2019 Belgian GP - Spa Francochamps

[Nitrodaze]

https://www.statsf1.com/photos/circuits/spa.jpg

https://www.thenational.ae/image/policy:1.447689:1499630800/image/jpeg.jpg?f=16x9&w=1200&$p$f$w=dfa40e8

This track was first constructed in 1924, then it was shaped in a 14km long triangular format through the Ardennes forest and the neighboring towns of Francochamp, Malmedy and Stavelot. It was mostly used for Motorcycle racing and the SPA 24HRs. The first official F1 race took place here in 1950. The track was redesigned in 1979 when it was halved to 7km and reshaped into the iconic layout that is raced today.

The current track has one long straight and several fast corners with 19 corners in total; 10 left turns and 9 right turns. Spa Francochamps is a true and pure driver's track. It is a rollercoaster of breathtaking undulations of sharp inclines into or out of fast corners and steep decline out of them in very quick successions in a lap. Eau Rouge through Radillon comes to mind. The highest point at Malmedy takes the drivers down the steepest corner in the calendar, downhill to turn 15 at an elevation change of about 102 meters; roughly the height of the Big Ben clock tower of London. This race is 44 laps of one of the longest lap on the calendar, over a race distance of 308 km. The drivers would experience 4.6 G at the highest. It is a track that allows drivers to explore the ragged edges and limits with sometimes very costly consequences.

Spa is also famous for its rains, there was once a period when it rained on race day consecutively over a twenty years stretch. When it is dry, it produces the fastest spectacle to behold.

The five time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio was the first racer to win this race officially. But the seven times world champion Michael Schumacher remains the the most successful driver to race this track with six wins. Senna has won it five times.

On the current grid, Kimi Raikonen is the most successful driver to win this race, with four wins. Hamilton and Vettel are the other drivers on the current grid to have won this race. They have both won it three times each.

Ferrari is the most successful team to race this track with 17 wins, followed by Mclaren with 14 wins.

Valterie Bottas holds the fastest race lap record of 1:46:246 in the Mercedes W09 of 2018. Sebastien Vettel won the last race at this track .

We come into the second half of the 2019 season. All the signs show that Redbull is on the rise. Max Verstapenn has his crosshairs on Bottas for 2nd place and Redbull are close enough to challenge Ferrari for 2nd place on the constructor's table. Hamilton cannot afford any slip ups, if he is to keep his championship lead. Redbull has historically shown their fastest rate of development in the second half of a race season. And the odds are that they may even surprise Mercedes if they are not on their best form through the rest of the season.

Recently, the Ferrari has shown good pace through fast sweeping corners but has suffered at slow corners. Hence, there are chances that the Ferrari may go well on this track. But the characteristics of this track would favour the Mercedes and Redbull better. We may therefore be set for another Hamilton versus Verstapenn showdown this weekend. That said, Bottas would be very keen to get his 2019 season back on track. Hence it may be a tussle between the Mercedes drivers with Verstapenn hovering behind to pick on any weakness from them.

We get to see Albon in the Redull for the first time. And l am curious to see if Ferrari has found something over the holiday.

Now check out this truly fine grid girl to set you up for a great weekend of racing.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/75/5a/b3/755ab3a332c670318f5a024c63b1f4b6.jpg

[airshifter]

This is the perfect track to end the summer break, and it's long been one of my favorite tracks.

With the talent on the current (and recent past) grids, Kimi is still the Spa master. It will be interesting to see where he can put that Alfa in the points.

[The Black Knight]

This is the perfect track to end the summer break, and it's long been one of my favorite tracks.

With the talent on the current (and recent past) grids, Kimi is still the Spa master. It will be interesting to see where he can put that Alfa in the points.

Marcus Ericsson has travelled to Spa this weekend as Kimi may not be able to partake in the race for, as of yet, unknown reasons.

[Nitrodaze]

Thumbs up to Liberty for a 22 race season for 2020. I am curious about what Hanoi has to offer. Zandvoort is an old F1 track but completely new to all the drivers on the current grid. Hence it is one to look forward to as well. I hope it turns out to be a great race location after the many doubts about it being a suitable location for modern F1.

