Building a good team environment is often what makes the difference between all teams. It is not easy, sometimes it even becomes impossible, but in the end it takes its toll. In fact, just this weekend there was a good example of it in the tearful embrace between Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert at the end of the time trial that once again consecrated Jumbo-Visma with victory on stage and in the Tour. Is it always like this? Not really. And moving on to Formula 1, it is not easy to find that coincidence of objectives and ideas capable of separating what constitutes the best result on a personal level and what works as the best result for everyone, including the team. in France, Ferrari has shown that it is possible.
Ferrari’s strategy was red on blue: Leclerc achieves pole position in France (with the help of Sainz)
It turns out that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have a generally peaceful relationship. This does not invalidate that from time to time the radio conversations do not heat up. More than once, the Monegasque has complained to the team that he had to go ahead of his teammate because he was fighting for the World Cup, the Spaniard also had to raise his voice at Silverstone with a “Come on, don’t invent” (literally) in the day he got his first victory in Formula 1. Now, in qualifying at a Paul Ricard circuit that was even hotter than expected (with everything that has to do with the tires and the cooling capacity of the cars ) , We play as a team and we win.
“Grandissimi, great Carlos” ????????????
Great work team! ❤️#essereFerrari ???? #GPFrench @Charles_Leclerc @Carlossainz55 pic.twitter.com/ytvtz2iXCW— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 23, 2022
It wasn’t exactly the most orthodox strategy, as we saw above all at the start of Q3, but given the inevitability of Carlos Sainz dropping ten places due to a penalty after what happened in Austria where he set the car on fire and had to do more extensive repairs to the car at the level of the power unit, the Italian team bet everything to return to positions of privilege by Charles Leclerc almost putting the Spaniard as a “water carrier” for the mission accomplished, taking advantage of the air cones that he formed for his partner. “I have to thank Carlos, he did a fantastic job,” admitted Leclerc. “We had this plan for the weekend and we managed to fulfill it perfectly with Charles,” said Sainz.
Post n°16 for car n°16!
Excellent @Carlossainz55, great teamwork. Let’s push for tomorrow ???? pic.twitter.com/cYrRPPipIg— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) July 23, 2022
However, from now on, Leclerc played alone, taking into account that the Spaniard would start from 19th position, with no chance of fighting for the top places where the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez were just behind the Briton. Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell. More: if it is true that Ferrari dominated the first two free practice sessions and then the qualifying period, the world champion showed in FP3 that he could have arguments to fight for victory, so he also hit the best strategy to dethrone to the Italian team. If the small recovery of the Monegasque was opened (at 38 points) a special interest in the French Grand Prix, all these points made this race an important point of the season.
Sunday riders and riders????#GPFrench #F1 pic.twitter.com/faALa2K2Qf
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 23, 2022
The start would once again have a special importance in the race, either because of Leclerc’s ability to maintain the lead or not, or because of Red Bull’s attempt to at least keep Pérez third and then work with Verstappen on the outlined strategy. As for stops. . And it was Ferrari who won: Despite the news that reported alleged problems in the Monegasque’s car, Leclerc had an excellent start, maintaining the lead without problems and Lewis Hamilton took the opportunity to also jump to third position, ahead of Pérez and Fernando Alonso, another great start. Back there, the only problem, in the corners ahead, was with Tsunoda, after a touch from Ocon that led to a pedestrian. Carlos Sainz, as the team predicted, rose to 17th place and gained one more position on the next lap.
LECLERC LEADERSHIP ON TURN 1 ????
Charles Leclerc maintains the lead of the race with a perfect start ????#sporttvportugal #F1naSPORTTV #F1 #Formula 1 #GPFrench #charlesleclerc pic.twitter.com/nrWmyZD8Wp
— SPORT TV (@SPORTTVPortugal) July 24, 2022
Always paying special attention to the tires given the high temperatures in France, the laps passed without major changes. Verstappen was always less than a second away from Leclerc, Hamilton knew how to defend himself very well against Sergio Pérez, showing that the updates on the Mercedes came into force, Russell managed to overtake Alonso to seek the attack on the Mexican, Sainz continued to gain positions arriving tenth on lap 14 with a time that made the Dutchman risk getting behind if he went through the pits. Only at this stage was there a more substantial increase in Leclerc’s lead at the front, between 1.6 and 1.8 seconds.
ROUND 15/53
Leclerc extends his lead up front ????
Russell continues to get closer to Pérez #GPFrench #F1 pic.twitter.com/Cna0NQjlPy
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
1️⃣ ➡️ 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣@LewisHamilton will start his 300th F1 race today at the #GPFrench ???? pic.twitter.com/tvFhmIs4LN
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) July 24, 2022
Verstappen entered the pits for the first time on lap 16, when the tires were already showing signs of wear that affected the times, still managing to re-enter seventh position behind Lando Norris (with Ocon and Ricciardo ahead of Sainz, until the Spanish can also overtake the Australian). There were doubts about when Leclerc could also pit, but that was not an issue soon after, with the Monegasque coming straight out of a curve and all the drivers took advantage of the “freebie” to change tires. Replay ruled out the possibility of a front tire puncture but something happened to the car, which lost its rear tires completely and then slid into the tire barrier with the front tires locked. However, and after returning to the pit area, the pilot himself recognized that the error was mainly his.
LECLERC OUT????#sporttvportugal #F1naSPORTTV #F1 #Formula 1 #GPFrench #charlesleclerc pic.twitter.com/V8t1RRbD7J
— SPORT TV (@SPORTTVPortugal) July 24, 2022
EITHER car insurance entered the track, Verstappen was ahead with Hamilton second and Pérez third, the race changed completely and the Dutchman had victory in his hand, given the advantage that he soon managed to cement over the Briton. Nothing goes well for Ferrari and even Sainz’s pit stop went wrong, with a late start that forced Alexander Albon to brake late and earned the Spaniard a five-second penalty when he was already in fifth position after overtaking Ricciardo Lando Norris. and Alonso. He was the fastest runner on the track. but kept what was left of the conditioned race.
LAP 24/53
Carlos Sainz has received a 5 second penalty for an unsafe throw on lap 19 #GPFrench #F1 pic.twitter.com/Cx5MkPMBp2
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
If until then the race had been interesting to follow and with various points of interest, from then on it was a monotonous race (in relation to the leadership) and with guaranteed seats: Verstappen, taking advantage of another mistake by Leclerc and Ferrari, won and took an important step towards retaining the title; Hamilton, who was in the 300th Grand Prix of his race, showed that the improvements made by Mercedes are not enough for the Red Bulls but they have improved the car and achieved the best result of the year in which it was the fourth consecutive podium; Pérez tried to stay in third position. He didn’t make it: after being overtaken by Sainz (who was later dropped to eighth due to the penalty and finished fifth), he still had a touch left with Russell but the car insurance It virtually changed the accounts of the Mexican, who was overtaken by the British and allowed the British team to also have its best result of 2022.
2 MERCEDES ON THE PODIUM ????@GeorgeRussell63 gets the best of @SCHecoPerez behind the Safety Car!#sporttvportugal #F1naSPORTTV #F1 #Formula 1 #GPFrench #GeorgeRussell #sergioperez pic.twitter.com/uQbaoHCU67
— SPORT TV (@SPORTTVPortugal) July 24, 2022
MAX BACK TO THE VICTORIES ????#sporttvportugal #F1naSPORTTV #F1 #Formula 1 #GPFrench #MaxVerstappen pic.twitter.com/9u7rP9cQ4S
— SPORT TV (@SPORTTVPortugal) July 24, 2022
Source: Observadora
