Formula 1 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix 2019Formula 1

[Jimlaad43]

It's been a long summer break (I still don't think any of us are used to it yet) and Formula 1 returns to the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. Red Bull and Toro Rosso have new drivers after Gasly's demotion, while Kvyat and Albon are taking Honda's new engine and a shedload of grid penalties. Expect Verstappen and Gasly to get the same in Monza. On previous form, this race and the next at Monza seem to be Ferrari's best chance to finally win a race this season. We'll all find out if that is true at the Belgian Grand Prix.

First Grand Prix
1950

Number of Laps
44

Circuit Length
7.004km

Race Distance
308.052 km

Lap Record
1:46.286 Valtteri Bottas (2018)
​

 

[BrainsBush]

Hopefully we can continue with the great last races we've seen. Really looking forward to Spa. Will there be any surprise e.g. with the summer upgrades?
Enjoy the F1 race weekend!

 

[NotThePrez]

Albon to start the Belgian GP from the back of the grid.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Albon to start the Belgian GP from the back of the grid.

I think he'll be fine. He started from pit lane in China and finished 10th and got driver of the day. And it was after a bad crash in practice which would lower your composure/confidence.

They plan to introduce this new power unit to both cars but not at the same race because stupid, so I bet Max will get this at Monza.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Albon to start the Belgian GP from the back of the grid.

Probably a good call. Let's see what he can do. Realistically he needs to be better than Gasly after 4 or 6 races... but I doubt that much of the pressure on him will be realistic.

 

[Dotini]

I know nothing, but I humbly think Gasly's demotion was premature. On pace, wasn't he usually in the top 6?

 

[NotThePrez]

I know nothing, but I humbly think Gasly's demotion was premature. On pace, wasn't he usually in the top 6?

He was, but he was usually woefully behind his teammate, as well as the Ferraris, which doesn't look great considering that said teammate is able to get podiums and wins with the same car. In Hungary, he was at risk of getting lapped by Verstappen as well which, again, is not a good look when you drive the same car.

Gasly's lack of pace also hurt Red Bulls strategy as a whole. Right now, Red Bull should absolutely be 2nd in the WCC, but Gasly's lack of pace meant that Max couldn't use him as a buffer between Bottas and the two Ferraris, since he was usually well behind in the Big 6. This allowed Ferrari in particular to build up a gap. Before his demotion, Gasly was also being threatened in the points by Carlos Sainz, driving the noticeably inferior McLaren.

Make no mistake, I feel for Gasly, and I will forever be pissed at how Marko and Mateschitz did him dirty, but his overall pace was not anywhere near satisfactory for the team and car he had around him.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Make no mistake, I feel for Gasly, and I will forever be pissed at how Marko and Mateschitz did him dirty,

I don't see how, it's their car and not Gasly's. He's still in with a chance for 2020, they've done the sensible thing and given another driver a go for a few months as a comparison. Their logic seems sound to me.

 

[FutureF1]

I know nothing, but I humbly think Gasly's demotion was premature. On pace, wasn't he usually in the top 6?

Fact of the matter is that the top 3 are so far ahead, if he didn’t finish 6th it spoke volumes. You’d often see him fighting the McLarens and renaults while max was fighting for victories. Finishing 6th in a Red Bull is like finishing last. He shouldn’t even be racing the midfield but he was

 

[baldgye]

I feel for Gasly

In incident free races he struggled to finish on the same lap as his team mate.

 

[NotThePrez]

I don't see how, it's their car and not Gasly's. He's still in with a chance for 2020, they've done the sensible thing and given another driver a go for a few months as a comparison. Their logic seems sound to me.

Oh, I have no doubt he was going to be dropped from the main team, nor would I have blamed them for doing so. It's moreso the fact that the team said one thing, promising that he would keep his seat until the end of the season. And then (I believe) one week later, just pull the rug out from under him. It's a crappy thing to do imo.

In incident free races he struggled to finish on the same lap as his team mate.

I'm aware, hence me saying that his overall pace was nowhere near good enough.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Not sure how much of this is just logistics or if it matters, but Albon was told in person while Gasly got an impersonal phone call. Both from Dr. Marko but still.

 

[mustafur]

Gasly was no doubt out of his element, Racing the Mclarens and Ricciardo in a car that should be on the podium makes you very replaceable,

 

[niky]

You can forgive a regular driver being maybe thirty seconds adrift of Max by the end of a race. But to be nearly a lap down speaks volumes about the gulf in talent.

The "Formula 1.5 Winner" jokes appended to Gasly didn't happen overnight. He really is the only one in a top three team who regularly has to fight midfielders for points.

Albon's job right now is to simply not crash and at least finish top six, despite starting further down on the grid. Don't have any big expectations until he's at least three races in.

 

[mustafur]

You can forgive a regular driver being maybe thirty seconds adrift of Max by the end of a race. But to be nearly a lap down speaks volumes about the gulf in talent.

The "Formula 1.5 Winner" jokes appended to Gasly didn't happen overnight. He really is the only one in a top three team who regularly has to fight midfielders for points.

Albon's job right now is to simply not crash and at least finish top six, despite starting further down on the grid. Don't have any big expectations until he's at least three races in.

