2023 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, July 28 - 30

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Isn't Mercedes better in the slow speed corners now after the update

I think so yeah. It's hard to see completely as confounding factors but the front wing update helped them a lot in slow speed. They were quickest in the slow speed at Silverstone for instance

The problem for Merc is their weak rear end and protecting the rear tyres is a big part of pace at Singapore. Merc have been pretty weak on race pace at every rear limited circuit so far:

Merc struggle relative to others: Baku, Bahrain, Hungary (slight rear limitation - despite my claims to the contrary last week), Austria, Monaco, Spa (slight rear limitation)

Merc do well: Silverstone, Australia, Barcelona, Saudi

As you can see they pretty much do well relative to others at front limited tracks and struggle more where their loose rear end hurts more, especially in race pace. So Singapore maybe not gonna be their best track.

[Spoutnik]

Thank you for you answer, the McL will be very fast at Suzuka then !
The Merc is still not good enough in slow speed corner. It's more a traction issue than pure cornering speed to me. We saw it in Canada for example.
Historically, Merc is quite bad at Singapore too... so 5th 6th for them

[omegacel71]

I can honestly see Hamilton or Leclerc getting pole in Singapore but RB may win the race by simple strategy.

Just trying to base it on 2022 results obvs Max didn't get his final run but still

[Mogster]

Max not going for fastest lap is a small thing but him knowing Merc stopped Hamilton for tyres it’ll be harder for Horner to rein Max in next time.

Popcorn at the ready

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In the race both RBs were lifting heavily at unnecessary points

At eau rouge they left over 20 kph on the table each lap to Leclerc and others who of course did not coast through here..



Seems this was the rb19 with its arms tied behind the back.

[ringo]

Wasnt Perez like 17.8 seconds behind?
I dont think Max could have come out ahead of Perez if he wanted to pit and get. FL.
The pit stop time is about 20 to 22 seconds?

[omegacel71]

It's probably harder to sandbag when your advantage comes from aero rather than engine

[Sieper]

Pretty sure that is for tire life by now. A late SC and you want to have the best tires left. Saves on engine life too.

[DChemTech]

Wasnt Perez like 17.8 seconds behind?
I dont think Max could have come out ahead of Perez if he wanted to pit and get. FL.
The pit stop time is about 20 to 22 seconds?

Pitting is +18s due to the shorter distance through pitlane. Max won with 22s margin or so, so could have done it. But they didn't want to risk it it seems.

[Stu]

Interesting to see that cars with a propensity to eat their tyres managed to make them last today, and staggering the change in tyre life over the course of the race. Hats off to all those that one-stopped.

[Hoffman900]

Interesting to see that cars with a propensity to eat their tyres managed to make them last today, and staggering the change in tyre life over the course of the race. Hats off to all those that one-stopped.

Mostly cloudy and 15* C ambient helps.

[AR3-GP]

In the race both RBs were lifting heavily at unnecessary points

At eau rouge they left over 20 kph on the table each lap to Leclerc and others who of course did not coast through here..

https://i.imgur.com/uu4p2IB.jpeg

Seems this was the rb19 with its arms tied behind the back.

You could hear the off throttle rattling of the Honda in the middle of Eau Rouge any time they showed off board shots of Max.

I think as someone else mentioned, that it was just tire management. Miami revealed a lot about what they do to manage the tires (lifting in high speed, and using the tire in the low speed).

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In the race both RBs were lifting heavily at unnecessary points

At eau rouge they left over 20 kph on the table each lap to Leclerc and others who of course did not coast through here..

https://i.imgur.com/uu4p2IB.jpeg

Seems this was the rb19 with its arms tied behind the back.

You could hear the off throttle rattling of the Honda in the middle of Eau Rouge any time they showed off board shots of Max.

I think as someone else mentioned, that it was just tire management. Miami revealed a lot about what they do to manage the tires (lifting in high speed, and using the tire in the low speed).

Yes they've always done that.. just seems like a ridiculous amount and a bad place to do it (leading into a very long straight) compared to usual. Usually they will save a couple of tenths in the high speed and use it to find more than that elsewhere, but the saving on eau rouge was costing half a second, maybe more

[PlatinumZealot]

The RB19 indeed was saving the front left in Eau-Rouge and putting it to better use in other parts of the lap. I would say we saw a glimpse of "weakness" when the car ran in mixed conditions. It's DRS is also the best, but not strong enough to immediatley break a DRS train. Takes a few laps of the car in front's tyre to wear down first and then the RB19 makes its move.

[AMG.Tzan]

Amazed at how Leclerc managed to keep his tires alive! Either it’s track specific or they have now managed to solve their tire issues!

Hamilton bolting the mediums to try and get the fastest lap looked silly but it ended up working!

Piastri divebombs Sainz, destroys his and Sainz’s race! No penalty for the next race or penalty points! Sounds interesting…

Happy there’s a summer break now as I was about to break the TV these last two months of full racing!

Red Bull and Max have broken another record this year! The record for the most boring races in succession!

By far the worst season I’ve ever watched in my life! Even watching 1992 or 2002 in replay looks less boring really…

I’m hoping for a better month of MotoGP racing at least…