“Now go and build me the car to win in Hungary”, Sergio commented in English Marchionne. The meeting with the technicians had just ended and while, on the one hand, James Allison complained about his boss giving orders knowing very little about racing, on the other some diligent colleague took care to send the very skilled pen of Sassuolo the report. complete of the aforementioned meeting (and no, it was not a thing to do). The fact is that on that day in July 2015, at the Hungaroring, the two 666s, aka SF15-T, left as if there was no tomorrow and Vettel inflicted a hard defeat on the usually dominant Mercedes. A success that could have been crowned by a brace, if Raikkonen had not broken the recovery of energy. Two years later, with very different prospects in terms of the championship, the one-two actually arrived. In spite of a slow-motion finish, because almost immediately, on Seb’s SF70H, the steering arm was loosened and the car pulled all the way to one side. Kimi, behind him, could have passed him, but the garage knew well that this would allow the Mercedes to eat Vettel in one bite. And a one-two, in fact, is always preferable to a one-three or worse.
I therefore imagine that if on Sunday, God forbid, a similar situation should occur, with Leclerc in front and Sainz behind, Carlos is more than willing to sacrifice himself to cover his teammate’s back. I take it for granted that Ferrari has the potential to dominate, given that for once even the official statements from Maranello have given caution a kick. We aim for the full result, perhaps corroborated by the fastest lap that will also make the Presidency happy. In Budapest there are slow curves and traction curves. More chassis (and load) than engine, then: but let’s dispel the urban legend of the tracks where “horses don’t count”, which is true for Monte Carlo. In the section between turns 3 and 5, for example, the Hungarian track favors a good one acceleration (not to be confused with the top speed) and the advantage of the Ferrari power unit, in this respect, I think it is not a secret. In short, it would not be surprising in front of an all-red front row in qualifying and a similar result in the race.
But can Red Bull only afford to contain the damage? Verstappen, we see, has learned to run with his head, but if he were satisfied with a third place he would burn in a single day a sixth of the treasure of points accumulated on Leclerc. I understand, however, that in Milton Keynes they are dealing with a continuation of the season in which, after the summer break, even Charles will be forced to start again from the back of the grid, for replacement of various components. How many times? One safe, probably even two. “Zuverlässigkeit schlägt Speed”, Was the headline after the French GP Auto motor und sportthat is to say: reliability beats speed. And by reliability the author also meant the mental solidity that allowed Verstappen to fail less than his direct rival. At least for now. Because in Maranello they guarantee that Charles Leclerc has never made the same mistake twice.
I, however, caught by a jolt of competitive romanticism, think back to those two red victories in 1989 and 1998, with Mansell And Schumacher respectively, against all expectations but not against all logic. In the first case, the preventive work on the race pace allowed Nigel to recover from the sixth row of the grid on a circuit defined as impossible for overtaking (it was still the “short” version). In the second, a strategic and understanding masterpiece led to a change of tactics on the way, with Ross Brawn and Michael instantly agreeing to an extra pit stop, even if that meant a ‘stint’ at qualifying pace. Today we have Leclerc at the wheel and Iñaki Rueda at the wall. But we also have an F1-75 that is much higher in technical potential than the F300 of twenty-four years ago. It was Rueda who just explained that at Paul Ricard the team was not going to cover Verstappen’s strategy, and that therefore Leclerc was managing the race and the tires when he went off the track. He blames the set-up, which is a bit oversteer to safeguard the front end, is tantamount to an insult to the driver. Leclerc has sinned of lightness, of distraction. It can be seen, however, that in the team they counted a lot on the possibility of getting Max back on track, with a strategy that did not take into account the behavior of the opponents, and that in a certain sense it is a manifestation of confidence in their own means.
But now is not the time for regrets and “we must no longer make mistakes“: it’s time to fight. I am reminded of the return flight on the 2015 charter, that cup sitting like a first-class passenger in the front row seat. She was dirty, smeared with the fingerprints of those who had wanted to squeeze her to feel her (her too) about her. She seemed to have been sweating too. And those sweaty are always the best wins.
#Unghe #teeth #FormulaPassion.it