Carlos Sainz celebrated his first Formula 1 victory in a Ferrari. The Spaniard beat Mexican Sergio Perez in the Red Bull at the British Grand Prix on Sunday (July 3rd, 2022) and celebrated the first win of his career.
Ex-world champion Lewis Hamilton was third in the Mercedes, while world championship leader Max Verstappen was only able to steer his Red Bull into seventh place after technical problems. Mick Schumacher in eighth place in the Haas racing car scored points in the top motorsport class for the first time in his career, while Sebastian Vettel finished ninth in the Aston Martin.
Serious accident of Guanyu Zhou
Miraculously, Guanyu Zhou survived a horrific accident early in the race without serious injuries. The Chinese overturned shortly after the start after a collision with Mercedes driver George Russell in his Alfa Romeo and crashed over the tire barriers into the safety fence. The race was stopped immediately.
Accident involving many people
After anxious minutes, Zhou’s team announced that the 23-year-old was fine. After an examination in the hospital on the track, this was also confirmed by the world association FIA. Zhou was able to leave the facility “fit” again during the World Cup run.
Zhou’s car was turned upside down in the crash, flew over the gravel, rotated in the air, flew over the tire wall and only came to a stop after hitting the safety fence. Albons Williams was also subjected to tremendous forces. Also involved were George Russell (Mercedes), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). These pilots were fine. Ocon and Tsunoda were able to continue their journey and took part in the restart.
Leclerc loses lead
At the restart after the Zhou accident, Sainz, Verstappen and Leclerc initially defended their positions. A few laps later, Verstappen then grabbed Sainz, who made a driving error – but shortly afterwards the Dutchman lost the lead again. The 24-year-old apparently drove over a piece of debris, damaging his Red Bull and causing the defending champion to lose speed.
Because Leclerc was faster than Sainz, Ferrari ordered a position swap. Behind it, Hamilton put pressure on without end. A safety car phase shortly before the end made for additional excitement. Hamilton and Sainz got new soft tires, Leclerc stayed on his old hard tires. “That’s going to be hard”he guessed on the radio – and ended up only fourth.
Schumacher in the points for the first time
In the midst of the madness in Great Britain, Mick Schumacher also had a lucky day and, after a great race to catch up, scored the first four World Cup points of his career in eighth place. “It took long enough,” said the 23-year-old before he was showered with champagne by sister Gina.
The Haas driver almost even overtook world champion Max Verstappen. The World Championship leader dragged himself across the finish line in seventh place with a damaged Red Bull. In the overall standings, however, he is still clearly ahead.
Vettel scores on birthday
However, the best news of the day for Formula One was that China’s Guanyu Zhou and Thailand’s Alexander Albon escaped a frightening early-race crash without serious injury. So Sainz could cheer freely. “I will never forget this day, I’m so incredibly happy,” said the 27-year-old.
Aston Martin driver Sebastian Vettel also had reason to be happy on his 35th birthday. He rewarded himself with two points after fighting his way from 18th on the grid to ninth. “It wasn’t to be expected in this form. The pace was good and we dared to do something with the strategy,” said the man from Heppenheim.
Climate activists on the route
Climate activists, who, according to the FIA, had got onto the track in the first lap, caused another stir. “These individuals were removed immediately and the matter is now being addressed by local authorities,” said the world association.