Many trumpets, claps and whistles of support, orange and white smoke in abundance as if it were a football match (or in front of it, taking into account the number of benches on which all these demonstrations were distributed), controversy to the same dimension. due to the social media accounts of women who were present on Spielberg’s route. Verstappen’s wave of supporters once again showed his devotion to the Dutchman at the Austrian Grand Prix, but the Formula 1 organization did not forgive all the revealed excesses, even threatening the promoters of the test.
Another sprint race, another victory: Verstappen confirms favoritism and takes pole position in Austria
“We were told that the fans were subjected to completely unacceptable demonstrations at the Austrian Grand Prix. We take these matters very seriously, we have already raised this issue with the event promoter and security and will speak to whoever is reporting all incidents. This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.” Formula 1 wrote in a statement, speaking not only to allegations of sexual harassment (one fan even revealed being “afraid” to go to the stands or the toilet, another questioned whether fans had never seen a woman before) but also to racist demonstrations carried out. on Friday when Lewis Hamilton had gone off the track at turn 7. “The Orange Armada”, so often praised for its massive presence on the circuits, was in sight.
Even before the start, these demonstrations in this case of support were felt again, with huge clouds of orange and white smoke still in the warm-up lap that the world champion had from the first position after the victory in the sprint race of the yesterday. , ahead of the Ferrari. And the layout of the track itself “helped” the Dutchman, who confirmed that theoretical favoritism to reach the head of the first corner to the delight of the legion of fans. However, it was not all good news for Red Bull, who saw Sergio Pérez leave the track after touching the tire of George Russell, he returns but ends up giving up.
The Mexican was out, the Dutchman was still in but not as much and ahead as thought: contrary to what the indications left by qualifying and the sprint race predicted, the world champion did not manage to secure the expected advantage in the opening laps, he walked with differences that allowed the use of DRS and he was even overtaken on lap 12 by Leclerc, in a great maneuver in a curve that allowed the Monegasque to confirm the good pace with the leadership of the race with Carlos Sainz behind him and further a caravan with Russell, Ocon, Hamilton and the two Haas. Russell, pitted for a five-second penalty for his early clash with Sergio Perez, nearly mortgaged what could have been another top-five finish after retiring at Silverstone.
Max Verstappen tried to change history by immediately pitting for the first tire change, getting back on the podium on lap 18 after overtaking Lewis Hamilton but had no reaction when the two Ferraris returned to the track after pitting. him returning for the second and final tire change on lap 37 when Leclerc had retaken the lead. When you were used to looking ahead and looking at Ferraris, Red Bull told Verstappen to be careful with Lewis Hamilton, a Briton who was in fourth position but was better than the Dutchman.
With just 21 laps to go, Leclerc slipped out of the lead, made one more pit stop to change tires and came back behind Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen before the Spaniard also pitted. The motto was set for what would be the outcome of the race, with the Ferraris with new tires to be able to attack the Dutch and make a brace after Sainz’s spree at Silverstone. And a motto that did not last long to change positions: in another fantastic maneuver in the counter-curve, Leclerc sought traction where Verstappen did not have and returned to the lead of the race. Sainz would be next, but he withdrew.
In 58 of 71 laps, and when he was getting closer to the Dutchman, the Spaniard felt that the car had problems, he began to see smoke coming out, he took the car to an exit to try not to spoil the race. in Leclerc and saw the car start to burn when he was still trying to stop the car going downhill. There was car insurance that allowed the Monegasque to change tires while staying in the lead, Hamilton climbed to third position but it was on Sainz’s discouragement that the focus was on, with the transalpine team holding hands against what could be the second double of the season after the 1-2 in Bahrain. Leclerc was still panicked by the problems with the accelerator pedal, which from time to time got stuck, made braking difficult and did not go back up completely, the difference with Max Verstappen was less and less but the victory ended up coming with a lot of stress. in the mix.
Source: Observadora
