August 2020 • MostlyF1.com

2020 Belgian GP report | Hamilton dominates at Spa

Posted on 31/08/202003/07/2023 by James Mackenzie

The rain never came, but it was plain sailing for Hamilton.

Lewis Hamilton wins the Belgian Grand Prix. — *Image credit: AFP*

Lewis Hamilton took a comfortable victory at the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix to further extend his lead in the championship, with Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen completing the usual HAM-BOT-VER podium.

It was a fairly sedate race at the front. Hamilton had more than enough to cover anything his teammate threw at him – which was thoroughly demonstrated on Saturday with two stellar qualifying laps, more than half a second faster than Bottas – and Max Verstappen unable to challenge the mighty Mercedes on this occasion.

An early crash by Antonio Giovinazzi, that also collected the helpless George Russell, brought out the safety car on lap 10 and all the front-runners, bar Sergio Pérez and Pierre Gasly, took the opportunity for a cheap pit stop and ran to the end on a set of hard tyres. Whilst things started to get a little uncomfortable towards the end, and Hamilton’s mind clearly flashed back to that puncture in Silverstone, there were to be no late dramas this time and the Briton took his 89th victory – now just two short of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record – again being denied a ‘grand chelem’ only by a fastest lap on the final lap.

He dedicated the win to Chadwick Boseman, best known for his starring role as Black Panther, who sadly passed away over the weekend at the age of just 43. “It’s been an emotional weekend, I want to dedicate this win to Chad and his family, he was such an inspiration and his legacy will live on.”

Renault Find Their Form

The aforementioned fastest lap was set by Daniel Ricciardo as he closed in on an unlikely podium, finishing just three seconds behind Verstappen in the end.

Daniel Ricciardo at the Belgian Grand Prix. — *Image credit: XPB*

Renault have been steadily improving as this quick-fire season has progressed, but this year’s black-and-yellow machine really came into its own with a low downforce setup at Spa. They were near the top of the timings all weekend; Ricciardo second in Practice Two and teammate Esteban Ocon in the same position in Practice Three.

Come race day, the Renaults fell back from the top three somewhat but, it would become apparent, were far kinder to their tyres and, with a few more laps, the Honey Badger may well have been designing a tattoo for Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul…

The 44 laps of the Belgian circuit were enough for Ocon, though, who held off the late charge of Lando Norris and successfully passed the Red Bull of Alexander Albon on the final lap for fifth place. 23 points for fourth, fifth and the fastest lap, is Renault’s best points haul at a single race ever. And things bode well for next week’s trip to Monza, where an even lower downforce setup could well see Abiteboul sweating once more.

An Emotional Weekend, Especially for Gasly

A minute’s silence was held before the race in memory of Anthoine Hubert, the F2 driver who was tragically killed at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix. Many of the young, French drivers grew up with Hubert but Gasly, in particular, considered the young Renault protégé one of his very best friends.

So, it was excellent to see the AlphaTauri driver continue his good form this weekend and come home with some more points in eighth place. He made up a number of positions in the opening laps, despite starting on the hard tyre, and showed incredible bravery as he passed Pérez into Raidillon, the Mexican squeezing him to a dangerous degree.

The safety car fell unkindly for Gasly and his counterstrategy, but he fought back through the field excellently, after switching to the medium compound on lap 26, and felt he had done enough to make his former roommate proud come the chequered flag. The fans voted him the Driver of the Day.

Thank you guys for electing me Driver of The Day on such a day. It was a tough weekend emotionnaly. Today was a very important race personnaly, and I gave everything I had. I wanted to do very well for Anthoine, and honored him the best possible way. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/w4RNUH66vj
— PIERRE GASLY 🇫🇷 (@PierreGASLY) August 30, 2020

More Pain for Ferrari…And It May Get Even Worse

Ferrari did not expect much coming into this weekend, but they may well have managed to underdeliver, nonetheless. The deficiencies of the SF1000 were brutally exposed and its lack of straight-line speed was particularly evident in the first and third sectors of the lap in Belgium.

There were fears that Ferrari would struggle to progress through Q1, after Practice Three left Charles Leclerc in 17th and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel plumb last. They did narrowly avoid that particular embarrassment, but 13th and 14th on the grid was a long way from locking out the front row before a maiden victory for Leclerc at the same circuit last year.

My personal suspicion is that the team overly focussed on an especially downforce-heavy car for this season due to their superiority on the straights in 2019. But, once the engine rules had been clarified and severely hampered them, it was too late to dramatically change the philosophy of the 2020 design.

Whatever the reason for their shortcomings, it is probably a good thing that there will be no Tifosi at next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, as it will likely be the lowest downforce setup of the year and their problems will only multiply.

Nil points at Spa is humiliating, but nil points at Monza…

There is certainly a big hill to climb for those in red.

