Race 14 - Belgian GP 2024 - Spa Francochamp

[The Black Knight]

Pity for George but without 1.5kg less he would have likely not won the race anyway. It was still a brilliant drive from him regardless and not too surprising given his gargantuan talent.

Mercedes messed up on strategy as well and never informed Lewis that a one stop was a possibility when pitting. It was pretty clear at this point that the Hard tire one stop was the correct strategy. Sainz was on 20 lap old tires and he was doing comparable laps to Hamilton one new tires and, over such a long track, it made no sense to stop a second time. This was pretty obvious to me from the comfort of my own seat at home and from George's cockpit. I see why they pitted Hamilton but it was also obvious they could take Verstappen and Leclerc out of the equation by not stopping again.

Great race though. Good to see a bit of competition in F1 and, once again, Max is looking bang average now that he doesn't have a huge car advantage.

A final word on Checo. Red Bull are going to lose the constructors championship with him in the car. He isn't anywhere near the level of Max Verstappen and, while he doesn't need to be, with all the teams so close in performance now, being 0.3-0.5 seconds behind your teammate is now half a grid rather than a two grid positions as was the case in the past. I can't see that taking a gamble on someone like Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson will hurt Red Bull. It can't get any worse than Checo now and Perez has had more than enough time to improve his performance. To not have a win since April 2023 in the car he has is astounding. RBR must drop him and I don't think they have a choice anymore now.

[N. Jones]

I think Checo is gone. I read a rumor that if he is gone, Williams will sack Sargent and replace him with Perez.

[The Black Knight]

I think Checo is gone. I read a rumor that if he is gone, Williams will sack Sargent and replace him with Perez.

I heard this as well but it would seem like a ridiculous gamble for Williams to take to choose Perez over anyone given his performance level over the past 15-16 months. Personally I feel like Checo's day in the sun has set and he no longer deserves an F1 drive anymore after his performances. But stranger things than this have happened in F1 in the past.

[Nitrodaze]

I heard this as well but it would seem like a ridiculous gamble for Williams to take to choose Perez over anyone given his performance level over the past 15-16 months. Personally I feel like Checo's day in the sun has set and he no longer deserves an F1 drive anymore after his performances. But stranger things than this have happened in F1 in the past.

This is what being the number two driver at Redbull does to your career. What most people do not know is Checo's car is mostly very different from Max's car. I saw a pic of both cars for the Hungarian GP, they were completely different. The development of the car has gone so far towards Verstappen, that Perez is an afterthought. The car does not suit him at all, thus he would not be able to produce his best performance.

It does not matter who they replace him with, the end result would be the same or worse. The Perez side of the Redbull garage is cursed.

Besides, there are not many desirable candidates to replace him; Ricciardo has not done enough to earn the seat. Redbull is a bit cool on the idea of putting either Lawson or Tsunoda in that seat. Their only real choice is to sign Sainz. But Sainz would want guarantees of equal treatment to Max. Two number situations would emerge as it did when they were both at Torro Rosso.

Until they workout who can do a better job or how to give him the car he wants, they are stuck with him

[Nitrodaze]

Pity for George but without 1.5kg less he would have likely not won the race anyway. It was still a brilliant drive from him regardless and not too surprising given his gargantuan talent.

I doubt it. Russell is very hard on his tires. It was a long shot either way. Apparently, Hamilton wanted to stay out on a one-stop converting from the planned two-stop strategy when Leclerc did his second stop, but he was asked to come into the pits to cover Leclerc and potentially Piastri.

You could see Hamilton was quite miffed when he found out that the very strategy was later given to Russell which resulted in Russell finishing ahead and winning the race. As it turned out, that was the wrong strategy anyway.

Nonetheless, it is the very first clear evidence that Mercedes would trip up Hamilton if it would favour Russell. I heard there is radio messages that bear evidence of this.

The atmosphere behind the scenes at Mercedes must feel like being in the Games of throne. Lots of daggers out behind fake smiles.

[Nitrodaze]

Another terrible weekend like this one for Norris would seriously undo his credibility of being a championship-winning driver, don't you think.

[Nitrodaze]

As Article 4.1 of the technical regulations clearly states "The mass of the car, without fuel, must not be less than 798 kg, at all times during the competition", I don't see how saving fuel by lifting and coasting could possibly have led to Russell's car being in compliance with the rules.

Good point, are Mercedes doing something dodgy with the weights of their cars? Russell being taller and possibly weighing more the Hamilton may also be a source for this error.

[Nitrodaze]

Oh, I agree. They goofed after a brilliant drive from George.

To be honest, that he did. He rolled the dice and made the risky strategy work. Even Hamilton was impressed by such a drive

[Bagwan]

I think Checo is gone. I read a rumor that if he is gone, Williams will sack Sargent and replace him with Perez.

I just read that Sainz is off to team Willy for a couple of years .

[N. Jones]

Yeah, he is, so I guess that is that rumor out the window.