Austrian Sings To The Rhythm of Charles Leclerc
On a track where it seemed that it’d be Mercedes, all along, once again, along came a certain Charles Leclerc! But can he shoot gold ahead of the Silver Arrows on Sunday?
The hills are alive, as they say here in Austria. And the way the qualifying unfolded a few minutes back, it seems, they’ll be so to the sound of music of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, who snatched pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Not since 2003 had Ferrari claimed pole here in the midst of the picturesque Styrian Alps only for Leclerc to have a look at the history books and the change the course of the proceedings somewhat.
And before he entered Spielberg, Sebastian Vettel held the enviable record of never being out-qualified by a teammate here at Austria.
But all of that underwent a change as Vettel’s teammate, Charles Leclerc, in setting a blistering 1:03:003, a new track record at the Styrian Alps, rewrote some history and put his Ferrari right on top.
And in so doing, left (the Mercedes’ of) Hamilton and Bottas and (the Red Bull of) Max Verstappen behind in what turned out to be anything but a yawny qualifying session in what now seems will most likely be an exciting duel in the mountains on Sunday.
Going on an out and out ballsy lap in the decisive moments of the qualifying, Charles Leclerc, on the softer compounds left nothing to the imagination as he put together an extremely committed lap, something that Hamilton and company may not have expected- or did they?
And in so doing, the Monegasque driver perhaps bailed out a fledgling Ferrari- somewhat- fresh from another round of defeat at the hands of their archrivals, Mercedes, just a week ago.
Tough going for a lot many
Charles Leclerc was Cheery in celebration for what turned out to be only his second career pole in F1, and a smashing one at that. But at the same time, he was also considerate and thoughtful- offering “sorry for the team guys,” given that his German teammate dropped out of qualifying in lines with an air pressure problem with his SF 90.
There was a tricky moment surrounding the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen, a matter that’s currently being investigated surrounding the Briton seemingly impeding Raikkonen in Q1.
Other than that, Saturday produced overwhelmingly disappointing runs from the two Renault drivers- Ricciardo and Hulkenberg- as well as from the Haas of Romain Grosjean, three of the five drivers who had to face the elimination.
That told, spare a thought for young Italian driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who begins his Austrian charge from seventh on the grid, his best-ever start, following the P10 at France.
Kevin Magnussen of Haas, meanwhile, improved quite a bit from the disastrous weekend at Paul Ricard- the only Haas running in contention for a strong position- as he would put his car on tenth for the Sunday’s race as Pierre Gasly, in the other Red Bull had a slightly mediocre run, going no better than P8.
So much to look forward to
To that end, several answers rest in the lap of the magnificent Spielberg, nestled in the awe-inspiring lush green Austrian beauty.
Can Max Verstappen make something special in the end for Red Bull’s home race?
Can the Austrian Grand Prix deliver a belter of a race, rescuing Formula 1 from a bit of obscurity, stemming from a one-sided narrative that has dampened the excitement one usually expects from the enthralling contest?
Can one finally see the flourish from Ferrari, something that’s cheated those decked in red from the start of this season and those who remain ever patient in their admiration of a team that saw Michael Schumacher last claiming a pole here in 2003?
It’s all to play for, right Ferrari?