The Belgian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Can anyone (well, Max Verstappen) challenge the Mercedes? They haven’t won here since 2017… Nope, they have now not won here since 2020…

Will a better result in Spain help motivate Sebastian Vettel? It must have been hard to find any motivation in this Ferrari at this track.

Or will Ferrari just struggle terribly around the power-sensitive Spa track? Yes.

Will the pressure increase further on Alexander Albon? It was another okay race and Helmut Marko has come out and backed him. For now, at least.

Could we have a wet and wild Spa weekend? *sigh* No.

2020 Belgian GP preview

Posted on 28/08/202003/07/2023 by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

Can anyone (well, Max Verstappen) challenge the Mercedes? They haven’t won here since 2017…

Will a better result in Spain help motivate Sebastian Vettel?

Or will Ferrari just struggle terribly around the power-sensitive Spa track?

Will the pressure increase further on Alexander Albon?

Could we have a wet and wild Spa weekend?

THE TRACK

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Belgium-Spa.png

THE STATS

Track Length: 7.004 km

Laps: 44

Race Distance: 308.052 km

First Grand Prix: 1950

Race Lap Record: Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2018 | 1:46.286

Outright Lap Record: Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 2019 | 1:42.519

Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002

Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1952, 1953, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2018

THE WEATHER

The Quotes

Lewis Hamilton | “If you take away Max’s DNF (retirement) in race one away, we would be very close in points. They have had very strong results. Maybe in qualifying we do have the edge. But in races we are a lot closer. We are not even halfway through the season. I absolutely keep my eye on them. They are absolutely still a title runner and we need to stay on our toes.”

Charles Leclerc | “Spa-Francorchamps has a special place in my heart. While it is here that I took my first win, it is also where we lost our friend Anthoine last year. He will be in our thoughts.”

Renault | “Beyond the decisions, the matters at issue were vital to the integrity of Formula 1, both during the current season and in the future. Reaching this strategic objective, in the context of the new Concorde Agreement, was our priority. The controversy of the start of this season should be put behind us, as we need to focus on the remainder of an intense and unique championship.”

Pierre Gasly | “Spa is my favourite track and racing through all those high-speed corners is a great thrill. I really enjoy driving it and have had great races there in the past. However, this year, returning to Belgium will also be a sad moment, because it is just one year ago that Anthoine lost his life after that terrible accident in the F2 race in Spa.

The Photos

The Predictions

Podium

Pole Position

Fastest Lap

Driver of the Day

The most dramatic final laps in F1 history

Posted on 24/08/202003/07/2023 by James Mackenzie

Three weeks ago, at the British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton provided what will likely become an iconic image as he scraped across the line to take a record seventh home victory on effectively three wheels.

A final-lap puncture – two laps after his teammate had suffered the same issue – saw his thirty second lead being agonisingly reduced by Max Verstappen. The World Champion would just about hang on, though, and take the chequered flag with a gap of just over five seconds to the charging Red Bull.

It was a dramatic final lap of what had been a somewhat processional race, but it was probably not the most dramatic. Here are a few contenders for that accolade…

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

Hamilton was chasing down his teammate, Nico Rosberg, for the lead as he attempted to close the gap in the championship after early-season reliability issues. The two Mercedes had come together in a costly way a few races earlier in Spain and, as Hamilton went to the outside of Turn Two on the final lap, they would do so again.

Rosberg tried to force Hamilton wide – a move he had been on the receiving end of numerous times – but went too far, damaging his front wing and limping home in fourth place with a 10-second penalty for good measure. Rosberg would go on to eventually claim the championship, nonetheless, after another costly engine failure for Hamilton late in the season.

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

The longest race in the sport’s history came right down to the wire. After numerous safety cars and a full, two-hour suspension for torrential rain, Sebastian Vettel started the final lap with Jenson Button breathing down his neck, a little over four hours after they had initially started the race.

Button had stopped no fewer than six times and at one point had been in last position, but his excellence in tricky conditions allowed him to scythe through the field and force Vettel into a mistake halfway round the final lap. The German ran wide onto a wet patch at Turn Six and Button came through to take a truly extraordinary victory.

2008 Brazilian Grand Prix

Whilst the lead of the race may not have changed hands, final laps don’t come much more dramatic than this. Hamilton needed fifth in the final race of the season to guarantee a maiden title, having excruciatingly missed out in similar circumstances the year before. But mother nature was not going to make things simple.

A wet-dry race saw heavy rain fall with a handful of laps remaining and a pit stop resulted in the young Briton rejoining in fifth. An equally young Vettel passed him on lap 69 of 71 and it looked as though Hamilton would miss out again as Felipe Massa took the victory that he required to become champion. However, Timo Glock had not stopped for wet tyres and Hamilton passed him on the final corner of the final lap of the final race to reclaim that crucial fifth position and win the championship.

