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“The only good thing today is that Carlos Sainz won”- Charles Leclerc gutted after Ferrari strategy costs him more points in Title fight against Max Verstappen

Somin Bhattacharjee
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"The only good thing today is that Carlos Sainz won"- Charles Leclerc gutted after Ferrari strategy costs him more points in Title fight against Max Verstappen

Charles Leclerc will see the British GP has a huge opportunity missed, after Ferrari’s strategy goof up costs him crucial points.

Verstappen’s race got spoiled in the initial stages, when his car took some minor damage. The Red Bull driver still managed to continue, but his pace was nowhere near that of even the Alpines.

Leclerc could have cut down the lead to Verstappen in the World Drivers’ Championship standings with a strong race, and it was looking like we were headed that way. However, a late race safety car this time proved to be the Achilles heel for the 24-year old.

On top of that, Lewis Hamilton’s W13 was on fire in Silverstone. He managed to stay in contention for a race win until the very end, with Verstappen’s teammate Perez joining in.

After Esteban Ocon’s retirement brought out the safety car, all front runners pitted for soft-tyres immediately, except for Leclerc. The Monegasque driver was told to stay out.

Also read: “Brothers supporting Brothers”– F1 Twitter reacts to Charles Leclerc’s wholesome celebration with his brother Arthur after the F3 race

Charles Leclerc has his race ruined by Ferrari strategy yet again

After the race restart, Carlos Sainz (who was on fresher softer tyres) comfortably passed his teammate and built a big gap up front. Leclerc tried his best to defend against both Perez and Hamilton, who had also pitted for softs.

However, Leclerc’s older harder tyres proved to be too weak. Along with Hamilton and Perez, the Ferrari ace treated fans with some mesmerizing racing action, but with two laps to go, he was forced to concede the podium places.

Sainz went on to win his first ever F1 race, with Perez finishing P2 and Hamilton finishing P3. Nevertheless, Leclerc won’t be happy about the result, and let his team know that they had to talk about what happened.

“The amount of race time we have lost in this race is, oh my god,” he said after the race. “The only good thing today is that Carlos won. But freaking hell. Guys. Enjoy the victory.”

Verstappen and Perez retain their 1-2 position the Drivers’ Championship standings as of now. Leclerc has closed the gap to the leader, by the slenderest of margins.

Also read: “Seeing a car upside down like that was awful”– F1 Twitter prays for Guanyu Zhou’s safety after he rolls over after crashing with George Russell

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

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Somin Bhattacharjee is an F1 editor at The SportsRush and has written more than 2000 articles. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and considers sports to be a part of his life. Somin has been a fan of Scuderia Ferrari since 2010 and his favorite driver is none another than the legendary Fernando Alonso. Other than longing for a Ferrari Championship win once again, Somin spends his free time playing football and basketball.

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