Mercedes vs Ferrari: the historical fight of the Formula 1?
With serious accusations of disloyalty, the two teams opened a new chapter of rivalry in the highest category of motorsport
The tough race between Mercedes and Ferrari began just after the new season of the Formula 1 World Championship opened. From that moment, the battle was not only on the track, it moved out of it with accusations like Ferrari illegally altering their cars Now, in the last three GPs, the rivalry has grown a bit more.
Leer en español: Mercedes vs Ferrari: ¿la pelea histórica de la Fórmula 1?
Ferrari and Mercedes errors attack
The last chapter of this tough war between Mercedes and Ferrari started at the last French Grand Prix on June 24. In this valid, the German Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel, collided with the Finnish driver of Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas, just at the start the race. "A lot of chaos. The German had a better traction thanks to the superiority of ultrabando, but Bottas did not leave much room. When he reached the first corner, he stopped braking and touched the Finnish Mercedes," says the specialized magazine in motor racing SoyMotor.
Only two valid ones later, in the Great Prize of Great Britain that was run on July 8, the Ferrari Finn, Kimi Räikkönen, suffered an accident with the British pilot of Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes team, led by James Allison and Toto Wolff, technical director and executive director respectively, showed their displeasure at the end of the race. "There are many points that are lost in the constructors' championship. As James Allison said: 'do you think it is deliberate or incompetent?' This leaves us with an opinion," Wolff said in statements to Sky Sports.
Lewis Hamilton, principal implicated in the Great Britain crash, also left suspicions in the air. "They are interesting tactics, I must say, on their part," the British driver said in statements given at a press conference later in the press conference after the British Grand Prix.
"All I would say is that now there are two races in which one of the Ferrari has eliminated one of the Mercedes. A penalty of five seconds and a penalty of 10 seconds do not seem … ultimately ruining the race," added Hamilton at the press conference. "We just have to try to position ourselves better so as not to be exposed to red cars, because who knows if that will happen again," said the British driver in the statements reproduced by the Sport newspaper.
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Ferrari responds to accusations
The accusations of incompetence and disloyalty that arose from Mercedes did not fall at all in Ferrari, so Maurizio Arrivabene, sports director of the Italian team, came out in defense of his team. "Who is incompetent? Kimi Räikkönen? Who is he (James Allison) to judge what pilots do in the car? If he really said something like that, he should be ashamed. We must be smart and know how to lose. Lewis Hamilton went bad, Kimi found him and there was that contact," said the Italian manager at Sky Italia.
Arrivabene did not stop there, remembering that Allison previously worked at Mercedes and was never a racing driver. "Allison worked in Maranello for many years, but now we are here in England teaching her to be a gentleman. If they want to teach us to be gentlemen, let them begin by themselves. I accept a comment like that of Jacques Villeneuve because he was a pilot, but of this type? "Arrivabene told Sky Italia.
For their part, the Ferrari drivers, the German Sebastian Vettel and the Finnish Kimmi Räikkönen, defended themselves against accusations of intentionality in the crashes. "Obviously in the second or third corner I gave Lewis. That's what happened, it's my mistake, so the penalty is fine," said Räikkönen at the press conference after the British Grand Prix. "It's pretty stupid to think that what happened was deliberate. To me, at least, it would cost me to be so precise to get someone out," Vettel added in statements that were reproduced by SoyMotor.
According to Motor.es, Briton Lewis Hamilton later accepted the apology of Kimmi Räikkönen through a message on his Instagram, which said: "Kimi apologized and I accepted it, we turn the page. Sometimes we say stupid things and learn from them."
Ferrari leads until now the Constructors' Championship with 287 points, while Mercedes marches in the second position with 267 units, according to data supplied by Marca.com, so the tension is high between the Italian and the German teams. The World Championship of Formula 1 ensures more controversial and exciting encounters, which could be seen in the German Grand Prix or the Hungarian Grand Prix, which will soon take place.
LatinAmerican Post | Javier Aldana
Translated from "Mercedes vs Ferrari: ¿la pelea histórica de la Fórmula 1?"
