Merc is all about Antonelli now, that guy is seriously quick.
Poll: Official 2024 Belgian Grand Prix Race Thread - Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps - Race 14/24
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Different scenario. With McLaren, they made the call to protect the 1, 2.
Lewis typically just drives and relies on the team to sort out strategy whereas George is more proactive.
Is it because they don't have an allegiance to Lewis anymore as he's parting ways at the end of the season?
Hard disagree. Same scenario, except Lewis actually did catch George up and the was being held up big time , almost into the jaws of Piastri.
They gave track position to George via strategy on a track that is very hard to overtake on, and then held up their other driver who was in the lead on merit before their second pit stop.
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Lewis said his tyres were fine and could’ve done a 1 stop. I think any driver would’ve been fine running those tyres for that long, it just wasn’t the optimal strategy for most.
Well that sucks for Mercedes and Russell. 1.5kg underweight when not fully drained of fuel is not good. They don't normally change the tyres unless they are very suspicious about something. Partly may have been the lack of a cool down lap to pick up rubber. They can pick up a around a kilo per wheel on one of those. If something was damaged, they would be allowed to replace it with an identical spec one. But being at least 1.5kg under when not fully drained of fuel is a really big mistake by Mercedes.
It's a little better for Perez though, no longer behind Russell. Still only in 7th and 146 points behind Verstappen.
It's a little better for Perez though, no longer behind Russell. Still only in 7th and 146 points behind Verstappen.
I don't get that reasoning at all (re optimal strategy). Unless we've decided George was some sort of tyre whisperer who could massively outdo anyone in tyre wear this race, it's likely Lewis at the very least (as he had the same car) could have easily done a 1 stop and finished miles ahead.
I think George proved the optimal strategy for everyone was a one stop.
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The scenario wasn’t orchestrated by the team; they had their own strategies.
If Lewis was so much faster, he should’ve overtaken George. Same with Norris moaning last race when he couldn’t overtake Piastri.
What?
Piastri couldn't catch Norris after they gave Norris track position and the undercut.
? Very different. A GR or LH win has little impact on the WDC where the McLaren decision potentially could..
Yea, McLaren gave Norris the position; he couldn’t overtake Piastri and take the position himself. The team made the call to protect from the undercut.
Lewis did what the team told him to do, whereas George called for the 1 stop. Mercedes didn’t plan that, whereas McLaren did.
Telling George to swap places after he made the better call is just stupid. Telling Norris to give the place back after McLaren put him there to protect him from ending up P3 is fair.
No it's not. It's exactly the same thing.
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What the teams said – Race day at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix | Formula 1®
The drivers and teams report back on all the action from the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix from Spa-Francorchamps.
www.formula1.com
Enjoyed the race a lot! Just watching them blast around Spa takes me back to being 7/8 years old and watching races in the early/mid 90s where you'd have a huge field spread, no idea who was winning, a bunch of cars smoking and leaking oil everywhere but it was always such an amazing watch because of the track.
A real shame for Russell, I wonder if it had anything to do with them changing / removing the upgrade package after Friday's practice and then the wet sessions on Saturday meaning they missed something? Although you'd expect it on both cars, not just the one. The only thing I found weird about the actual race with Russell/Hamilton was that they took until 4 laps before the end to tell Hamilton that Russell wasn't pitting again.
Mega from Piastri, he's really quickly becoming a favourite of mine. I love how he seems to have such an insanely cool head on his shoulders and his zero bs radio messages are lovely, it's Kimi-esque at times.
I'd say a bit of a nightmare for both Perez and Norris. For me, Norris seems to be one of the worst starters in F1 since Webber. Webber was king of qualifying P2/P3 and ending up P5 by the end of lap 1 - so hopefully Norris can figure it out, otherwise he's going to have an uphill struggle at every race.
Perez is a little embarrassing at this point, especially with the '*** these guys' comment he made post qualifying. 6 tenths behind Max in qualifying, then holds Max up for 5 laps when Russell is between them - then finishes last of the top cars despite starting second. No idea who they should replace him with, maybe Danny Ric just to have someone go hell for leather for the next 6 months? And I can't imagine Perez would want a swap to Toro Rosso either so does he just sit out?
A real shame for Russell, I wonder if it had anything to do with them changing / removing the upgrade package after Friday's practice and then the wet sessions on Saturday meaning they missed something? Although you'd expect it on both cars, not just the one. The only thing I found weird about the actual race with Russell/Hamilton was that they took until 4 laps before the end to tell Hamilton that Russell wasn't pitting again.
Mega from Piastri, he's really quickly becoming a favourite of mine. I love how he seems to have such an insanely cool head on his shoulders and his zero bs radio messages are lovely, it's Kimi-esque at times.
I'd say a bit of a nightmare for both Perez and Norris. For me, Norris seems to be one of the worst starters in F1 since Webber. Webber was king of qualifying P2/P3 and ending up P5 by the end of lap 1 - so hopefully Norris can figure it out, otherwise he's going to have an uphill struggle at every race.
Perez is a little embarrassing at this point, especially with the '*** these guys' comment he made post qualifying. 6 tenths behind Max in qualifying, then holds Max up for 5 laps when Russell is between them - then finishes last of the top cars despite starting second. No idea who they should replace him with, maybe Danny Ric just to have someone go hell for leather for the next 6 months? And I can't imagine Perez would want a swap to Toro Rosso either so does he just sit out?
All this talk of replacing Perez, is everyone forgetting he's signed for another two years?
www.formula1.com
Red Bull confirm new Sergio Perez deal
Sergio Perez will continue as a Red Bull Racing driver through the 2026 season after the Milton Keynes team confirmed a multi-year extension to the Mexican’s contract.
www.formula1.com
Wasn't one of the features of the new contract about performance related clauses / giving them some degree of an exit if required? Rather than the previous contract.All this talk of replacing Perez, is everyone forgetting he's signed for another two years?
Red Bull confirm new Sergio Perez deal
Sergio Perez will continue as a Red Bull Racing driver through the 2026 season after the Milton Keynes team confirmed a multi-year extension to the Mexican’s contract.
Yep, much as he was being called the "tyre whisperer", for all we know everyone could have made them last, just no one else did.
As someone else said, it was a "hail mary" as he had nothing to lose. Fair play and he (nearly) got away with it but it was more luck and a roll of the dice than some amazing driving or tyre preservation skills.
Because he had to cover Leclerc
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