2023 - Race 13 Belgium

[F1nKS]

Sprint Race Weekend, last race before the summer break.

Mclaren with momentum

Mercedes coming with new sidepods

But the biggest question is whether there will be racing. Leclerc and Gasly seem to be arguing for possible cancellation. Gasly was quoted

says the FIA need to listen to drivers when determining if it’s safe to race.

Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez said it not for them to worry about, but it up to the FIA to decide whether to race or not.

[Tazio]

Freakin' 'troll!

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[Nitrodaze]

Russell not showing proper awareness has cost Mercedes a good chance of being on the front row. this is the second time he has messed up Hamilton's qualifying lap. I really wonder what the chaps on the Mercedes pitwall are doing while all this is going on. They seem not to have learned anything from the first occurrence.

[Nitrodaze]

Great race for Piastri and Gasly. But what a weird penalty for Hamilton.

[Bagwan]

Great race for Piastri and Gasly. But what a weird penalty for Hamilton.

Lewis slid out into Checo and punched a hole in his car that forced him to retire it .
He might have gotten away with it had there not been damage to his rival's car .

It's too bad , as it was some great racing from Hammy until that moment .

[airshifter]

Another Sprint weekend with changing conditions and some surprises in store for everyone, from practice and through the Sprint.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Mercs or the McLarens make up places on Sunday, as Ferrari seem to destroy all chances of a good weekend once the actual racing starts. They have done well for themselves through the Sprint, but they are destined to blow it as they do lately.

As for Checo and Lewis, I thought more towards pure racing incident at first. But after viewing Checo's onboard and other angles, it's clear Lewis understeered into him. The penalty was warranted, even if most good drivers would have went for the same move. Perez seemed like he was already in big trouble regardless, and I think his time at RB will likely end at the end of the season.... if he can make it that far.

Stroll brings out a red flag in the Sprint Shootout, then Alonso bins it during the Sprint. That's not like Fred, and it will be interesting to see what they have for pace in the main race.

[The Black Knight]

Another Sprint weekend with changing conditions and some surprises in store for everyone, from practice and through the Sprint.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Mercs or the McLarens make up places on Sunday, as Ferrari seem to destroy all chances of a good weekend once the actual racing starts. They have done well for themselves through the Sprint, but they are destined to blow it as they do lately.

As for Checo and Lewis, I thought more towards pure racing incident at first. But after viewing Checo's onboard and other angles, it's clear Lewis understeered into him. The penalty was warranted, even if most good drivers would have went for the same move. Perez seemed like he was already in big trouble regardless, and I think his time at RB will likely end at the end of the season.... if he can make it that far.

Stroll brings out a red flag in the Sprint Shootout, then Alonso bins it during the Sprint. That's not like Fred, and it will be interesting to see what they have for pace in the main race.

Lewis understeered into him but Checo also didn’t give him enough room initially and it was that which cause him to go into the kerb and understeer into him. Honestly I’m quite shocked Lewis got a penalty for it. My initial reaction was that it was either a racing incident or Checo should have received a penalty for not giving enough space which triggered the incident.

Anyway, it is what it is. Not a big deal given neither are going for the championship.

[Carlton78]

Can someone please explain to me how Lewis Hamilton managed to set the fastest time in the last lap when it was under yellow flags for the whole distance.

[denkimi]

The only thing yellow flags are still for today is signalling that someone is outside of the track limits. The situations when they meant that drivers had to slow down have now all been replaced by (virtual) safety cars.

[airshifter]

I'm surprised that nobody had any comments about the race. I thought it was great to watch myself.


Well Ferrari didn't blow it, but Carlos didn't help himself any at the first corner. Granted it was the first turn, and a risky move by Oscar as well, but Carlos had at least a car width to Lewis yet closed the door hard enough the contact was inevitable. From there the team managed to at least keep Charles on the podium... maybe they only have enough strategy power for single driver?

With Sergio back in the game this weekend I don't think any of us are surprised that him and Max would end up on the top steps of the podium. Charles and Lewis did what they could and retained top spot along with Fernando. Though the top 4 seemed sure and stable, at one point I thought Lewis might have the pace to make an attempt on Charles, but it wasn't to be. But even Fred had to fend off some challenges, even if nothing major.

Speaking of Fernando and AMR, with he strong start they have had to the season who in the world would have ever predicted they were calling in Fred to cover the possible undercut of Albon and Tsunoda, who were applying that pressure on pure pace and merit? It surely wasn't anything I ever expected to see this year, much less at this part of the season. Though the races of both Alex and Yuki didn't keep them that far forward, it was freakish to even watch it.

Just enough rain where nobody gambled on inters, but I think they got fairly close. Overall pace dropped 5 seconds or more, and it caused a few twitchy moments but no major problems. I thought the action through the midfield was great to watch, plenty of clean races and some excellent moves going on. The Williams was a straight line rocket, only to be reeled in by other cars in the twisty stuff. Even then it was hard to pass, but possible. Alex did well even if the car fell out of the points. Ocon's move on Tsunoda was a really good overtake, and happened so easily he made it look simple.

Overall George did decent, and though Lando had a rough start to the race recovered well. Ricciardo never bounced back much from a poor qually, but now it's 1-1 with him and Yuki, and Yuki has now scored all the points for the team since Daniel joined!


A classis track that usually provides a good weekend, and I think that was the case this year after a rocky start with the weather.