Sainz, the best in France

There is always the question of what happened if two weeks ago, at Austrian F1 GP 2022the machine Carlos Sainz wouldn’t have burned. He was left 75 points behind the leader Max Verstappenwith his companion Leclerc to 38 from the Dutch, left on a silver platter ferrari the option to opt for Monegasque in case of doubt. But not only that. The engine that burned to the ground in Spielberg planned to travel many more kilometers. That misfortune forced him to be punished immediately. And in between Paul Ricard or Hungaryseems clear ferrari opting to change the entire engine at the French event, making Sainz late on Sunday.

I can’t help but think that without that problem this Friday we could be talking about something very different, about a Carlos who left a very good feeling at the wheel of his Ferrari, leading the first day of F1 French GP, picking up what could be his second F1 victory in the last three races. But from the bottom of the grid, if the penalty for the engine change is confirmed tomorrow, he will have to star in a difficult comeback.

For now, Carlos already has 10 sanctioned places secured as Ferrari has announced a switchboard change. The next penalty is on the drop, and with it it leaves Leclerc, who mounted a new floor on his Ferrari, and Verstappen alone in the fight for everyone.

Verstappen, great pace

Without Sainz in those pools, the main question will be whether the race pace shown by Verstappen in Free Practice 2 with medium tires can tip the balance in Red Bull’s favour. So far, Max has shown great speed on that yellow wheel, but He did it in a shorter run, possibly with less fuel than the Ferraris. It is not known. But before that is different or not, Both have to duel this Saturday for the pole.

Ferrari have been better this year at turn one and that favors Leclerc, but Max will try again.

fight for the pole

Today, the red cars are faster in a lap against Red Bull who are committed to fixing years of vibrations caused by their new floor elements. A positive for Ferrari was its good pace despite its theoretical more conservatism in terms of engine power on Friday. Ferrari and Leclerc want to keep believing in the comeback and for this it is important that they beat Max in the French event. Verstappen will fight to avoid it at all costs.

Mercedes, third team

Behind the two Ferraris and Verstappen, the two Mercedes were again placed, with Russell third in 0″764 and Hamilton fourth in 09″990, with less track time by skipping FP1 due to leaving his car at Nyck De You see. Mercedes on Sunday could once again be close to the best with their excellent race pace. It will be necessary to see if the massive temperatures expected this weekend at Paul Ricard allow the Brackley cars to improve their difficulties in heating the tires in qualifying. Also, if this smooth track will allow their car to show its best version again and continue to develop with the new things they rode this weekend.

And Alpine?

More is expected of Alpine at his home Grand Prix, in front of his fans. The French car has some new things on its car floor and both Alonso and Ocon are optimistic after the great step forward their car took with the new aerodynamic package shown at Silverstone. However, either Alpine kept a lot of cards, or things should be going much better on Saturday.

Alonso was 11th at 1″732 off the best time and Ocon was 18th at 2″133, far behind McLaren, a team that showed a lot of new things at Paul Ricard. Norris was 6th and Gasly, also in a heavily modified Alpha Tauri, was 7th ahead of Magnussen’s Haas. Alpine must react.