ec2c07cd3b30712dfed508b1e9aad6c663d74734

Five drivers in Monaco's top six have or had contracts with Red Bull

18:25, 26 May 2021

byGPblog.com

The top six at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend looked very interesting. The highlight was of course the victory for Max Verstappen, who dominated the race from the start. With Charles Leclerc dropping out, it was once again quite 'easy' for the Dutchman. After the 78 laps, the podium looked very varied thanks to Bottas' retirement: Verstappen, Sainz and Norris.

A striking fact

The Monaco Grand Prix had a very diverse top six of drivers. It consisted of drivers from no less than five different teams. Charles Leclerc's inability to start obviously influenced this, as did the loss of Valtteri Bottas, who had a wheel nut that would not come loose. He was forced to retire during a pit stop.

Lewis Hamilton finished in seventh place, which is unusual for a Mercedes driver who is always up front. The top six consisted of the three drivers mentioned in the introduction, followed by Perez at fourth, Vettel fifth and Gasly sixth. This brings us to a striking fact: five of the six drivers have or had a contract with Red Bull.

Three Red Bull Drivers

Three of the six drivers are still under contract and those are of course Verstappen, Perez and Gasly. Sebastian Vettel is an old hand, having won his four titles with Red Bull Racing and Carlos Sainz made his debut with Verstappen at Toro Rosso. The only exception in the top six is Lando Norris, who has been with McLaren since day one.

An interesting statistic, because it indirectly shows that the Red Bull Driver Academy is something special. It has produced many talented drivers, and while not all of them are under the Red Bull umbrella anymore, most of them have their roots there. The one exception, of course, is Sergio Perez.

Red Bull outplayed Mercedes on strategy in Monaco: 'They did that on purpose'

Bottas throws away his glove in frustration

Read more about:

3 Comments

Fez Nene 27 May 2021 at 14:36+ 17880

Could this be showing you don't really know what you're doing... chewing n spitting your drivers....

Mech Engineer 27 May 2021 at 01:03+ 55267

They took Perez because he was doing so well at RP last year and they thought he would be a lot faster than Albon.
So far this year, shows he still qualifies half a second slower than Max at most tracks and still doesn't give RB the strategic pit stop advantage they can have with Mercedes, as he is still starting a few grid positions behind Max.
RB should perhaps have confidence in their junior programme and stick to their tried and proven formula who has so far resulted in many good F1 drivers being on the grid.

DoubleBridges 27 May 2021 at 04:00+ 345

I don't know. They just went through promoting 2 guys too early, I can see not wanting to repeat the mistake for third time. Gasly obviously wasn't ready yet, and even though hes shown growth and ability to handle himself now, it seems like he's not a good fit operationally in the teams eyes and will have to go elsewhere (my gut says he replaces Ocon). I really liked Albon's style, but he wasn't ready either. Now his whole F1 career is in limbo. I'm a RB fan, but I don't blindly think every decision they make is the correct one. This time I think they got it right with the available options though. They obviously weren't going to bring up Gasly or Kvyat, so would they bring in someone straight from F2? Checo has never been strong on Sat, but always reliable on Sun. I would rather have to tea h a guy the car and how to throw down a quali lap than those two things and everything else to boot.