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

[VolvoT5]

I think Ferrari really need a strong weekend....... at least to beat Red Bull on merit even if they can't get close to Mercedes.

From a championship perspective I think Nico has to outscore Hamilton to keep things alive.

[Sylvaforever]

May I just add my thanks to Dr Z for those charts, fascinating stuff indeed.

[rsbmw]

Surely another consideration is that LH's engine is already fairly well used, they don't want to risk it failing mid race. May aswell swap it out now and have done, he only needs to finish top 6 to maintain his championship lead.

[Flooble]

With two "easy" wins from the front (Britain and Germany) where Hamilton says he turned down his engine, perhaps Mercedes think they can stretch the life out for another race and thus only have to take one new engine for the rest of the season.

Spa is not really the place to be running an engine close to end of life though - even if they have calculated his current unit has one more race in it, I'd be inclined to keep it for Singapore or similar.

It all adds to the intrigue.

[anonymous-user]

Is it just a case of engine longevity or are there other considerations? Are Mercedes planning an engine upgrade in the near future?

There's little point in Hamilton being given a new engine at one race then either having to miss out on an evolution that Rosberg gets, or taking a penalty to get it. If that's a consideration, it would be better to try and coincide the change with an engine upgrade.

[court]

This article helped explain Hamilton's PU issues to me http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10547625/le...

[suffolk009]

Is it all just speculation at the moment about when Lewis will take his hit? Surely he'll want to leave it as late as possible in the season - to do it sooner just doesn't make sense to me.

I expect to see Lewis and the Red Bulls on the podium.

And another thanks to Dr Z from me.

[rupert the dog]

enjo said:

Well put +1.
Thanks for the effort you have put in Dr Z, I'm sure many of us non contributors (thread stalkers) will miss your openers.

Hear hear! You add a dimension to the race for us observers,many thanks for your contributions.

[ajprice]

Many many thanks to Dr Z for the thread openers this season, they've been a really good start to the thread every time .

I'm with the others hoping for LH engine changes, wet race, Rosberg not handling it and Hamilton coming through from the back.

[Norfolkit]

suffolk009 said:

Is it all just speculation at the moment about when Lewis will take his hit? Surely he'll want to leave it as late as possible in the season - to do it sooner just doesn't make sense to me.

I expect to see Lewis and the Red Bulls on the podium.

And another thanks to Dr Z from me.

Well he certainly needs to do it before the current one goes bang, why risk it at a track like Spa. Spa and Monza next up, both hard on engines, I'd say they're risking a DNF by not swapping, last thing he needs.

[FeelingLucky]

He can swap the engine (ICE) without penalty, so far he's only used three (same as Rosberg).

[Norfolkit]

ajprice said:

Many many thanks to Dr Z for the thread openers this season, they've been a really good start to the thread every time .

I'm with the others hoping for LH engine changes, wet race, Rosberg not handling it and Hamilton coming through from the back.

Weather forecast now showing a dry weekend, I'm glad to say

[hairyben]

Interesting mix of tyre selections going on there after some of the recent races, I wonder if teams are thinking all 3 have a use or whether they're simply not sure and covering bumholes?

[HustleRussell]

New article on Hamilton engine penalties, same conclusion; Penalties at Spa or Monza

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37172485

[SunsetZed]

HustleRussell said:

New article on Hamilton engine penalties, same conclusion; Penalties at Spa or Monza

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37172485

Confused on this one, is the article suggesting he can basically take two engine changes over one weekend and only get one penalty?

[HustleRussell]

SunsetZed said:

HustleRussell said:

New article on Hamilton engine penalties, same conclusion; Penalties at Spa or Monza

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37172485

Confused on this one, is the article suggesting he can basically take two engine changes over one weekend and only get one penalty?

Yup, nothing new- IIRC the Mclarens have had something like 50 places grid penalties between them in a single weekend but has you can start no further back than 22nd they simply started on the back row and that was that. The penalties don't carry over to the next race meeting.

[rsbmw]

SunsetZed said:

Confused on this one, is the article suggesting he can basically take two engine changes over one weekend and only get one penalty?

As far as I know, he gets multiple penalties but as they don't carry over he's not going any further back than last place on the grid anyway - may as well take 10!

[Flooble]

I suspect if they tried to "stack" the spare engines up, the FIA could fall back on that "bringing the sport into disrepute" rule.

Personally I'd chance it, finding a "possible flaw" in each engine which turned out not to be an issue at the next race after all, much like Rosberg's mysterious gearbox glitch.

[Crafty_]

suffolk009 said:

Is it all just speculation at the moment about when Lewis will take his hit? Surely he'll want to leave it as late as possible in the season - to do it sooner just doesn't make sense to me.

The decision to take an engine now is strategic. Spa or possibly Monza play to the advantages of the Merc, so if he is to take a penalty there he stands a good chance of making it through the pack and still getting a decent result.

If he had to take a penalty at a track later on it might be a track that doesn't play to the advantages of the Merc and/or is a difficult track for overtaking. That would mean he doesn't get such a good result and thus loses more points. For example Singapore would be a bad track for him to take an engine at - not great for overtaking and the Merc was not fast there last year.

If you could get (say) 5th at Spa by taking a penalty there you'd do that vs a (say) 10th in Singapore.

[SunsetZed]

Flooble said:

I suspect if they tried to "stack" the spare engines up, the FIA could fall back on that "bringing the sport into disrepute" rule.

Personally I'd chance it, finding a "possible flaw" in each engine which turned out not to be an issue at the next race after all, much like Rosberg's mysterious gearbox glitch.

This is what it sounded like what they were talking about doing to me not tht I blame them for doing it I just didn't realise that there was a possible loophole that allowed them to do it.

HustleRussell said:

Yup, nothing new- IIRC the Mclarens have had something like 50 places grid penalties between them in a single weekend but has you can start no further back than 22nd they simply started on the back row and that was that. The penalties don't carry over to the next race meeting.

I remember that happening but I didn't pay enough attention to realise it was because they were stacking engines? I thought it was because they made so many changes to the existing engine but I'm probably wrong.