F1 2020 :Round 7 Belgium GP

Joeface

Welcome to Spa a weekend



Length:7.004 km (4.352 mi)
Turns :19
Race lap record :1:46.286 (Finland Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 2018)

Session
1st Free practice - Fri 28 Aug 10:00 - 11:30
2nd Free practice - Fri 28 Aug 14:00 - 15:30
3rd Free practice - Sat 29 Aug 11:00 - 12:00
1st Qualifying - Sat 29 Aug 14:00 - 14:18
2nd Qualifying - Sat 29 Aug 14:25 - 14:40
3rd Qualifying - Sat 29 Aug 14:48 - 15:00
Race - Sun 30 Aug 14:10 - 16:10

Expected Weather Forecast :

AMKC

Here is hoping Mercedes do not win this race.

Joeface

Cannot see beyond them at the moment . in the dry they will blitz everyone on this track , just too much power.
In the wet given what we saw LewisH do in a wet qual lap in Austria ( and I know each races is different ) , that was beyond another level .

I can only see a decent Mid field battle from Ablons Redbull back to Toro Rosso ..I mean Alpha Tauri . All those Cars ( Mclaren , Renault , Racing Point , Ferrari etc ) have been very even on Race pace . I do think this track presents some decent racing even more so after sleeping through Spain .

Joeface

Bit of a strange Practice session , Didnt feel like there was much runnning.
Ferrari stop doing laps very early on , they just did out laps and back in.
Haas Didnt run , issues with both cars Engine related but not specified what it was , Kimi Only ran the Alfa towards the end . So lots of problems for the Ferrari powered teams . still From first to 12 is only a separated by 1sec

Pos Driver Team Gap
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 1m44.493s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 0.069s
3 Max Verstappen Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 0.081s
4 Sergio Perez BWT Racing Point F1 Team 0.136s
5 Lance Stroll BWT Racing Point F1 Team 0.375s
6 Alexander Albon Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 0.556s
7 Esteban Ocon Renault DP World F1 Team 0.606s
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren F1 Team 0.729s
9 Daniel Ricciardo Renault DP World F1 Team 0.732s
10 Lando Norris McLaren F1 Team 0.781s
11 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 0.954s
12 Pierre Gasly Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1.010s
13 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1.211s
14 Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari 1.266s
15 Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Ferrari 1.686s
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing 1.995s
17 George Russell Williams Racing 2.077s
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team -
19 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team -
20 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN -

El_Duderino 09

Joeface wrote: »

Cannot see beyond them at the moment . in the dry they will blitz everyone on this track , just too much power.
In the wet given what we saw LewisH do in a wet qual lap in Austria ( and I know each races is different ) , that was beyond another level .

I can only see a decent Mid field battle from Ablons Redbull back to Toro Rosso ..I mean Alpha Tauri . All those Cars ( Mclaren , Renault , Racing Point , Ferrari etc ) have been very even on Race pace . I do think this track presents some decent racing even more so after sleeping through Spain .

Fair analysis but i'd take exception with the quali lap lewis did. The narrative was that it was an impossible lap and was beyond what any other driver could do as he went 4 tenths FASTER than his previous time and 1.2s faster than even Max. Something worth noting is that Max was on a similarly fast lap until he spun. He was also up on his last time by about 4 tenths too which would have put Hamilton about 8 tenths ahead of Max had max completed the lap without spinning - about the amount they were predicted to be ahead of Red Bull that weekend.

It's fine for a home media to create the narrative that the home boy is amazing and ignore any facts that might muddy the water - if it were an irish driver i'd imagine RTE would be doing the same. But we don't have to give in and go along with the same thing. They were both great quali laps, no doubt and Max failed to keep it on track which makes the end result more stark. But the coverage post quali was a bit of a contest of who could fellate Hamilton the most.

The old adage "don't let the truth get in the way of good story", take precedent in remembering this event

Joeface

^^^ FFS^^^ , can we not have one Thread on an F-in race where some doesnt pipe in the the LH bull crap .It just spirals off into something else . there is a whole thread for that alone https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057889570

El_Duderino 09

Joeface wrote: »

^^^ FFS^^^ , can we not have one Thread on an F-in race where some doesnt pipe in the the LH bull crap .It just spirals off into something else . there is a whole thread for that alone https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057889570

Sure. I suppose you're referring to whoever posted this:

Joeface wrote: »

In the wet given what we saw LewisH do in a wet qual lap in Austria ( and I know each races is different ) , that was beyond another level .

Joeface

Yep , I wrote that , one sentence relative to the current weekend due to forecasted weather conditions and you decided to write a paragraph about how I should not be influenced by the narrative created by the media . You did all that cause I typed one Drivers name .

