Pole de Grosjean, Pourchaire in Monaco, Ocon in Hungary… The moments that made the year 2021 (2/3)

Grosjean impresses in Indianapolis – May 14/15

Rookie at 35 for his debut in IndyCar, Romain Grosjean quickly made his mark in Uncle Sam's country. After a 10th place in Barber (Alabama) and a 13th in Saint Petersburg (Florida), the former pilot of F1, absent from the 3rd and 4th rounds contested on the oval of Forth Worth (Texas), signed a pole and a good 2nd position in his third race at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. There, he had the luxury of finishing in front of specialists like Joseph Newgarden.

Leclerc, from smile to tears – May 20/23

In three Grands Prix contested at home in Monaco, Charles Leclerc never finished a single one. This year it was even worse, because he didn't even start it. Author of an incredible pole position that he secured by satelliteing his car in rail, the Monegasque signed the first pole of Ferrari since the one he obtained in Mexico in 2019. But while he feared for the state of his gearbox, it was the transmission shaft of his car that no longer responded on the grid lap . His distress, on the radio, will remain one of the great moments of the year.

Pourchaire, Prince of Monaco – May 21/23

In Monaco, Théo Pourchaire left his mark. ©DPPI/F. Gooden

Is there really a more beautiful arena than Monaco to reveal itself to the general public? In any case, this is the place that Théo chose to shine. A few months after winning the honorary title of vice-champion F3 while he came directly from F4, the Habs had a dream weekend in the Principality. For his first on the streets of Monaco, he claimed a breathtaking pole position with a half-second lead over disgusted competition, before transforming the test on Sunday into the main race. By becoming the youngest pole sitter and winner in the history of the F2, Théo Pourchaire signed his birth certificate.

Castroneves, a roaring fourth at the Indy 500

The Brazilian kissed the Yard of Bricks for the 4th time. ©IndyCar Media

Rejected by the benchmark Penske team in the IndyCar off-season, forty-year-old Helio Castroneves was forced to focus his attention on the Indianapolis 500 with the modest Meyer Shank Racing team. Eleven years after his last success on the Brickyard, the Brazilian led a score without a false note, taking the advantage over Alex Palou with one lap to go. With four victories at Indy, Helio Castroneves is joint record holder with AJ Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser. Fun fact: with an average of 306.886 km/h, the 105th edition has become the fastest in history.

Zero tip for Verstappen et Hamilton in Baku – June 6

The Azerbaijan GP has accustomed us to crazy races. The 2021 edition was no exception to the rule. The day after a qualification marked by four red flags (crashes of Stroll, Giovinazzi, Ricciardo, tsunoda et Sainz), Red Bull leads the way with Verstappen and Pérez firmly in the lead ahead of Hamilton. But 15 laps after the spectacular puncture of Lance stroll, the left rear tire of the Dutch leader also explodes! At the restart, Hamilton missed his braking and let Sergio Pérez sign his first victory with Red Bull. At the cost of a Homeric defense of Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly gets back on the podium (3rd)!

Kevin Estre’s comeback at the 24 Hours of Nürbrugring – June 5/6

The 2021 edition of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring took place in terrible weather conditions with the race interrupted for 14 hours and 30 minutes due to fog. Reduced to 59 laps, the German classic ended with victory for Manthey Racing of Matteo Cairoli, Michael Christenen and Kévin Estre. The Frenchman was the great architect of success with an incredible rise from 11th to first place in less than three laps in the rain. To relive on board camera and consume without moderation.