1997 Hungarian Grand Prix

Damon Hill so nearly pulled off the ultimate underdog story at the Hungaroring in 1997. Having been dropped by Williams at the end of 1996, despite winning the world championship, Hill joined a struggling Arrows team, inspired by new boss Tom Walkinsaw’s grand plans. It didn’t work out as planned, though, and the champion had just one point as he arrived at the 11^th race of the season.

Thanks to a unique mix of tyre complications, multiple retirements and brilliance from Hill, he found himself in a comfortable lead for most of the race. But, just a couple of laps away from Arrows’ first ever victory, his hydraulic pump failed and Hill was agonisingly passed by Villeneuve on the final tour. The problem was eventually put down to a broken washer worth 50 pence.

1982 Monaco Grand Prix

It seemed as though nobody fancied winning the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix. With three laps remaining and rain starting to fall, Alain Prost spun out from the lead, handing the lead to Riccardo Patrese, only for the Italian to spin, as well, one lap later. That left Didier Pironi in the lead, but his car would run out of fuel on the final lap. Andrea de Cesaris would have inherited the lead but had also run out of fuel and Derek Daly – the next man down the road – had just retired with a gearbox failure.

As James Hunt put it, “we’ve got this ridiculous situation where we’re all sitting by the start-finish line waiting for a winner to come past, and we don’t seem to be getting one”. Patrese had managed to restart his car, though, and eventually came through to take his first victory.

1971 Italian Grand Prix

The Italian Grand Prix in 1971 saw the closest ever finish to a race. It was also the final Italian Grand Prix to be run on the original layout; the enormous speeds reached that year saw two chicanes introduced in 1972 on safety measures.

The high speeds resulted in the field breaking up into packs, with the leading one consisting of eight drivers. Peter Gethin, Ronnie Peterson, François Cevert, Mike Hailwood and Howden Ganley battled all the way to the end, constantly in and out of each other’s slipstreams. They crossed the finish line covered by just 0.61 seconds, with less than two tenths covering the top four and Peter Gethin taking his sole F1 victory by 0.01 seconds.

1967 Italian Grand Prix

Jim Clark was cruelly denied victory in one of his greatest ever races at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix. The Scot led the race until lap 12 when he picked up a puncture and lost an entire lap. He then spent the next 48 laps fighting through the field at an astonishing rate, before taking the lead and pulling away.

Clark’s poor luck was not over, however, as on the final lap a faulty fuel pump slowed him significantly and allowed John Surtees and Jack Brabham to pass. Surtees took what would prove to be his final win by less than a car length at the line, as Clark coasted to a consolatory third place.

Honourable mentions must also go to: Nigel Mansell grinding to a halt whilst waving to the crowd at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix; Didier Pironi and Gilles Villeneuve’s infamous scrap at Imola in 1982; Jack Brabham crashing at the final corner of the 1970 Monaco Grand Prix; and the four-way photo finish at Monza in 1969.

2020 Spanish GP report | Hamilton stays cool in the Spanish heat

Posted on 17/08/202003/07/2023 by James Mackenzie

Another win, another record.

Lewis Hamilton wins the Spanish Grand Prix. — *Image credit: Getty Images*

Lewis Hamilton took a dominant victory at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix and moved one clear of Michael Schumacher to claim the outright record for the most podiums in F1 history with his 156th visit.

There were hopes in the paddock of another closely fought race, after last week’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix exposed a potential Achilles’ heel for the champions as they struggled with their rear tyres and Max Verstappen snatched an unlikely win. But those hopes were quickly extinguished when Hamilton “pulled the pin”, as Martin Brundle put it, and built a gap of almost ten seconds to the Red Bull in preparation for his first pit stop.

The usual Mercedes 1-2 in qualifying had been broken up by a poor start from Valtteri Bottas, the Finn suffering from a lack of a slipstream on the long run to the first corner and being passed by Verstappen and the opportunistic Lance Stroll. The Finn recovered to third quickly enough but spent the rest of the grand prix failing to get close enough to Verstappen in order to mount a real attack. Even on soft tyres towards the end of the race, he just didn’t seem to have the requisite pace and crossed the line 44 seconds behind his teammate, after making a late stop to claim the fastest lap.

It was a chastening weekend for Bottas, who is seeing his title aspirations crumble once again. “I have no idea what the points difference is,” he said, “but it is way too big and I can see again the championship drifting away. I will always bounce back, but right now I want to be somewhere else other than this.”

During the latest triple-header, the championship has transformed from a two-horse to a three-horse race and he is looking increasingly like the third horse.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was imperious throughout – only denied his seventh career ‘grand chelem’ by his teammate’s late dash for the fastest lap and so “in the zone” that he didn’t realise he had passed the chequered flag.