This is it

Only tuning in now. Are Ferrari struggling that much or are they pushing at all?

Joeface

Pos Driver Team Gap
1 Max Verstappen Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1m43.744s
2 Daniel Ricciardo Renault DP World F1 Team 0.048s
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 0.096s
4 Alexander Albon Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 0.390s
5 Sergio Perez BWT Racing Point F1 Team 0.393s
6 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team 0.418s
7 Lando Norris McLaren F1 Team 0.424s
8 Esteban Ocon Renault DP World F1 Team 0.464s
9 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren F1 Team 0.730s
10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 0.856s
11 Lance Stroll BWT Racing Point F1 Team 0.934s
12 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1.082s
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1.117s
14 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN 1.152s
15 Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari 1.696s
16 George Russell Williams Racing 1.719s
17 Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Ferrari 1.939s
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams Racing 2.030s
19 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team 2.090s
20 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team 2.498s

Yes Ferrari appear to be very very poor here .

Harika

Ferrari might struggle tomorrow to get into Q2. AS sauber is in front of them there seems to be a different underlying issue than the engine

H3llR4iser

Harika wrote: »

Ferrari might struggle tomorrow to get into Q2. AS sauber is in front of them there seems to be a different underlying issue than the engine

While it is obvious that Ferrari's issue isn't only the engine...all the Ferrari powered cars are at the bottom, in company of the Williams (whose problem we know is NOT the engine).



That points out to the Ferrari PU being not just down on power, but miles behind - I had never seen that kind of complete wipeout ever, not even during the V12s vs V8s era. Whatever the "adjustment" they needed to do, it absolutely killed their whole project.



And Monza's gonna be even worse...

El_Duderino 09

Joeface wrote: »

Yep , I wrote that , one sentence relative to the current weekend due to forecasted weather conditions and you decided to write a paragraph about how I should not be influenced by the narrative created by the media . You did all that cause I typed one Drivers name .

Calm yourself.

El_Duderino 09

This is it wrote: »

Only tuning in now. Are Ferrari struggling that much or are they pushing at all?

I think they planned some fast runs at the end of the session but we're scuppered by the red flag. Listening to th life timing I heard LeClerc's engineer say they were going to do some low fuel duns but LeClerc said he wanted to do high fuel instead.

It seems that they're struggling but the Alfas improved at the end of the session and finished ahead of them. I expect ferrari to be significantly faster than the Alfas on actual pace. So I presume they struggled a lot and then didn't get to show their actual pace.

Vettel flat spotted both his front tyres on one corner. That suggests they're struggling.

Frank Bullitt

As a Schumacher/Ferrari fan, seeing how bad the red team are right now is very tough to see.

What the hell were they doing with that unit last year...

weisses

Gintonious wrote: »

What the hell were they doing with that unit last year...

Frank Bullitt

For such a change in pace over a year ( I saw on the F1 instagram that they are 1.317 slower this year compared to last), along with all the Ferrari teams being more or less Paddy last...it really must have been something powerful.

H3llR4iser

Gintonious wrote: »

For such a change in pace over a year ( I saw on the F1 instagram that they are 1.317 slower this year compared to last), along with all the Ferrari teams being more or less Paddy last...it really must have been something powerful.

We'll never know, but it's clearly not just something about the "fuel flow" or whereabouts, it's something that was rooted deeply in the design of the engine (maybe the electric unit?).


As I said, even when the Ford V8s were competing against the V10s and V12s from other manufacturers, and they were often as much as 150HP less powerful, they were NOT as hopeless as the Ferrari PUs look now. We're probably talking at "early-days-GP2-Engine-Honda" levels here.

Frank Bullitt

H3llR4iser wrote: »

We'll never know, but it's clearly not just something about the "fuel flow" or whereabouts, it's something that was rooted deeply in the design of the engine (maybe the electric unit?).


As I said, even when the Ford V8s were competing against the V10s and V12s from other manufacturers, and they were often as much as 150HP less powerful, they were NOT as hopeless as the Ferrari PUs look now. We're probably talking at "early-days-GP2-Engine-Honda" levels here.

Not far off, and these next few races will show the gap even more...dark days for them.

El_Duderino 09

H3llR4iser wrote: »

We'll never know, but it's clearly not just something about the "fuel flow" or whereabouts, it's something that was rooted deeply in the design of the engine (maybe the electric unit?).


As I said, even when the Ford V8s were competing against the V10s and V12s from other manufacturers, and they were often as much as 150HP less powerful, they were NOT as hopeless as the Ferrari PUs look now. We're probably talking at "early-days-GP2-Engine-Honda" levels here.

I don't think it's anything like as bad as that. The McLaren was about 4 seconds off the Mercedes pace in quali in Spa 2015. Today they were about 2 seconds off the pace. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow but I doubt it's even nearly as far off the pace as the bad days with honda.

