a sensational double podium in Mexico. This marked Checo's first podium in his home country and also made him the first Mexican to take an F1 podium at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez circuit. Meanwhile, his team-mate Max Verstappen took his second-last race win of the season.
At the Turkish Grand Prix, Sergio Perez proved that Red Bull made the right decision to take him in. Having qualified at P7, not only did the Mexican make up 5 positions but also fought hard to retain his position in an intense battle with Lewis Hamilton. Both Red Bull drivers finished on the podium with P2 and P3 behind Valtteri Bottas.
The United States Grand Prix saw a stellar drive by Max Verstappen. The Dutchman started the race from pole position and eventually went on to win the race. Although he struggled on older tires to keep his title rival behind, his win extended his lead from Hamilton by 12 points.
Despite starting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position, Max Verstappen lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton on the very first lap of the title-deciding race. Although the Briton comfortably dominated the race, things took a turn when Nicolas Latifi's crash brought out the safety car. Thsi resulted in Verstappen being able to take back the lead. He cross the checkered flag to win his first F1 championship and bring Red Bull the 5th victory that they had been yearning for.
The two Red Bull drivers demonstrated impeccable team spirit in the qualifying session in Abu Dhabi. Checo gave his team-mate a slipstream, allowing Verstappen to set the fastest qualifying time.
What went wrong for Red Bull in F1 2021 season?
After struggling to find the right team-mate for Max Verstappen post Daniel Ricciardo's departure from the team in 2018, Red Bull took on Sergio Perez. The 31-year-old took a while to settle into his new team as seen in the earlier part of the season. This resulted in some disappointing performances where Red Bull lost significant points, and eventually, their shot at winning the constructors' championship. Additionally, some devastating moments of poor fortune endured by both drivers made the fight for the title difficult for the team.
At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Max Verstappen led the majority of the race. With only five laps to go, however, Verstappen was on the receiving end of very bad luck. A high-speed rear tire failure sent the Dutchman into the barriers, forcing him to retire from the race. Although Checo's win was a consolation, the team essentially lost out on a solid 18 points at Baku.
At the British Grand Prix, Max Verstappen was knocked out in a first-lap battle with Lewis Hamilton. The Briton went on to win his home race despite a 10-second penalty for causing the collision. Sergio Perez finished the race at P16 with zero points for the team overall.
Checo had a spin in the sprint qualifying and retired on Saturday. After starting from the pit lane, he made it to P8 on Sunday. He tried to minimize the earlier damage by setting the fastest lap time and taking a point away from Hamilton but ended up losing the point because he finished the race outside the top 10.
The Hungarian Grand Prix was another disastrous weekend for Red Bull. Verstappen finished in P9, while Perez was forced to retire when he was collected by the chaos on turn one caused by the rain. As Bottas locked up, he took out five drivers and made contact with the Dutchman. The Red Bull Driver could eventually only make it up to P9. Overall, Red Bull took home merely 2 points for the whole team over the weekend.
The 2021 Italian Grand Prix proved to be one of the most dramatic races of the season. In a high-profile crash, Verstappen's Red Bull landed on top of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, knocking both drivers out of the race. The 24-year-old was also given 3 place grid penalty for the next race in Russia.
Sergio Perez had a miserable qualifying session at the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix. He failed to make it to Q1, however, he finished the race very close to the podium at P4 whilst Verstappen took P2 behind Hamilton.
In the subsequent race in Saudi Arabia, Max Verstappen was on an extraordinary flying lap. He was on the brink of setting the fastest lap in the qualifying session only to hit the wall on the very last turn. Having missed out on pole position, the Dutchman fought hard to take the lead. He was, however, hit with a five-second penalty for gaining an unfair position advantage off the racing surface. Afterwards, he was unable to catch up and finished at P2 while Sergio Perez retired from the race due to contact with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
While Verstappen did go on to win the final race of the season at the Yas Marina Circuit, it was under unusual circumstances where pure luck was on Red Bull's side. Despite starting from pole position, Verstappen lost the lead to Hamilton on the opening lap. Hamilton continued to comfortably dominate the race despite Checo's finest efforts to reduce the gap between his team-mate and rival. It can safely be assumed that it was a lost battle for Verstappen had Latifi's crash not caused a safety car, with 5 laps to go. The Dutchman himself described it as a miracle.
What to expect from Red Bull in 2022 F1 season?
There are two basic goals that every F1 team goes into a season with — winning the constructors' championship, and having a team driver win the world drivers' championship. Red Bull achieved one of the two goals this year with Verstappen taking the championship victory. The team is now expected to focus on helping the Dutchman defend his title and bringing Sergio Perez to a point where he too will be fighting for race victories to win the championship as a team in 2022.
