Formula 1 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand Prix 2019Formula 1 

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Norris and Gio on the last lap, Noooo!!!

CHARLES WINS, YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

That's probably the most emotional final lap I've had since Danny Ric winning in Canada. :lol:
 
Did Lando’s car really die on the start line on the last lap?

Arrrggg

Great for Leclerc, glad he finally got a win in.

Wish we would’ve been able to see what Verstappen would’ve done to the mixture but alas turn 1 was turn 1.
 
NotThePrez
Looks like it. Pretty sure Gasly's still running his tires from lap ~13 or so.

And Gio overtook Danny Ric too! Where was this pace during the first half of the year?
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Yes. Every midfield drivers who had to start on Soft and finish on Medium has been raped on track in the last 10 laps (Ricciardo, Gasly, Grosjean...)
 
Noooo... Norris. Had a good race the whole way through and then on the last lap his car goes out... Congratulations to Leclerc though and Albon showing he is worth that Red Bull.
 

Race Recap:

Charles Leclerc: A deserving win. Fastest all weekend. Lots of pace in hand over Ferrari team-mate Vettel. Even though the Merc looked better on worn tires and low fuel, Lewis was never close enough to worry him.

Lewis Hamilton: Should have qualified on the front row if Vettel hadn't stolen a tow on him in qualifying. Great start, overtaking Vettel, lost the place almost immediately, as his Merc just didn't have the same power as the Ferrari. But he kept within spitting distance of Vettel all race, and ran longer on the first stint, which allowed him to pass Vettel later in the race. He had more speed than Leclerc at the end, but got held up long enough by Vettel for it not to matter. Good race for Lewis, who extends his lead over his closest rivals.

Valterri Bottas: Stayed clean in the first lap clashes, almost passed team-mate Lewis as Vettel held him up, but fell back as the race went on. pitted latest of the top four, which gave him plenty of pace to overtake Vettel right as Sebastian went in for his second pit.

Sebastian Vettel: Struggled to keep pace with team-mate Leclerc. And the race was more of the same. Visibly struggled with the tires and tire life, which forced him to pit early. By the end of his second stint, he was a sitting duck. Ended up in no man's land. Could this be where his season goes completely south? I just can't see him having any confidence going forward from this.

Alex Albon: Didn't proceed through qualifying due to a penalty, but he had quite a good first race at Red Bull, coming from the back all the way up to fifth by the end. Looked like he would finish behind the Toro Rosso's there, but the speed was there, and he made good use of it.

Sergio Perez: Winner of F1.5, after he managed to clear Kevin Magnussen's Haas, he had a smooth race. Obviously didn't have enough car or tire to hold off the Red Bull, but got gifted sixth by Lando Norris's late retirement.

Daniil Kyvat: Toro Rosso's strong form continues. The Red Bull squad were cutting through traffic all day, and as everything settled after the pits, were running strong.

Nico Hulkenberg: Good pit timing and tire lottery results gave him the tires to get past Renault team-mate Ricciardo late in the race, but he didn't have the speed to hold off Albon or Kyvat. Good result, but not a great race for Renault.

Pierre Gasly: Demoted Toro Rosso driver looked like he would be the lead Bull in this race after Max's crash, but as they cycled through the stops, he started falling behind the others. Guess that demotion is justified, then?

Lance Stroll: Hey, Lance was in the race, too. Cool.

No one else scored. And in the end, it's the score that counts.

Big losers:

Kimi Raikkonena and Max Verstappen - Max and Kimi met at a corner where neither could see the other due to an intervening car. Max went out with broken steering, Kimi went on with a broken floor and a few more bumps and bruises. Not a great race when Giovinazzi finishes ahead of you. Well... almost finishes.

Carlos Sainz: His car just wanted to take a nap. And kept nagging him till it got it.

Lando Norris: So damn close yet so far. Just one lap from fifth place. Not a great weekend for McLaren after a string of strong results.
 
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Well, a somewhat boring but fun Belgian GP when kinda nutty in the last lap.

Charles finally wins, and grants Ferrari their first win, though it definitely should've been at least his 2nd this year. At the same, you can tell that he's not super celebratory due to yesterday's events. Touching words, and a great gesture towards Anthoine. Also, the Monaco Anthem is stellar, and a welcome change from the British & German anthems.

Albon definitely earned his paycheck this race. His first half was pretty damn dreadful, but after the second half he quickly became one with the car. Definitely got some good passes in, including a stellar overtaake on Danny Ric.

Vettel was a bro this whole race, but his pace was pretty poor overall. 4th place is definitely solid, but this wasn't one of Vettel best performances if we're being honest.

Mercedes, despite getting 2nd and 3rd, drove a pretty mediocre race, which is weird to say. Between Hamiltons woes in the pits and both drivers not being able to match up to their red bretheren overall, this podium finish feels pretty lacking. Both drivers did good, it just that the drive to their result could've been better.

Shout out to Toro Rosso, as well as Gio and Norris. Both drove great races, both had good results going, only to lose it all on the final lap. Toro Rosso meanwhile did pretty great on a track they should be weak on, with Kvyat running as high as 6th at one point. I also feel like Pierre is somewhat back into form, and his performance today makes me fell like that he might have a place on the grid, albeit not at a top team for a little while longer. Also didn't help that he was running 30+ lap old tires by the end, which is insane around Spa.

