2020 Belgian GP - Spa Francochamps

[Nitrodaze]

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/f1wikia/images/7/77/Circuit_de_Spa-Francorchamps%2C_April_22%2C_2018_SkySat_%28croppe d%29.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20190821015952

https://clubs1.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/334.jpg

We come into Spa with the announcement of an extended calendar. As F1 revisits old historic tracks like the scary Nurburgring, Mugello, Imola, Algave International Circuit [Portugal] and the Instanbul track in Turkey.

https://e0.365dm.com/20/08/768x432/skysports-f1-calendar-final_5077061.png?20200825140058

The weekend shall commence with a revised rule on engine mapping that outlaws the use of the famous "Party Mode". Lewis Hamilton comes into this weekend with a 37 points lead over 2nd placed man Max Verstapenn. With Bottas a further 6 points adrift from Verstapenn. Verstapenn has established himself as the clear second placed driver and main challenger of Hamilton. Bottas who has been unlucky with strategy, shall be seeking to redress the loss of 2nd position at this race.

RAIN THIS WEEKEND

This is a track that would favour the mighty Mercedes as temperatures appear to be very moderate and dry. But rain is expected which means Verstapenn could be a real bother for Mercedes. Redbull must be clever with strategy to get in midst of the rapid Mercedes cars. Hence this weekend shall be a showcase of driving skills by Verstapenn as he sets about wrestling with Bottas and tries to ruffle the Meastro Hamilton.

The driver's championship has two clear battles raging; the fight for second place between Verstapenn and Bottas. And the very close fight for 4th spanning 4th placed driver Leclerc [45] through to 7th placed Norris. This group are within 6 points difference from Leclerc, with 5th and sixth placed drivers, Stroll and Albon having identical [40] points, and ahead of Norris by a solitary point [39]. Any of these guys could end up in fourth.

I expect Albon to level with or be within 3 points of 4th place at the end of this race.

In the constructors championship, things seem so much more clearer, with Mercedes almost doubling the points of second placed Redbull. The real interesting fight is the battle for the third spot. As 3rd through to 5th has one point each between each other. Racing Point's 15 points penalty brings them within reach of Mclaren and Ferrari.

With the extension to the 2020 calendar and only 37 points between Hamilton and Verstapenn, anything is now possible. Hamilton cannot afford any mistakes. And Verstapenn must be at the very top of his game to continue to apply pressure on Hamilton while keeping ahead of a very fast Bottas. We certainly are in for a great second half of this bizzare season.

[Bagwan]

Well , you got in early with this thread , eh ?

You were probably worried that bagwan would start talking to himself again , weren't you ?
Don't worry about him .
He quarantined in the woods , eating some watermelon right now .

And , I didn't see you mention tires even once .
They are going to be soft ones this weekend so Merc might struggle .
It could be the Dutch doing deals with Pirelli .
I saw a picture of an Italian guy wearing wooden shoes once , so .......

[Nitrodaze]

Well , you got in early with this thread , eh ?

You were probably worried that bagwan would start talking to himself again , weren't you ?
Don't worry about him .
He quarantined in the woods , eating some watermelon right now .

And , I didn't see you mention tires even once .
They are going to be soft ones this weekend so Merc might struggle .
It could be the Dutch doing deals with Pirelli .
I saw a picture of an Italian guy wearing wooden shoes once , so .......

:-)
Baggie, someone has to do it. Italians wearing clogs sounds very funny. Everyone seem to have got on top of the Pirellis.

Seen any bears lately :-) ?

[Nitrodaze]

Renault has pulled out of the Racing Point appeal. Leaving only Ferrari chasing this forward. The Pink Mercedes saga is turning hypocritical considering Ferari got away with their smokey engine without the ignomity of a public FIA decision.

I wonder if the appeal has any point to reveal under the circumstances. I wonder if Racing Point are proceeding with their appeal also.

[Nitrodaze]

Qualifying is GO!

[Jag_Warrior]

Though I'm not really a big Ferrari fan, to see them (and especially Vettel) wandering around at the back of the field is kind of painful. Yeah, they deserve it for that cheater engine/PU, but it's a shame that the other Ferrari powered cars have to suffer this humiliation too.

As for the sharp end... Lewis spanked all (as expected), but where was Bottas? He barely nipped Verstappen. I was rather amazed to see Ricciardo's Renault up there. Where did that come from?! And Albon, Albon, Albon... I like you kid, but I worry about you ending up on the horns of the bull if you don't start picking up the pace. :uhoh:

I'll have to watch this one on DVR (as usual), but I'm hoping for some mid race rain to spice up the show. :bounce:

[N4D13]

As much as I like a wet rain, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. These days I'm rooting for McLaren and they'll be nowhere with their low-downforce setup if it starts pouring.

