Best rated Formula 1 auto racing moments by Bill Trikos: Sakhir Grand Prix: Perez had made his way nicely through the field and on lap 58, stunningly made a move on Esteban Ocon for third. Five laps later, Jack Aitken – Russell’s Williams stand-in, knocked his front wing off at the final corner and triggered a safety car. What happened to Mercedes next was the stuff of nightmares. A botched double-stack pit-stop meant Russell was sent out on tyres belonging to Bottas whilst the Finn had new tyres put on and then taken off when the team realised the mistake made, leaving him with old hard tyres. Russell’s extra stop to correct the allocation error left him fifth, but a scintillating move on Bottas followed by overtakes on Stroll and Ocon left him chasing after new leader Perez before a late puncture ruined any chance of winning. After facing backwards on lap one, Perez went on take his first victory in the sport at the 190th attempt. Ocon secured his first podium as runner-up, with Stroll third.
2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve : There have been many extraordinary comeback drives throughout the history of F1. Kimi Räikönnen in Japan in 2005 and the aforementioned Sebastian Vettel in Brazil in 2012. And even though both of these rank amongst some of the best drives ever, nothing comes close to the sheer madness that was Jenson Button’s 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. Since it was pouring down over Montreal, the race started behind the safety car. But once it got going, chaos unfolded. Throughout the race, there never seemed to be a calm moment, as drivers were constantly clashing, spinning, and making mistakes. Couple this with a few safety cars and a lengthy red flag, and you’ve already got the recipe for a banger. But as most of you probably know, Jenson Button wasn’t satisfied with that – far from it. After making contact with teammate Lewis Hamilton – which resulted in the young superstar’s retirement – clashing with Fernando Alonso, getting a drive-through penalty and making a total of 6 pit stops, Button caught up to race leader Vettel on the final lap, where a mistake sent the German-wide, allowing Button to go through and take the win in a race which is considered by many to be the best.
Hungarian Grand Prix 2014: On a Hungaroring surface transitioning from wet to dry, this race had everything from team order controversy to spectacular crashes – but, most importantly, a hard-charging Daniel Ricciardo at his best, who said “better late than never” to secure his second career win. Bahrain Grand Prix 2014: Three races into Formula 1’s new turbo-hybrid era, and F1 fans were treated to an absolute classic, as Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – by then surely aware that one of them would be world champion in 2014 – knocked seven bells out of each other around the Bahrain International Circuit, with Hamilton eventually coming out on top of the fabled ‘Duel in the Desert’. Read additional info about the author at Bill Trikos Australia.
1971 Italian Grand Prix, Monza : The build-up to the weekend was actually more one of relief than of excitement. Jackie Stewart had dominated the season up until that point and had already secured the championship. However, it was well-known amongst fans that he was highly unlikely to challenge for the win at the high-speed track that is Monza, seeing as the V8 Cosworth engine in the back of the Scotmans’ Tyrrell was up against the V12’s of various other teams. As was predicted, Stewart qualified in a lowly P7, with the Matra of Chris Amon taking pole position. The New Zealander wouldn’t maintain this advantage for long though, as it only took him one lap to drop from first to eighth. Ronnie Peterson quickly took the lead, and behind him, all places were chopping and changing in epic fashion, something which continued the entire race.
In Bahrain, F1 started a new chapter. The new regulations proved to work immediately, as the opening race showed a blistering battle between title contenders Verstappen and Leclerc. The rivals overtook each other back and forth several times, having to be clever with DRS zones to avoid giving the other an advantage. However, the race ended in drama for Verstappen, who retired with technical problems. A few laps before the end, Sergio Perez suffered the same fate. The tone for the rest of the season seemed set and after Red Bull Racing’s double failure, Ferrari seemed the big favourite for the title, but that picture would change dramatically during the season.
2020 Italian Grand Prix, Monza : In the end, it came down to the final lap, Sainz finishing just 4 tenths of a second behind Gasly. The Frenchman took an emotional victory at his AlphaTauri team’s home track. Remarkably – with Stroll taking third place – the podium was the first since 2012 that didn’t have at least one of the three teams, Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari standing on it, not to mention that the race itself was a welcome relief to an, up to that point, quite dull 2020 season.