Historic victory for Carlos Sainz at the British GP
Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) has won the British Grand Prix from pole position – a statement that barely tells half the story. The test has had two starts as a result of a red flag, a period that all the drivers, except the two McLarens, have taken advantage of to change the tires.
The appearance of the safety car in the final phase of the race has created another key moment. This neutralization has been ideal for Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), who has come back to second final position to compensate for a poor start to the GP, and quite the opposite for Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who has stayed on track with his game of P Zero Blancos used and has fallen, consequently, from first to fourth place.
The Monegasque has led the restart, but was soon overtaken by Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton.
One of those fights has been decided in the last corner: the duel between Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Mick Schumacher (Haas). The latter has achieved today the first points of him in the F1 world championship.
Carlos Sainz:
“What a day! To win my first F1 GP and with Scuderia Ferrari in front of this incredible crowd, at one of my favorite tracks, Silverstone, is literally unbelievable. Mentally it was one of the hardest races I’ve ever done – managing the gaps , a lot of fights on the track, the second start We had a little bit of understeer and in the second stage we had to save fuel to get to the end, so the lift-and-coaster put me at risk with the cars.However, so as soon as the safety car came out we knew it was essential to change the tires because mine were quite old, at the restart I had newer tires but we were fighting for a 1-2 as a team, I tried to be as clean as possible when overtaking to Charles. Thanks to the fuel saved behind the Safety Car we were able to push to the end and I finally got my first win. I’ll enjoy it for today, but we’ll start working straight away on preparing for the next one.”
Mattia Binotto, Team Principal and General Manager
“To win again, especially on a circuit as demanding as Silverstone, is especially gratifying and confirms that we have worked well this season, both on the circuit and in Maranello. Carlos has had a great weekend, in which he also secured his first pole position. He was strong and consistent throughout and the win was well deserved. On the other hand, it’s a shame that we scored fewer points than we could have with Charles, who, when the Safety Car came out, was comfortably in the lead. Taking on Charles at the time, which would have put him behind Hamilton, who at that point would have been left on fresh hard tyres, didn’t seem like the right choice, so we decided to drop him off the track. restart, I was at a disadvantage in terms of tyres. We also want to congratulate Mick Schumacher for scoring his first points in the championship. They are well deserved. Finally, it is worth underlining once again the efforts of the FIA and Formula 1 in terms of safety. The fact that none of the drivers involved in the accidents at the start were seriously injured confirms how effective the current safety measures are.”