Behind the front three, the Racing Points were ‘best of the rest’. Stroll continues to defy his critics and is really starting to cement his position as more than just a ‘rich boy driving for his dad’s team’; the Canadian took fourth ahead of teammate Sergio Pérez after the Mexican received a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.

Carlos Sainz completed the top six with a strong drive at his home grand prix, seemingly having solved the overheating issues that have plagued his McLaren recently.

A Little Redemption in Red

Sebastian Vettel made the best of another bizarre Ferrari strategy to salvage seventh, impressively making a set of soft tyres last 36 laps and holding off a train of faster cars towards the end.

The incompetency of the Ferrari strategists has become a running joke at this point and they continued to add fuel to the fire here. A bizarre radio exchange played out for the world to hear as Vettel was ignored, then told to push, then told to go to the end, and finally had to tell his team the sums they needed to do for him.

The tension between the four-time world champion and his team is palpable and it feels as though both parties are just waiting for the season to be over.

Ferrari may also find themselves in hot water as it has now transpired that Charles Leclerc drove for two laps without his safety harnesses secured after his engine had cut out and spun him at the final chicane on lap 36. A massive lapse in common sense and safety that the FIA may feel the need to make an example of.

Pressure Continues to Increase on Albon

In the break before racing at Spa-Francorchamps last season, despite all the team’s previous reassurances, Pierre Gasly was replaced at Red Bull by Alexander Albon. But, as we head to this year’s Belgian Grand Prix, the team find Albon arguably underperforming as badly as the Frenchman was 12 months ago.

Red Bull are desperate for their second car to get, at least, reasonably close to Verstappen’s pace to aid their strategy options when attempting to outsmart Mercedes. Albon has certainly showed promise at times, but there is surely only so long people can continue to make excuses for him.

The London-born Thai driver is averaging a deficit of over half a second to his teammate in qualifying and, whilst he has often produced great recovery drives on a Sunday, that is still only getting him back into a position that would be the least expected of him.

Alexander Albon at the Spanish Grand Prix. — *Image credit: Getty Images*

This weekend, he did improve his qualifying slightly – if only to sixth on the grid – but was hampered in the race as Red Bull possibly used him as a guinea pig to test out the hard tyre for his teammate out front. That put him back into the many ‘DRS trains’ forming through the midfield and he only managed fight back to eighth place.

The fact is, however, that if he had shown the pace to get past the Racing Points into fourth earlier in the race, Red Bull would likely not have taken the gamble to switch to the hard tyres.

It was apparently Gasly being lapped by Verstappen in Hungary last year that was the final straw for the Red Bull bosses, so one wonders what must have been going through Albon’s head as he moved aside for his teammate here in Spain.

The Spanish Grand Prix in 60 Seconds

Answering the Burning Questions

Will Mercedes experience issues with their tyres again? Nope.

And can Red Bull then challenge for another win? Also nope.

Will Sebastian Vettel leave his Silverstone troubles behind him? To some extent, yes. A rightful driver of the day.

How will Sergio Pérez deal with the strain of driving an F1 car post-virus? He coped fine, seemingly. Even with it being one of the hottest races in years.

Will anyone pull a Maldonado? Again, nope.

2020 Spanish GP preview

Posted on 14/08/202003/07/2023 by James Mackenzie

The Burning Questions

Will Mercedes experience issues with their tyres again?

And can Red Bull then challenge for another win?

Will Sebastian Vettel leave his Silverstone troubles behind him?

How will Sergio Pérez deal with the strain of driving an F1 car post-virus?

Will anyone pull a Maldonado?

The Track

The Stats

Track Length: 4.655 km

Laps: 66

Race Distance: 307.104 km

First Grand Prix: 1991 (Barcelona) | 1951 (Spanish GP)

Race Lap Record: Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 2018 | 1:18.441

Outright Lap Record: Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 2019 | 1:15.406

Most Driver Wins: Michael Schumacher | 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004

Most Constructor Wins: Ferrari | 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2013

The Weather

The Quotes

Sebastian Vettel | “At the moment it is not all plain sailing and all calm; it is rather rough seas. But I have to do the best I can which is staying focused and waking up and trying to do the best I can.

Lewis Hamilton | “[The ban on high-power modes in qualifying] is obviously to slow us down but I don’t think it will get the result they want.”

Sergio Pérez | “Any place I visited after Hungary was done being super cautious, with very extreme lines. I was well aware of what is going on. I haven’t done anything different to the rest of the paddock. I am not willing to take any blame for that because anyone can get it. I was just the unlucky one.”

Valtteri Bottas | “[Hamilton and I] have been neighbours. But this isn’t always as cosy as it sounds. Roscoe dropped a big turd outside my door last time.”

The Photos