2019 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Aug 30 - Sep 1

[zibby43]

Tire Selections



2018 Results

Qualifying



Race



2018 Pole Lap



2018 Race Highlights

[GPR-A]

Clear give away from Mercedes that, they want to start the race on Mediums! So, come saturday, medium for Mercedes in Q2. Quite confident of their package to start the race on Mediums, whereas Ferrari and Red Bull are loaded with Softs.

Does anyone know how abrasive the Spa has become of late? In the past, Bahrain, Barcelona, Montreal and Silverstone used to be highly abrasive but due to relaying of new tarmac, they have become much smoother. Never heard of Spa having relaid the tarmac in the recent past, so that might be a reason why Mercedes is leaning more towards Mediums?

On tracks like Spa and Monza, the tyres tend to cool down a lot more due to the long straights and would require a lot more energy to be put into bring them back to life in the corner sections and may be that is why Ferrari and Red Bull are choosing Softs, whereas Mercedes seems to believe they can put more energy, but want more endurance to push the car harder in the race and hence Mediums?

[Just_a_fan]

That 2018 pole lap looked like a real handful. He was fighting it all over the place, locking wheels in to La Source, catching the rear in several corners, understeering in others. Wet weather is where these guys earn their money - so easy to lose it and stick it in the wall/gravel.

[LM10]

Clear give away from Mercedes that, they want to start the race on Mediums! So, come saturday, medium for Mercedes in Q2. Quite confident of their package to start the race on Mediums, whereas Ferrari and Red Bull are loaded with Softs.

Does anyone know how abrasive the Spa has become of late? In the past, Bahrain, Barcelona, Montreal and Silverstone used to be highly abrasive but due to relaying of new tarmac, they have become much smoother. Never heard of Spa having relaid the tarmac in the recent past, so that might be a reason why Mercedes is leaning more towards Mediums?

On tracks like Spa and Monza, the tyres tend to cool down a lot more due to the long straights and would require a lot more energy to be put into bring them back to life in the corner sections and may be that is why Ferrari and Red Bull are choosing Softs, whereas Mercedes seems to believe they can put more energy, but want more endurance to push the car harder in the race and hence Mediums?

Isn't the one step harder compound the one every team would normally wish to start a race on? It's not a surprise anymore that Mercedes puts the most energy into the tyres, so I think it won't be a big deal for them to make them work properly in the race.
They have the best race pace by far. They won't care about being possibly overtaken in the first stages of the race either.

[GPR-A]

They won't care about being possibly overtaken in the first stages of the race either.

That's the point. It means they would optimize the car for race and might be there is a chance that, they might not even start on front row.

[godlameroso]

Spa requires a lot of throttle usage to get through the turns and I'll be surprised if the soft tire can make it more than 12 laps.

[TAG]

Would be nice to see Leclerc win this one. Who know who's showing up with what after the break but I don't anticipate Red Bull being competitive here, I mean competitive for anything better than 3rd best.

[maguetox]

https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.png

Tire Selections

https://content.presspage.com/uploads/2 ... .jpg?10000

2018 Results

Qualifying

https://www.grandprix247.com/wp-content ... Result.jpg

Race

https://external-preview.redd.it/Fn4iUM ... 6196e7f7ee

2018 Pole Lap

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ia7FR4XQs

2018 Race Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXg1sGWpLlQ

Looks like Pirelli doesn´t get the news of the summer brake, they still have Gasly as a partner of Max.

One week, just one week, this is been a long summer brake.

[zibby43]

Looks like Pirelli doesn´t get the news of the summer brake, they still have Gasly as a partner of Max.

One week, just one week, this is been a long summer brake.

Those tire allocations came out way before the Gasly news.

[godlameroso]

How much can you gain in sector 2 vs how much will you lose in sector 1 and 3? Ferrari would have to gain .4 seconds to make up the .3 they'll lose in sector 2.

The front tires will have a hard time keeping temperature.

[zibby43]

How much can you gain in sector 2 vs how much will you lose in sector 1 and 3? Ferrari would have to gain .4 seconds to make up the .3 they'll lose in sector 2.

The front tires will have a hard time keeping temperature.

In 2018, Mercedes lost massive amounts of time at La Source and the Bus Stop chicane (this was before Mercedes started to completely turn around their poor performance in low-speed corners).

Ferrari are favorites for pole, but it's not a certainty. And the Merc will be mighty in race trim. Where Red Bull ends up will be interesting.

[godlameroso]

How much can you gain in sector 2 vs how much will you lose in sector 1 and 3? Ferrari would have to gain .4 seconds to make up the .3 they'll lose in sector 2.

The front tires will have a hard time keeping temperature.

In 2018, Mercedes lost massive amounts of time at La Source and the Bus Stop chicane (this was before Mercedes started to completely turn around their poor performance in low-speed corners).

Ferrari are favorites for pole, but it's not a certainty. And the Merc will be mighty in race trim. Where Red Bull ends up will be interesting.

Quote me on this one, Red Bull will be as competitive as they were in Silverstone. They'll be right up there, but Ferrari will be much stronger both in the race and in qualifying.

[godlameroso]

Ideal tire strategy? Soft up to lap 12, then 16 and 16 on mediums? Will be tricky to pull off but certainly faster than medium then hard. Weather forecast is not clear, it will be cloudy so it could rain, it could not, it could just be overcast. Getting a read on tire wear will be critical to the race. While the cars will get faster as the race wears on, the performance jump from new tires is more extreme.

[zibby43]

Ideal tire strategy? Soft up to lap 12, then 16 and 16 on mediums? Will be tricky to pull off but certainly faster than medium then hard. Weather forecast is not clear, it will be cloudy so it could rain, it could not, it could just be overcast. Getting a read on tire wear will be critical to the race. While the cars will get faster as the race wears on, the performance jump from new tires is more extreme.

[foxmulder_ms]

My favorite track!!!!!!! It has been too long.