Formula 1: According to former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve, after beating Max Verstappen on ‘equal footing’ at the Austrian GP, Charles Leclerc has been handed the confidence of fighting for the F1 2022 season title. Follow Formula 1 and French GP LIVE updates with InsideSport.IN
After the Austrian GP, Jacques said, “The victory is of course good for his confidence. That first overtaking maneuver on Verstappen especially, they were on equal footing – the same amount of fuel and the same tyres. That was a good battle.”
“After that the differences in tyres plus the DRS were too big. Verstappen didn’t really defend there anymore either. You saw that throughout the race, DRS generates overtaking pushes but not necessarily better fights. The question is what we want from F1. The 2022 rules were conceived with the idea of also removing DRS in the long run. But we are so used to it now – as are the fans,” Villeneuve added.
Verstappen was the number 1 to take triumph in front of huge support from the fans at the Red Bull Ring last end of the week. He drifted to success in the Sprint, yet was upstaged by Leclerc when it came to Sunday’s headliner.
It was the Ferrari star Charles Leclerc who took victory in the race but Ferrari’s reliability issues continued. Carlos Sainz neglected to complete because of an engine blowout that saw his vehicle burst into flames, while Leclerc himself had gearbox issues in the last phases of the race.
A tough break for Carlos Sainz #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/cEV04FoRzY
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 10, 2022
Meanwhile, he figured out how to avoid Verstappen as much as possible and saw the chequered flag in the first place to move within 38 points of the reigning champ. Furthermore, the 1997 title-champ Jacques Villeneuve accepts a triumph will give Leclerc an enormous lift.
Leclerc moves back up into P2 👀#AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/OOM87JSHNf
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 10, 2022
Villeneuve additionally claimed that Verstappen was ‘fortunate’ that Sainz’s vehicle caught fire, any other way he would have lost considerably a greater amount of his lead. The Spaniard looked set to surpass with a one-two looking likely for Ferrari before his engine trouble.
“Carlos’ retirement was a lucky break for Verstappen. That was a painful one for him. Villeneuve also went on to criticise the race director for not deploying the safety car straight away, and suggested that the life-saving halo device made it more difficult for Sainz to escape the flames,” Villeneuve further added.
“It looked dangerous with that rolling car. It’s just harder to get out with the halo. I thought it was a shame that we got the VSC instead of the safety car. I’m not seeing any consistency in that this year either. I think you should always use the safety car in the race – it’s safer, to start with,” Villeneuve concluded.
