OT-FORMULA 1 ROLEX BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2024; July 26-28 OT

lousubcap

Race schedule below.  All times EDT.  Broadcast channels listed.
(Last race until Aug 23-25; Netherlands)

28 JUL

Race

09:00 (ESPN)

27 JUL

Qualifying

10:00 - 11:00 (ESPN2)

27 JUL

Practice 3

06:30 - 07:30 (ESPN2)

26 JUL

Practice 2

11:00 - 12:00 (ESPNU)

26 JUL

Practice 1

07:30 - 08:30 (ESPN2)

Race circuit:

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

And away we go! 

Ozzie_Isaac

My goodness!  We are still unraveling what happened this past weekend.  Verstapen and Lewis, McLaren threatening Lando, etc.

lousubcap

Bump as it starts Friday AM.

Ozzie_Isaac

Any predictions?  Now that Red Bull was forced by the FIA to remove their “performance” enhancing device (behind closed doors of course), I bet we get to see more angry petulant Max.

I recommend listening to team radios while watching the race.

CPFC1905

Qualifying will be interesting to see how Max performs, given his 10 place penalty.  Come the race, he will have many, many more cars to collide with and swear about.    
Have to say I am enjoying the spoiled brat routine he is pulling.   

lousubcap

Below is the starting grid for the Sunday race:  Verstappen starts 11th having had the fastest qualifying time but taking a 10 grid penalty for a planned power unit exchange (in access of allowed).  

Cla	Nº	Driver	Car / Engine	Time	Delay
1	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1'53.754
2	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'53.765	0.011
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1'53.835	0.081
4	4	Lando Norris	McLaren/Mercedes	1'53.981	0.227
5	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren/Mercedes	1'54.027	0.273
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1'54.184	0.430
7	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1'54.477	0.723
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'54.765	1.011
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine/Renault	1'54.810	1.056
10	23	Alexander Albon	Williams/Mercedes	1'54.473	0.719
11	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull/Honda RBPT	1'53.159	-0.595
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine/Renault	1'54.635	0.881
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB/Honda RBPT	1'54.682	0.928
14	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber/Ferrari	1'54.764	1.010
15	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin/Mercedes	1'55.716	1.962
16	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas/Ferrari	1'56.308	2.554
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas/Ferrari	1'56.500	2.746
18	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams/Mercedes	1'57.230	3.476
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber/Ferrari	1'57.775	4.021
20	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB/Honda RBPT	1'56.593	2.839

Ozzie_Isaac

Bumpidty bump

lousubcap

Race results:  Some good racing and a gutsy call by Mercedes and George Russell.

2024 Belgian Grand Prix timings

1 George Russell Mercedes
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.526
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +1.173
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +8.549
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +9.226
6 Lando Norris McLaren +9.850
7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +19.795
8 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +43.195
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +49.963
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine +52.552
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB +54.926
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +63.011
13 Alexander Albon Williams +63.651
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine +64.365
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team +66.631
16 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber +70.638
17 Yuki Tsunoda RB +76.737
18 Logan Sargeant Williams +86.057
19 Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team +88.833
DNF Guanyu Zhou Kick Sauber

Next race weekend August 23-25 in the Netherlands.  

Ozzie_Isaac

This middles season races have been great!  Interesting to see how Mercedes handled the team order vs. McLaren.  I wish Hamilton had won.

Ozzie_Isaac

Might need to change your standings …. George Russel was disqualified!?

lousubcap

No need to "might" as here is an article: (When there are "absolutes", that makes it all quite easy.)

Russell calls DSQ 'heartbreaking' after losing Spa victory

George Russell described his disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix as “heartbreaking” after seeing victory taken away from him after the race.

Mercedes originally secured a 1-2 with Russell pulling off an audacious one-stop strategy to beat Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri in a thrilling finish. Post-race scrutineering then found Russell’s car to be 1.5 kg underweight and, as that is a technical infringement, it automatically leads to a disqualification from the results.

“Heartbreaking…” Russell said. “We came in 1.5 kg underweight and have been disqualified from the race. We left it all on the track today and I take pride in crossing the line first. There will be more to come.”

Speaking before he was disqualified, Russell said the decision to one-stop was a spontaneous one that had not been considered ahead of the race.

“We spoke so much this morning about the two-stop, the three-stop, but suddenly the tires, the car felt really, really good. I got into this groove, and especially when I got into the lead, there were no back markers in front, no other cars in front — it kind of felt like driving a simulator. It was quite weird.

“I was looking at the gap to Lewis and the rate he was catching me, and I just thought there’s no reason why we can’t stay out here and do this one stop and try and make it work.”

Russell’s disqualification is the first time a driver has lost a victory for a technical infringement after the race since Michael Schumacher at Spa-Francorchamps 30 years ago, and is one the team did not dispute.

“We have to take our disqualification on the chin,” team principal Toto Wolff said. “We have clearly made a mistake and need to ensure we learn from it. We will go away, evaluate what happened and understand what went wrong. To lose a 1-2 is frustrating and we can only apologize to George who drove such a strong race.

“Lewis is of course promoted to P1; he was the fastest guy on the two-stop and is a deserving winner.”

Just shuffle 'em all up one spot.  

lousubcap

Since I'm here:  F1 podium winners take it full face on.  Talking about the champagne showers after every race.  No Goggles and a full jeroboam (3 liters) of Ferrari champagne.  🍾

Botch

So, was the weight loss due to tire wear?  

Ozzie_Isaac

Botch said:

So, was the weight loss due to tire wear?  

What I am hearing is tire wear and plank wear.  Supposedly other tracks have a cool down lap where you can drive in the marbles and actually add weight before going to pit at the end.  The one stop strategy may have lead to the weight issue, to much tire wear.  This is all new to me, I am amazed at how close they run to the edge.

CPFC1905

Great circuit and very informative results for next season.   Shows the difference between talent (Russell) and being good when you've got the fastest car (Verstappen)

The slow implosion of Red Bull has taken effect and it's great that Maclaren, Mercedes and Ferrari are genuine contenders - that latter certainly when Lewis gets the seat in '25.

The loss of mass can only be down to degradation in-race as all the data points are so carefully monitored.  The circuit is fast and that generates high downforce, if a team set their ride height low then the plank takes a battering every lap.  

Mark_B_Good

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Botch said:

So, was the weight loss due to tire wear?  

What I am hearing is tire wear and plank wear.  Supposedly other tracks have a cool down lap where you can drive in the marbles and actually add weight before going to pit at the end.  The one stop strategy may have lead to the weight issue, to much tire wear.  This is all new to me, I am amazed at how close they run to the edge.

I hope the one stop strategy didn't cause that ... because it basically means, teams cannot do a one-stop strategy ... I don't get though, how else he'd be under weight ... and that sucks lemons.