British Grand Prix Review: Sainz wins first F1 race, but Ferrari's race strategies are questionable.

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 British Grand Prix Review: Sainz wins first F1 race, but Ferrari's race strategies are questionable.

Carlos Sainz was able to convert his first pole position in Formula 1 to his first victory at Silverstone on Sunday. One would assume this is great news for Ferrari, but questionable race strategies from Ferrari potentially ruined a 1-2 finish for the team.

Sainz had a poor start to the British Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen beat him off of the line. This was mute as a horrible crash before turn 1, resulting in 3 DNFs and Zhou Guanyu sliding upside down and flipping into the fence protecting the fans, caused a red flag and the remaining drivers restarting from their starting positions on the grid. Zhou is okay, but once again the halo proves its worth in saving Zhou's life on Sunday.


Once the race resumed, Sainz was able to hold off an aggressive push from Verstappen into turn 1. Both Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc sustained front wing damage at the restart adding to the intensity on the first few laps. As the race progressed, Verstappen continued to pressure Sainz ultimately leading to Sainz going off and rejoining the track as Verstappen motored by.

On lap 12 Verstappen's lead ended for good as he sustained damage to the floor of his car from debri on the track forcing him to pit to try to resolve the issue as the team thought he had a tire puncture. With Sainz now in P1 and Leclerc now in P2, Ferrari was poised to finish the race 1-2. Leclerc began setting fastest laps, and was pleading for Ferrari to enforce team orders and switch the positions of the two drivers, but the team was reluctant to do so and continued to give Sainz the opportunity to fight to stay in P1. With Leclerc being stuck behind his teammate, Mercedes' Sir Lewis Hamilton began to close the gap in P3 and was pushing the Ferrari's to make a decision.

Ferrari ultimately gave the position to Leclerc allowing him to push on and and extend his advantage as the race progressed. With Verstappen out of the mix battling in the midfield, this was Leclerc's time to make a dent in Verstappen's lead in the driver's standings. Unfortunately, Ferrari's questionable race strategies may have taken the win away from Leclerc.

Late in the race, Alpine's Esteban Ocon lost power and was forced to stop on the side of the track, resulting in a safety car. This gave the drivers the chance at a pit stop they did not expect, and teams took advantage of this, including Ferrari. With Leclerc in P1 and Sainz in P2, Ferrari opted to keep Leclerc out on the track with the old hard tires, and brought in Sainz for new soft tires to finish off of the race. This split strategy made it extremely difficult for Leclerc to hold his position at the restart of the race. To help Leclerc, Ferrari instructed Sainz to give Leclerc a 10 car gap to create room for Leclerc to warm his hard tires back up, however Sainz was not pleased with this direction and opted to take the race into his own hands. Sainz overtook Leclerc quickly at the restart, leaving the fight for P2 and P3 to the rest of the pack.

The restart produced the best racing of the year so far, maybe the best in a few years. Leclerc, Hamilton, and Perez battled for P2 and P3, all three drivers attacking the others and putting the cars and themselves on the limit. Leclerc was unable to contend for the podium for the last few laps as his tires, along with his damaged front wing, proved to be too much for him to overcome. 

With Sainz getting his first career GP win, and Leclerc taking P4, Ferrari does have reason to celebrate. Leclerc will be hoping for better fortune and a better race strategy from the team heading to Austria this weekend, but with Austria being Red Bull's home track, Ferrari will have a major uphill battle in front of them.

See podium below:
P1 - Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
P2 - Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
P3 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)




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