Originally posted on my old blog 02/09/2020
Well I think we can safely say that 2020 was not a vintage year for the Belgian Grand Prix. One of the world’s greatest racetracks just didn’t deliver this time round (though I’m certainly not complaining – any racing is good racing in the time of Corona!). Not only were we looking forward to the track itself, but the promise of rain had given extra cause for excitement. Now, I’ve learnt not to be too optimistic when the possibility of a wet weather race is mentioned, and to secretly and silently wish for a downpour rather than voicing my hopes out loud for fear of jinxing it. But with the forecast stating a 100% CHANCE OF RAIN for Sunday, I foolishly allowed myself to believe that we may have a classic race akin to 1998, or at least a mix of tyre strategies necessitated by changing conditions across the track. Alas, it was not to be (though it did of course rain after the race!)
It’s not often that a team finishing 13th and 14th on pace is the major talking point following a grand prix. But when that team is the (once) mighty Ferrari, things are slightly different. How on earth did they go from easily the most dominant car around the circuit last year to one of the slowest? How were they the only car to be slower (1.317 secs to be precise) in FP2 this year than last year? Hmm, well it’s looking more and more like it might have something to do with the 2019 Scuderia engine not being 100% legal. The other Ferrari powered cars suffered too last weekend, yet Raikkonen managed to finish ahead of both of the works team cars, an achievement he was characteristically nonplussed about. But to fall so monumentally from grace to behind the Alfa suggests other issues also – their chassis is far from perfect and the fraught internal politics of the team at the moment can hardly be helping them out. Add to that a team of strategists seemingly incapable of making strategy calls and you have the perfect storm.
A team who have made considerable gains since last year are Renault. It seems like since they gave up protesting the pink Mercedes and started to focus on their own car they have really found their form! Ricciardo though has attributed their good fortunes to a set-up improvement; shall we just call it a combo of the two? In all seriousness though, it seems the team are experiencing the breakthrough they needed, not only with Danny Ric showing the skill and talent we all know he possesses, but also through Esteban Ocon really starting to show up at the last few races. Though we would have all loved to see a Max vs Daniel battle, and admittedly we did for about 15 seconds, Cyril Abiteboul will be very happy with the Australian’s second consecutive 4th place finish and extra point for fastest lap. With their haul of 23 points being the team’s greatest ever at a grand prix weekend, they will surely be feeling positive about their chances in the extremely tight midfield battle, where only 9 points separate McLaren in 3rd and Renault in 6th.
Whilst Ricciardo was a strong contender for driver of the day, that honour went deservedly to Pierre Gasly, whose performance so far this year has been consistently impressive, reminding everyone why he was promoted to Red Bull in the first place. Taking the risk to start the race from 12th on the hard tyres, he stormed through the field, passing cars left, right and centre who were on the speedier soft compound. A highlight of his charge, and a highlight of the race itself, was his sensational pass on Perez through Eau Rouge. Having been mightily squeezed by the Mexican he stuck to his guns and pulled off the overtake of the race. His strategy was sadly hampered by the safety car coming out on lap 11, but he still managed to fight his way through the pack after a late pit stop to finish a very respectable p8. It must have been an unbearably difficult weekend for Gasly at times, with the memory of the tragic accident that took the life of Anthoine Hubert, one of his best friends, still fresh. The Frenchman was honoured respectfully and with heart across the F2 and F1 paddocks, and it brought more than a few tears to my eyes to see Juan Manuel Correa return to Spa to remember his fellow racer. Gasly was driving with his dear friend in mind, putting on a performance that Anthoine would have loved and that was a wonderful tribute to an amazing talent and human being gone far too soon.
Come the chequered flag, the top three positions were occupied by… you guessed it! Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen, the 1st and 3rd place drivers bemoaning the lack of excitement the race provided, both for themselves and the fans. This is shaping up to be Max’s best season yet. With a top three result in every race he’s finished this season he has hardly put a foot wrong, and though the gap between him and Valterri in the drivers championship is only 3 points (the Dutchman in 2nd, the Finn in 3rd), it’s increasingly looking like he’s the only driver Hamilton has cause to worry about. Elsewhere in the race, a heart stopping crash involving Giovinazzi and Russell fortunately resulted in no injuries. Russell was a sitting duck and there was nothing he could have done to avoid colliding with the wall as he swerved out of the way of Giovinazzi’s wheel. What could have been a very nasty incident indeed was yet another example of how impressive the sport’s safety measures have become (though we have seen a few too many wheels detaching from cars this season). Finally, I strongly recommend you check out the Racing Point social media channels. Whilst they might not have been as strong as they hoped on track in Belgium, they are killing it online, an absolute highlight being the adorable cartoon posters they have created for each race so far. The details on the Spa one were too good, ranging from Roscoe Hamilton at the wheel of his dad’s car, the bright yellow overalls of the two Jordan drivers standing out on the podium, and Leclerc and Hamilton enjoying a game of airhockey! 10/10.