Jordan 199

I'm hoping Renault will remain fast for the rest of the weekend.

tipp_tipp_tipp

Wow the ferrari is a dog. 17th and 20th in FP3.

Joeface

Yeah its awful ,
I know the traffic rubbish at the end of the session was bad but they were way way off .

Renault again showing pace ,

Cool_CM

Jesus, I know it's FP3, but that's pretty terrible.

Harika

tipp_tipp_tipp wrote: »

Wow the ferrari is a dog. 17th and 20th in FP3.

Why are they behind Haas and Alfa?

Cool_CM

F1 2020 would have invalidated Max's lap on about 4 different occasions there

Jordan 199

I like how the new tyres and shiney. Looks like melted butter is brushed on them

tipp_tipp_tipp

Harika wrote: »

Why are they behind Haas and Alfa?

They've managed to beat them in Q1. Not sure why they're struggling so much. There was talk of tyre issues yesterday but I feel like that's the default answer teams give when asked why they're struggling these days.

namloc1980

Beyond embarrassing for Ferrari.

Cool_CM

The side by side lap comparison video between Ferrari laps in 2019 v 2020 is insane. Monza is going to be a complete sh1t show.

namloc1980

Cool_CM wrote: »

The side by side lap comparison video between Ferrari laps in 2019 v 2020 is insane. Monza is going to be a complete sh1t show.

They won't get out of Q1 in Monza at this rate.

pjohnson

At least after Monza its their 1000th race at the Tuscan GP...........at Monza......

Burkie1203

pjohnson wrote: »

At least after Monza its their 1000th race at the Tuscan GP...........at Monza......

Mugello is the 1000th, not Monza?

This is it

Embarrassing.

Jordan 199

This is it wrote: »

Embarrassing.

That's a polite way of putting it

namloc1980

Another Hambotver race incoming tomorrow.

Jordan 199

Very good qualy for the Renault boys

namloc1980

Boring qualifying overall. Nobody did anything much on their second run in Q3.

The Royal Scam

This is ridiculous. This is not entertaining in the slightest anymore. Being an addict since 1984 I have seen many dominances but this really feels different.

I will probably not even bother watching this race tomorrow after first 2 turns.

Joeface

Happiest out of that is Renault , and maybe Albon . Is that his best qual placement?

tipp_tipp_tipp

Pretty dull session overall. Hope for some rain tomorrow.

Have to say they've really made a balls of this track with all the tarmac they've put down. They now can't even be bothered to police track limits so drivers are running out wide at will.

Burkie1203

The Royal Scam wrote: »

This is ridiculous. This is not entertaining in the slightest anymore. Being an addict since 1984 I have seen many dominances but this really feels different.

I will probably not even bother watching this race tomorrow after first 2 turns.

Rain is forecast

Charlie-Bravo

Lovely tribute in honour of Antoine Hubert before the start of the Formula 2 feature race. #AH19

PopePalpatine

Burkie1203 wrote: »

Rain is forecast

I'm already dreading 80 minutes of David Croft speculating about rain. At least the F1 TV app gives me an alternative.

CMCXCV

Renault's both drivers put in great laps today.

All Daniel Riccciardo has to do now is move up atleast one spot to the podium and the Renault boss has to get a tattoo picked out by Daniel.

Frank Bullitt

Predictable at the front.

The commentators will bark on about a "tight midfield", that is like saying the middle teams in the Premier league are close but one team has already won't the league. This is boring.

Frank Bullitt

https://twitter.com/GaryAndersonF1/status/1299662670866587648

H3llR4iser

Yeah people going on about "maybe it'll rain!" - Mercedes will be even further ahead if it rains, they're running so much more downforce it's basically ridiculous. Watching Hamilton throwing that car into bends looked like watching Automan taking corners in the 1980s.

Frank Bullitt

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Yeah people going on about "maybe it'll rain!" - Mercedes will be even further ahead if it rains, they're running so much more downforce it's basically ridiculous. Watching Hamilton throwing that car into bends looked like watching Automan taking corners in the 1980s.

Shhhhhhhh! It has NOTHING to do with the car though

I find I'm less annoyed each time I realise I missed a session or quali.

H3llR4iser

Gintonious wrote: »

Shhhhhhhh! It has NOTHING to do with the car though

Lol of course, he bends physics.



Jokes aside, that car is insane. Not a correction, not a twitch and the speed at which he can just throw the wheel one side to the other, especially in the fast bends, is staggering.

Unfortunately there's no telemetry data, but it's clearly audible he doesn't have to feather the throttle much either - plenty of traction available. Truly a mindblowing piece of race engineering.