The difference between joy and deep disappointment is a matter of a few tenths. It was supposed to be Ferrari that took over after Red Bull’s first setback. Instead it was Mercedes to achieve an incredible victory, when a month ago it seemed to have disappeared completely, linked only to distant memories. And instead Toto Wolff’s team, with an immense effort, managed to recover ground, while the Ferrari made a mistake in the latest updates, or the results of the changes were lower than expected. And so on the day when Verstappen and Norris were jostling each other, eliminating each other when they had a margin of about fifteen seconds over Russell and 18 over Sainz, here we are Mercedes crosses the finish line firstwith the Ferrari also being overtaken by the other McLaren of Piastri, who was much further back.
In short, a sensational opportunity wasted., a gift taken with both hands by George Russell who proved to be a tough and tenacious driver in denying any illusions to Oscar Piastri, who had everything against him, from the penalty in qualifying for going beyond the track limits depriving him of the second row, to the contact at the start with Leclerc. In other words, in these tense grand prix, decided by the details, Piastri can complain of having lost a very accessible victory while Ferrari lacked those few tenths per lap to attempt the coup. The podium has arrived, which is never thrown away, but a sad podiumfull of discontent between the lines.
But the Austrian GP will be remembered above all for the extraordinary duel between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, something that – with due reservations – brought to mind the epic moments of Dijon 1979 between Arnoux and Villeneuve. Max on the defense after a slow pit stop that had compromised the 7-8 second advantage over McLaren, Lando in full attack with a couple of exaggerated and out of measure attempts, but then when he did things right, looking for the pass on the outside, he found himself the victim of a Verstappen whose vocabulary does not include the word defeatso as soon as Lando approached, he threw him out without any compliments. Verstappen went back to being Verstappen and it wasn’t a nice thing to see, shame on him. Both were damaged in the collision: Norris had to retire, Verstappen resumed after the pit stop, finishing fifth and somehow saved the day by gaining points on his direct rival for the title. Defeated but happy. Defeated but destroyed, on the other hand, Hamilton: his teammate triumphed, he ended up behind: certain things aren’t easy to digest, because he knows that in Ferrari he doesn’t just have friends waiting for him. Even more depressed is Charles Leclerc, caught in a sandwich at the start and not to blame for the trouble he suffered, the dark moment continues even if next Sunday at Silverstone there is already the opportunity to start from scratch and see that he will make fewer mistakes.
