2019 Belgian GP - Spa Francochamps

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Originally Posted by truefan72

This might have been the symbolic passing of the torch at Ferrari. At the very least for this race Leclerc deserbed #1 status. Before the season started I didvsay that by mid season Leclerc would have the measure of Vettel. ��

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It is not the performance of Leclerc that impressed me the most, it is the fact that he is able to get the car to work the way he wants it more effectively than Vettel and also drive around any of the short comings of the car. He is clearly more hungry for wins than Vettel. But l still think it is too early to say that he has got the measure of Vettel because l think when Vettel gets the car the way he likes it, Leclerc would not be able to beat him in a straight fight.

This weekend, Vettel has struggled to setup the car to his liking. He raced with a compromise setup and looked slower for it. That said, the day belongs to Leclerc. We get to see that Verstapenn has stiff competition in Leclerc with a works Ferrari. When we ask the question, "Who is going to dominate F1 after Hamilton retires?" the answer is not clearly Verstapenn anymore. Leclerc with an improving Ferrari is looking very much the emerging candidate.

Which was my reason for denouncing all that talk about changing of the guards, suggesting Verstapenn is taking over from Hamilton. It is not that clear cut at this stage. Besides Hamilton is still the man to beat. The car has much to do with how things would shape out for Verstapenn or Leclerc. While Redbull is showing signs of making big steps forward, Ferrari is emerging as the team to beat in the future; especially in 2020. Mercedes seemed to have plateau their progression and one would expect 2020 to be even harder for them if they cannot find a new path for their future developments.

But you have to give credit to Binotto and Ferrari, they have handled the Leclerc vs Vettel situation in a very exemplary manner.

They other point is Mercedes has not started to nurture a young talent in readiness to take on Verstapenn and Leclerc. Which would suggest that Mercedes probably do not see themselves in F1 beyond Hamilton. Signing Ocon for 2020 would have at least suggested that they are preparing a candidate for the 2021 new regulation era. As it stands, my guess is Mercedes may be bailing out of F1 in 2021. There is also a small chance that Honda may leave F1 at the same time too. The future of the Renault works teams is not looking secure either.

I have to say Albon really impressed me today. At the early stages of the race, l thought he may have been a fluke but he came good in the later stages of the race. 17th to 5th proves that Redbull have made the right call on this one. He out performed Gasly on his very first outing in the Redbull. One of his strengths is his incredible overtaking skills. He demonstrated it on Ricciado and later on Perez in truly aggressive fashion. If he can re-produce this sort of performances, l think he would be secure in that seat for a long time.

For me, Albon was the man of the race.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

I have to say Albon really impressed me today. At the early stages of the race, l thought he may have been a fluke but he came good in the later stages of the race. 17th to 5th proves that Redbull have made the right call on this one. He out performed Gasly on his very first outing in the Redbull. One of his strengths is his incredible overtaking skills. He demonstrated it on Ricciado and later on Perez in truly aggressive fashion. If he can re-produce this sort of performances, l think he would be secure in that seat for a long time.

For me, Albon was the man of the race.

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Yeah. He was driver of the race for me as we'll

I must mention that one camera location at the bottom of eau rouge with a low angle setting truly gave one the sense of sheer speed and commitment these drivers take into that section. It was a very visceral view demonstrating the nature of the dangers in handling these heavy mechanical beasts at unbelievable speeds and g forces.

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Originally Posted by truefan72

I must mention that one camera location at the bottom of eau rouge with a low angle setting truly gave one the sense of sheer speed and commitment these drivers take into that section. It was a very visceral view demonstrating the nature of the dangers in handling these heavy mechanical beasts at unbelievable speeds and g forces.

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You have to see this track in real life to properly appreciate it. I took an R1 yamaha sports bike round this track at speed, l think l was doing 140mph on average. I tell ya, it got the hairs on the back of my neck standing. The downhill from Malmedy is particularly frightening. A steep decline that had me perched on both hands all the way down the steep hill.

Great job this weekend by Leclerc, and glad to see he bagged his first win. Without Seb behind him to slow Lewis, the chances of retaining the position would have gone down quite a bit, but Seb did a good job keeping Lewis from getting by quickly.

