[Official] Belgian Grand Prix 2024

[FAS33]

Originally Posted by Teretonga

Everyone had trouble following at Spa.
Dirty air wouldcause slow cornering and a struggle
If you watched the race via live timing as I did lap times were about 1.48 at the start and about 1.47 at the end with lighter fuel.
For everyone in the leading 8, including Perez.
Oscar was 1 second a lap quicker once in clear air. George has a similar advantage.

He had a big wing as per Max and plenty of down force but struggled in a straight line. Even so he stayed within a 2-3 second gap behind Sainz until his extra stop for new tyres for fastest lap attempt, and that only happened because he was 205 seconds up on Alonso so had time to pit and exit again without creating a problem.

Perez finished within 44 seconds of George and his three stops, two more than George would account for around 38-39 seconds of that difference.

It goes without saying, clean air is King.

[S griffin]

As for the question of why they don't do a full cool down lap of Spa, this seems to be a carry on from the days when the parc ferme used to be where the old pits is. After they made big changes to Bus Stop and La Source in 07, for some reason they decided to keep the format the same, but by having the drive the wrong way round the pits.

Anyway it's good it's so open up front now and Max hasn't won for four races. If only the championship started a bit later, but hopefully it will be just as competitive up front after the summer break

[E.B]

I see Stella has come clean about Piastri's mistake being costly and potentially race changing.... also commenting it was the second such mistake by Oscar recently.

Reflecting on the impact of Piastri’s slow stop after the race, Stella commented: “Oscar said immediately in the in-lap on the radio, ‘apologies for the pit stop’, because I think he realised that that would have been a bit costly, because potentially he would have just queued behind Hamilton but he could also have been in condition to attack.

“So I think this one-and-a-half/two-second loss at the pit stop ultimately proved to be relatively costly, and even because then he would have been behind Leclerc earlier with fresher tyres, which means he could have finalised the overtaking more easily.

“We do have to work with drivers in terms of, even in the hot moments, just don’t overcook it at the pit stop position, because it can be very costly. I think we had something similar in Silverstone as well.....”

.https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...fbOZ8arkrRbHgb

[Skam85]

Welp, better sack him then. No good.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by FAS33

No the real schoolboy error was lando bottling his starts yet again, going wide and onto the gravel and Oscar getting the inside line to overtake. Just like in Hungary. Oscar will be Maclaren number 1 driver sooner rather then later.

I read that and thought "That's a bit of an off-the-wall comment". Then I saw who wrote it!

[chillibowl]

came across this on reddit...someone broke down Lando's race start positions v his position after lap 1.



credit to original reddit post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/co...t_on_his_race/

dont know how this compares against other drivers but overall its seems like over the course of his career so far, roughly a 3rd of the time he loses spots, a 3rd of the time he gains, and a 3rd he stays the same.

but now that he is running more towards the front, and in the last 3 races in particular, his starts look to be the worst part of his game...but still no way of knowing if its just a blip or a trend requiring concern?

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by TrapezeArtist

I read that and thought "That's a bit of an off-the-wall comment". Then I saw who wrote it!

Ignore who posted it. The comment does seen to be the way the wind is blowimg.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

dont know how this compares against other drivers but overall its seems like over the course of his career so far, roughly a 3rd of the time he loses spots, a 3rd of the time he gains, and a 3rd he stays the same.

but now that he is running more towards the front, and in the last 3 races in particular, his starts look to be the worst part of his game...but still no way of knowing if its just a blip or a trend requiring concern?

1/3 -1/3-1/3 would be a logical expectation from someone who is not especially good or bad at starts and first laps. However, once you start on pole there are only two possibilities so the stats are likely to get worse.