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-   -   Formula 1: 2020 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps (August 28-30) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intl-motorsport/226401-formula-1-2020-belgian-grand-prix-spa-francorchamps-august-28-30-a-2.html)

Everything has settled down into a pattern now. The only time when the F1 TV director focuses on the top three is at the start and at the end. Sparingly in between to convince us that Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen have not slept off out of boredom!!

Almost the entire coverage is now in the middle of the pack. And there you get to see some amazing talents - Riccardo's awesome drive, Gasly's pass on Perez into Eau Rouge, Albon, Norris, Russell. These are the guys who keep it alive.

Fitting that Ricciardo ended with fastest lap. Awesome pace throughout the weekend ably backed up by Ocon in P5.

I think P13 and P14 was the best Ferrari could hope for given their dismal show in practice and qualifying. Almost every other car, even their customer cars looked faster than them pointing to the fact that the engine is not the only weak link.

Drive on,
Shibu

Ferrari is a complete disaster and this coming from someone who has supported the team since I started watching F1 many years ago. They are lucky the home race will not have the crowd due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As far as the race goes, another predictable result. The fact that Bottas cant do anything to touch Hamilton in the same car, shows its not only the car that makes him the driver he is. And no Im not a Hamilton fan but credit is due where it has to be.

Just a thought I had last Sunday. If last week's MotoGP race and result was anything to go by, F1 should just retire.

Ferrari, Alfa Romeo is faster than you. Can you confirm this message? Plan see-the-obvious?

True. And as part of more cost cutting measures, these three now take their podium steps home and bring it back each GP.

lol:
https://twitter.com/the_lollipopman/...034403842?s=20

Another boring race with the usual suspects on the podium, only actions is in the midfield battle.
Happy to see Riccardo pull off a great race to finish fourth.
What a disastrous race for Ferrari.

Second race in a row, I missed watching it live. When I watched the repeat on Hotstar, I was skipping it so much, I watched the full race in 40 mins.

True mate, Raikkonen kept both of the Ferraris at bay during the race as well. You could hear Sebastian's anguished radio message saying they might as well pit as he was stuck behind Kimi, who had earlier missed Q2 by just 8 hundredths! It was a special performance from the Iceman for Alfa, almost got into the points but was then passed by faster cars of Gasly and Perez. Says a lot about his performance, even at 40+!

I think now Ferrari has to go super aggressive at Monza. Run very slim rear wing and try a 2 stop strategy. At least give its fans some on track action. Else they will be following other cars yet again. Also with party mode banned, let's hope the gap between Mercedes and Red Bull closes significantly so that Max can have a go at Bottas as Hamilton will probably disappear into the distance yet again..

Unfortunately, wasn't able to watch the whole race yesterday. However, saw the replay and some drivers were exceptionally good yesterday.

- Raikkonen came super close to scoring a point yesterday, something which the man hasn't done the entire season yet.

- Daniel Ricciardo & Esteban Ocon surely showed exemplary performance yesterday, especially after Renault's issues during FP. Was a surprise seeing them come up 4th & 5th.

- Pierre Gasly has been showing some might form with that AlphaTauri, finishing most races within the top 12 except Hungary & Styria.

Redbull & Mercedes have great cars and like BHPian ds.raikkonen said, with the banning of party modes, gaps are bound to decrease between them.

Ferrari is a complete mess. Leclerc had gained till 8th position making me think that the car might've been improved on, but the long straights got him. That car is extremely underpowered and only a lower downforce setup can save them at Monza.

Total washout for Ferrari. I remember during Q2 LeClerc asking for a tow. It is that bad for Ferrari.

Those who may not remember at one time using one car for a Tow for the second car was popular. No1 made a hole in the air for No2 to exploit. It was thought No.2 will do a better speed.

Carlos Sainz Jr must be tearing his hair out about next year. He might end up like poor Alonso! His best bet is to drive like hell for the rest of this year so that people still remember his talent

Binotto thinks that the lack of performance is down to track characteristics.

From the tracks, the combination of low downforce and high downforce seems to be much more in Spa compared to Monza where a primarily low downforce setup would not impose too much of a penalty looking at the track layouts.

Monza



Spa



Would be interesting to see how the other teams compare with Ferrari in this scenario. Wouldn't this strategy be open to them as well?

Drive on,
Shibu

Ferrari is in the drain. Ever since I started watching F1, I have been an ardent Ferrari Fan. MSC obviously being my favourite.

The day Vet won the first race for Ferrari, it was so emotional reminiscing about the golden days of MSC, JT and RB. There was so much hope. Never thought that this team will ever see anything beyond the No. 2 spot and will always put up a stellar performance as its run by so much passion. So much for the passion.

Look at last year Spa vs this year. Such a delta.

Midfield is where the action is. The top order challenge only has Max as the challenger.

Seems like a repeat of Ferrari's golden days.

Winner - Then Schumi - Now Ham
Obedient Teammate - Then Barrichelo - Now Bottas
Challenger - Then Mika - Now Max

Thanks to the likes of Albon, Gasly, Norris who provide the entertainment. Future looks interesting.

Hope we see the scarlets mount a late season challenge.

Cheers,
Raj

Spare a thought for poor Leclerc too. Entering with a bang and muscling out Vettel to drive this bucket must be the last in his wishlist. He was the guy predicted to take the fight to Hamilton and Verstappen and here he is fighting at the wrong end of the pecking order.
BTW, the masks are a Godsend to Vettel. Pretty sure he must be grinning ear to ear knowing that he was let off real easy.:uncontrol

when I got into this tread I had already started getting my thoughts together on what to post.

And.....

As I read your post it was exactly the same things that I wanted to say of this BORING race.

In fact in the post race interviews Max himself said that it was a boring race.

My 8 year old son developed a keen interest for the sport since last season. He too on Sunday for the 1st time told me that this is becoming boring.:Shockked:

FIA needs to rethink their rules.. over the years the races are loosing their charm and it is sure to affect viewership.

Yes, all the drivers, apart from LeClerc had elected for a 2 stop strategy last year. And it was a masterclass in tyre management by LeClerc, who literally had both elbows out to keep Hamilton and Bottas behind on fresher tyres for many laps, brilliant car placement and defensive driving. He opted for the soft-hard switch for his only pit stop.

This year though, it will definitely be a 2 stopper and I am hoping perhaps they can opt to run a really skinny aero and push their tyres hard around corners (which Verstappen did at Spa, without success). They simply do not have the power to run higher downforce at any circuit, so why not go super aggressive in tyre selection and go for it since they do not have anything to lose anyway!

Not sure, whether FIA will intervene. But, it is definitely getting boring.
A fabulous circuit and usually, however boring it is I will try to watch at least few races every season - and this circuit is one among them.
Have fond memories of this circuit, where Force India finished on podium (11 years back). I was one of very few Indians at the circuit on that day!

Thank god the TV cameras are not covering the top 3, in the earlier years they used to cover only the top 3 when there were battles at the front. Now it is all just "start lights and get in there Lewis", is Bottas really not on the level of Hamilton or is the team hampering his bid to attack Hamilton, I don't understand this at all.

Ricciardo oh man if only you didn't hurt Marko's ego when at Red Bull, stunning pace throughout the week, I really was on the edge of my seat when he was almost 3rd, wish he had gotten a podium.

Gasly just do what you are doing and Albon is going to shit his pants by the end of the season lol:, Albon is getting away with a lot of mistakes and sub par performances maybe because he keeps a low profile.

Boring race though.