At Silverstone, Verstappen and Hamilton declare war on each other

It had to go down! After tickling each other numerous times over the first half of the season, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton ended up really getting into trouble at Silverstone and the collision that occurred in the first round of the British GP had colossal consequences. Already because it intervenes in the ultra-fast Copse curve of the Silverstone circuit. Propelled into the wall at very high speed, the Red Bull driver suffered a 1G shock and had to be transported to hospital for additional examinations. Then because his rival Mercedes, although penalized, managed to come back to inflict a 25-0 while Verstappen was coming off 3 victories in a row and had a 32-point lead arriving in the United Kingdom. The Red Bull clan is livid and accuses Hamilton of all evils, while Toto wolff sends emails to race director Michael Masi in the middle of a race interruption to try to defend the Mercedes driver. In short, an earthquake whose aftershocks were felt until the end of the season.

Lucas’s Di(s)Grassi in London – July 24

This is one of the craziest scenes of the season. While the second London ePrix is ​​being contested (July 25), the safety car is deployed after the collision between António Félix da Costa and André Lotterer. Moment chosen by Lucas Di Grassi to attempt an improbable poker move by going through the pit lane to take the lead. A successful bet but deemed prohibited by the race management who sanctioned him with a drive-through, considering that he had not stopped for enough time. The Brazilian refuses to do it and wins the race. His penalty converted into time, he fell to 8th place before finally being excluded. Logic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8NQpLiegqU&ab_channel=F1Highlights

The glory day ofOr with in Hungary – August 1

In Hungary, the Normandy scored his first victory in F1. ©DPPI

We had to wait a little less than a year (329 days to be precise) to see a Frenchman win a Formula 1 Grand Prix again. After Pierre Gasly last season in Italy, Esteban Ocon became the 14th Frenchman to achieve this feat. by winning the Hungarian round. Taking advantage of an impressive pile-up at the first corner, a daring bet on the restart and very efficient work of Fernando Alonso to contain Lewis Hamilton behind him, the Norman, who started in 8th place, resisted for several laps to Sebastian Vettel offering to Alpine his first success in F1.

The Raidillon scare at the 24 Hours of Spa – July 31/August 1

The Raidillon has been talked about again this year. Notably at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday July 31 with a spectacular accident at the top of the famous wall of the Belgian circuit. On the tenth lap of the race, thirty minutes after the start, Kévin Estre (Porsche), Franck Perera (Lamborghini), Jack Aitken (Lamborghini) and Davide Rigon (Ferrari) thus found themselves in a pile-up. The last two cities even remained away from the circuits several weeks after this accident. The race was subsequently won by Ferrari trio Como Ledogar, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessandro Pier Guidi.

The coronation of Toyota No. 7 at Le Mans, WRT between joy and disappointment – ​​August 21/22

The finale of 24 Hours of Le Mans was a strange emotional lift for Team WRT. The Belgian team actually saw its No. 2 LM P41 prototype driven by Yifei Ye (with Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica) stop after the Dunlop chicane on the last lap of the Le Mans classic. In its misfortune, Vincent Vosse's team nevertheless won thanks to the No. 31 car of Charles Milesi, Ferdinand Habsburg and Robin Frijns. In the general classification, the #7 Toyota finally took the checkered flag in first place with Jose Maria Lopez, Kamui Kobayashi et Mike conway to become the first victorious Hypercar in Sarthe.

Belgian Grand Prix, the scam – August 29

In Belgium, the drivers competed in a Grand Prix which never really took place. ©DPPI/A. Vincent

« The most grotesque race in history » we had rightly described this non-GP of Belgium. While some great qualifications in the rain had made our mouths water, notably with a sparkling George Russell (Williams) on the front line, F1 is drowning in ridicule and the wait for a hypothetical weather clearing which would have allowed the event to take place. Whether the Spa-Francorchamps circuit is deemed dangerous because it is impassable, no problem on that. But why make thousands of spectators wait for hours in the downpour and in the cold only to end up sending the drivers to do 2 poor laps behind the Safety Car before interrupting the race? Why award points to this charade, at the risk of distorting the championship, particularly at the back of the grid? To declare that the test took place and thus pocket the fees provided for this purpose? Never ! swore the stakeholders of the sport. How can we dare to make such insinuations? Let's face it, the fans are still waiting for a refund.