The British GP ended with Carlos Sainz's first victory in Formula 1 and made the TV broadcasting in Spain delirious
Until Esteban Ocon ran into trouble and stopped his car in the middle of the Silverstone track, forcing the safety-car to come on, last weekend's British GP was heading into the hands of Charles Leclerc. But everything changed at that moment. Ferrari swapped only Carlos Sainz's and, at the restart, the Spaniard swallowed Leclerc to take control of the race and send Spanish TV into absolute delirium.
Sainz overtook quickly and started to fade while Leclerc fought with Sergio Pérez and Lewis Hamilton right behind. The last ten laps of the race were a parade for Sainz towards his first victory in the category in what has been a difficult year for him for Ferrari.
It was his first F1 victory and the 33rd for Spain, which had previously been the glory only of Fernando Alonso. Alonso's last victory, however, came in May 2013, nine years ago. It was, for comparison, a longer period than the one Brazil experienced between Ayrton Senna's last victory in 1993 and Rubens Barrichello's first in 2000.
No wonder, then, that the Spanish public was in an uproar during those last laps at Silverstone. And it was something that started in the broadcasting booth of DAZN, the official F1 broadcaster in Spain. From the overtake to the victory a few minutes later, the situation is different from the traditional one.
F1 itself released a clipping of these last minutes. The narrator, Antonio Lobato, who has been in charge of the broadcasts in the country since 2004 and narrated Alonso's two consecutive titles, is standing up. One of the commentators, former driver Pedro de la Rosa, is visibly nervous, with his hands on his head, while the other commentator, engineer Toni Cuquerella, seems astonished by the situation.
At the end, when Sainz takes the flag, the three greet each other as if it were a private victory. A meaningful moment for all involved.
Formula 1 continues this weekend in Spielberg with the Austrian Grand Prix.