[Nitrodaze]

Albon manages to put his Redull 0.015 sec behind Verstapenn in Practise one. That my friend, is impressive. Though this might not be indicative of what might happen when the visors are down for real, but it sure gives us some hope that these two would be closer than Gasly managed.

[airshifter]

Two red flags in Q1. I hope this isn't an indication of the attrition rate for the rest of the weekend. Watching a smoke show now and then is interesting, but I don't like much of the field being taken out by mechanical issues.

[airshifter]

Ferrari lock out the front row. Though expected to be a strong track for the red team, I wasn't sure they could get the top two positions in qualification.

Surprising results from Renault as well.

[zako85]

With drivers complaining about cars all over the place and two blown engines in Q1, it seems like the F1 engineers are still having a hangover from that looong summer break, not to mention the ubiquitous availability of those strong Belgian ales.

[Nitrodaze]

Sunday looks set for a red letter day. Leclerc is overdue an F1 win and tomorrow looks set to be his first F1 win. The Mercedes race pace seemed better than that of the Ferrari in the practise sessions, hence l would not rule out a Mercedes win. Redbull do not seem to have the pace to ruffle the Ferrari feathers this weekend but this is a race where anything is possible.

Great to see Renault going well this weekend, Ocon must have been a positive boost to the team.

[Nitrodaze]

And the show begins!

[Tazio]

Oh my!

[Tazio]

Congrat's McLerc, well played! Nice drive by the boss as well!

[truefan72]

Congrats Leclerc
Great job Hamilton
Solid job Bottas
Gutted for Norris ( despite my fantasy team)
Tough race for Sauber. Kimi would have had a good result but that lap 1 incident sealed the deal. Heavy impact for Gio. Hmm
Albon did a fantastic job. I think albon was forced unto the grass. Perez being perex smh.
Despie that good for racing point and torro rosso to bring both cars in the points.
Hulkenberg with a stellar drive. Useless strategy for Ricciardo.
On to Monza. Probably a Ferrari 1-2 and i predict another Leclerc victory.

[truefan72]

Congrat's McLerc, well played! Nice drive by the boss as well!
Indeed!

[truefan72]

I wish the Ferrari guys would be a bit more subdued and reverent in their celebrations. It is their first victory of the year...but given the circumstances

[gm99]

Terrible strategy by Ferrari for Vettel. If they had decided earlier to pit him again, he would at least have had a chance to take P3 from Bottas.
And Haas can't even score a point in a race like this.

[truefan72]

Congrat's McLerc, well played! Nice drive by the boss as well!
Tbh the mercedes strategy and pit stop cost them.
They should have brought in hamilton on the same lap as leclerc. Also that slow pitstop also cost him about 1.3 seconds which probably was the difference. Oh well. On days like this salvaging a p2 and extending the wdc lead is not a bad haul

[truefan72]

Terrible strategy by Ferrari for Vettel. If they had decided earlier to pit him again, he would at least have had a chance to take P3 from Bottas.
And Haas can't even score a point in a race like this.

Agreed. Not sure what Ferrari were thinking. But perhaps he actually served as a good rear gunner for leclerc. So in that light he served his purpose.
As to Haas. The 2019 mystery continues.

[The Black Knight]

Agreed. Not sure what Ferrari were thinking. But perhaps he actually served as a good rear gunner for leclerc. So in that light he served his purpose.
As to Haas. The 2019 mystery continues.

I’m actually surprised how much LeClerc is hammering Vettel lately. Out qualified him 6 races in a row now. Destroyed him today, to put it mildly. I said at the start of the year that I expected Charles to beat him next year at the latest but never did I think he’d get on top of him this quickly. However, it just proves to me what I’ve always said about him, Vettel is a brilliant driver but is not on the same level as the true greats of the sport.

