Belgian GP 2010 - Spa Francorchamps

[raymondu999]

I wonder whether most cars will be able to pass Eau Rouge with their f-duct turned on. I think the Red Bull certainly has enough grip. If the Red Bulls are confident enough to duct their wing through Eau Rouge and others aren't, I wonder if that can help them cut back some of their raw power deficit.

[andrew]

http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Rena ... lgium.html

Renault are to debut their F-duct at Spa. Don't know about anyone using the F-duct on Eau Rouge. It's a high downforce corner so I reckon using it would be a bit too risky.

[raymondu999]

Yes, but we know that Red Bull chassis produces loads of downforce

[andrew]

True. I guess it'll come down to who has the most faith in their car. There is the potential for a huge smash if the driver gets it wrong.

[timbo]

I wonder whether most cars will be able to pass Eau Rouge with their f-duct turned on. I think the Red Bull certainly has enough grip. If the Red Bulls are confident enough to duct their wing through Eau Rouge and others aren't, I wonder if that can help them cut back some of their raw power deficit.

Doubt that. IIRC they didn't used f-duct going thru Abbey, Eau Rouge is comparable to that.

[segedunum]

Red Bulls flat through Pouyon?

[andrew]

Don't know about Poyon but flat through Pouhon is a possibility.

[segedunum]

Typos aside.

[andrew]

Flat through Pouhon is a distinct possibility IMHO.

[raymondu999]

I wonder whether most cars will be able to pass Eau Rouge with their f-duct turned on. I think the Red Bull certainly has enough grip. If the Red Bulls are confident enough to duct their wing through Eau Rouge and others aren't, I wonder if that can help them cut back some of their raw power deficit.

Doubt that. IIRC they didn't used f-duct going thru Abbey, Eau Rouge is comparable to that.

I'd think Abbey is much more downforce-intensive. Especially with that mother and father of a bump in the middle of the corner.

Anyways, I wonder if the Bulls will run even less AoA on their wing to preserve some hope of straightline-speed. I remember Vettel trimmed a bit of wing off in China to do this, and the Bulls in Turkey. I think probably the advantage of them reducing their top-line speed disadvantage would outweigh the benefits of the best setup for overall laptime, as the long straight comes up practically first on the lap, as it's only a very short (though usually eventful) run to La Source at the start

[godlameroso]

Teams use a downforce level similar to Canada, so the teams that were strong in Canada will be strong here.

[WhiteBlue]

Nigel Mansell will serve as the drivers’ representative on the stewards’ panel at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend. Initially I did not think that Mansell did a particularly good job in Silverstone with the Alonso/Kubica incident. As it turned out later much of the mess was Ferrari's own making. So perhaps Mansell can convince us in Spa that he is capable of delivering a fine job. In Spa you are likely to see controversies over run offs as various corners like La Source and Pouhon lure drivers to use the asphalt as an extension to the track. It becomes crucial to dish out the penalties for running other drivers off the track or illegally using run offs in a fair way. Lets hope old Nige is up to it.

[ecapox]

I think they said that they added BIG speed bumps off-track around La Source and Pouhon in order to deter people from using the run-off area. Im just excited that another race is back on. 4 weeks is WAY too long without F1.

[PlatinumZealot]

The difference between this and Canada is the turns, Canada has low speed turns this has high speed turns.

[godlameroso]

I've said it before, the only turns that really depends on good aerodynamics is Pouhon, and the Fagnes chicane.

La Source? Hairpin 55kph apex speed
Eau Rouge? Flat Out
Les Combs & Malmedy? A slow corner set similar to what we see in Canada
Rivage? Slow speed sweeper, apex speed is about 120kph
Pouhon? Only place Red Bull can strut it's stuff
Fagnes? Same
The next turn is slowish about 120kph apex
Next turn is flat
Blanchimont? easy flat
Finally the Bus Stop, if you need downforce for this corner then I have some beach property on mars to sell you.