Hamilton’s hero rediscovered. Mercedes: Such a mistake with Russell is dangerous. Bitter platform for Leclerc
From magic to magic. The line between project and spectacular failure is a kilo and a half. These are huge values in Formula 1 where grams are reduced to earn a handful of cents. Russell celebrated the Spa victory with uncontained ecstasy, aHamilton fought back to cross the finish line first after playing with the tyres like no other. He convinced strategists to bet on just one stop, an option that had not even been considered in computer simulations.
But George lost everything on the scale: During the tests, the single-seater 63 was found to be underweight (796.5 kg compared to the minimum permitted 798). The measurements were made using two different instruments. The verdict was passed without appeal, Mercedes admitted that “the mistake was made in good faith”. Now, how such an experienced team could commit such naivety leaves doubts, But Toto Woof had no reason to object to the result as the win remained at home. Lewis Hamilton has, by default, achieved the 105th success of his career. “He deserved the win – confirms the Austrian team manager – and he was the fastest with two stops. We owe George an apology: it was our mistake, we must understand why it happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Embarrassing elimination after the sprint race in Belgium, the land of great bikers. The group is as tight as ever and Verstappen stops Pogacar’s performance: from 11th to 4th, happy that Red Bull is no longer a spaceship and is preparing to abandon Perez to get Ricciardo back.
In previous years Max has dominated despite starting off far behind. The rivals are many but clumsy: Norris is a victim of his own mistakes, Piastri is not yet ready for the double, and McLaren is fast but immature. Ferrari is missing, the podium that Leclerc took (top three after success in Monte Carlo) thanks to Russell’s exclusion is too small a prize to smile about. Charles considers the overtake he suffered on lap three from Hamilton, which is painful when considering the present and future of his coexistence with Lewis.
He is used to losing pole positions (25 in his career compared to just six wins) and at Spa he expected it, with rain in qualifying blocking out the values. “I’m disappointed, we’re not fast enough. We thought we could fight on equal terms against Mercedes. Worse than expected.” Ferrari Summer Tour – 5 GPs in 6 weeks, after the break we start again on August 25 in the Netherlands – It ends with a few crumbs and a lot of doubts. Understanding the wrong developments meant a step back for several months, and the technical reorganization after the farewell of director Enrico Cardile (who moved to Aston Martin) will take time and effort. “But we are all close and small steps are enough to go from seventh to the podium.” Vasseur keeps repeating this, but in the meantime the others are celebrating. Verstappen is no more.
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