[truefan72]

I’m actually surprised how much LeClerc is hammering Vettel lately. Out qualified him 6 races in a row now. Destroyed him today, to put it mildly. I said at the start of the year that I expected Charles to beat him next year at the latest but never did I think he’d get on top of him this quickly. However, it just proves to me what I’ve always said about him, Vettel is a brilliant driver but is not on the same level as the true greats of the sport.
This might have been the symbolic passing of the torch at Ferrari. At the very least for this race Leclerc deserbed #1 status. Before the season started I didvsay that by mid season Leclerc would have the measure of Vettel. 😏

[Nitrodaze]

This might have been the symbolic passing of the torch at Ferrari. At the very least for this race Leclerc deserbed #1 status. Before the season started I didvsay that by mid season Leclerc would have the measure of Vettel. ��

It is not the performance of Leclerc that impressed me the most, it is the fact that he is able to get the car to work the way he wants it more effectively than Vettel and also drive around any of the short comings of the car. He is clearly more hungry for wins than Vettel. But l still think it is too early to say that he has got the measure of Vettel because l think when Vettel gets the car the way he likes it, Leclerc would not be able to beat him in a straight fight.

This weekend, Vettel has struggled to setup the car to his liking. He raced with a compromise setup and looked slower for it. That said, the day belongs to Leclerc. We get to see that Verstapenn has stiff competition in Leclerc with a works Ferrari. When we ask the question, "Who is going to dominate F1 after Hamilton retires?" the answer is not clearly Verstapenn anymore. Leclerc with an improving Ferrari is looking very much the emerging candidate.

Which was my reason for denouncing all that talk about changing of the guards, suggesting Verstapenn is taking over from Hamilton. It is not that clear cut at this stage. Besides Hamilton is still the man to beat. The car has much to do with how things would shape out for Verstapenn or Leclerc. While Redbull is showing signs of making big steps forward, Ferrari is emerging as the team to beat in the future; especially in 2020. Mercedes seemed to have plateau their progression and one would expect 2020 to be even harder for them if they cannot find a new path for their future developments.

But you have to give credit to Binotto and Ferrari, they have handled the Leclerc vs Vettel situation in a very exemplary manner.

They other point is Mercedes has not started to nurture a young talent in readiness to take on Verstapenn and Leclerc. Which would suggest that Mercedes probably do not see themselves in F1 beyond Hamilton. Signing Ocon for 2020 would have at least suggested that they are preparing a candidate for the 2021 new regulation era. As it stands, my guess is Mercedes may be bailing out of F1 in 2021. There is also a small chance that Honda may leave F1 at the same time too. The future of the Renault works teams is not looking secure either.

[Nitrodaze]

I have to say Albon really impressed me today. At the early stages of the race, l thought he may have been a fluke but he came good in the later stages of the race. 17th to 5th proves that Redbull have made the right call on this one. He out performed Gasly on his very first outing in the Redbull. One of his strengths is his incredible overtaking skills. He demonstrated it on Ricciado and later on Perez in truly aggressive fashion. If he can re-produce this sort of performances, l think he would be secure in that seat for a long time.

For me, Albon was the man of the race.

[truefan72]

I have to say Albon really impressed me today. At the early stages of the race, l thought he may have been a fluke but he came good in the later stages of the race. 17th to 5th proves that Redbull have made the right call on this one. He out performed Gasly on his very first outing in the Redbull. One of his strengths is his incredible overtaking skills. He demonstrated it on Ricciado and later on Perez in truly aggressive fashion. If he can re-produce this sort of performances, l think he would be secure in that seat for a long time.

For me, Albon was the man of the race.

Yeah. He was driver of the race for me as we'll

[truefan72]

I must mention that one camera location at the bottom of eau rouge with a low angle setting truly gave one the sense of sheer speed and commitment these drivers take into that section. It was a very visceral view demonstrating the nature of the dangers in handling these heavy mechanical beasts at unbelievable speeds and g forces.

[Nitrodaze]

I must mention that one camera location at the bottom of eau rouge with a low angle setting truly gave one the sense of sheer speed and commitment these drivers take into that section. It was a very visceral view demonstrating the nature of the dangers in handling these heavy mechanical beasts at unbelievable speeds and g forces.

You have to see this track in real life to properly appreciate it. I took an R1 yamaha sports bike round this track at speed, l think l was doing 140mph on average. I tell ya, it got the hairs on the back of my neck standing. The downhill from Malmedy is particularly frightening. A steep decline that had me perched on both hands all the way down the steep hill.

