Carlos Sainz celebrates a win at Silverstone, Ferrari still feels like a loser. Mick Schumacher gets his first Formula 1 points, but Guanyu Zhou’s serious accident was the overriding factor.
Probably the most important news of the Formula 1 weekend in Silverstone: Alexander Albon and Guanyu Zhou survived the horror accident on Sunday (July 3rd, 2022) immediately after the start unscathed. Above all, the images of Zhou’s crash gave rise to fears of the worst: the Chinese’s Alfa Romeo turned upside down after a collision with George Russell’s Mercedes, flew off the track, lifted over a tire wall and only came to an end after a heavy impact in the safety fence Standing – only a few meters away from a grandstand positioned behind it.
The fact that Zhou escaped with his life was probably only due to that Halosystem, the seven-kilogram titanium roll bar, which has been mandatory in Formula 1 since 2018 and protects the driver’s head from even the heaviest collisions. “Without Halo if he weren’t there”said world champion Max Verstappen after viewing the accident video.
Halo saves two lives in one day
The frightening scenes at Silverstone are likely to be the last critics of the Halo be silenced, some had criticized the introduction, among other things, of a limited field of vision due to the titanium ring. “Of the Halo saved me today”also said Zhou who “Miraculously unharmed” (“TheTimes“) and spoke again about the start of the upcoming race in Austria. Also WilliamsPilot Albon, who was also involved in the serious accident at the start, was released from the hospital on Sunday evening and was able to give the all-clear.
In the Formula 2 junior class, too, Israeli Roy Nissany survived a serious accident at Silverstone thanks to the titanium bar after Norwegian Dennis Hauger’s car landed on his racing car at cockpit height. “The Halo probably saved two lives today”said Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and emphasized with a view to the ever more comprehensive safety measures: “I’m very happy to be driving in Formula 1 at this time.”
Sainz or Leclec? Mixed mood at Ferrari
Sainz was also able to celebrate his first victory in Formula 1, on the prestigious circuit in Silverstone. Actually also a reason to cheer for Ferrari, but with Charles Leclerc one of his own employees gave the party crasher: Leclerc, the designated number one driver at Scuderia, showed up after the race “disappointed”after the team management had only half-heartedly preferred him to Carlos Sainz in their strategy during the race.
With Sainz, who is fourth in the world championship standings, Ferrari left a good chance of making up ground on Max Verstappen, who was weakening in the Red Bull this time. be it “too short” been, “to stop both”said team boss Mattia Binotto about the decision in the crucial security-Car phase when they refrained from pitting Leclerc again due to his fresher tires and his position on the track. Sainz got new tires and won. “I understand Charles’ disappointment. In hindsight we should have switched to the red tire with him.”said Binotto.
Schumacher scores for the first time in the 31st race
Mick Schumacher celebrated his first World Championship points like a victory, he had to wait 31 races for it. “It’s taken long enough, I feel really great”said the Haas pilot with a grin. In eighth place, he collected four points and thus ended the tiresome counting of clear laps. Finally everything came together – Schumacher didn’t make any mistakes, Haas didn’t go limp.
His grandiose catch-up race at Silverstone from penultimate to eighth place removed any remaining doubts about Schumacher’s suitability for Formula 1, at least for the time being, and gave him the best arguments for the forthcoming contract negotiations, even if Schumacher is in Silverstone benefited from the fact that many competitors from the driver’s midfield were eliminated.
But it won’t get any easier for him, in order to score points, everything has to go right for Schumacher. But the young pilot with the big name can now tackle the next races freed from a certain burden. Team boss Günther Steiner, who recently also noticed public criticism of the 23-year-old, hoped that “Now some of the pressure is off and he can ride more freely”.
Scored his first World Championship points in Silverstone: Mick Schumacher from the Haas Martin team.
With self-confidence in the contract negotiations
After a tough year of training in an inferior car and many setbacks, Schumacher was finally able to reward himself for his patience and hard work at Silverstone. Shortly before the finish, he proved that he is still not lacking in self-confidence when he also took on world champion Verstappen.
team owner genes Haas had recently emphasized that the racing team wanted to wait a little longer with talks about a new contract. Schumacher’s current contract expires at the end of the year. But if he confirms his form in the three races until the summer break, the US team will hardly think about a separation.