Max should have known better, and I think he could have easily put that RB into a solid 5th place. Alfa and Kimi got robbed of some probable points in that clash as well, and it set off a lot of mess coming out of the corner as well.

Absolutely gutted for Norris. Though he had what seemed a boring race, it's only because he managed to be the "best of the rest" and found that large gap he had sitting in 5th place. No chance of catching any front runners barring big mistakes, but nobody had much shot at him unless he made the big mistakes. Such is racing I guess, but that one was tough.

Maybe Renault got it right with Ricciardo's strategy. Haas got new tires but still got passed by everything that was moving, so why waste the time in the pits? :laugh:

It took him some time to get rolling, but towards the later part of the race Albon stepped up with some solid passes. Those RB cars are really planted.

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Originally Posted by truefan72

Yeah. He was driver of the race for me as we'll

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Interestingly, so did Kyvat who started 19th and finished 7th in the Torro Rosso. I think he would have been just as good in the Redbull. But it bodes well for Redbull, suddenly they have more options of drivers to place in the second car for 2020.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

It is not the performance of Leclerc that impressed me the most, it is the fact that he is able to get the car to work the way he wants it more effectively than Vettel and also drive around any of the short comings of the car. He is clearly more hungry for wins than Vettel. But l still think it is too early to say that he has got the measure of Vettel because l think when Vettel gets the car the way he likes it, Leclerc would not be able to beat him in a straight fight.

This weekend, Vettel has struggled to setup the car to his liking. He raced with a compromise setup and looked slower for it. That said, the day belongs to Leclerc. We get to see that Verstapenn has stiff competition in Leclerc with a works Ferrari. When we ask the question, "Who is going to dominate F1 after Hamilton retires?" the answer is not clearly Verstapenn anymore. Leclerc with an improving Ferrari is looking very much the emerging candidate.

Which was my reason for denouncing all that talk about changing of the guards, suggesting Verstapenn is taking over from Hamilton. It is not that clear cut at this stage. Besides Hamilton is still the man to beat. The car has much to do with how things would shape out for Verstapenn or Leclerc. While Redbull is showing signs of making big steps forward, Ferrari is emerging as the team to beat in the future; especially in 2020. Mercedes seemed to have plateau their progression and one would expect 2020 to be even harder for them if they cannot find a new path for their future developments.

But you have to give credit to Binotto and Ferrari, they have handled the Leclerc vs Vettel situation in a very exemplary manner.

They other point is Mercedes has not started to nurture a young talent in readiness to take on Verstapenn and Leclerc. Which would suggest that Mercedes probably do not see themselves in F1 beyond Hamilton. Signing Ocon for 2020 would have at least suggested that they are preparing a candidate for the 2021 new regulation era. As it stands, my guess is Mercedes may be bailing out of F1 in 2021. There is also a small chance that Honda may leave F1 at the same time too. The future of the Renault works teams is not looking secure either.

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True but what I want to know is if that car can win at Monza. I am curious to know if that car can race at any track or only at one type of track.

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Originally Posted by N. Jones

True but what I want to know is if that car can win at Monza. I am curious to know if that car can race at any track or only at one type of track.

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Remember, two new spec Mercedes engines failed at Spa. I think Mercedes ran their engine at Spa conservatively. They did not give it full beans. With a short week between Spa and Monza, it is likely that Mercedes have not had enough time to resolve the issue that caused the failures. Hence, chances are that Mercedes would still not be running at full power at Monza. So, in a way, your question is valid. But the characteristics of Monza really allows Ferrari to deploy the full potential of its awesome engine. And Monza has very little punishing corners to bother Ferrari. If there is one track that one would put their money on for Ferrari to win a race, Monza is definitely the one.

I think Ferrari would be untouchable at Monza, assuming the chassis do not let them down on the tyre front. The only real chance that Mercedes have at Monza, is to manage their tyres better than Ferrari. If they can manage to have better tyres at the closing laps of the race, they would take the fight to Ferrari and possibly steal the race win.