French GP
One of the perks of writing this on Thursday is that I get to share the latest news!
F1 online community was buzzing last night when people realized that Sebastian Vettel finally had an Instagram account. I was incredibly suspicious of this, as it seemed like a big announcement was going to be made (and I was right).
On Thursday morning Seb posted a video announcing that he would be retiring at the end of the season. This announcement does not surprise me, but I will absolutely miss seeing him race next season. Needless to say I hit that follow button (I was like one of the first 250k, so nbd), and can’t wait to see what he does next! Happy Trails, Seb!
Okie dokie let’s rewind that VHS, and talk about France.
Race 12 Summary
July 24, 2022
So… France was… kinda… fun? I mean it’s normally a pretty forgettable race (despite being second for most overtakes), but this year it absolutely delivered. But I wasn’t always so optimistic during the weekend.
Mercedes was more off pace than people were expecting, so I went into Qualifying fully expecting to be disappointed. Fortunately, both Merc drivers made it into Q3, and were able to secure the best possible positions, with Hamilton proving why he is the GOAT and putting the dumpster truck car that is the W13 in P4, and George securing a respectable P6. Leclerc was able to get a helpful tow from Sainz, as Sainz was going to be starting from the back of the grid for an engine penalty, which really meant there was no competition for pole. Max Verstappen secured P2, and Perez was P3. So what happened during the actual race?
Sir Lewis Hamilton absolutely BESTED Sergio Perez on the start, getting a great jump and putting himself in P3. Perez struggled to get around him, and eventually dropped off from Hamilton. Leclerc got out to a great jump as well, but Verstappen’s acceleration in that Red Bull is always dangerous. Charles stayed ahead, with Max charging behind him. Max made a few attempts, but wasn’t able to pass Charles. Eventually, Max dropped off of Charles and appeared to begin to manage his tires. This really felt like it was Leclerc’s race to lose… and well…
On lap 18 Leclerc went into the barriers after losing the rear of the car, and gave one of the best radios of the year. Pretty much everyone dove into the pits under the safety car (except for Max Verstappen, who pitted on lap 16- before Leclerc’s crash). During the flurry of pits, Carlos Sainz had an incredibly unsafe release in the path of Alex Albon who was entering the pits. Luckily they avoided contact, which would have been extremely dangerous for the pit crews (especially McLaren’s). Sainz would eventually be handed a 5 second penalty, which in my opinion wasn’t harsh enough. Once we were green again, Max sped off with ease, with Hamilton, Perez, and Russell behind him. Sainz had been charging through the grid, overtaking Fernando Alonso for P5 on lap 22. George and Carlos had a few good laps of racing, but Carlos eventually overtook him for P4.
By lap 41, Carlos was battling with Perez in another excellent display of racing. He struggled for a few laps to get around him, and asked his team if he should pit to be released from behind him. In the teams delay to give him a firm answer, more laps went by, and right as Carlos was overtaking Sergio for P3, the team told him to box. Yikes, more on this in a second. George, despite being passed by Carlos hadn’t given up, and was able to catch Sergio after his battle Carlos. He made an aggressive lunge, I’ll admit that, but Sergio also took an aggressive line on the corner, leaving Russell with very little room. George hit the curb, and Perez took evasive action off track. Perez held on to P4, and Russell was pretty aggravated, as he believed Perez gained a lasting advantage off track, and let his team know it- going as far as basically citing the rulebook from the driver’s seat. Perez was upset by the move by Russell, but Race Control deemed it was a racing incident. I have to say, the rules confuse me, so I can’t objectively have an opinion, but I’m glad he wasn’t penalized. I also respect that they didn’t force Perez to give up his position for going off track. But I will say, George is one of the representatives for the driver’s union (alongside Sebastian Vettel), so if anyone knows the rules, it would theoretically be them. The following lap (lap 43), Ferrari called Carlos Sainz into the pit. Now… I support them pitting Carlos, because chancing making it to the end of the race would have been too risky. I felt they were risky a blowout, and losing more team points. The big issue is that they absolutely should have pitted him sooner, especially because he had to serve his 5 second penalty as well. Meanwhile, George was still in hot pursuit of Sergio Perez, but was still quite aggravated by the situation. Both his engineer and team boss, Toto Wolff, told him that he could hunt him down on track.
On lap 49, Zhou Guanyu pulled off the track and was forced to retire his car (due to some problem with the car). This brought out a VSC, which meant that Russell was going to get a really good chance at Perez. As the Virtual Safety Car was ending, Russell slowed up enough to allow him to accelerate to gain momentum right as the track was green, and jump Perez. The move was a racing strategy at its finest. He got the jump on Perez, and was able to overtake him for P3. Perez was complaining over the radio the final few laps about George’s driving (particularly that he was going off track). He was on Russell’s tail the final few laps, but Russell defended well, and the frustrated Red Bull driver had to settle for P4. Carlos was able to recover to P5, which considering the poor strategy and penalty, was a great drive by the Spaniard. But the real story is THE MERCEDES DOUBLE PODIUM!!! YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!
Happy Wolff family :)
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Winners:
-Mercedes
-Max Verstappen
Mercedes- DOUBLE PODIUM!!! Small steps for the team, and big points! The drivers are driving the hell out of the W13. Brilliant drives by both.
Max Verstappen- I will give him some props. In light of Charles Leclerc’s crack under pressure during the race, I will commend Verstappen for having some composure.
Losers:
-Ferrari
-Sergio Perez
Ferrari- I mean… what a horrible weekend. There was no reason why Carlos shouldn’t have finished on the podium today, and you blew it. Charles wrecked, Carlos nearly took out the McLaren pit crew, and the strategy call at the end cost you a podium. Well done.
Sergio Perez- Not a good race for him. Truly bested on track by both Mercedes drivers, and honestly… I freaking love to see it.
My driver of the day- I gotta give it to George Russell. He showed some real heart, fight, and racing IQ today. Absolutely brilliant drive.
>SILVER ARROW POINTS
Short and sweet this week…
> Stop. Messing. Up. On. Pitstops. This is serious, Mercedes. Get it together. The fans are beginning you to please keep them under 3 seconds. Anything over 4 seconds is a crime. Please just sort it out.
FAVE CREATORS
On the Chicane: 2022 French GP Race Review. “Is the pressure getting to Charles Leclerc? How should teams deal with their second driver? Stephanie Wentworth, E-Sports presenter and content creator, joins Marium to discuss the Formula 1 Grand Prix.”
Quickstop F1: 2022 French GP Review. “Welcome to the Quick Stop F1 podcast! Nyasha and Thandie are joined by everyone's favourite Brummie and one of our favourite F1 content creators - Cameron F1! We break down the prospect of losing heritage GPs like France and Spa before breaking down the fumbles of all fumbles by Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. We also praise George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and wonder whether Vettel even wants to be at Aston Martin anymore.”
Brad Philpot: French GP Questions Answered | F1 Through the Visor.