The Official 2016 Belgian Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[N0ddie]

Another 15 place grid penalty for Hamilton. So 30 place grid penalty all in.

[Flooble]

So Hamilton has "stacked" two lots of penalties then. Wonder if that will be all?

Guess that after Spa he will be on an even footing with Rosberg in terms of units left? Straight fight to the finish ...

[sandman77]

Flooble said:

So Hamilton has "stacked" two lots of penalties then. Wonder if that will be all?

Guess that after Spa he will be on an even footing with Rosberg in terms of units left? Straight fight to the finish ...

I'm not too sure. Hamiltons parts are effectively now sitting on a shelf waiting for him to use them whereas Rosberg could be given updated parts when he needs them (if Merc are still developing the units).

[Crafty_]

Presumably Merc don't have any major upgrades planned on turbo or MGU-H, otherwise they wouldn't have stacked them ?

[lee_fr200]

McLaren apparantly spent 7 tokens on the engine but doesn't look like it's improved their positions still around 9th---12th

[rsbmw]

5th place car isn't bad for Mclaren at a fast circuit like Spa

I don't think Mercedes expect to need engine upgrades to win drivers and constructors titles this year.

[HustleRussell]

The Ferraris a whole second off the Red Bulls...

[sandman77]

rsbmw said:

5th place car isn't bad for Mclaren at a fast circuit like Spa

I don't think Mercedes expect to need engine upgrades to win drivers and constructors titles this year.

I wouldn't have thought so either. Is the 2017 power unit going to be a brand new design starting from scratch or will it be an evolution of this years? That may be a reason to continue with development.

[HustleRussell]

sandman77 said:

rsbmw said:

5th place car isn't bad for Mclaren at a fast circuit like Spa

I don't think Mercedes expect to need engine upgrades to win drivers and constructors titles this year.

I wouldn't have thought so either. Is the 2017 power unit going to be a brand new design starting from scratch or will it be an evolution of this years? That may be a reason to continue with development.

Oh yeah, I'm sure they will have a work-in-progress 2017 PU on the test bed already- it only costs them tokens this year if they implement the upgrades on their racing cars this year. I don't think there's any benefit to not using 2016 tokens so I'd expect them to do so.

[rdjohn]

Does anyone recall how much of the lap is at full throttle? Presumably, quite a lot, so a decent advantage for the frugal Mercedes engine users.

[Drive Blind]

rdjohn said:

Does anyone recall how much of the lap is at full throttle? Presumably, quite a lot, so a decent advantage for the frugal Mercedes engine users.

dunno about the whole lap I'm sure I've seen 26 secs quoted as the time full throttle from La Source to Les Combes

[Gary C]

Dr z, Will anyone need use the super softs to get into q3 ?, do the ss give enough that merc,RB,Ferrari would have to use them too?

Seems unlikely but it would make things interesting

[Flooble]

sandman77 said:

Flooble said:

So Hamilton has "stacked" two lots of penalties then. Wonder if that will be all?

Guess that after Spa he will be on an even footing with Rosberg in terms of units left? Straight fight to the finish ...

I'm not too sure. Hamiltons parts are effectively now sitting on a shelf waiting for him to use them whereas Rosberg could be given updated parts when he needs them (if Merc are still developing the units).

Good point. I'll have to try and find a source for the number of tokens used so far. Mind you, I'd expect most effort to be going on 2017 now and having a new engine you can "turn up to 11" is probably as much of a benefit as a new one that needs to last out - so maybe we have not seen the last of Hamiton's engine swaps!

[cgt2]

There is an updated Mercedes engine here at Spa. There is a possible further update in Japan.

It may not be plain sailing for Rosberg though as I had a feeling Red Bull would be fast here with their awesome speed in fast corners. Could turn out to be the best place for Hamilton to have got his penalties out of the way.

[Crafty_]

Merc have upgraded engines here, 5 tokens used apparently.

Also, both Ericsson and Alonso are taking penalties for part changes so Lewis won't be right at the back, Alonso had a water leak in FP1 hence the engine change. I'm not sure if Ericssons was declared before or after Lewis's.

[Dr Z]

Gary C said:

Dr z, Will anyone need use the super softs to get into q3 ?, do the ss give enough that merc,RB,Ferrari would have to use them too?

Seems unlikely but it would make things interesting

It's a good point, I think we could well see Merc going through to Q3 on the Soft. There aren't enough cars in the midfield fast enough to surprise them if it came to taking advantage of the performance difference of the Soft vs Super softs.

After a brief look at the long runs I will add Force India to the quick cars Hamilton will have to overtake on Sunday along with Red Bull and Ferrari.

[Derek Smith]

So LH won't have to set his car up for qualifying.

Spa is, I think I read, one of the more difficult tracks to set a car up for. Qualifying needs low downforce in the first sector (through Eau Rouge!) but in the race higher downforce can be handy.

So does starting at the back, or possibly the pitlane, mean that he is able to set the car up for better performance, ie easier to overtaking?

I know I might be talking rubbish. Just a thought.

[suffolk009]

End of First Lap Guess:

Red Bull
Red Bull
Rosberg
Ferrari
Ferrari

Hamilton up 6 places.

[slipstream 1985]

Vaud said:

Top 6 for Hamilton, I am sure. Higher if RB or Ferrari have problems. Will be interesting to see how Force India go here.

Hamilton looks the most assured pre-race - I think that he relishes the scrap from the back, brings out the fighter in him.

Every karter or ex karter loves starting from the back when it's not their fault. It gets you riled up.

[Flooble]

Crafty_ said:

Merc have upgraded engines here, 5 tokens used apparently.

Also, both Ericsson and Alonso are taking penalties for part changes so Lewis won't be right at the back, Alonso had a water leak in FP1 hence the engine change. I'm not sure if Ericssons was declared before or after Lewis's.

I suspect Hamilton (with 30 places to serve) will be behind Ericsson (10 places to serve). Granted a pole for Hamilton would put him "31st" and Ericsson could qualify in 22nd place and thus end up in "32nd"? Unless Hamilton takes more changes, I guess Alonso is plum last though.

Derek Smith said:

So LH won't have to set his car up for qualifying.

Spa is, I think I read, one of the more difficult tracks to set a car up for. Qualifying needs low downforce in the first sector (through Eau Rouge!) but in the race higher downforce can be handy.

So does starting at the back, or possibly the pitlane, mean that he is able to set the car up for better performance, ie easier to overtaking?

I know I might be talking rubbish. Just a thought.

Now that's interesting! I didn't know that. Could add yet another twist to the weekend, with Hamilton on a more optimal setup for the race carving past people who can't stay ahead in the twisties. Although I guess as fuel burns off the advantage may swing back to the qualifying setup.

Lets just hope Hamilton has taken the manual to bed with him tonight so he doesn't get stuck in the wrong engine mode again.