by VALERIO BARRETTA
F1 Netherlands, the report cards of the promoted
1. Ferrari. Given how things were going between Friday and Saturday, it is an incomprehensible result. Perhaps only Vasseur believed it, who by nature is optimistic when everything is bleak and critical when you get too many compliments: a mood balancer. Leclerc certainly believed it less, not to mention Sainz who had the Fantozzi cloud hanging over his head all weekend. And instead a third and fifth place came about thanks to courage (with strategies in Leclerc’s case, with overtaking like the one on Gasly in Sainz’s case) and a pace that on this Ferrari comes and goes when it wants. Also the result of experience, with Leclerc sending Piastri to school despite the fact that there was a one-second pace and nine laps of tires between the two cars. Monegasque by far the best driver of the weekend (after Sargeant, it goes without saying), but Sainz’s performance was also exhilarating, “First time lucky” considering how he only saw his race pace…in the race. Now, for Monza, it will be difficult to keep the fans’ enthusiasm at bay. And so it could be easy to disappoint them. But if it were to work differently, it wouldn’t be Ferrari.
2. The Apprentice and the Master. Specifically, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. Sorry, Versta zen (sorry, it’s the heat). If Schumaxer’s box is still intact after swallowing 23″ at his home, it could mean two things: Either Red Bull has a ready answer, or Verstappen has resigned himself to hearing this music until Abu Dhabi.and then it has to resist by dint of placings. Yesterday seemed like a 2020 race, with Max brought back to the humans trying to scare Godzilla with a Dr. Scholl. Godzilla is obviously McLaren: a team that, let’s remember, was last or almost at the beginning of 2023, but with Stella it did not make any mistakes, thanks to a simulator-track correlation of a different level compared to the competition. Lando was much better on Saturday than Sunday: after a lunar pole, evaporates again at the start. He’s emotional, there’s not much to do. Nothing insurmountable, for goodness sake, experience and victories are needed: driving the best car can slowly help him, giving him confidence. And even if I think it’s late for the 2024 title, it will still be useful for 2025.
3. The Great Briatore Effect. There is clearer proof of the existence of the GEB? What, Gasly’s top-10? No, Doohan’s promotion!
F1 Netherlands, the report cards of the failed
3. Oscar Plates. Icekid, what a disappointment. He takes half a second from Norris in qualifying and drops off the podium in the race, losing a ton of time against Russell and Leclerc. A weekend like Perez without being Perez.
2. Mercedes. A weekend off for Wolff & company too. Zandvoort should have been a favorable track (they said so themselves), they come away with questions they hoped to have already answered. Hamilton is convinced that the pace was there, Russell said the opposite, in short for Monza they need to clear their minds. Also on a strategic level: but what sense did it make to give up sixth place to Perez, stopping Russell at the end to put him on used softs?
1. Williams. Hours of wind tunnel and millions of euros invested to present an irregular package of updates. Qualifying better (or rather, qualifying) the story could have been different, because Albon suffered from traffic but had a bit of pace, while someone (it must have been the helmet) even mistook Sargeant for an F1 driver. Yes, Sargeant chapter: we know he is not Schumacher (choose which one) and nobody ever asked him to be, but he is substantially the same driver as at the beginning of 2023. It should also be said that in this column the from the depths it benefits the recipients (even if Perez was saved after Spa I wouldn’t be surprised to see Loganone setting the central stand alight), I wonder what the point is of keeping him on the track if: 1- he’s Sargeant; 2- you’re separating at the end of the season; 3- you don’t even want to see him in a photograph at the first mistake after the break. If you didn’t believe in it anymore, wouldn’t it have been better to separate in July? Even more so if you brought updates? Issues that have nothing to do with merit. After all, “Formula 1 is not just a sport but an entertainment platform“. So let’s have some fun.
#Report #Cards #Netherlands #podium
