Sábado tarde en Suzuka. Verstappen sale a pista a hacer su último intento. Sainz y Alonso dejan de hablar en las televisiones para ver el monitor que tienen a su espalda. El mundo se detiene. Max vuela. Un maestro pintando un cuadro. Alonso, fundador de la escuela pictórica de Oviedo, sonríe con admiración. Carlos lo sigue con los ojos muy abiertos…
…La pole pende de un hilo, la última chicane. El RB 21 sobrevuela los pianos. Nos acordamos del día que le quitó la primera plaza de la parrilla en Mónaco a Fernando, tocando los muros… De la vuelta de furia de Yeddah, que acabó mal, pero nos dio igual… Senna que vuelve a Japón, los aficionados nipones aplauden a su ídolo y el bicampeón asturiano lo celebra con el puño. Se deshace en elogios: “Sólo él puede hacerlo. No hay ningún otro piloto de la parrilla que pueda sacar ese rendimiento del monoplaza, más arriba de lo que merece su coche. Fue un momento mágico”.
Una pista tan bonita como tediosa
Media carrera estaba allí. Suzuka es el Mónaco de alta velocidad. Una catedral del automovilismo desafiante para los pilotos, pero en la que es casi imposible adelantar en seco. Encima, y eso no lo sabía Max cuando festejaba a gritos la primera plaza en parrilla, la meteorología vino en su ayuda el domingo con una caída de las temperaturas. Eso fue gloria para un Red Bull que sobrecalentaba los neumáticos traseros. Y que debería sufrir en Bahrain por ello.
Sin casi desgaste, una de las bazas naranjas, y frente al piloto que mejor convierte poles en victorias, las cosas se iban a torcer desde la salida para Norris y Piastri. Los datos no mienten. El holandés ha logrado imponerse en el 80% de las veces que ha salido a una carrera primero. Alonso tiene un 63 %. Hamilton, un 58.
A McLaren le faltó valentía
Para ganarle hay que ser más audaz. No puede ser que tengas miedo a parar una vuelta antes con Norris. No lo hicieron, optaron porque se detuviera Piastri. Tampoco tiene sentido que Lando esté casi en paralelo a la salida de boxes y, en vez de lanzarse con agresividad hacia el espacio que ocupaba Max, se vaya con medio coche por la tierra y pida una sanción. Manchó las ruedas y arruinó así su vuelta de salida de boxes.
Y si tu capitán, Lando no puede ir más deprisa, el equipo debe dejar pasar a Piastri, que venía más rápido, para que lo intente. A doce vueltas del final empezó la serenata por radio del australiano. Es la segunda vez que le frenan en lo que va de año. Si hubiera logrado pasar al Red Bull ahora Lando sería más líder. El tercero valía. De no conseguirlo, en Suzuka necesitas ir 0,8s segundos más rápido para rebasar al coche de delante, Oscar habría tenido que devolver la posición a su compañero.
No se puede dejar ganar a Verstappen
Cada victoria del tetracampeón es un golpe a la moral del equipo de Woking, y más ahora que disfrutan de superioridad mecánica. No sabemos qué pasará en Barcelona cuando la FIA refuerce los controles de la flexibilidad de los alerones delanteros.
En Red Bull estaban crecidísimos, y no es para menos. La tele holandesa le preguntó después de la carrera a Max sobre qué hubiera hecho de llevar ese McLaren, y bromeó contundente: “No me hubierais visto. El Shinkanshen a Tokyo habría salido antes”. Al verlo, Alonso revive lo que él hizo en 2012. El milagro de llevar el Mundial a la última carrera con el tercer coche de la parrilla: “Me recuerda a mí durante aquella temporada. Sé lo difícil que es hacer carreras perfectas. Le tienen que mejorar el coche, yo no conseguí ganarlo”. Fernando se queda corto. Lo que hizo hace trece años fue aún más bestia. Red Bull era muy superior a Ferrari. Mucho más de lo que ahora son los McLaren.
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