The worst of the race was Max, as well as McLaren. Max tried to go for a gap that was never going to work, which also ruined Kimi's race. McLaren was facing technical issues, with their cars going out at literally the two worst possible times in a race.

Renault as an organization continues to frustrate me immensely. Props to Nico for finishing 8th, though.
 
NotThePrez
Mercedes, despite getting 2nd and 3rd, drove a pretty mediocre race, which is weird to say. Between Hamiltons woes in the pits and both drivers not being able to match up to their red bretheren overall, this podium finish feels pretty lacking. Both drivers did good, it just that the drive to their result could've been better.
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On the contrary, I think they showed how dangerous they are. Cars down 10 km/h in pace on the straights, and they still had the pace to win. If Vettel hadn't held him up for several laps, or if he'd made that first lap overtake stick, Lewis could have overtaken Charles near the end. Ferrari basically had to sacrifice Vettel to ensure that win.

Everything else, yes, spot on.
 
niky
On the contrary, I think they showed how dangerous they are. Cars down 10 km/h in pace on the straights, and they still had the pace to win. If Vettel hadn't held him up for several laps, or if he'd made that first lap overtake stick, Lewis could have overtaken Charles near the end. Ferrari basically had to sacrifice Vettel to ensure that win.

Everything else, yes, spot on.
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Agreed. For all Ferrari’s dominant speed advantage, they are vulnerable on long runs and could easily have lost that race.
 
Well done Charles, well deserved maiden win. he put it on pole and did what he had to do to make it stick. Granted, if the race was just 1 lap longer, I think Lewis would have won it. Speaking of Lewis, he's yet again show why he is a 5x WC and never to be discounted. Despite the disadvantage in top speed compared to the ferraris, he still manage to finish less than a second behind Charles is worth noting.

Just gutted for Nando. He drove such a good race and that would have been such a well deserved 5th and the car give up on the penultimate lap. I'm not sure winning the driver of the day would be much of a consolation.

Very impressive day for Albon with that Red Bull. I hope he's got it in him to give Max some challenge in the team where Gasly looked like he was never there.
 
Another belter of a race, despite the sadness of the weekend.

Max was silly into t1 and Vettel just can’t look after his tyres, not sure if that was due to his driving or his lockup on the restart. But another race where he’s been overshadowed by his young team mate. Leclerc finally got his win, really happy for him and I hope this puts him on the front foot confidence wise, he said more than earned it.

Lewis again was to me the class of the field, despite massively lacking in the straights and losing a second in the pits he was clearly faster than his team mate and coulda/shoulda got the win.

Gutted for Noris but Albon showing why Red Bull promoted him. I don’t think he’ll be fighting with Max, but he can use this season to get settled and the car how he likes and next year we’ll have a really exciting Red Bull team
 
niky
On the contrary, I think they showed how dangerous they are. Cars down 10 km/h in pace on the straights, and they still had the pace to win. If Vettel hadn't held him up for several laps, or if he'd made that first lap overtake stick, Lewis could have overtaken Charles near the end. Ferrari basically had to sacrifice Vettel to ensure that win.

Everything else, yes, spot on.
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And they called the strategy right deciding not to cover Vettel or it wasn't even a factor to cover him.
 
Tense final moments for Leclerc. I was nervous for him. Well done. Finally! Looking forward to Monza.

Sad for Norris. Avoided carnage and looked solid for 5th. Speaking of 5th, I totally lost track of Albon at various points in the race. Good job!
 
Damn.... can Norris catch a break?
Still, very proud of Leclerc for getting his first victory. And it’s only right that a French driver won the Grand Prix shortly after the death of another. #RIPAnthoine
 
I have to admit I wasn't completely taken with this years Spa, apart from the opening lap there wasn't really that much happening - I missed the last 9 or so laps as I wanted to head home early - normally I go down the pub to watch the GPs but this one wasn't really holding my interest.

Good to hear that Leclerc finally did it - congrats to him. It's been too long coming. Utter shame to hear about Norris' McLaren giving up on the last lap. He did well good at the start to climb up to 5th from 11th, and it seemed like he'd really consolidated his position. He definitely gets my vote for driver of the day, and I'm convinced that if the right team offers come his way (or McLaren up their game to where they were 10, 15 or 20 years ago) then we'll see him, Max and Charles bringing in the new guard of top drivers.

As for the Max and Kimi incident, well I blame the track - what do you expect will happen when you have a hairpin 150 metres from the start line. There's almost always some carnage there, sometimes enough to wipe out a small country's GDP à la 1998.

Looking forward to Monza now, and if Mercedes don't get their straight line speed sorted out then maybe Leclerc will get another well deserved 1st place. Honestly I see Leclerc as the Ferrari number 1 driver now, and given the team orders today I'm thinking that perhaps Ferrari think the same.
 
baldgye
Albon showing why Red Bull promoted him.
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People has been impressed by a driver with fresh soft tires eating a Ricciardo with destroyed tires. I'm not.
The outcome of that race regarding RB/TR drivers was written after the first corner:
A damaged car that was going to DNF
A driver starting with Soft tires (I don't know why,) and and old spec engine.
Two drivers starting last but with both the best tire strategy and the last spec of the engine, one with a better car than the other.
 

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