F1 2024 Spa-Francochamps Pre-Race Thread

Mixed Practice Day and probably qualy. Dry n cooler race day! Toto was hoping for cooler to bring Mercedes more to the mix. We shall see.

Fri 26 | Day
21°
56%
SW9 mph
Light rain. High 21°C. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Sat 27 | Day
19°
69%
W6 mph
Showers. High 19°C. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

Sun 28 | Day
22°
19%
WNW6 mph
Partly cloudy. High 22°C. Winds WNW and variable.

 

1961: Belgian driver Willy Mairesse at the Belgian GP... With a young Mauro Forghieri next to him and Phil Hill in the background.

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The car looks tiny--incredible.

 

I was there !!! My first GP.
My Belgian godfather took me there to reward my good school results !

 

What a great photo and group of people! Nice !

 

Great anecdote - thanks for sharing, William.

However, I stand corrected: the year of the photo was 1962, not 1961. In 1961, Mairesse took the start in a Lotus for ENB (Ecurie Nationale Belge).
In the 1962 race, he crashed out in his "Sharknose" Ferrari.

Below some pictures of the Spa-Francorchamps pits in 1961:

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Car number 2: Wolfgang von Trips (2nd)
Car number 4: Phil Hill (winner of the 1961 Belgian GP)
Car number 6: Richie Ginther (3rd)
Car number 8: Olivier Gendebien (4th)

 

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Toto is salivating at this track as it is well-suited for the Mercedes overall, especially with cooler weather. Hoping to see George bag a win here. Mclaren will be tough

 

Fantastic period photos, thanks for posting them.

 

My fellow countryman, the amazing Jacky Ickx, on the starting grid of the 1970 Belgian GP taking advice of the equally amazing Mauro Forghieri:

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Picture by the also amazing Rainer W. Schlegelmilch

 

1970, Belgian GP: Jacky leads Jack Brabham in the Brabham-Ford. Jacky finished that race in 8th position. Brabham had a DNF.

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Interestingly, the best result for Scuderia Ferrari that day was a 4th place for Ignazio Giunti. It would be the best result in Giunti's all too short F1 career (4 races, all of them for Scuderia Ferrari). He was killed in an accident driving a Ferrari 312 PB prototype.

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A properly sized F1 car.

 

Be interesting to see what the solution yields.

Leclerc: Ferrari bouncing issue to be "most visible" in Spa
Ferrari is heading to Belgium hoping it has found more solutions to the high-speed bouncing induced by its latest floor design

 

That's a great photo - shows how beautifully packaged these cars are.

 

add in the Verstappen penalty as well, should make it a fight between Merc and Mclaren. Theirs to lose

 

Mclaren bringing lots of updates this weekend, not sure about MB yet. I know Ferrari have a new low downforce front wing as well, but they're still hunting for answers more than performance.

 

Mercedes today:

Mercedes says it will develop its W15 car in incremental steps in the back half of the 2024 season rather than rely on “big packages” as it anticipates an exciting mid-term future.