SAINZ AT LAST AT WILD SILVERSTONE
For the first time, he was on pole. His big chance awaited, but it all went wrong when the Silverstone lights went out. He bogged down and the dominant points leader surged ahead. But Carlos Sainz had a second chance and seized it. Amazingly, this doesn’t just apply to the 2022 British Grand Prix, where Sainz claimed a maiden Formula 1 triumph in his 150th start. It also happened 12 years earlier in the Formula BMW Europe round supporting the 2010 British GP when, as a 15-year-old, he scored his breakthrough win in that series.
Last weekend, Sainz’s Ferrari squad emerged victorious for the first time since the Australian GP in April. But while there were always two starts planned in 2010 – there were two races after all, the first won by series leader Jack Harvey – there should have been just one last Sunday.
When the lights went out, Sainz got away slower than fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen, who reaped the reward of running soft tyres on his Red Bull against the Ferrari’s mediums. As they shot through Abbey chased by the fast-starting Lewis Hamilton, who had quickly roared between Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez, chaos and frightening drama unfolded in the pack behind.
The slow-starting George Russell and Zhou Guanyu had seen Williams qualifying star Nicholas Latifi nip between them. Then, as Pierre Gasly tried to do the same, Russell drifted slightly left. Their contact sent Russell sideways at high speed into the Alfa Romeo, which was instantly flipped upside-down and careered into the Abbey gravel supported only by its halo. Zhou was bounced over the tyre barrier after hitting it and was trapped between that and the catch fence protecting the grandstand beyond. Fortunately, Zhou emerged unharmed after several minutes
