Taken from Caffé#99 by Pino Allievi – FormulaPassion YouTube channel
It really bothers me that on the day when Verstappen and Norris played bumper cars, Ferrari was unable to win. Okay, he only had one driver to try, but Carlos Sainz is a fine driver, equipped with the tactical intelligence to go out at a distance and a sense of proportion to always have the car ready at the decisive moment.
But the car wasn’t there this time. Or rather, those few hundredths of difference in practice, to the advantage of Mercedes, became an insurmountable obstacle for Sainz and Russell was able to prevail. After the miracle of Monte Carlo, in fact, the Ferrari that should have caused havoc was no longer there, it no longer thrilled us.. And Mercedes, which seemed to be headed for a supporting role, has always obtained more points than the Prancing Horse since the Monaco defeat. Thanks to the famous update packages, which according to some should have only favored Ferrari, in the illusion that the rivals were waiting for it and instead the most convincing performances have come from McLaren and Mercedes, as well as Red Bull.
A situation that Fred Vasseur knows well and does not deny, but he still has to keep up the morale of a team that is struggling to believe what is happening to them. It’s okay for Red Bull who dominate regardless, but Mercedes, depleted of dozens of technicians who emigrated elsewhere, has raised its head despite everything and McLaren, which certainly does not have an enviable economic situation like others, continues its climb to the top with performances that leave everyone speechless because there is the structure, there is the sense of team, there is that of belonging.
Ferrari, on the other hand, is absent, has slipped back and is now the fourth force on the field. In Zeltweg it appeared like our national football team eliminated by Switzerland: devoid of ideas, of bite, of malice, resigned to a supporting role that clashes with her story, damn. Okay, let’s console ourselves with the podium obtained by Carlos Sainz, the driver who at the moment doesn’t know his future: but without the bang between the two in front he would have been fifth, a position more congenial to him and to today’s Ferrari.
It’s a shame, even if only the duel between Verstappen and Norriswhich we will see again for years as the F.1 commercial signed by Villeneuve and Arnoux. Max is back to being the Verstappen of the first hour, the one who willingly changes trajectory when braking and has no qualms about hindering, at the limits of the rules or even beyond, anyone who tries to stay in front of him.
Norris, poor and naive, thought that Max was instead the nice friend with whom he could challenge himself, between one race and another, in virtual video races, in which the ego plays a marginal role. But the cannibals, cornered, finally make themselves recognisable and now Norris, perhaps, has understood who he is dealing with on the track. Then it’s also fine to drink a coffee together and challenge each other with jet skis, but Verstappen is the same and he will never change, even though with a Red Bull superior to the others he has cleverly disguised himself.
Finally, a separate but related discussion on the Zeltweg incident. Overtaking is an act of courage, it is the essence of racing. Penalizing a driver, as happened to Norris, who comes out of the lines that delimit the track in a daring attempt to overtake a wretched beast like Verstappen, it means embracing a dull and unrealistic perversion of the regulation that must be eliminated immediately.
I wonder: will the teams and the federation understand that insisting on these quibbles is the ideal way to alienate the fans and the passion? It takes the time of a coffee to cancel the rule: I hope it will be done immediately, while I drink an Italian espresso before projecting myself onto Silverstone, where the races will continue on Sunday.
#Ferrari #Italys #football #resigned #ideas #malice #FormulaPassion.it
