Official Belgium GP thread 2019
Discussion
So allegedly Kimi has pulled a leg muscle over the summer break. He will drive FP1 to see how he copes. Ericsson on the bench as a backup if Kimi isn't up to snuff.
Other bits of info/discussion:
Haas running their new spec car, with additional new bits. Could be make or break for them this year.
Rich Energy sponsorship staying until after Monza at the earliest.
Both Mercs taking 'free' new engines, expect them to be strong.
Ferrari likely saving their 'free' new engine for Monza, since they already took a new one recently - Hungary even?
Probably not a bad thing for Albon to be starting at the back. No pressure in qualy and he will still look pretty impressive if he makes it back up into the top 10 in the race.
Bottas 3.0 to turn up after confidence of new contract?
Hamilton to find even more pace after a good break?
Other bits of info/discussion:
Haas running their new spec car, with additional new bits. Could be make or break for them this year.
Rich Energy sponsorship staying until after Monza at the earliest.
Both Mercs taking 'free' new engines, expect them to be strong.
Ferrari likely saving their 'free' new engine for Monza, since they already took a new one recently - Hungary even?
Probably not a bad thing for Albon to be starting at the back. No pressure in qualy and he will still look pretty impressive if he makes it back up into the top 10 in the race.
Bottas 3.0 to turn up after confidence of new contract?
Hamilton to find even more pace after a good break?
Edited by Andy S15 on Thursday 29th August 13:31
Andy S15 said:
So allegedly Kimi has pulled a leg muscle over the summer break. He will drive FP1 to see how he copes. Ericsson on the bench as a backup if Kimi isn't up to snuff.
Other bits of info/discussion:
Haas running their new spec car, with additional new bits. Could be make or break for them this year. Rich Energy sponsorship staying until after Monza at the earliest.
Both Mercs taking 'free' new engines, expect them to be strong.
Ferrari likely saving their 'free' new engine for Monza, since they already took a new one recently - Hungary even?
Probably not a bad thing for Albon to be starting at the back. No pressure in qualy and he will still look pretty impressive if he makes it back up into the top 10 in the race.
Bottas 3.0 to turn up after confidence of new contract?
Hamilton to find even more pace after a good break?
It's the first time in a while that both Haas cars will run the new spec after Grosjean revert back to the Melbourne car.Other bits of info/discussion:
Haas running their new spec car, with additional new bits. Could be make or break for them this year. Rich Energy sponsorship staying until after Monza at the earliest.
Both Mercs taking 'free' new engines, expect them to be strong.
Ferrari likely saving their 'free' new engine for Monza, since they already took a new one recently - Hungary even?
Probably not a bad thing for Albon to be starting at the back. No pressure in qualy and he will still look pretty impressive if he makes it back up into the top 10 in the race.
Bottas 3.0 to turn up after confidence of new contract?
Hamilton to find even more pace after a good break?
Edited by Andy S15 on Thursday 29th August 13:28
Edited by Andy S15 on Thursday 29th August 13:29
IMO that means Grosjean is out of Haas.
But has Haas made a mistake not listening to Grosjean regarding the car?
We will see in Spa.
Kimi and Lando have injuries coming into this weekends race.
Both causes to their injuries sound a bit fake to me
Lando met his hero at the weekend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PjZFym-kuM&t=...
Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 29th August 13:36
Andy S15 said:
So allegedly Kimi has pulled a leg muscle over the summer break. He will drive FP1 to see how he copes. Ericsson on the bench as a backup if Kimi isn't up to snuff.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/raikkonen-pulle...motorsport.com said:
Raikkonen did not elaborate on how he had sustained the injury: "Sport. It is dangerous. I always said it is more dangerous – drinking is probably safer. Usually you don't get injured, you just get a hangover."
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Albon to the back of the grid for Spa. Gasly will be pleased.
No pressure in qualifying at least.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/49509013
Will still be expected to have Q3 pace though..No pressure in qualifying at least.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/49509013
ajprice said:
Andy S15 said:
So allegedly Kimi has pulled a leg muscle over the summer break. He will drive FP1 to see how he copes. Ericsson on the bench as a backup if Kimi isn't up to snuff.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/raikkonen-pulle...motorsport.com said:
Raikkonen did not elaborate on how he had sustained the injury: "Sport. It is dangerous. I always said it is more dangerous – drinking is probably safer. Usually you don't get injured, you just get a hangover."
https://www.citynews1130.com/2018/05/29/f1-driver-...
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Deesee said:
Will still be expected to have Q3 pace though..
Would the team bother or just change everything on the car and save the engine?Danni K (TR) is also taking penalties, I’ll put up the chart shortly.
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Deesee said:
That could make things very interesting.
Will help Red Bull out in qualifying and maybe the race.
The first lap could be a repeat of 2018.
Is pole that important at Spa?
Deesee said:
So far
Merc to take new PU3
Ferrari waiting till Monza
Renault have an upgrade (grid penalty’s)
TR & RB have spec 4 available, Albion and Kyvat to take (grid penalty’s).
McLaren no news
Hass no news
Alfa no news
Williams & R• expect new PU3, Lance May take a grid penalty.
Byker28i said:
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Could favour the Mercs also? They tend to run more wing so making them slower on the fast straights?
