2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

For ease of use, there is one thread per grand prix where you can discuss everything during that specific GP weekend. You can find these threads here.
User avatar
Juzh
161
Joined: 06 Oct 2012, 08:45

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

Finnally a proper track. One of the best of the year. Honestly i don't have a clue what to expect from this race, apart from the obvious:

Ferrari being more competitive, only 2 proper slow speed corners, massive straights. They have a good chance for pole even. But again, engine advantage will be eroded during the race as per usual. Don't see them winning the race. Falling into cluthes of verstappen if they're not on their A game.

Mercedes maybe a bit less competitive, as in not hungary like dominant, but still able to easily fight for win.

Red bull (verstappen) will MAYBE be just a sniff off the pace, because let's face it, both merc and ferrari motor especially are still some way ahead, and there's not much to suggest they can beat mercedes on equal terms, since the RB is basically a slighty lesser form or mercedes currently. This might change should honda decide to bring more power for spa already, but we don't have a confirmation at this time?

Judging by bahrain and canada renault could resurge here and be best of the rest. Depends heavily on mclaren's progress from canada onwards. This will be a good track to asses both their performances. Renault is consistently a faster car on the straights and mclaren in corners, so it will close.

Kimi romeo will battle it out with straglers from mclaren/renault battle.

Toro rosso vs racing point, not much to say. As expected Kvyat will destroy gasly.

Haas will be SLOW on this track. They are a definition of a one trick pony, all out downforce and all else be damned. RB6 times 10 basically, but worse. This will come back to bite them this time round massively.

Russel could scrap with haas in quali, maybe not in the race. Depends more on williams than haas imo. We know haas will be slow here, but williams slow? perhaps
Last edited by Juzh on 24 Aug 2019, 11:06, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Wouter
106
Joined: 16 Dec 2017, 13:02

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

Juzh wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 10:45
Toro rosso vs racing point, not much to say. As expected Kvyat will destroy trashly.
Very disrespectful, "trashly". His name is Gasly.
The Power of Dreams!

User avatar
Juzh
161
Joined: 06 Oct 2012, 08:45

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

Wouter wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 10:57
Juzh wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 10:45
Toro rosso vs racing point, not much to say. As expected Kvyat will destroy trashly.
Very disrespectful, "trashly". His name is Gasly.
ok edited out for people who cant take a joke

User avatar
FrukostScones
162
Joined: 25 May 2010, 17:41
Location: European Union

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

Wouter wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 10:57
Juzh wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 10:45
Toro rosso vs racing point, not much to say. As expected Kvyat will destroy trashly.
Very disrespectful, "trashly". His name is Gasly.
you mean Mr. Ghastly?

I actually think he will be fine against Kvyat. Too much pressure at RB, car didn't suit him... Let's see.
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.

User avatar
Wouter
106
Joined: 16 Dec 2017, 13:02

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

FrukostScones wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 11:25
Wouter wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 10:57
Juzh wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 10:45
Toro rosso vs racing point, not much to say. As expected Kvyat will destroy trashly.
Very disrespectful, "trashly". His name is Gasly.
I actually think he will be fine against Kvyat. Too much pressure at RB, car didn't suit him... Let's see.
I agree.
The Power of Dreams!

izzy
izzy
41
Joined: 26 May 2019, 22:28

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

FrukostScones wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 11:25

I actually think he will be fine against Kvyat. Too much pressure at RB, car didn't suit him... Let's see.
I got the impression Pierre couldn't cope with the car being so edgy how it's been developed for Max. I'm not sure Red Bull aren't going to have the same problem with pretty much anyone, unless someone with a lot of ability can solve it with setup. Fingers crossed for Alex!!

NL_Fer
NL_Fer
82
Joined: 15 Jun 2014, 09:48

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

Ferrari: Sector 1
Redbull: Sector 2
Mercedes: Sector 3

Ferrari on pole, Hamilton to win the race.

User avatar
godlameroso
309
Joined: 16 Jan 2010, 21:27
Location: Miami FL

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

The bus stop hair pin is too slow for it to require downforce. You only need downforce for sector 2. One thing I've noticed is the Mercedes isn't great if the track has a lot of elevation change combined with corners.
Saishū kōnā

User avatar
GPR-A
37
Joined: 05 Oct 2018, 13:08

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

One of the best videos I have seen. This gives a perspective of the speed with which an F1 car moves through Eau Rogue.


User avatar
Zarathustra
-3
Joined: 01 Jul 2019, 20:19
Location: Always on the move- never at one place.

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

izzy wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 14:30
FrukostScones wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 11:25

I actually think he will be fine against Kvyat. Too much pressure at RB, car didn't suit him... Let's see.
I got the impression Pierre couldn't cope with the car being so edgy how it's been developed for Max. I'm not sure Red Bull aren't going to have the same problem with pretty much anyone, unless someone with a lot of ability can solve it with setup. Fingers crossed for Alex!!
I dare to say that the car isn’t being developed ‘edgy’ for Max- it’s rather that Max is adjusting his driving style towards an ‘edgy’ car..

izzy
izzy
41
Joined: 26 May 2019, 22:28

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

Zarathustra wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 18:14

I dare to say that the car isn’t being developed ‘edgy’ for Max- it’s rather that Max is adjusting his driving style towards an ‘edgy’ car..
yes you might be right, I'm just thinking that if Red Bull thought it was a problem with the car, they'd have been fixing it before swapping Pierre for a rookie. The car has improved a lot during the season hasn't it, I think the team basically have got the car under control, but it got better for Max and not better for Gasly. It's a very fast car, but only if the driver can live on the edge. If they can't, they have to leave big margins.

So this is what Alex is looking at, and he gets his first race in it at Spa

zibby43
zibby43
613
Joined: 04 Mar 2017, 12:16

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

godlameroso wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 14:58
The bus stop hair pin is too slow for it to require downforce. You only need downforce for sector 2. One thing I've noticed is the Mercedes isn't great if the track has a lot of elevation change combined with corners.
Merc's advantage in slow-speed corners goes beyond downforce. It has to do with their suspension kinematics and tire temperature management.

What tracks would those be?

In terms of the circuits that have been raced on so far this year, Austria is the only one I can think of where they didn't perform well this year. And that had to do with the heat and the altitude of the entire track itself.

Austria has 63.5m worth of elevation change over the course of a lap.

Monaco has a surprising 42m, and Hungary 34.7m. Mercedes has done well at both of those tracks this year.

Monaco:

Image

Hungary:

Image

Spa has the greatest elevation change over the course of a lap of any circuit on the calendar.

Image

User avatar
yelistener
5
Joined: 25 Aug 2018, 03:55

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

NL_Fer wrote:
24 Aug 2019, 14:31
Ferrari: Sector 1
Redbull: Sector 2
Mercedes: Sector 3

Ferrari on pole, Hamilton to win the race.
More like
S2 Mercedes
S1 & S3 Ferrari
RB will be somewhere in the middle.

Just_a_fan
Just_a_fan
591
Joined: 31 Jan 2010, 20:37

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

If Ferrari don't bag pole here then they will be very worried. With their apparent straight line speed advantage, and the effectively "two long straights with a bit of twiddly stuff in the middle" nature that is Spa, should help them massively.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.

izzy
izzy
41
Joined: 26 May 2019, 22:28

Re: 2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

Post

JV reckons Honda are turning up their engines so they have lots of power but only last 4 races. So i wouldn't count Max out