F1 SUNDAY: A FIRST WIN, SCARY CRASH
Carlos Sainz Jr. won his first career Formula One race on Sunday with a victory at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England — the most dramatic race so far this season. It began with a frightening firstlap crash and ended with intense wheel-to-wheel battles for the podium positions.
The race was red-flagged almost as soon as it began when a crash at the first corner left Guanyu Zhou and Alex Albon needing medical treatment.
Zhou’s car flipped upsidedown and cleared a tire barrier before smashing into a fence. Pierre Gasly had knocked George Russell’s Mercedes into Zhou’s back wheel, flipping the Chinese driver’s Alfa Romeo. As drivers tried to avoid that crash, Albon was knocked sideways into the pit wall.
Zhou was treated at the circuit’s medical center, and Alfa Romeo said he was not badly injured, while Williams said Albon had been taken to hospital by helicopter for “precautionary checks.”
Russell, who left his car to rush to Zhou’s aid, was also unable to restart the race.
The “halo” device protecting Zhou’s head was scraped back to bare metal after being dragged through the gravel and a chunk of the air intake behind the driver was torn away.
Sainz was in the lead with Charles Leclerc close behind and, while Ferrari at first said they were “free to fight,” the Italian team then asked Sainz to let Leclerc past to avoid losing time to Lewis Hamilton.
But a safety car came out and Ferrari brought Sainz into the pits for fresher, grippier soft tires. Leclerc was left on older, hard tires and Sainz soon passed his teammate to regain the lead and pull away for his first victory in his 150th F1 start.
“Today the win does feel a bit of a relief,” said Sainz. “Honestly, I never stopped believing that this dream was going to come, even though this year has been tough for me.” He had finished second or third 11 times before winning and was a frustratingly close second to Max Verstappen at the last race in Canada.
Sergio Perez passed Hamilton and Leclerc after the restart and finished second behind Sainz. Hamilton was briefly second after passing both Perez and Leclerc in a three-wide move, but he couldn’t hold position and dropped back to fourth.
Hamilton then surged past Leclerc in a fierce fight for third place. He also led laps Sunday for the first time this season.
Reddick wins at Road America
Tyler Reddick raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory, continuing the seasonlong trend of first-time winners on road courses.
Each of the first three roadcourse races this year has had a first-time winner, with Reddick breaking through at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., after Ross Chastain won at the Circuit of the Americas and
Daniel Suarez at Sonoma.
“What better place than Road America?” Reddick said. “I love the fans. I love this racetrack. Being here Fourth of July weekend is just so special.”
The Richard Childress Racing driver won by 3.304 seconds over defending race champion
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports. All the other drivers were over 21 seconds behind Reddick.
Kyle Larson was third, followed by Chastain and Suarez.
Family sees McLaughlin win
Scott McLaughlin celebrated with his parents and Team Penske on the quaint victory podium at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
McLaughlin picked up his second career IndyCar victory, his first with his parents in attendance after a 31-month separation because of the pandemic. Wayne McLaughlin paced pit lane over the closing laps, while his wife, Diane, wiped away a tear as their only son crossed the finish line.
“I’m just so excited for him just that he could get a win while we were here,” Wayne McLaughlin told The Associated Press in victory lane.