The way I see it, Albon has to be comfortably ahead of the midfeild and he keeps the seat or it's going to Kyvat, who showed that while slower then Ricciardo wasn't completely hopeless.

 

[evldave333]

Psychic hat time! im predicting Ferrari have a good qualifying and lock out the front row and will lead the race until.... turn 5 where seb bins into his team mate lol

 

[BrainsBush]

After watching FP1&2 it seems Ferrari is the best during one lap whichwas expected so no surprise. That 25 secs full power 'straight' including Eau Rouge (sorry Raidillion) --> What a difference/gap with the rest. Ferrari is the new drag car Or are others sandbagging in sector 1?

It was too hot for both Racing Points. Was that because of the new hybrid units? What does that mean for Mercedes 1 team on the longer term?

Quali will be interesting!

 

[PeterJB]

Ferrari fastest all day, which means Hamilton will get pole by over a second and lap the whole field whilst complaining the car's undriveable.

 

[TenEightyOne]

It's moreso the fact that the team said one thing, promising that he would keep his seat until the end of the season.

I think (based on my apocryphal experience of working with Americans and seeing interweb responses to the Gasly Affair) that there might be a difference between the British and American understanding of Horner's words. He said it was their intention to keep Gasly in the seat until the end of the season - that's far from being any sort of guarantee that they would.

Ferrari fastest all day, which means Hamilton will get pole by over a second and lap the whole field whilst complaining the car's undriveable.

"Get in there Lewis" intensifies etc. etc.

 

[niky]

The way I see it, Albon has to be comfortably ahead of the midfeild and he keeps the seat or it's going to Kyvat, who showed that while slower then Ricciardo wasn't completely hopeless.

I don't see Red Bull ever retreading old ground. I mean, it's a possibility, but given how even Kyvat and Albon have been in terms of speed (Kyvat has better results overall, partly because of experience), I don't think they'll find any more raw speed out of Kyvat.

If Albon performs at Gasly levels, then they will have to cast their net wider for a proper partner to Max.

After watching FP1&2 it seems Ferrari is the best during one lap whichwas expected so no surprise. That 25 secs full power 'straight' including Eau Rouge (sorry Raidillion) --> What a difference/gap with the rest. Ferrari is the new drag car Or are others sandbagging in sector 1?

It was too hot for both Racing Points. Was that because of the new hybrid units? What does that mean for Mercedes 1 team on the longer term?

Quali will be interesting!

Given that the track isn't that hot at the moment, that may be an issue for the notoriously heat sensitive Mercs.

 

[TenEightyOne]

It was too hot for both Racing Points. Was that because of the new hybrid units?

Teams take as much drag off as possible at Spa, that means removing as much cooling as is safe. The margins are less on a high power track as Mercedes found out with their own car a few races ago. I suspect that RP had made some extra holes in the engine covers in temporary mitigation and that's what caused Stroll's to give itself up to the airflow. I'm sure they'll have a cooler but draggier solution for tomorrow.

 

[BrainsBush]

Teams take as much drag off as possible at Spa, that means removing as much cooling as is safe. The margins are less on a high power track as Mercedes found out with their own car a few races ago. I suspect that RP had made some extra holes in the engine covers in temporary mitigation and that's what caused Stroll's to give itself up to the airflow. I'm sure they'll have a cooler but draggier solution for tomorrow.

In FP1 they removed a little bit too much of Strolls car for cooling

 

[TenEightyOne]

In FP1 they removed a little bit too much of Strolls car for cooling

Yes, that's what I was referring to

 

[TenEightyOne]

Chandhok watches an Albon lap, thinks he's Jenson Button-esque. Certainly looks smooth.

 

[PeterJB]

Something I'd just thought of: Franz Tost has been running Toro Rosso for a long time now, yet I have no idea what he looks like and while the British coverage will mention him from time to time I've not once seen them do an on-screen interview, why is this?

 

[TenEightyOne]

Something I'd just thought of: Franz Tost has been running Toro Rosso for a long time now, yet I have no idea what he looks like and while the British coverage will mention him from time to time I've not once seen them do an on-screen interview, why is this?

Because you haven't watched the interviews? He's fairly regular at the pre-race interview panel.

Race news: a couple of pundits have looked at yesterday's FP long runs and noticed that while Ferrari are quick on the soft tyre (as you'd expect) they're destroying them in the middle sector. Mercedes are slower on those laps but are keeping their tyres in good shape. It looks likely that Ferrari will try to qualify on the mediums and go as long as they can in the race.

 

[BrainsBush]

wow pretty hard crash for Lewis. His front wing dug under thw wheel barrier. Glad he is ok

 

[andrea]

Come on Toto, smash the table.

 

[JarreauPique]

wow pretty hard crash for Lewis. His front wing dug under thw wheel barrier. Glad he is ok

And the audience clapping and screaming after he crashed.... wow. So childish.

 

[TenEightyOne]

wow pretty hard crash for Lewis. His front wing dug under thw wheel barrier. Glad he is ok

That was a bizarre crash. Looks like he managed to scrub quite a bit of speed off but it was still a solid hit. Didn't he do similar in 2017-ish?

And the audience clapping and screaming after he crashed.... wow. So childish.

It's normal, I don't think anybody takes it seriously. And this is the country of Verstappen's birth, where do you expect audience loyalty to lie?