[airshifter]

Great job this weekend by Leclerc, and glad to see he bagged his first win. Without Seb behind him to slow Lewis, the chances of retaining the position would have gone down quite a bit, but Seb did a good job keeping Lewis from getting by quickly.

Max should have known better, and I think he could have easily put that RB into a solid 5th place. Alfa and Kimi got robbed of some probable points in that clash as well, and it set off a lot of mess coming out of the corner as well.

Absolutely gutted for Norris. Though he had what seemed a boring race, it's only because he managed to be the "best of the rest" and found that large gap he had sitting in 5th place. No chance of catching any front runners barring big mistakes, but nobody had much shot at him unless he made the big mistakes. Such is racing I guess, but that one was tough.

Maybe Renault got it right with Ricciardo's strategy. Haas got new tires but still got passed by everything that was moving, so why waste the time in the pits? :laugh:

It took him some time to get rolling, but towards the later part of the race Albon stepped up with some solid passes. Those RB cars are really planted.

[Nitrodaze]

Yeah. He was driver of the race for me as we'll

Interestingly, so did Kyvat who started 19th and finished 7th in the Torro Rosso. I think he would have been just as good in the Redbull. But it bodes well for Redbull, suddenly they have more options of drivers to place in the second car for 2020.

[N. Jones]

It is not the performance of Leclerc that impressed me the most, it is the fact that he is able to get the car to work the way he wants it more effectively than Vettel and also drive around any of the short comings of the car. He is clearly more hungry for wins than Vettel. But l still think it is too early to say that he has got the measure of Vettel because l think when Vettel gets the car the way he likes it, Leclerc would not be able to beat him in a straight fight.

This weekend, Vettel has struggled to setup the car to his liking. He raced with a compromise setup and looked slower for it. That said, the day belongs to Leclerc. We get to see that Verstapenn has stiff competition in Leclerc with a works Ferrari. When we ask the question, "Who is going to dominate F1 after Hamilton retires?" the answer is not clearly Verstapenn anymore. Leclerc with an improving Ferrari is looking very much the emerging candidate.

Which was my reason for denouncing all that talk about changing of the guards, suggesting Verstapenn is taking over from Hamilton. It is not that clear cut at this stage. Besides Hamilton is still the man to beat. The car has much to do with how things would shape out for Verstapenn or Leclerc. While Redbull is showing signs of making big steps forward, Ferrari is emerging as the team to beat in the future; especially in 2020. Mercedes seemed to have plateau their progression and one would expect 2020 to be even harder for them if they cannot find a new path for their future developments.

But you have to give credit to Binotto and Ferrari, they have handled the Leclerc vs Vettel situation in a very exemplary manner.

They other point is Mercedes has not started to nurture a young talent in readiness to take on Verstapenn and Leclerc. Which would suggest that Mercedes probably do not see themselves in F1 beyond Hamilton. Signing Ocon for 2020 would have at least suggested that they are preparing a candidate for the 2021 new regulation era. As it stands, my guess is Mercedes may be bailing out of F1 in 2021. There is also a small chance that Honda may leave F1 at the same time too. The future of the Renault works teams is not looking secure either.

True but what I want to know is if that car can win at Monza. I am curious to know if that car can race at any track or only at one type of track.

[Nitrodaze]

True but what I want to know is if that car can win at Monza. I am curious to know if that car can race at any track or only at one type of track.

Remember, two new spec Mercedes engines failed at Spa. I think Mercedes ran their engine at Spa conservatively. They did not give it full beans. With a short week between Spa and Monza, it is likely that Mercedes have not had enough time to resolve the issue that caused the failures. Hence, chances are that Mercedes would still not be running at full power at Monza. So, in a way, your question is valid. But the characteristics of Monza really allows Ferrari to deploy the full potential of its awesome engine. And Monza has very little punishing corners to bother Ferrari. If there is one track that one would put their money on for Ferrari to win a race, Monza is definitely the one.

I think Ferrari would be untouchable at Monza, assuming the chassis do not let them down on the tyre front. The only real chance that Mercedes have at Monza, is to manage their tyres better than Ferrari. If they can manage to have better tyres at the closing laps of the race, they would take the fight to Ferrari and possibly steal the race win.