Nithyanandam Ramasamy
Max Verstappen dominated the Styrian GP to extend his world championship lead over Lewis Hamilton. The race was fairly a straightforward one. It wasn’t as dramatic as the French GP. All the talking points from the race surround Charles Leclerc, who became a hero from zero. We can also call him entertainer of the day. Let’s decode the data from the race.
The race start:
The first lap was the most dramatic out of all 71 laps. Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly banged wheels as it eventually ended Pierre Gasly’s race and forced Charles Leclerc for a wing change in the very first lap. On top of it, the slow-moving Pierre Gasly, with a rear left puncture, was collected by Antonio Giovinazzi and Nicholas Latifi.
In the first lap, 11 drivers have gained positions. Kimi Raikkonen was the biggest gainer where he gained 5 positions. Daniel Ricciardo and Nikita Mazepin had a great start to the race where they gained 4 positions each. Daniel Ricciardo would be disappointed that his first lap effort has gone in vain due to his momentary engine problem. The biggest losers in position? Of course Nicholas Latifi, Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc. They have dropped to the back of the grid due to the first lap shenanigans, which also ended Pierre Gasly’s race.
How did Charles Leclerc go from zero to hero?
Due to the first lap mishap, Charles Leclerc had to pit at the end of the lap for a wing change and rejoined nearly 20s behind the car ahead of him, on 18th position. So how did Charles Leclerc go from 18th to 7th in the next 69 laps with 10 overtakes on track?
Charles Leclerc overtook 4 cars from lap 13 to lap 24. That’s only 11 laps to overtake Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin, Antonio Gioviazzi and Esteban Ocon. He moved up to 8th behind Daniel Ricciardo for a brief moment when drivers ahead of him pitted. Charles Leclerc made his second stop on lap 37, and it dropped him back to 14th place.
From lap 38 to 59, he had overtaken 6 drivers to finish 7th in the race. I’m not sure whether he deserved driver of the day, but he surely was the entertainer of the day at the Styrian GP. When several drivers struggled with dirty air, he has made some brilliant old school overtaking moves, which led him to describe the charge as “one of my best performances”.
Charles Leclerc quicker than Lando Norris & Carlos Sainz?
Charles Leclerc’s second stint was quicker than Lando Norris & Carlos Sainz’s first stint. The pace could be down to Charles Leclerc running in the fresh air at the back while Lando Norris was defending Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. In the meantime, Lando Norris had to preserve his soft tyres in his first stint, which he managed for 31 laps. The same can be said about Carlos Sainz as he managed his medium tyres for impressive 41 laps. Taking nothing away from Charles Leclerc, but Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz had impressive first stints.
What does the second stint say?
Ferrari drivers have edged both Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas and matched Sergio Perez during the second stint. Ferrari’s strategy was spot on as they went for a long first stint and short second stint, which helped them to have a strong second half of the race. Carlos Sainz would be gutted that he was held up by Lewis Hamilton for around 15 laps. Nevertheless, It was a strong result for the team from Maranello after a disappointing show in France due to tyre graining.
The star of the show has to be Carlos Sainz, and the entertainer of the show goes to Charles Leclerc. Both of them were mighty impressive at the Styrian GP. Without the first lap shenanigans, we might have seen Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc battle it out for the 5th position. We can ask ourselves whether we were robbed of a dramatic midfield battle!
Have Ferrari mitigated their tyre problems by using high downforce on their cars? Will they have a stronger race pace once again at the Austrian GP? The Tifosi can hope!
