John Elkann called the Scuderia’s performance in Austria the best of the season, and Leo Turini, a seasoned Italian racing journalist, admits this is one of the rare occasions when he agrees with Ferrari’s president…
Raise your hand to those Ferrari fans who haven’t had a glimmer of hope that during Max Verstappen’s dangerous pit stop in the closing minutes of the race, one of the wheels on his RB19 will jam a nut…
But I have to admit I’m a bit alarmed: for the second time in less than a month I’m in complete agreement with Ferrari president John Elkann! (The first was on the occasion of the Le Mans victory he so passionately desired)
Seriously, the president is right. In Austria we saw the best performance of the Scuderia this season. Red Bull is still a long way off, but the red cars were clearly faster than Mercedes and Aston Martin. Consequently, efforts to modernize the whimsical SF-23 are paying off. The car is doing what is required of it: it finally consumes less rubber and again acts as the closest Red Bull pursuer, and that is an important sign.
However, we must immediately make a reservation: the backlog remains significant.
However, Frederic Vasseur has legitimate reasons to be pleased. Of course we already know who will take the title, but the melancholy mood of Ferrari fans is at least a little brightened by the fact that the Scuderia is hard at work and trying to break away from the rest of the pack.
Now let’s talk about racers. Carlos Sainz performed well, even faster than Charles Leclerc at the start of the race. But then he was fined for violating the limits of the route, but did not lose heart. The Spaniard skillfully built up the defense, delaying Sergio Perez’s breakthrough, and Sainz’s actions also confirm his generosity towards his partner.
Charles tried to take full advantage of the start from the front row. On the first lap he made an attempt to overtake Verstappen – meaning he wants to fight him on an equal footing. At the same time, it is very important that Leclerc understands that a good racer has to take into account the real capabilities of his car and take that into account in the process of fighting on the track. Charles demonstrated this in Austria.
Mercedes racers disappointed.
The Aston Martin team performed worse than expected.
But Lando Norris was pleased.
See you at Silverstone!
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
