Cheers to all Formula 1 fans as the holiday break is finally over and we are warming up before the very end of the season in Spa. Spa is amazing. Spa is unbelievable. Spa is everything Formula 1 needs: fast corners, speed straights, areas with critical G force level, engine power, aerodynamics and downforce - all in one. People say this track is where engine matters the most but its not just about what's inside the car but about its chassis as well. So the weekend promised Mercedes to be in front of everyone else in case they are much better in power this season but unpredictability is still what we love in this sport.
From the very first free practice wasn’t that clear who gonna dominate here in Spa that time so Mercedes had to push harder not to loose "their" track to Ferraris. And what was the most surprising that it wasn’t Seb who was "flying" the whole weekend but Kimi who has just signed the new contract with Scuderia and was able to focus on JUST driving now (not that he didn’t before).
As Seb lost all the FPs to his teammate he was still able to make it to the front row of the starting grid because of Kimi's mistake (as it was clearly claimed). Seb admitted that he probably wouldn’t be able to start the race from P2 if Kimi compiled his best lap in Q3.
So Seb not only lost his first part of the weekend to Kimi but also the race to his principal rival - Lewis being too active at the restart and not able to attack after pushing too close before Eau Rouge. Well, Seb still has 7 points before Monza next week but it doesn’t seem too promising for him.
So Seb not only lost his first part of the weekend to Kimi but also the race to his principal rival - Lewis being too active at the restart and not able to attack after pushing too close before Eau Rouge. Well, Seb still has 7 points before Monza next week but it doesn’t seem too promising for him.
1. Lewis dominating in his 200th Grand Prix
Weekend at Spa was very special for Lewis in many terms. First of all, his 200th F1 career Grand Prix and his 200th race start on Sunday. Secondly, his 68th pole which means he has equaled Michael Schumacher. Thirdly, new Spa track record - 1.42.553 sec. And the last but not the least being able to join the "winning 200th GP club" alongside Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg. Good job and just 7 points left to start climbing over in the championship again.
2. Valtteri losing the podium in his championship fight
While Lewis was definitely shining the whole weekend being voted the driver of the day, his teammate Valtteri wasn’t doing that well from the very first FP finishing P5 and loosing two positions in the race because of the fatal mistake he made just after restart letting not just Kimi in front but Daniel to finish on the podium as well.
Although Valtteri admitted that he still IS in the champions fight as long as eight more races are left in this season. Promising for his fans but barely real as long as the team claimed the possibility of team strategy in the end of the championship.
Although Valtteri admitted that he still IS in the champions fight as long as eight more races are left in this season. Promising for his fans but barely real as long as the team claimed the possibility of team strategy in the end of the championship.
3. Max losing his patience next to Fernando
Not only Mercedes and Ferarri have divided into two parts when one teammate is happier than the other. Red Bull suffered as well since Max' car had to be retired in the very beginning of the race in front of 80 thousand fans from his homwland wearing orange.
Sadly it became the 6th retirement for Max this season and as he claimed he is now competing against Fernando (who probably declined finishing the race pointing on "engine problems" that were not found) in terms of retirements. The bad luck continues as long as Max is sure that not too many races like this left for him to quit the team.
Sadly it became the 6th retirement for Max this season and as he claimed he is now competing against Fernando (who probably declined finishing the race pointing on "engine problems" that were not found) in terms of retirements. The bad luck continues as long as Max is sure that not too many races like this left for him to quit the team.
4. Force India's on fire
The sensational highlight of the weekend was definitely the double crush between two Force Indias both times provoked by one and only Checo Perez. Firstly he decided to overtake Esteban squeezing the frenchman into the wall and secondly he didn’t let him to attack before Eau Rouge so both of them might be retired after the possible crush (thanks, God, it didn’t happen). Fortunately the biggest damage for Esteban was his broken front wing changed under safety car. At the same time Checo suffered from the puncture of the right rear and ended up retiring from P17.
Team management finally commented on the situation making it clear that it was the last time the team let both drivers to race. Now they are about to listen to the team orders and if not - there might be further actions. It is probably what we have waited for so long from Force India.
4. Daniel a.k.a the king of restarts
The safety car provoked by the actions of two "pink panthers" pissed off Lewis being caught between SC and Seb (who still had the chance to work on his tyres behind Lewis). Lewis was so unhappy with the ACTUAL safety car on track in case it was too slow for him.
After the race Mercedes' boss Totto Wolff commented on this incident as a lucky one to help to change the damaged tyres on Lewis' car and win the race. The same SC gave the chance to Daniel a.k.a the king of restarts to give his best to finish on the podium for the 6th time this season. Incredible result from Australian.
After the race Mercedes' boss Totto Wolff commented on this incident as a lucky one to help to change the damaged tyres on Lewis' car and win the race. The same SC gave the chance to Daniel a.k.a the king of restarts to give his best to finish on the podium for the 6th time this season. Incredible result from Australian.
5. Best of others
Alongside this huge fight in the front there also were some interesting breakthroughs from the middle of the grid. Not to mention Felipe who had quite an unfortunate weekend crushing his car way too much on Friday, failing the quali and getting the 5-place penalty for speeding under yellow flags on Saturday but still finishing P8 from P16 on Sunday.
Kind of the same it was for Roman struggling with the brakes (from P11 to P7) and for Daniil having some technical problems, plus, being penalized (5 positions on the grid) blame on Toro Rosso (from P19 to P12). Really good job for Renault with Nico finishing P6 and Jolyon being still good after getting the 5-place penalty as well. And, of course, Stoffel: 60-place pen on the grid but still finishing P14 in front of some others (I mean driving on Honda engine).
Kind of the same it was for Roman struggling with the brakes (from P11 to P7) and for Daniil having some technical problems, plus, being penalized (5 positions on the grid) blame on Toro Rosso (from P19 to P12). Really good job for Renault with Nico finishing P6 and Jolyon being still good after getting the 5-place penalty as well. And, of course, Stoffel: 60-place pen on the grid but still finishing P14 in front of some others (I mean driving on Honda engine).
Misfortune caught not only retired Max and Fernando (with no power as usually) but also Pascal who had to retire after a few laps and Kevin whose Haas had really good pace this weekend but the team couldn’t manage tyre situation and had to extra pit under the safety car in the wrong time.
This whole weekend was quite interesting in terms of diversity of what happened: red flags after Massa's crush on Friday, raining session with two drivers to try it on the track (Danny and Fernando), inters in the beginning of Saturday, track record beaten multiple times again, best race lap from Seb -1.46.577 sec., special helmets from Max (orange one) and Felipe, lots of gearbox penalties (Marcus, Pascal, Jolyon, Daniil, Stoffel), speeding under yellow flags penalties (Felipe and Kimi) and one "tyre" penalty (10.000$ for not giving back Lance's tyres after 40 minutes of FP), contract extensions (Kimi, Seb until 2020 and Stoffel) and looooots of different tyre strategies.
Bad times for Williams, huge improvement for Renault, kind of a promising end of the season for McLaren - that's what we saw. Lots of contracts for the next year to be signed, interesting fight for the title between Seb and Lewis, records to be beaten and hearts to be on fire - that's what awaits us in less than a week at Monza. Stay tuned!
P.S.: Just wanna let you know how much I missed writing those race blogs :)
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