Mercedes' George Russell has taken victory at the Belgian Grand Prix after a gutsy late switch to a single stop strategy. Lewis Hamilton finished a very close second while McLaren's Oscar Piastri ended up third, less than a second behind the Mercedes duo.
VER gains almost ~1s in S2, but the gains by NOR in S1 and S3 - I am not sure it's entire due to wing difference alone. I suspect that fuel loads and engine modes might be more pessimistic for the Redbull than for McLaren, for this particular stint , because purely from eye-analysis, that doesn't look like a 1s/lap slower wing on the Redbull.
Whatever this telemetry showed, it's no longer the case in Fp2. Mclaren setting the pace in S2 once again. I smell another one two.
McLaren are definitely ahead and I doubt if Max has pace to beat them in race! Red Bull probably has higher deg as Max was matching Piastri initially on race sim but as the first stint on Mediums progressed, was falling away. Once again they both switched to Softs and the laptimes were similar.
I think so far this does it for me. At the track where red bull have had 2 devastatingly dominant performances the last 2 years, they are equal or slightly behind McLaren. McLaren is now equal or ahead of red bull at all tracks.
"Insert pseudo-intellectual quote so people on the car threads take me seriously ;)"
Based only on the top speed criteria you should say that those cars that were set on a higher DF setup were the fastest ones both on qualy and race trim ...
Graining has appeared in free practice, mostly on the left front but also on the rear, both on medium and soft. If it continues to rain every night, Sunday will be a factor to take into account for race paces
VER gains almost ~1s in S2, but the gains by NOR in S1 and S3 - I am not sure it's entire due to wing difference alone. I suspect that fuel loads and engine modes might be more pessimistic for the Redbull than for McLaren, for this particular stint , because purely from eye-analysis, that doesn't look like a 1s/lap slower wing on the Redbull.
Whatever this telemetry showed, it's no longer the case in Fp2. Mclaren setting the pace in S2 once again. I smell another one two.
In FP2, McLaren ran a higher DF wing & Max ran a lower DF wing , compared to the respective cases in FP1.
So S2 is evened out. Question remaining is only engine modes and fuel loads. I don't think there is much to pick there either, so even if Max does his (now traditional) 'storming from the back' run on Sunday, the best he can hope for is P3.
Wasn't able to watch free practice today so I have no idea who used what tires? Does anyone know where to find that table with remaining tires per team?
- Norris likely ran higher PU than Piastri and others on his lap, brave through Campus chicane (after Pouhon) and best through bus stop for 0.2s advantage
- Verstappen best through Pouhon, mega-stiff RB20 is a beast there, but no advantage in other places at the moment, I don't think his PU was as high any McLaren yet
- Ferrari very surprisingly not too bad anywhere, excluding Norris' bravery in Campus the gap of 0.3s is at least half of what was expected, maybe even a third; seemingly bouncing issues as big as any other top car
- Mercedes lacking the efficiency of other cars hits them hard
- Hard (C4) does not seem to be considered at all here and due to the incoming washout it probably won't be considered in the race either
Too bad the rain seems guaranteed tomorrow, Q3 times can be insane if dry
If it rains then Merc will surely be back in play . Red Bull have so far been no where when it rains as the super stiff suspension lacks mechanical grip .
"Insert pseudo-intellectual quote so people on the car threads take me seriously ;)"
If it rains then Merc will surely be back in play . Red Bull have so far been no where when it rains as the super stiff suspension lacks mechanical grip .
Mech grip not such a detriment on a wet Spa but for two turns really. If it rains the aero grip will still serve you very well here through all those high speed stuff.
. Red Bull have so far been no where when it rains as the super stiff suspension lacks mechanical grip 
.