Ferrari at Silverstone took their third win of the 2022 Formula 1 season after almost three months and celebrated the first career victory of Carlos Sainz, who at the 150th start in Formula 1 has finally experienced the thrill of climbing on the top step of the podium. The goal declared by Mattia Binotto was to reduce the gap to Max Verstappen and recover points against the Dutchman with Charles Leclerc. The targets were in theory achieved also because of the problem at the floor which Max Verstappen suffered due to debris that transformed the race of the reigning world champion “in a suffering” that ended in seventh place.
Charles Leclerc, however, could have scored much more points and recover many more than just six, but a strategic choice by the Ferrari pitwall, faced with a dilemma, favored Carlos Sainz who was in second position: the Spaniard was called in to mount new soft tires while his Maranello teammate remained the leader of the British Grand Prix, but with the old hard tires and had no chance of defending against the faster cars behind him after the restart, having to settle for fourth place at the end.
‘Two-faced Red’ is the opening title of Italian daily newspaper Il Corriere della Sera – ‘If I were Charles I would ask myself: “But what more can I do?” – was the title of the editorial by Giorgio Terruzzi who writes: “If I were Leclerc I would have a much harder time accepting the outcome of the GP than Leclerc actually did. I say this with apologies for the comparison. The fact is that this guy is doing anthological moves from the first corner of the championship. The list of his efforts, including those of yesterday, in a monumental defending of his position, with harder and slower tires than the suit that chased him in the final, places him in a stratosphere of motorsport. If I were Leclerc I would ask myself what the hell I should or could do better and more to place myself in a position of absolute dominance within Ferrari. Knowing full well that no one in the team has doubts about it; that never, ever anyone thought of penalizing him”.
‘Red and black’ is instead the title of La Gazzetta dello Sport which highlights the joy of Carlos Sainz on the one hand and the anger of Charles Leclerc on the other. “It is difficult for the fans to really enjoy this win – as the Spaniard’s feat deserves – because Charles Leclerc, who could have won several more points over a struggling Max Verstappen, only finished fourth. And not because of him. As in Monaco, Charles was a victim of the circumstances and decisions of the Maranello pit wall. This time it was due to a safety car, which entered the track when Ocon’s Alpine stopped with 13 laps to go. Without this unexpected event, Charles Leclerc would have won the GP without problems. Therefore, a good deal of bad luck was involved. But, faced with an unforeseen situation, the Maranello wall has once again taken a questionable decision by sacrificing the driver placed better in the World championship, essentially preventing him from winning the race”, reads the columns of La Gazzetta dello Sport in an editorial by Gianluca Gasparini with the title ‘Ferrari, you can be happy for Sainz, but why do you sacrifice Leclerc?’.
‘Good to take the first’ is instead the title chosen by La Stampa: “Carlos rejoices, while Charles is a fury. Ferrari won at Silverstone, at the home of Mercedes and Red Bull who have their factories here, but the post-race moments between the two ‘Carli’ is at high tension. Sainz was looking for his first career success and found it at the end of a race that was first dramatic and then increasingly thrilling. Leclerc, on the other hand, had the opportunity to rebalance the world rankings and failed it due to a strategic choice that relegated him to fourth place, behind Perez and Hamilton “, Stefano Mancini wrote.
‘Only Sainz is partying’ says La Repubblica: “Ask me if I’m happy. Mattia Binotto is, after the first, much desired victory of Carlos Sainz, in the most exciting and disturbing Grand Prix of the season so far, at Silverstone, at the home of Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes. Then you talk to Charles Leclerc: his face does not hold back the disappointment, after another race ‘that was thrown away’, his words, for yet another ‘wrong decision’ “, writes Antonello Guerrera.
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‘The balancing act of the pit wall’ is the title of the editorial in Il Corriere dello Sport signed by Mauro Coppini which reads: “It is curious how often it has happened in the history of a brand such as Ferrari that the relationship between victory and defeat is so tenuous, at point to reverse the meaning itself. Because in Maranello when someone wins, someone else loses and what matters more is to maintain an internal state of balance than to score in the World Championship”.
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