[Nitrodaze]

As much as I like a wet rain, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. These days I'm rooting for McLaren and they'll be nowhere with their low-downforce setup if it starts pouring.

I suppose you have heard that Sainz is out of the race due to exhaust failure which has damaged his engine.

[gm99]

As much as I like a wet rain, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. These days I'm rooting for McLaren and they'll be nowhere with their low-downforce setup if it starts pouring.

Unfortunately, you'll only have one McLaren to root for today, as Sainz won't be taking the start due to an exhaust problem.

[gm99]

Good race from Gasly so far. The Ferrari's pace is painful to watch. Perez also going backwards in the early stages.

[truefan72]

Very scary incident. Russell has nowhere to go with a tire coming at him at a high speed section

[gm99]

Strange decision by Racing Point not to bring Perez in during the SC period.

[truefan72]

2 different races going on. The top 10 race and then the all Ferrari league. We really gotta know what Ferrari were sanctioned for and at this point it’s even hurting haas and alfa

[truefan72]

Ferrari are a joke. Why can’t you let your driver know why you pitted him? As if the rest of the teams or the audience don’t see what happened

[truefan72]

Hmm in retrospect that Gasly race strategy has cost him. Perez got it just right on the other hand after not putting during the SC

[truefan72]

Hmm in retrospect that Gasly race strategy has cost him. Perez got it just right on the other hand after not putting during the SC
Well maybe Gasly is gonna make me eat my words. Both he and Perez are moving like freight trains through the field. I think both will finish in the top 10.

[Nitrodaze]

Racing Point did not do Perez any favours leaving him out.

[truefan72]

It would be stupid to pit Bottas. Stop overthinking things Mercedes smh

[Nitrodaze]

It would be stupid to pit Bottas. Stop overthinking things Mercedes smh

Verstapenn is doing such a great job getting in the hair of the Mercedes.

[truefan72]

Racing Point did not do Perez any favours leaving him out.
Maybe not...I honk he will finish P7. To me Albon was done wrong again. Why pit him on mediums that early to run the rest of the race SMH

[Nitrodaze]

Maybe not...I honk he will finish P7. To me Albon was done wrong again. Why pit him on mediums that early to run the rest of the race SMH

It is weird isn't it. His pace is not that great on the mediums either.

[truefan72]

I think Binnotto gets fired before Mugello.

[truefan72]

Hmm Hamilton and verstappen tires look very critical.

[Nitrodaze]

I think Binnotto gets fired before Mugello.

I would not be surprised. Ferrari is back where they were before Arrivabene took charge.

[Nitrodaze]

What if Ricciaddo wins this race. Day dreaming!

[Nitrodaze]

Racing Point put Perez at risk to Gasly by not letting Perez pass Stroll. It was not a good display by the Racing Point pitwall, that was ugly really. The same for Albon. Wrong tires and unreasonable number of laps to run the medium yellow tyres. Redbull just fails to do a good job for their second car.

[Nitrodaze]

I predicted Albon to take 4th in the driver's championship this weekend and that happened. Welldone Alex!

[N4D13]

As much as I like a wet rain, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. These days I'm rooting for McLaren and they'll be nowhere with their low-downforce setup if it starts pouring.
Well, at least I got what I asked for.

[Nitrodaze]

Well, at least I got what I asked for.

Shame about Sainz

[Nitrodaze]

This season is looking like more punnishment than the FIA could have levied on Ferrari for whatever they had done on their smokey engine. Pointless and fighting at the back of the grid. The ignomity of it!

One kind of have a feeling that Ferrari called in a favour from their old team boss to get away with murder. What a shamble, the whole thing.

[Zico]

I guess the question is not if Binnoto will get sacked but when..
Didn't he threaten to quit Ferrari unless he was given Arivabene's job? If so Ferrari must also feel he has cheated his way into the role with their technical cheat. His days must surely be numbered.

Wolf to Ferrari? He'd have to be mad..

[Nitrodaze]

I guess the question is not if Binnoto will get sacked but when..
Didn't he threaten to quit Ferrari unless he was given Arivabene's job? If so Ferrari must also feel he has cheated his way into the role with their technical cheat. His days must surely be numbered.

Wolf to Ferrari? He'd have to be mad..

Well Binotto has f*cked up big time this season. It would be a miracle if he survives beyond Monza. Where the Ferrari car would put on a show on how to race a Ferrari outside the midfields.

[airshifter]

Though the front of the pack was predictable from lights out to podium, just about everything after that wasn't.

Great showing by the Renaults, and it seems like Ricciardo had big pace left in his car at the end. Lots of pit strategies that I thought were all wrong came right as the race progressed, and lots of good battles through the pack.

