British Grand Prix Overview: Ferrari win overshadowed by disastrous Leclerc strategy
Initial publication 3/07/2022-
Carlos Sainz converted his first pole position in Formula 1 to his maiden victory at Silverstone on Sunday. That description would often correspond to an uneventful race at the front, but it was far from it with Ferrari strategy once again ruining what looked to be an easy 1–2.
Things didn’t start too well for Sainz as he was beaten off the line by Max Verstappen but the red flag before the end of the lap meant the grid reset for the restart. The incident that led to the red flag once again highlighted the importance of the halo, which ones again saved a life with Zhou very lucky to escape unharmed.
When the race resumed it was a much better restart for Ferrari as Sainz just about held off Verstappen into turn one and began to pull away. As the race progressed the Dutchman’s class began to show as he applied the pressure on Sainz and forced the Ferrari into an error at Chapel and took full advantage to take the lead of the race.
Verstappen’s lead didn’t last for long as he picked up damage to the floor of his car on lap 12 which was sufficient to take him out of contention for victory. Sainz was still right on the tale of the Red Bull and on the same place he lost the lead, he retook the lead and shortly after Verstappen darted into the pits making it a Ferrari 1–2.
Leclerc in P2 began to set fastest sectors and laps but Ferrari were reluctant to swap the cars, something that perhaps Red Bull or Mercedes would have done rather swiftly. Leclerc being stuck behind Sainz meant Lewis Hamilton began to catch the leaders and was edging closer to Leclerc’s DRS.
Hamilton went longer than the two Ferrari’s in his first stint and as it began to look likely Hamilton could come out right with the Ferrari duo, they eventually inverted the cars and allowed Charles to push on.
Leclerc extended his advantage as the race progressed and it looked like he’d avoided any strategy mishap from his own team. With Verstappen fighting with the midfield it was of paramount importance Leclerc got his title bid back on track, but then Ferrari did a Ferrari.
With the race coming to it’s conclusion Ocon lost power and stopped down the old pit straight triggering the safety car. With around 10 racing laps expected the leaders dived into the pits to fit soft tires, except Charles Leclerc…
The Monegasque was left to fight for his victory with old hard tires which seemed and proved to be an impossible task. Ferrari intended to combat this by instructing Sainz to give Leclerc ten car lengths of room on the restart, which understandably was unguided by the Spaniard as he chased his first win.
The restart produced some of the best racing we’ve seen in years between Leclerc, Perez and Hamilton, but for the Tifosi it will of been of little entertainment as they saw their main title contender drop from 1st to 4th purely down to his teams incompetence.
Leclerc will be hoping for his fortunes to finally change this week in Austria, but at Red Bull’s home track with Verstappen fully operational, it could be normal service resumed.
