F1 | THE BRITISH GP, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “BRAVO SAINZ, BUT RED BULL IS A CUT ABOVE. SAFETY CAR? ITS ENTRY WAS WRONG”

Excitement was not lacking in Silverstone, the stage for the tenth round of the Formula 1 World Championship. Once again the excellent work on the safety front by FIA in recent years avoided the worst with the terrible accident that saw Alfa Romeo driver Guan Yu Zhou as the protagonist, miraculously coming out of the accident unhurt. Honestly however, I cannot understand how it was possible that the roll bar of the C42 was completely destroyed and torn up.

Luckily the Halo held on saving the driver. In Formula 2 Roy Nissany was hit by Dennis Hauger after his car took off and struck the DAMS team racing car in the area of the cockpit.

At the restart we saw an unexpected race with Ferrari winning with Carlos Sainz who had already shown his potential in qualifying. However, Ferrari was once again imperfect, committing a careless act in regard to an excellent Leclerc. Without the entry of the safety car in the final part that reshuffled the cards he would certainly have taken home the win and thus taking advantage of Red Bull’s imperfect Sunday with Max Verstappen who had to settle for seventh place. Ferrari’s people on the wall could have changed the strategies bringing the driver from Monte Carlo in for a pit stop. Sainz’s win however made me very happy as I have always highlighted and believed in his potential.

On the Safety Car front, I honestly found the decision “trivial” if not unnecessary. Ocon’s car was at a very visible point on the track and they could have chosen the yellow flag. Certainly Alpine’s French driver was not exempt from blame since from the start of their career drivers are taught that in the case of problems they must park the car without hindering the race. He had plenty of time to choose a safer place.

Apart from these episodes, Silverstone gave us back a competitive Mercedes was able to fight with Ferrari and Red Bull. Sainz, Leclerc, Perez and Hamilton gave us a wonderful tussle marked by fast laps. Lewis Hamilton made the most of his W13, Too bad for the accident that excluded George Russell who had not fault.

Excellent work on the part of Red Bull’s people on the wall, with a perfect strategy that allowed Sergio Perez to finish in second place. Without problems the RB18 is a cut above the rest. Excellent work by Fernando Alonso as well, the protagonist of a good first half of the championship. Once again he showed all his worth, especially on a wet track.

Gian Carlo Minardi