FORMULA 1 JOHNNIE WALKER BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2019: RACE *** SPOILERS ***

They pitted Vettel too early. I for one think that Seb did a great job as a wingman today, a la Bottas.

 

Every time I think the guy might be beginning to understand racecraft he pulls something like this. Lurking around in fifth place within striking distance of the MBs might have changed the outcome, at least for second or third. He muffed the start, but it was recoverable, and then he tried to get all of it back in one corner.

 

IMO people EXCUSE Max waaaaaaaay too much. Look at how many times he's been out in the first lap.

 

BTW:

In honor of Antoine I have no Harold Lloyd / Mattia Binotto gifs this week. Just too sad.

 

From Charles' IG account... no words needed.

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^I think you are correct. Charles is the number one future threat to take WDC championships away from Max.

Someday Hamilton will retire. When he does the new group will have their days. Hamilton can still drive round Bottas anytime he wants. Bottas is not a bad driver -- he's just not Hamilton.

 

I have been more and more impressed with Leclerc. Not just his speed in the car but his intelligence out of it. When he's made mistakes he's admitted them and learned from them and every time I've seen or heard him interviewed he says the right things but sounds genuine with it. Verstappen, we know, is quick and indubitably capable of greatness but makes the same mistakes. Absolutely right above: He threw away his race by stupid impetuosity going for a gap that was always going to disappear to make up for whatever had gone wrong (him or the car - don't know) resulting in a slow getaway. It will be interesting to see how Albon develops against him. Whilst speaking of the future Norris also looks pretty promising and maybe Russell too.

 

People seem to forget that Vettel has still outscored Leclerc so far this season, points wise. I don't understand this pitting the drivers against each other. Vettel did a good job all things considered. This car just isn't good. Both drivers have struggled with getting the tires into the proper temperature window all season, and it seems to switch race to race. Charles had the same problem in Canada. Vettel's set-up this weekend just didn't suit the tires. We could very well see the same thing happen next week at Monza.

Ferrari did pretty much everything right today. They're having to manage the car and the race against Mercedes, rather than just the race strategy. That is a lot to ask, especially when your rivals have the best car on the grid and make virtually no mistakes.

So happy Charles got his first win though. This was an awesome day for the team. On to Monza...

 

Bravo Charles!
Along with a great crop of other young drivers to enjoy in the coming years. Norris, Albon, Russel and Verstappen (idiot today).

Seb just fading away. For over a year now. Getting spanked by Leclerc seems to be exposing him further.

Hamilton is a beast. (pains me to no end)

 

People, please try to be grown up here, try to be a bit more objective. Try to set aside your disliking for Verstappen with the reality that Kimi wasn't very smart by taking a sharp race line amidst of an F1 race start with all the space on his left. Try to listen to Kimi's radio, who actually had no idea what was going on.

Kimi was actually pretty dumb thinking he can get away with such a line with at least 10 cars behind him all trying to make that corner.

 

Leclerc finally got his win, and Seb did a good job of helping it happen by holding up Hamilton. It was a good strategic victory for the red cars. However going to Monza they must improve the car's race pace. Mercedes will not just sit back. Hamilton was within one lap at taking the win away from Charles. Mercedes has the better race pace and now they will work on qualifying. Ferrari has no time to take a deep breath and relax. They must be even faster next week, in qualifying and during the race.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/145714/alfa-boss-verstappen-raikkonen-move-was-stupid

Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team boss Fred Vasseur has blamed Max Verstappen for the Belgian Grand Prix first corner collision with Kimi Raikkonen, calling the Red Bull driver's move "stupid".

Verstappen made a poor start from fifth on the grid and both Raikkonen and Sergio Perez pulled ahead of him on the run to La Source.

The Dutchman took the inside line and made contact with Raikkonen's right rear wheel, pitching the Alfa onto the air in an incident that was similar to one involving the same drivers in 2016 when Raikkonen was at Ferrari.

The contact led to Verstappen's retirement immediately afterwards when suspension damage led to him going straight on at Eau Rouge.

Raikkonen was forced to make two stops under the safety car, and while he was able to rejoin the pack his race was compromised by bodywork damage and he eventually finished 16th.

"I don't know what happened with Verstappen," Vasseur told Autosport.

"But he came from nowhere, he was even behind Perez before the braking.

"He tried to get two cars in the first corner, and it's stupid because in Spa you can overtake and you have room to do something. We are not in Budapest or in Monaco.

"The car was completely damaged, we were missing half of the floor."

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The FIA stewards deemed that it was a racing incident, taking no action.

"It was looked at," said race director Michael Masi. "Obviously we had the safety car immediately but once that got cleared, we looked at it and it was determined that it literally was Turn 1, lap one, racing incident. No further action."

 

Vettel and Max schooled by Redbull - enough said mistake after mistake

 

Possibly. One race/exciting looking season does not a legend make.

 

There is no doubt Ferrari has messed it up pretty much in a regular basis this year but that doesn’t let Vettel off the hook . He had a winning car last year and threw it away with bonehead moves and some plain bad driving at times . His driving skills are still there , his mental toughness is not and that is why in my opinion , he is done . He won’t win the championship this year , I don’t even think he will be ahead of CL in points .

 

And Horner still defending him despite this being a carbon copy dumb move like in 2016:

"It was almost an action replay of the incident here in 2016 with Kimi again. Maybe it's a blind spot for Kimi!"

Alfa boss Vasseur had it right though:

"He tried to get two cars in the first corner, and it's stupid because in Spa you can overtake and you have room to do something. We are not in Budapest or in Monaco."

http://classic.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/145714

 

Well, what a race that was. A fitting tribute to Anthoine (RIP).

Congrats to Leclerc. The first of many wins. Totally schooled Vettel and is really showing his true potential now. It is clear that we are seeing a changing of the guard at Ferrari with Vettel increasingly taking second place to the newer faster teammate. The next gen has arrived and the future looks bright indeed.

Poor Norris. Drove a brilliant race and was totally locked into 5th place until his car gave up on him. Another great drive from a future star. Unlike Max, who seemed to rewind the clock a year and regress to his demolition derby tactics. Shame as he has really driven well recently. I suspect the pressure of the gazillion fans all around the track got to him, compounded by yet another poor start.

Albon didn't really do much for the first half the race, but then seemed to get into the groove and came on strong towards the end. Maybe he does have what it takes after all. I am genuinely surprised.

Looking forward to Monza. Another track which should suit us. Surely the winners trophy will be decorated in Ferrari red this year?!

 

https://www.planetf1.com/news/verstappen-doesnt-blame-raikkonen-for-crash/

 

While its definitely not a 100% chance at Monza, if Ferrari brings PU 3, they're going to be quite strong. Mercedes couldn't touch Ferrari on the straights today and that was with their upgraded PU. With Monza being nearly flat-out all the way around, they have a good chance.

That said, we should savor victory at Monza if it comes (for obvious reasons), as it may be the last this season. The aero updates Ferrari have brought to each race just aren't making much of a difference and they're getting murdered in the corners compared to Mercedes.

 

In some ways I think it was good for Charles to have a first win this way, instead of Bahrain where he had technical failure. I think this win will be more heart felt and memorable

 

My dutch mates being completely silenced on the incident said enough (especially since it was with Kimi and they tend to dig extra hard when it's anything to do with him). **** happens.

For people to **** as hard on Max as they are right now is completely laughable. 1st incident where he had a larger blame in how long? Over a year?

Even Schumacher messed up some times, even in the same manner Max did today.

 

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When Renault let Norris down....again.


Contains swearing.

 

Rejoice tifosi and ignore the trolls

 

Leclerc > verstappen