Ferrari..... well time to fire another. They should have kept Arrivabene in the job, as he had the team moving forward. As it is now, they are fighting at the back of the pack again.

[truefan72]

What if Ricciaddo wins this race. Day dreaming!

if the race was 10 more laps he probably would have

[SteveF1]

Well that is one of my favourite track of the year but dear gods that was mindnumbingly boring.
quite frankly if it wasn't for F2 and indycars I would happily cancel my SkyF1 sub.
it's simply not remotely worth it currently.

[truefan72]

This season is looking like more punnishment than the FIA could have levied on Ferrari for whatever they had done on their smokey engine. Pointless and fighting at the back of the grid. The ignomity of it!

One kind of have a feeling that Ferrari called in a favour from their old team boss to get away with murder. What a shamble, the whole thing.

which makes their special payment thing even more ridiculous. do a simple profit sharing and some merit based bonus. the fact that they get $100M for doing nothing is absurd. Especially coming off a year where they were caught cheating.

[N. Jones]

I guess the question is not if Binnoto will get sacked but when..
Didn't he threaten to quit Ferrari unless he was given Arivabene's job? If so Ferrari must also feel he has cheated his way into the role with their technical cheat. His days must surely be numbered.

Wolf to Ferrari? He'd have to be mad..

Somebody said that Binotto is an engineer, not a manager. His appointment always seemed strange to me and he looks out of his depth.

[Nitrodaze]

Somebody said that Binotto is an engineer, not a manager. His appointment always seemed strange to me and he looks out of his depth.

If they can swallow their pride, they should bring back Arrivabene. At least Ferrari was moving progressively forward with him. Binotto would be ripped apart at Monza by the Italian press. He is very unlikely to survive the huge pressure to follow. The Tifosi would have plenty to say as well.

Is Vettel having a wry smile right now?

It is difficult to say who is getting the best deal out of all of this. The Renault is showing some genuine speed, so l am thinking maybe Alonso. But the Mclaren would be getting Mercedes powertrain next year and may propel Mclaren forward into the sharp end. Hence, it might be Ricciado at Sainz's expense.

2021 could be troublesome for Redbull as well with the midfield closing in fast, seeing how much Renault has improved and how much Mclaren is likely to improve with Mercedes powertrain. Honda would need to make some gains in performance by next season or Redbull would have plenty of reason to moan.

[Bagwan]

"Is Vettel having a rye smile right now?"

It might be a "wry" smile .
He seems more like a vodka guy to me .

[Tazio]

He seems more like a vodka guy to me .
You mean Kimi? :confused::arrowed: :dork: :angel:

[Nitrodaze]

"Is Vettel having a rye smile right now?"

It might be a "wry" smile .
He seems more like a vodka guy to me .

Thanks for the correction buddy ;-), but you get my drift.

[Nitrodaze]

It was a great race weekend for Gasly. Lots of amazing overtakes from him as he puts pressure on Albon for the Redbull drive. Great weekend for Renault too with Ricciado giving us a glimpse of his great talent. As did Ocon, taking that crucial position from Albon on the last lap.

[Bagwan]

You mean Kimi? :confused::arrowed: :dork: :angel:

Yeah , you're right Tazzy .
Perhaps a nice snifter of cognac ?

[Bagwan]

Thanks for the correction buddy ;-), but you get my drift.

Drifting these cars just makes you slower .
Stupid Pirelli tires .

[Nitrodaze]

Well, at least I got what I asked for.

Mclaren 3rd in the constructors championship, that has got to bring a smile to your face.

[Storm]

It was a great race weekend for Gasly. Lots of amazing overtakes from him as he puts pressure on Albon for the Redbull drive. Great weekend for Renault too with Ricciado giving us a glimpse of his great talent. As did Ocon, taking that crucial position from Albon on the last lap.

It seems as if the 2nd RB seat is like a pressure cooker...nobody can make it work

[N. Jones]

It seems as if the 2nd RB seat is like a pressure cooker...nobody can make it work

I think it is because of what we talked about in a previous thread - RB, mainly that idiot Marko, puts all of their work into one driver and the second driver gets no help. I don't think anyone, Perez and Hulk included, can make that second car work.

[Bagwan]

I think it is because of what we talked about in a previous thread - RB, mainly that idiot Marko, puts all of their work into one driver and the second driver gets no help. I don't think anyone, Perez and Hulk included, can make that second car work.

Marko is out saying that it isn't Albon's fault .
He's not had the same equipment as Max , as they've been trying new things , but only bolting them on Max's car .
And , no configuration of the old bits has seemed to work .

When they arrive , he'll get them .

He must be telling the truth , as Gasly is doing well in the sister team , and hinting he's hot whenever asked .