A tactical masterpiece. An epic feat that promotes Carlos Sainz among the greats of this F1: the Spaniard interrupted Red Bull’s sequence of victories by giving Ferrari the 243rd victory of the Cavallino in a perfect, historic race. It is precisely the case to use this term, because this success brings to mind Gilles Villeneuve’s success in the 1981 Spanish GP with the 126 CK. The Madrilenian showed the composure of a champion: in the first part of the race he deliberately slowed down to keep the group compact and protect himself from any undercuts while preserving his tyres.
Sainz scores his second victory after that at Silverstone last year at the conclusion of a perfect weekend, corroborated by the pole position. Carlos had extraordinary clarity in the final laps, when George Russell, making a comeback with the fresher medium tires (18 laps against 42 on Sainz’s hards) was in the slipstream of Lando Norris’s McLaren. The Ferrari driver, who had declared that he had now seen the finished front tyres, decided to slow down to offer the DRS to Lando Norris and distance him from the W14. A courageous move that paid off because Russell not only failed to attempt the attack on the McLaren but also ended up in the nose barriers on the last lap, after touching a guard.
It was not a team choice, but a deliberate will of the driver which reveals an ability to read the race as well as knowing how to make the most of the SF-23. Ferrari, we wrote yesterday, has transformed from an ugly duckling to a swan.
The Scuderia rises again on the day of Red Bull’s great crisis: Max Verstappen takes home a fifth place which repays the Dutchman’s commitment beyond the value of the RB19 seen today. Also on the podium next to Sainz was the team principal, Frec Vasseur who, after so much controversy, savored the taste of what it means to win with Ferrari. The SF-23 suffered a bit from tire wear at the end, but Sainz’s head was enough to bring home a victory that will end up among the legendary ones for the Cavallino. Carlos must thank Charles Leclerc: the Monegasque made himself available to the team as if he were a luxury wingman.
Charles finished fourth because he paid for the double pit stop that was necessary on lap 20 after Logan Sargeant’s crash into the wall with the Williams. Leclerc, who started on the soft tyres, managed to overtake Russell’s black arrow, confirming that the team worked well in developing the red, with two cars that set off like missiles.
Leclerc was sacrificed for the team’s result and Charles fulfilled his task brilliantly: in Maranello they must waste no time in renewing the couple’s contract!
Mercedes tried to mix up the strategy by recalling both W14s during the VSC which was necessary due to Esteban Ocon’s stop with a gearbox problem. The Black Arrows chose to switch to medium tyres, despite dropping to fourth with Russell and fifth with Hamilton. The two cars from Stella had a margin of a couple of seconds per lap, so it was predictable that they would overtake Leclerc, who was in trouble with his tyres, and then attack Norris.
Sainz made McLaren’s chase more complicated by offering DRS to Norris. George not only surrendered to Lando’s attack, but he couldn’t withstand the brawl, shooting into the barriers and giving the podium to Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes tried, but this time it went badly because he found a very solid and mature Ferrari.
Lamdo Norris, with the revised and corrected McLaren that worked from the first metres, seemed like the intruder in the Ferrari-Mercedes challenge and, instead, he was a great protagonist: he smelled the champagne but still hadn’t had the chance to aim for the top step of the podium. He won’t have to wait long because he was perfect too.
Max Verstappen interrupted the record sequence of victories and on Red Bull’s black day he moved the standings with a fifth place, while Sergio Perez was satisfied with an eighth place. That’s enough to turn the page and look at Suzuka.
Pierre Gasly’s performance was positive, sixth with the Alpine ahead of Oscar Piastri’s standard Mclaren. Liam Lawson also did well in scoring points with AlphaTauri in the third GP of his career, while Yuki Tsunoda didn’t even make a single meter like in Monza. The New Zealander will be difficult to put down between now and the end of the season.
Also important is Kevin Magnussen’s dot which moves Haas up the Constructors’ classification. Everything else is a side dish…
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