Updated:23/05/2021 17:10h
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Perseverance always has a prize and in this Carlos Sainz has shown a natural virtue. There is no other race in F1 like Monaco and in this unique setting, the Madrid native conquered a divine podium, the kind that are always remembered. Prestigious podium, on his fifth appointment with Ferrari. It is the third of his life, the first with his new team. His greatest joy in Formula 1. A success that second place that somehow compensates for the Italians the disappointment of Leclerc, who could not participate. Verstappen won in the Principality in a white race, without incident, without crashes, without safety cars, and overtakes Hamilton in the World Championship standings. Alonso finished thirteenth in a heartbreaking weekend.
Formula 1 reveals itself in all its cruelty against Charles Leclerc, author of the pole in his city, at the doors of his home. The Monegasque does not give credit when starting his Ferrari half an hour before departure, in the activation protocol. He screams in horror over the radio to report the misfortune. No, no, no, the gearbox, guys». Leclerc made pole and hit a barrier at the close of the session. Stress is detected in the Ferrari garage, you imagine the distress of the gearbox, but it is not that, but the transmission system on the left wheel.
What a day #MonacoGP ???????? # F1pic.twitter.com/RPUYZVRSFL
– Formula 1 (@ F1) May 23, 2021
Leclerc can’t get the Ferrari out of the garage, he can’t defend his pole position. «I only feel sadness in me. It doesn’t look like the gearbox, but maybe the driveshaft. Yesterday we checked the parts, they were all in good condition ”, laments the Ferrari driver, who walks disconsolate around the grid, while his teammates put their arms around his shoulder.
Everyone wins a position because there is neither driver nor car on the first strip of the exit. Unheard.
The car explosion at the start is saved without incident in the narrow hole of Monaco and its curve of Santa Devota, the first of the 1,482 twists that they have to study during the race. Nobody touches, nobody interferes, everyone keeps the position in the most decisive grand prize on Saturdays.
Manda Verstappen, with Bottas and Sainz on podium honors without almost accelerating. The most emblematic race in F1 is actually a game of chess in which tire management prevails so as not to stop too early in the garage (a single step through the box is mandatory) and do not go out in the traffic zone, stuck between slower cars.
Nothing substantial happens, beyond the good pace of Sainz, who credits Ferrari’s step forward in Monaco. It could even be considered that Bottas stops the Madrilenian when he approaches.
The stops arrive and the world changes. F1 in Monaco is decided in the pits. Hamilton doesn’t understand why he has to change wheels so soon and protests. Worse is Bottas, whose life is ruined by the right front tire. The wheel does not come off no matter how much the mechanic insists with the gun. Nothing. Water. Three silver rubbers and one red, which does not come off. Bottas retires. Never seen. In Ferrari they do not fail, 2.7 seconds. Sainz is already second.
No news from Fernando Alonso, almost invisible for performance as dictated by unwritten F1 rules. The one who is not in front, does not appear on TV. He has gained positions at the start and is advancing towards twelfth place in his best moment of the afternoon. He suffers, like Ricciardo, the rigors of a year that does not go as he and his followers would like.
Sainz threatens to threaten Verstappen, who has shown rocky confidence all weekend. “Who knows?”, the Madrilenian wonders on the radio. But the Dutchman has room for improvement and when he needs it he puts one more gear and says goodbye in search of victory. Sainz, an intelligent reader of situations, understands that it is best to keep that second place given the distance he maintains over Norris and Checo Pérez. He does it, he succeeds and enjoys his third podium in Formula 1, his first with Ferrari.
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