To tell a Grand Prix you can use analysis and rankings, numbers and words. Images that converge in the most beautiful one: the podium celebrations, where the riders become children again and are covered in champagne. Reminding us that this, in the end, is a sport, and as such it should be interpreted: seriously, but having fun. A new format starts from the podium and from this spirit, where the three promoted and three rejected of the various F1 Grand Prix will be chosen: this is the turn of the United States.
F1 | United States GP 2021, the podium of the promoted
1. Max Verstappen | ||
2. Ferrari drivers | 3. The other (on) podium |
1. Max Verstappen. Not because it was Verstappen, on the contrary, because it wasn’t. Flashes of old Max, on Fridays, when he gags with King Lewis and greets him in his own way. Then, a masterpiece made of head, patience and all those qualities that many denied him. Someone still denies them. If in addition to prevailing with talent and brawn, he learns the art of Zen victory, in the future he will become unplayable as soon as he has a decent vehicle. Honorable mention for Hamilton, who at 36 and with seven titles could sit down and make a living, he and Roscoe. Instead, he puts himself on the line every day, every weekend, against a rare competition animal.
2. Ferrari drivers. Being ahead of McLaren in Austin was unthinkable at the beginning of the year: the credit goes to the improvements of the car and the solidity of the handles. Leclerc extracts yet another weekend from his cylinder where he digs with the shovel to find the missing tenths. Sainz defends himself like Baresi from McLaren, but also the Piscinin he couldn’t do anything if Rossi was a duck on goal. And so the slow pit-stop penalizes the Spaniard’s race, who also tries to get back up but Ricciardo is a tough guy, and if Hamilton doesn’t pass, it’s hard to believe that a Ferrari can do it.
3. The other on the podium. One man show by Shaquille O’Neal in Austin. No I say, have you seen it? To deliver the trophy to the winner, he arrives on one moderate convertible composed of leather seats of old Verstappen teammates, prominent horn on the front and other decorations of dubious taste. Paddock rumors swear they saw Haas technicians take notes for future aerodynamic solutions.
When in Texas 🇺🇸
It’s the @SHAQ mobile! 🤩#USGP 🇺🇸 # F1 pic.twitter.com/bOcNTV5Rzq
– Formula 1 (@ F1) October 25, 2021
Over here, you will say. No, here the fun begins. With a polo shirt that I would struggle to use as pajamas, the Shaq climbs me on the podium and poses with the others in the moment of the hymns, resulting as tall as Perez, who among other things could snatch him along with his Red Bull, using the first as a toothpick and the second as a beach slipper . Idol!
F1 | United States GP 2021, the failed podium
1. Ferrari pit stop | ||
2. “Don’t argue” | 3. Lando Norris |
3. Lando Norris. Second consecutive sciapa race. Could it be that Norris was disheartened after the blow in Sochi? Come on young, it happens. Fortunately for McLaren that Ricciardo has begun to show signs of himself. But without Lando, third place is the stuff of Ferrari. Which has always counted on two riders during the season, not one and a half.
2. “Do not argue“. Now, it’s okay that idyll can’t always govern work relationships, but here we are in rags in the public square. Among other things, always launched on the same side: from the team to the driver, from Alfa Romeo to Antonio Giovinazzi. First in the form of disinterest (let’s call it that), then with radio teams who don’t even bother to deny the evidence. “Don’t argue, give it back”(The position) is said at most to a child, and only if you are the father or the mother. Ages 12 and up, out of place. In a business context, it would be a push to update the CV. In Formula 1, someone – from the past or the present – would have planted the car at the edge of the track.
1. Ferrari pit stop. And with this we are at two consecutive GPs in which Sainz’s race is ruined by a slow stop. In Istanbul she almost passed into the cavalry, and the Spaniard himself threw water on the fire, explaining that he did not want to create controversy after a great comeback. Let’s add the soft start and you understand how a top-5 finish was well within reach. Indeed, due to the superiority over McLaren and Bottas’ difficulties, it was the bare minimum. Then, it is also possible to settle for three good pit stops out of four: now the wrong one does no harm, but in 2022 it will make a difference, if they want to win in Maranello. If they want to keep getting by, well, that’s another matter.
What are yours? And above all, why?
#United #States #podium #FormulaPassionit