Scuderia Ferrari will have left the British Grand Prix with a spring in their step, showing a surprising level of pace, being comfortably the quickest car on track on the medium tyre and on top of all this challenged for the win right up until the end of an eventful 2021 British Grand Prix, eventually bringing a second place back to Maranello.
Charles Leclerc’s second position will undoubtedly be tinged with a hint of disappointment having been so close to taking a third Grand Prix victory, but a second place finish is a fantastic result, one of which Leclerc will be very proud of one he has time to reflect on the result over the coming days.
The Monagasque driver insists that Ferrari must take the positives from this situation, despite being so close to a first Grand Prix Victory since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. Leclerc found the race reasonably challenging suffering some engine cuts which meant he had to fiddle around with various things on the steering wheel to try and fix the issue, but after that the two-Time Grand Prix winner felt he had the race under relative control, even managing to pull away from the two chasing Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Cars at various points during the race.
However, once they switched onto the hard tyre Lewis Hamilton had the superior pace and Leclerc felt it was almost an inevitability that he would be caught.
“We have to look at the positives in this type of situation, despite the disappointment of losing the win in the closing laps,” he said. “It was a challenging race for me. In the first stint, I had to make some changes on the steering wheel to manage the engine cuts I had. After that, I felt that we had it under control.
“I managed to pull away from the others and lead for the majority of the race. Unfortunately, Lewis was just more competitive on the Hards. I could feel his pace as he approached me and there was not much I could do.”
On another positive note, as previously mentioned Leclerc was quicker than anyone else in the field on the medium compound, which was positively surprising. Unfortunately on the hards this was not the case but they will still one of the faster cars.
The Monagasque driver is really grateful that has been put in at the Ferrari headquarters in Maranello between the French and British Grand Prix and therefore dedicates this podium to them and hopes that this year they might be able to go one step further after being close to a win already on 3 occasions this year.
“On the upside, we were quicker than anyone else on the Mediums, which we did not expect. It was impressive. On the Hards, we had a little bit less of an advantage, but still showed a great pace. I am very proud of how we have been working. The team has done an incredible job and fully deserves this podium. They also deserve a win, so we will keep pushing to make it happen if we get the chance.”
Sainz Disappointed As Lack Of Straight Line Speed and Dirty Air Hampers His Race
Carlos Sainz Jr. will come away from the 2021 British Grand Prix disappointed, despite the team having a fantastic weekend in the constructor’s championship, the Spaniard finished in the same position as he did in 2019 with the McLaren F1 Team where on both occasion he has finished sixth.
The Spaniard feels that it wasn’t the greatest race for himself personally, but concedes that it has been a good weekend for Ferrari as a whole on the Constructors Championship side of things. Sainz felt that the car was set-up well, despite having only one practice session before having to undergo Parc Fermé conditions and two good starts in both races led to some good battles with Daniel Ricciardo but as per usual, on the weekend where the 2022 car was revealed to the world – which hopes to improve following dirty air meant that it was difficult to follow other cars around the circuit.
“Not the greatest race for me, but in general a very good result for the team and many positives to take away. Today our car was strong, the balance was good, and our work with the set-up is paying off. Two good starts put me in a position to fight with Ricciardo, but passing the McLaren on track proved to be incredibly difficult. The dirty air through the corners meant I couldn’t get close enough and we were lacking a bit on the straights.”
Once in clean air, Sainz was able to lift the pace so high that he almost managed to overcut the Australian had it not been for a slow pit-stop. The Spanish driver is not angry at the team as he recognises that everyone makes mistakes and also recognises that the majority of the other pit-stops this year have been very good. Unfortunately he was unable to make the move on Ricciardo coming home in a very respectable sixth at the end of the Grand Prix.
“Once he pitted, my pace in clean air was super strong and I managed to virtually overcut him before my stop. Unfortunately the pit stop was slow. The team has been great at pit stops all year and these things can happen. I tried my best to overtake the McLaren during the second stint but we faced the same problem and in the end we came home in P6.”
On the other side of the garage, Sainz is quick to congratulate his good friend and team-mate Charles Leclerc who brought the car home in second place which gives the Spaniard lots of confidence ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix and knows that the whole team back at Maranello will be working extremely well to ensure Ferrari maintain competitiveness.
“A big congrats to Charles, who nearly managed to secure a win for the team! This race gives us a good feeling for Hungary and for the second part of the season. We keep pushing.”
