Off for a Spa Day?... (Belgium Grand Prix 2020)

To be honest that title above is probably a bit over used! But, I am going to be a bit of a follower and add myself to the Spa jokes. Welcome, F1 fans to one of the best tracks from a drivers point of view. Belgium is a tough and long circuit and if you have ever played the F1 video games. Then you know how much fun it is to drive on this track, and its about the closest a lot of us might get to it as well. Now, for new fans that watched this past weekends race you probably noticed a lot of talk around the first sector. Mainly the section known as Raidillon/Eau Rouge which is the sweeping left to right before the hill leading to the Kemmel straight. Most people refer to this section as Eau Rouge. However, it was originally called Raidillon when it first came about years and years ago. Now, it is a big debate through out the F1 world. But, since everyone including most drivers call it Eau Rouge. That is what I shall call it in the post as follows. The first sector is probably one of the more iconic sections of track with its very steep graded hill leading into the first DRS zone. Most of the overtakes happening down the Kemmel straight. So, it tends to be the place where most of the action happens and you see general most of the 44 lap race.

Generally, the Belgium Grand Prix is pretty entertaining and produces some great racing. Last years 2019 battle between Ferrari and Mercedes was definitely made the race very intriguing through out. With Charles Leclerc for Ferrari taking his first F1 victory. However, this years race was maybe more of a... boring one to say the least. Not a lot of excitement to really even write about. If it wasn't for the mid-field battles we probably would have just watched cars drive in a winding circle for two hours.

Speaking of the mid-field, lets talk about Daniel Riccardo and the race that almost cost the team principle a bet. From FP1 Renault looked to be a great contender during the main part of the race. Now, does this mean the Renault are back at the top of the mid field.... No. Because, there car is setup the way it is an has a very skinny wing design. It will favor certain tracks over others. Meaning, Belgium and this weekends race at Monza will be more in its wheel house. As they are both power tracks, and even a couple of newer additions to the calendar might play into there favor as well. Now, does this make for any less of a reason to not have Renault up at the top again not at all. Just laying down the facts as I see them. Believe, me I would love to see Danny Ric dive bombs again!

But, it was still really good to have him up front on the second row of the grid after qualifying. Right, next to his old teammate Max Verstappen. Not gonna lie as soon as I saw that line up... I was like the run into the Kemmel straight is gonna get SPICY!! We all thought there was gonna be a lick the stamp moment in there somewhere. In the end that didnt really happen though with Daniel and Max both putting up a good show as the went into the right/left corners. Max pushing Daniel off and then vice versa. Then it petered out and Max drove off into the distance. Me I think this little squabble may have costed Max a chance at a run on Bottas in second. Verstappen only real shot at getting ahead of a Mercedes and trying to keep that position. We all know how the season has gone so far. And if Red Bull stand a chance at getting Max a title chance. They need all the luck and opportunities they can grasp at.

The only real other battle that need to be mentioned is the one between Perez and Gasly. Now, that one was a little sketchy! Gasly going down on the inside of Perez on the run from La Source to Eau Rouge was balsy in itself. But, then Perez putting the squeeze on him like putting a lemon through a juicer. That was the definition of racing wheel to wheel and being a bit to brash with your driving. Now, don't get me wrong the move from Gasly point of few was an amazing overtake. But, the consequences could have been far worse had they bumped wheels, or had Gasly touched the wall. If you haven't yet seen the move be sure to check out the link below.

(Gasly vs. Perez) F1 Youtube Channel (hold no copyright to this video)

https://youtu.be/MpvnpZRhNjo

I'm not even going to go into the struggles that Ferrari had at this race as I think the amount of post and shame they have gotten over the weekend was enough... Especially, if you haven't seen there Twitter account. I think they might need to do what there doing to Seb, to the marketing guy/lady.

In the end Mercedes came away with another win and a 1/2 as well. Max came in third with his 6th straight podium this year. If your a betting person, you could easily bet who will most likely be on the podium this year at every race.

--- RACE RESULTS ---

1) L. HamiltonMercedes

2) V. BottasMercedes

3) M. Verstappen Red Bull

4) D. Ricciardo Renault

5) E. Ocon Renault

6)A. Albon Red Bull

7) L. NorrisMcLaren

8) P. Gasly AlphaTauri

9) L. StrollRacing Point

10) S. PérezRacing Point

11) D. KvyatAlphaTauri

12) K. RäikkönenAlfa Romeo

13) S. VettelFerrari

14) C. LeclercFerrari

15) R. GrosjeanHaas

16) N. LatifiWilliams

17) K. MagnussenHaas

A. GiovinazziAlfa Romeo - DNF

G. RussellWilliams - DNF

C. Sainz Jr.McLaren - DNF