Deesee said:
So far
Merc to take new PU3
Ferrari waiting till Monza
Renault have an upgrade (grid penalty’s)
TR & RB have spec 4 available, Albion and Kyvat to take (grid penalty’s).
McLaren no news
Hass no news
Alfa no news
Williams & R• expect new PU3, Lance May take a grid penalty.
Will be very interesting to see the new 'more performance' Merc PU in action here - on a track where they need more speed, so will be likely be inclined to use the new PU to it's fullest. Last year Ferrari won but over the course of the race the Mercedes were really not that far off the pace. This year with a bhp increase and the very fine Mercedes car, it could be knife edge close between the two. Or... Ferrari could somehow f**k it all up and hand Mercedes the win. I'm hoping for close though.
Apparently they have also improved reliability... Seemed pretty reliable already tbh! I guess if it can be improved, it may as well be though
Also very keen to see the new Honda unit when it's fitted to a Red Bull. I think here they will just see how it goes in the RBTR as a field test, may not even fully open the taps so we might not directly see whatever improvements they have found just yet. My guess however is that after Max running almost half a race, twice, with the former spec "turned up to 11" without problems, that this new spec has a lump more power available as standard, and in quali mode could be very potent.
Apparently they have also improved reliability... Seemed pretty reliable already tbh! I guess if it can be improved, it may as well be though
Also very keen to see the new Honda unit when it's fitted to a Red Bull. I think here they will just see how it goes in the RBTR as a field test, may not even fully open the taps so we might not directly see whatever improvements they have found just yet. My guess however is that after Max running almost half a race, twice, with the former spec "turned up to 11" without problems, that this new spec has a lump more power available as standard, and in quali mode could be very potent.
TheDeuce said:
Also very keen to see the new Honda unit when it's fitted to a Red Bull. I think here they will just see how it goes in the RBTR as a field test, may not even fully open the taps so we might not directly see whatever improvements they have found just yet. My guess however is that after Max running almost half a race, twice, with the former spec "turned up to 11" without problems, that this new spec has a lump more power available as standard, and in quali mode could be very potent.
Albon's Red Bull will have the new Honda spec fitted, although with it being his first race in a car he's not driven before, with a different spec engine to his benchmark teammate, and starting somewhere at the back due to grid penalties, it's almost as if they're deliberately making it as hard as possible for anyone to judge the relative performance of either the new engine or the new driver.thegreenhell said:
TheDeuce said:
Also very keen to see the new Honda unit when it's fitted to a Red Bull. I think here they will just see how it goes in the RBTR as a field test, may not even fully open the taps so we might not directly see whatever improvements they have found just yet. My guess however is that after Max running almost half a race, twice, with the former spec "turned up to 11" without problems, that this new spec has a lump more power available as standard, and in quali mode could be very potent.
Albon's Red Bull will have the new Honda spec fitted, although with it being his first race in a car he's not driven before, with a different spec engine to his benchmark teammate, and starting somewhere at the back due to grid penalties, it's almost as if they're deliberately making it as hard as possible for anyone to judge the relative performance of either the new engine or the new driver.I had actually missed that Albon would have the version 4 PU, I thought it was just RBTR that were being used as guinea pigs initially. I've been working overseas though and not as up to date as usual!
Internally, they will get the data needed and will know exactly what the impact of the new PU is likely to be when it's bolted to Max's car and running whatever mode they think it will survive...
We will see it soon enough I'm sure. Assuming it's the basis for next years PU they will want to run at least a third of the season with it this year in anger to make certain it's not going to let them down next year.
RB/Honda for me are about the most interesting team in F1 right now. They are aligning themselves with a real shot of greatness again. If they find the missing speed with this new PU then they could out-perform Ferrari for this second half of the season. That will not go down well at Ferrari.
thegreenhell said:
Albon's Red Bull will have the new Honda spec fitted, although with it being his first race in a car he's not driven before, with a different spec engine to his benchmark teammate, and starting somewhere at the back due to grid penalties, it's almost as if they're deliberately making it as hard as possible for anyone to judge the relative performance of either the new engine or the new driver.
Apart from the teams, that is.They have all the data gathering capability that they need to establish a pecking order, for every driver, chassis and PU.
It’s why their simulations are so damn good.
Mind you some blogger who never attends a race will probably try to convince you that he knows better.
rdjohn said:
thegreenhell said:
Albon's Red Bull will have the new Honda spec fitted, although with it being his first race in a car he's not driven before, with a different spec engine to his benchmark teammate, and starting somewhere at the back due to grid penalties, it's almost as if they're deliberately making it as hard as possible for anyone to judge the relative performance of either the new engine or the new driver.
Apart from the teams, that is.They have all the data gathering capability that they need to establish a pecking order, for every driver, chassis and PU.
It’s why their simulations are so damn good.
Mind you some blogger who never attends a race will probably try to convince you that he knows better.
For Red Bull though... They will learn plenty. For all we know they will run a lower power mode to play it safe and they could could still learn all they need to from the PU data that only they can see. Maybe there was a heat issue with the old PU spec that this attempts to rectify so they can run higher modes for longer - and they know they can judge that fix without pushing at all. Just one example - the point being we don't know what they're looking for and what for them would count as a success with this first outing of the new spec PU.
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