Formula 1 gives fans one of the race weekends more beautiful and fun of the year to assigned titles. The Interlagos track consigns a varied and complete weekend to the annals, complete with a yellow weather in qualifying on Friday, a beautiful Sprint on Saturday and an even more beautiful one for intensity and events, race on Sunday. In the end he wins, with great merit, George Russell, to the first victory in his career. The Briton, in the group of “predestined”, leads the race not only perfectly both on the rhythm that on tire managementbut it is also flawless at key moments, starting from the start, where he literally flew away from Hamilton, arriving at the two restarts after the Safety Car, where, especially in the last one, having some difficulty due to the tension would have been justifiable, but which Russell faced with the same look at worn samples. As well as the last 10 laps, with someone like Hamilton behind to keep out of the DRS area. The impression is that of having witnessed the first victory of a future champion. Speaking of Hamilton, however, one cannot fail to note that the Briton did a race himself awesomedemonstrating how the kind of hunger certain champions have (see also Alonso) has no age. The Brazilian race and the return to the one-two for Mercedes therefore pose a series of interesting questions related to future. The team came back to both wins and dominatealthough Brackley has made it clear more than once that a fundamental flaw has been found in the design of the W13 and that it was being assessment a possible one design revolution for next year. Yet while Ferrari and Red Bull, once the conditions for the fight for the title were closed, devoted their attention (and their budget) to the project of the 2023 car, Mercedes continued to carry development packages important ones, the last one in the last one-two races in North America. The effects have all been seen: the W13, which had weak and low-energy aerodynamics, tending towards instability throughout the first part of the season, now has solved most of these specific problems. Just the aerodynamics proves itself stable and effectivethe downforce is there (although not at Ferrari levels) and, above all, the package now has a perfect balance between aerodynamic set-up, ground clearance, and suspension package. This leads to minimal wear on the tyres, with extremely positive effects on race pace. It is clear that the starting point for this step forward was the introduction of TD39which has, in some ways, allowed the team to better manage ground clearance and move back towards the simulated design point. From there the rest came: the updates became effective, and the car started to progress. In the light of this, and of the regulatory changes for next season, the biggest doubt arises spontaneously: the W14 will it follow the same aerodynamic philosophy as the W13 or will we see a revolutionized car in spite of the fact that now in Brackley they “have understood” (to use an expression more specific to another team)? Obviously it is impossible to say. It should be noted that some weaknesses do not appear to have been deleted, such as the resistance to progressstill particularly significant, disguised as a Power Units which seems to have unlocked quite a few horses in recent races and which allows for a use on request much more stringent (it shouldn’t be a coincidence that the Mercedes-powered Aston Martin seems to have changed its face in this second part of the season). In terms of race pace we have however seen in almost every lap, even in Brazil, very low top speeds both for Hamilton and for Russell, a sign that there is still a need for important revisions on aerodynamics. This is why next season’s car from the Stella team will be one of the most interesting to see.
Behind the two Mercedes were placed the two Ferraris. The F1-75’s pace was good throughout the race, always close to that of Mercedeswith minimal differences and, finally, excellent tire management. With the bad luck of the tear off in the air intake of the rear brakes, Sainz saw the entire strategic plan prepared, i.e. to attempt an overcut in the first stint with the medium tire for a crescendo finale, vanish, but he managed anyway keep up the pace despite having to manage the tires a lot (so much so that he asked to drop the secret and let him know how many stops were planned to decide how much to manage the tyre). Ferrari’s decision to stop him for the fresh soft in the closing laps was very right, otherwise he would have been quickly absorbed by the group as happened to Perez. Ferrari which, it must be said, from the point of view strategy and pit stops did, this time, a perfect Sundaywith timely calls despite the mishaps on the track and many pit stops all accurate and very fast. The problem is, when the battle is like this on the tenth with rivals, every moment of the weekend and every situation is fundamentaland the scotto della qualifies for Leclerc and of grid penalty for Sainz they made the ambitions of victory for the Maranello team unrealizable, which otherwise would not have been utopian in the slightest. Leclerc was also the author of another excellent race, despite the complexity of always lapping out of phase with the leaders and having to manage tire degradation while making many overtakings, and it would have been particularly interesting if at least one of the two Ferrari drivers had started from the front row to see how it would go head-to-head with Mercedes. With regard to the incident between Leclerc and Norris we must say that, in this case, we do not particularly agree with those who accuse Leclerc of too much enthusiasm, not to absolve the driver but due to the dynamics that led to that particular situation: Leclerc had in fact crossed Norris’ trajectory in out of turns 4 and 5 e he had overtaken Norris about half a car. Norris kept his foot down going into turn 6 but Leclerc was well ahead, it was difficult give up overtaking at that point, basically meant braking and backing up a full car length. Incident aside, Leclerc’s conduct, radio teams and so-called “body language” have betrayed a nervousness and an anger that we struggle to remember except for brief moments. Qualifying with the intermediates in the dry seems to have been a drop that broke the camel’s back, and after a comeback from last to fourth the Monegasque showed great disappointment however, both in replying to his engineer over the radio who complimented him on the performance, and in interviews, where he still knew control yourself in wordsbut where the facial expression betrayed a massive dose of anger and frustration. The lack of exchange of positions with Sainz was certainly a further element that made the Monegasque feel betrayed by the teameven if, it must be said, in this case we recognize choosing Ferrari as correct: Leclerc had Alonso and Verstappen very close behind him and it was not yet certain that Sainz would emerge unscathed from the investigation into the infringement during the Safety Car. An already complicated exchange of positions and then a possible 5 second penalty to Sainz would have led the Spaniard to risk finishing the race in seventh position, losing important points to the constructors, as well as depriving him of a podium which in any case he objectively deserved.
Finally we close with those who dominated the championship far and wide but went badly into crisis this weekend and that is the team RedBull. The trim prepared on the simulator at Milton Keynes has revealed itself mechanically imperfect, especially at the front and the single free practice session did not allow for major upheavals due to the weekend format. Horner’s team also tried to work on the aerodynamic load but the car in the end was still found to have a bad balance it’s a stiffness too high on the suspension package. The result was one tire wear much greater than usual, the transition to the role of third force for this weekend and what we allow ourselves to define, a clear example of how much everything is pushed to the limit and nothing is taken for granted in Formula 1. In fact, an approach with the incorrect set-up was enough to make third force a car that appeared invincible and which also found a particularly favorable track on paper in the Interlagos circuit. This is Formula 1, where to win you need perfection in every aspect. And now the appointment in Abu Dhabi, for the last round of this long season, with the many farewells and the particular emotions that the last race always reserves, but also with the thoughts already widely turned to 2023.
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