After a good start to the championship and a shock that lasted longer than desired, Ferrari began to recover last Sunday at Silverstone, the scene of Carlos Sainz’s maiden Formula 1 victory. A week later it is confirmed that there is no human way to calm down in the garage of the Maranello-based brand, which this time at the Red Bull Ring had a golden opportunity to scare the energetic team. the thing was poised to end the worst of dramas. Three quarters of the way through the Austrian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc and Sainz had the Scuderia’s second one-two practically in their pockets when the Madrid-born car’s engine exploded. It’s never a good time for an engine failure, but things are even crueller when misfortune prevents you from getting onto a podium that seemed like a no-brainer.
Ferrari’s dominance at Spielberg was undeniable, certainly reinforced by the progressive deterioration of the tarmac following last night’s downpour. This conditioned the performance of the red buffalo single seater and revitalized that of Il Cavallino Rampante, who at all times played with the wind in his favor and with the advantage this brought at a strategic level. Despite starting from pole, the power that always accompanies Verstappen couldn’t prevent Leclerc from overtaking him twice on track (laps 12 and 33), the Dutchman was absolutely disoriented, as evidenced by the inconsistency of his car than the grip came and went. The destruction of the connections forced Mad Max to stop twice, while Ferrari could have made only one due to different conditions, although it ended up being three.
With Leclerc’s lead secured, Ferrari rubbed their hands at the speed of Sainz, who once passed Verstappen by 15 laps to the checkered flag. Just as the Madrid native was about to tear off the stickers of the reigning champion to certify the red cars’ second double, the engine of his prototype caught fire. The boy was lucky enough to be able to get out of a very compromising situation unscathed, which caused a huge hubbub among the commissioners, who took longer than necessary to control the scene. That demise, Sainz’s fourth so far this year, poses a very complicated scenario for his ambitions to challenge for the World Championship as his teammate’s win allows him to close the gap on the leaders. “He had quite a lot of rhythm, but then what happened happened. It’s a shame, I can’t say more about that, because we lost a lot of points and another missed chance, especially after the start of the series,” said Sainz, logically dejected.
This is the third win of the season for Leclerc, who ran cold in the closing stages of testing due to a problem with his F1-75’s accelerator pedal – when he lifted his foot the pedal would not return to its initial position, a circumstance that hampered him prevented him from shifting gears well and causing him to go long while braking. “I was really scared!” the winner shouted over the radio at the end. The Monegasque has not won since April (Australia) and is back in second place, 38 points behind the leader. Of the five on his log book, this is the first he has not confirmed after starting from the best grid position – he started second. Verstappen finished second, saving the furniture brilliantly, while Lewis Hamilton clawed another podium, the third in a row for the Brit, whose Mercedes is reassembling as the calendar progresses, waiting to know how far he will go. Fernando Alonso, who started last, was able to cross the finish line in tenth place thanks to a counter-strategy
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