Mercedes does not find answers and the World Cup begins to tilt unequivocally in favor of
Max Verstappen
. The Dutchman's victory in the Styrian GP confirmed the unstoppable inertia of Red Bull, with an impossible car to follow for
Lewis Hamilton
and
Valtteri Bottas
, who minimized damage with the other two places on the podium and the Briton's fastest lap (1: 07.058 ). Sunday could also be considered positive for
Carlos Sainz
and
Fernando Alonso
, sixth and ninth at the finish line. The comeback of six places from Madrid and the consistency of the two-time champion seem like good omens, although the owner of the future, at this moment, is only Verstappen.
The Dutchman scans the horizon 18 points ahead of Hamilton, whose last despair was recorded by radio. "How much do we lose to Max on the straights?" "Two-tenths in clean air," replied his engineer,
Pete Bonnington
. Even more enlightening was another question, unanswered from the wall. "What can I do? I can't close the gap." There were still 12 laps to go to the checkered flag and Mercedes was hopelessly capitulating. Not even the sky, covered with clouds, was going to ally itself with an impossible. Even Sainz allowed himself the license to unfold before the seven-time champion.
Carlos's comeback, twelfth on the grid, was fought inch by inch.
And it began to take shape thanks to the gap left by
Pierre Gasly
.
The Alpha Tauri leader had caught up with
Charles Leclerc
in the first corner, inches from Alonso's A521.
On the climb he brushed against the Ferrari again, unleashing a cataract of fiber debris.
On the way to Turn 3, its slowness would cause another incident with
Antonio Giovinazzi
and
Nicholas Latifi
, so the Frenchman, with the broken rear suspension, abandoned hopelessly.
Leclerc, with damage to the right front wheel, was relegated to last place.
53ºC on asphalt
At the beginning,
Daniel Ricciardo
also assumed his share of prominence
, gaining five positions in a lap just before suffering a power slump that relegated him to the starting box. Aboard the other McLaren,
Lando Norris would
withstand only nine laps against Pérez. When he was 10 seconds behind the head, the Mexican saw the moment arrived and he was relentless with an interior at Turn 3. His podium dreams were legitimate, at the time.
With almost 53ºC on the asphalt, the performance of Alonso's soft tires began to decline from lap 18. The Oviedo was long enough to hold his seventh place against the harassment of
George Russell
, until Williams ordered his driver to adapt to the Plan B, so as not to put the life of your engine at risk.
In Alonso's wake a procession formed with
Yuki Tsunoda
, Sainz,
Sebastian Vettel
and
Kimi Raikkonen
.
The Madrid native had to navigate those narrow margins, able to stretch his medium tires at a good pace for 40 laps.
Ferrari did not want to risk any more with the tires, although on his return to the track, he passed
Lance Stroll
to settle in sixth place.
Leclerc, rider of the day
Sunday was gradually straightening up for the
Scuderia
, thanks to Leclerc's furious comeback.
After battling to the limit of legality with Raikkonen, the Monegasque got rid of Tsunoda, Alonso and Stroll, until he won the driver of the day award.
There was more interest in that middle zone than ahead, where Pérez was a great victim.
A jam in a rear wheel slowed down to 4.8 seconds the stop of the Mexican, so Mercedes took advantage of the concession for the
undercut
of Bottas.
Perhaps
Toto Wolff
should have acted earlier
with Hamilton, who had just suffered a scare at Turn 4, where he stepped on the record, miraculously saving the top.
On lap 29, when he was trailing 6.3 seconds in front of the lead, the seven-time champion mounted the hard tires, although even his pit stop was slightly slower than Verstappen's (2.2 vs 2.0).
Red Bull engineers informed their leader that this was a "critical moment."
All pure theater, because the only threat was the vibrations on the floor of the RB16B.
Verstappen had more than enough advantage to steer clear of the shoulders and avoid damage.
Even after a second stop, in search of the fastest lap, Pérez was less than a second away from snatching the podium from Bottas.
Such is the current domain of
Christian Horner's team
.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
sports
Formula 1
Lewis hamilton
Max verstappen
Mercedes gp
Red bull racing
Carlos Sainz Jr
Fernando Alonso
Formula 1 Verstappen submits Mercedes with an authoritarian pole position and Alonso has fun at the Red Bull Ring
F1Authoritarian 'pole' for Verstappen and Sainz's coup d'état at Paul Ricard
F1A step forward for Alonso: Alpine starts briskly at Paul Ricard
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