An un-British F1
This year Formula 1 spoke very little English. In 22 races, in fact, the British anthem has never been played on the podium: thanks to Red Bull, which is based in Milton Keynes but races under the Austrian flag, and to Max Verstappen, authentic dominator of the championship. For the rest, considering only the grand prix, in addition to the anthems of Holland and Austria there was space for those of Mexico (thanks to the two victories won by Sergio Perez), Spain and Italy, the latter thanks to the magic of Carlos Sainz in Singapore. No trace, however, of Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Lando Norris, and of course McLaren, Aston Martin and Williams, the six protagonists between drivers and teams who could have made the God Save the King on the track.
A very rare case
This is an event that has very few precedents, considering that Great Britain is a country that has given so much to motorsport, both in terms of talent on the track and engineering. In the last 70 years, for example, it had never happened. In this period of time it has happened several times that British drivers did not win in a season (1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1988, 2004, 2005), but the various McLarens, Lotus, Brabham, Tyrrell and Williams have always put a piece.
This time not even the three British teams managed to make up for it, as the only victory other than that of Red Bull was obtained by Sainz’s Ferrari. And Oscar Piastri’s first place on Saturday in Qatar is of no use: since it is a Sprint, McLaren’s success does not enter into the statistics.
The only occasions in which the Union Jack did not appear and the British anthem did not ring on the podium date back to the first three seasons of Formula 1: 1950, 1951 and 1952. In these pioneering years there was room for Italy (Giuseppe Farina, Alberto Ascari, Luigi Fagioli, Piero Taruffi , Ferrari, Alfa Romeo) Argentina (Juan Manuel Fangio, José Froilan Gonzalez) and – thanks to the presence of the Indianapolis 500 – the United States (Johnnie Parsons, Lee Wallard, Troy Ruttman, Kurtis Fraft and Kuzma). Ironically, in 74 seasons of F1 it has only been played once God Save the King: it happened last year in Interlagos, when George Russell achieved the last victory for an English driver in Formula 1. On all other occasions, starting from Mike Hawthorn’s “first” a month after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II , has always resonated God Save the Queen.
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