A Grand Slam to the Max
Max Verstappen’s 1st Grand Slam in Formula One
Max Verstappen is undeniably a force to be reckoned with, making his mark since his first races in F1. But it wasn't until 2021 that he has the machinery to show how good he really is, competing head-to-head with a seven times World Champion.
His Red Bull RB16B chassis is Adrian Newey's latest car, but first, What is a Grand Slam and why is it so difficult to accomplish? A Grand Slam, or Grand Chelem, is a very special achievement where a driver obtains pole position, does the fastest lap of the race, and wins it while leading every lap. Only 25 drivers to date have achieved such a feat. Jim Clark holds the record with eight Grand Slams in his career. Here's the complete table with those who have done it in Formula One since the first race in 1950.
The 2021 Austrian Grand Prix was the first race since the COVID-19 pandemic started that had fans back at a Grand Prix. It's also Red Bull's home race in Austria, and it was filled with people dressed in orange. Norris jokingly said they were supporting F1's Orange team, McLaren, but they were really cheering their Dutch hero, Max Verstappen.
On July 3, 2021, Max Verstappen claimed pole position by a very slim margin of only 0.048 seconds from McLaren's Lando Norris.
““Q1 and Q2 were smooth but in Q3 on the first lap, I locked up in Turn 3. It wasn’t amazing. On the second run I was the first car and I lost time on the straights so couldn’t improve lap time even with a more normal turn 3. It was good enough for first but I wanted more.””
During the race, Max started like a missile, never looking back nor being challenged by anyone behind. He even had enough time to take an extra pit stop with 10 laps to go to ensure an extra point for fastest lap.
““Incredible to be honest. The car was on rails. I mean on every tire set we put on, it was really enjoyable to drive, and yes, pretty insane. I’m a bit amazed myself how today went; I didn’t expect it to be like this.””
Get your Max Verstappen & Red Bull gear from the F1 Store with a 20% OFF discount using code “F120” at checkout.
