2018 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa Francorchamps, 24-26 August

[Chuckjr]

What I saw on Hamilton's face in post race was the realization that he is now in a slower car. I'm sure he remembers that from the Macca vs Red Bull days, and it's a nauseating feeling. Who can blame him? That, combined with the fact he can't complain or say anything really because he's had a car ridiculously faster for many many years. Being at the top when only one guy can challenge is a nice feeling, and I'm sure he's wanting it back. Who wouldn't? Nobody likes to lose a huge advantage, so his reaction is completely expected, imo.

The first lap pass sans DRS was insane. It was a complete reversal of what Merc has been doing for years now. It was surreal -- I had no idea the Ferrari update would be THAT big. Wow.

Monza and Singapore with a healthy second Ferrari equal in speed must look ominous for Hamilton and Merc -- just like what all the other drivers have felt for years now, every race.

Wow! What a change! In shock!

[PlatinumZealot]

Hamilton does have a chance to win Monza fair and square in the dry though. He has a special throttle technique he uses in the chicanes. It hasnt been since since schumcher and Senna and it's called the "flitch throttle" technique. He used it to gain a quarter second on Nico a few years ago. He can use it on Vettel again to give himself a chance.

[Ced]

That will probably help him a bit but do not forget Ferrari is has the edge on corner exit and on the straights..

[Chuckjr]

Agreed. But if he is that slow down the straights, it won't matter in the race. He will have zero chance with that kind of speed differential. Same as we have seen for years with Merc. I just can't believe what I saw today. Just in total shock at the jump in speed.

[Shrieker]

He used it to gain a quarter second on Nico a few years ago. He can use it on Vettel again to give himself a chance.

Lol that reads like a pokemon episode. No offense : D

[Shrieker]

It's criminal if this hasn't been posted here yet.

[PlatinumZealot]

He used it to gain a quarter second on Nico a few years ago. He can use it on Vettel again to give himself a chance.

Lol that reads like a pokemon episode. No offense : D

Huh? Not sure what you mean. Is DRS a pokemon episode then?

[Shrieker]

He used it to gain a quarter second on Nico a few years ago. He can use it on Vettel again to give himself a chance.

Lol that reads like a pokemon episode. No offense : D

Huh? Not sure what you mean. Is DRS a pokemon episode then?

"Pikachu used his electric shock to knockout charmander a few years ago. He can use it on squirtle again to give himself a chance."

xD

[max_speed]

getting paid in same currency hurts. Lewis blaming " tricks" on the "Ferrari" just shows how frustrated he is. past years, they were passing people half way through straight and were faking they had serious competition at their hands. come to real world mercedes this is "real" competition. stop being dolly . hamilton is still leading championship because "ferrari"/"vettel" committed few mistakes.i am not avettel fan but he was good today. i want to see face of "TOTO" the guy who kept claiming mercedes have faced serious competition in winning those championships.

[Zynerji]

Guys, he's not saying that Ferrari are using "tricks", he said they have a few "trick" components...

It was common in my high school to call anything cool on a friend's car "trick". It was a compliment. Like "Look at that trick exhaust. " or "His CRX has that trick strut bar."

Hamilton even explains this in the post race interview...

[basti313]

...
All I'm saying is, it isn't nice for people to conclusively state that the accident would have been worse without HALO - it makes it sound like a desperate argument to justify existence of HALO. Especially, because, any counter argument would naturally sound like an argument against safety, thus, easy to refute or reject.

+1

This argument is strange. HALO is 100% a matter of safety. Nothing else...No mirror holder, no wing bar, no TV screen.
How can any argument for or against it not be an argument for or against safety?
If you want to discuss the HALO you need to discuss safety. No matter if this is nice or not.

[Multi21]

Thinking ahead to Monza, what are the odds that Merc bring an extremely skinny RB style rear wing? Obviously that would have had to have been in the pipeline for them to bring it in a week's time but I always thought they brought a bigger than needed wing package to spa and Monza because of their engine advantage but with it gone now, how drastic can they get? The W02 at Monza is the skinniest I can remember and it worked pretty well.

[Juzh]

The W02 at Monza is the skinniest I can remember and it worked pretty well.

The car was a solid second and a half down on pace. It only worked well in conjunction with mclaren having no top speed at all.

[f1316]

It's criminal if this hasn't been posted here yet.

What I think this illustrates really well is that Vettel’s pass wasn’t something magical in the Ferrari PU - the Force Indias we’re doing the same to him and came pretty much alongside (you could even argure Ocon is ahead of Hamilton here, coming from further back than Vettel); no DRS, same Mercedes PU.

As has already been mentioned, the headwind was likely a big factor in increasing the slipstream effect.

[iotar__]

Anyone who didn't look at the strengths of the cars this year, at this track, and didn't think " if Seb gets the tow on lap 1 he'll be gone" then they're not F1 fans, or rather, they're not very bright.

- Explaining "if he gets a tow" would be a good sign of F1 expertise . So why did he get a tow? Perhaps by being close enough to Hamilton through ER just like Perez behind Ocon?

- If the pass on the first lap was so certain it wouldn't be very bright to qualify on pole, would it?
- Leading helps (basically decides a race) on any track, not only at Spa and in case of Ferrari vs Mercedes

- Since there was no Bottas benchmark it's hard to say whether Hamilton had an off day like in Canada and Baku or not. Regardless - full panic and painting Mercedes as some underdogs is unwarrented.