The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

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cmlean
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The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:36 pm

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 12th round of the 2021 season taking place in Spa between the August 27th-29th.

To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for Belgium click here, to register in the competition click here

Picks for Belgium close at the start of Saturday practice

The event timetable for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 11:30 local time - 09:30 GMT
2nd Practice 15:00 local time - 13:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 12:00 local time - 10:00 GMT
Qualifying 15:00 local time - 13:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 15:00 local time - 13:00 GMT

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Tue Aug 24, 2021 8:55 pm

This weekend, the grand prix circus returns to Spa in Belgium after the summer break.
Teams have had a 4 week break to analyze the shortcomings of each of their weapons, then brainstorm, design and manufacture something will hopefully find them that elusive tenth of a second to move up the grid. These refinements will have undergone testing and development to ensure that there will be no failures through oversight. With points equaling dollars at the end of season and a world championship or two at stake, reliability is at the forefront.

So, what will have changed.
Probably in the big picture, all teams will have made similar gains so the status quo should remain the same. Possibly one team may have found a solution to an ongoing problem that has plagued them for the first part of the season. Time will tell.

I felt the struggles of Williams over the years and am now in dismay over the fall of Haas. I do know that they had a good midfield car in previous seasons but to have fallen to be probably the slowest team is disappointing. Alfa Romeo are also another team that have shown that occasionally they are heading in the right direction only to fall short at the finish.

If there was a circuit I would like to attend, this would be the one so am a so looking forward to this weekend's event! Bring it on!

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:13 am

FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:45.199	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
2	1:45.363	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
3	1:45.699	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
4	1:45.818	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
5	1:45.935	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
6	1:46.127	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
7	1:46.177	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
8	1:46.336	Lando Norris	   McLaren
9	1:46.497	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
10	1:46.612	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
11	1:46.649	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
12	1:46.683	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
13	1:46.755	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
14	1:46.772	George Russell	   Williams
15	1:46.928	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
16	1:47.101	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
17	1:48.125	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
18	1:48.224	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
19	1:48.705	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas
20	1:49.059	Mick Schumacher	   Haas

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:15 am

The drivers returned to a damp track, took a sighter lap, and returned to the pits. The track became dry almost immediately and stayed the same to near the end of the session when some light rain appeared over different corners at the circuit.

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:22 am

FP2 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:44.472	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
2	1:44.513	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
3	1:44.544	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
4	1:44.953	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
5	1:44.965	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
6	1:45.180	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
7	1:45.302	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
8	1:45.336	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
9	1:45.386	Lando Norris	   McLaren
10	1:45.404	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
11	1:45.517	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
12	1:45.758	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
13	1:45.789	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
14	1:45.967	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
15	1:46.118	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
16	1:46.198	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
17	1:46.665	George Russell	   Williams
18	1:46.836	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
19	1:47.335	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas
20	1:47.529	Mick Schumacher	   Haas

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:33 am

Following a relatively quiet FP1, all hell broke loose in FP2.
Esteban Ocon started the mayhem with a spin that, in most cases, would have ended in the barriers. He got lucky and drove back to the pits.
With 20 minutes remaining in the session, Charles Leclerc lost the rear of his Ferrari coming out of turn 6 and didn't regain full control before taking the left front corner off on the barriers.
With just a couple of minutes remaining, Max Verstappen lost the rear of his Red Bull in the vicinity of where the Ferrari was placed for safety. He ended rear end into the barriers with the right rear corner sustaining most of the damage.
Both should be repaired overnight with race components also being installed.

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:42 pm

FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:56.924	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
2	1:57.871	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
3	1:57.996	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
4	1:58.509	Lando Norris	   McLaren
5	1:58.913	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
6	1:59.205	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
7	1:59.324	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
8	1:59.436	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
9	1:59.492	George Russell	   Williams
10	1:59.613	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
11	1:59.808	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
12	1:59.981	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
13	2:00.456	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
14	2:00.749	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
15	2:01.269	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
16	2:01.370	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
17	2:01.510	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
18	2:01.512	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
19	2:01.792	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas
20	2:04.382	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:45 pm

This session saw the drivers feeling their way around on intermediates. With a limited tyre available for qualifying and the race, survival was at the forefront.
Kimi Raikkonen had a brake problem which permitted him and his Alfa Romeo just 3 laps in the session.

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:22 am

Qualifying

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:59.765	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
2	2:00.086	George Russell	   Williams 
3	2:00.099	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
4	2:00.864	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
5	2:00.935	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
6	2:01.164	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
7	2:02.112	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
8	2:02.502	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
9	2:03.513	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
10	No Time		Lando Norris	   McLaren 
________________________________________________________
11	1:57.721	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
12	1:58.056	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
13	1:58.137	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
14	1:58.205	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
15	1:58.231	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin 
________________________________________________________
16	2:02.306	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
17	2:02.413	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
18	2:03.973	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
19	2:04.452	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
20	2:04.939	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Sun Aug 29, 2021 7:37 am

Well. What a strange session. The weather had such an impact, particularly in the final session.
To start. The start of qualifying was delayed due to running water on the track. It then became a challenge to be on the right tyre at the right time.Many teams initially took to the track on full wets, only the Williams duo went out on intermediates. This proved to be the tyre of choice for Q1.
Q2 commenced with the threat of rain within 5 or so minutes into the session. The track was still dame so again, intermediates was the choice of the session.
Then the rain came in the break between Q2 & Q3. The session was declared open and a few teams ventured out. Lando Norris was the first to go for a fast time and lost the rear of his McLaren in the transition between Eau Rouge and Raidillon. The car was totaled, the driver walked clear of the wreckage. And the rain kept coming down...
Q3 eventually resumed with Max Verstappen taking the top spot just ahead of George Russell in the Williams and Lewis Hamilton.

The grid will not be as per the qualifying results with both Botta and Stroll taking 5 grid place penalties into the event.
Lando Norris has been cleared to start however will probably be at the rear of grid due to his incident and resulting repairs.

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Aug 30, 2021 7:59 pm

Grid

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:59.765	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
2	2:00.086	George Russell	   Williams
3	2:00.099	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
4	2:00.864	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
5	2:00.935	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
6	2:01.164	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri 
7	2:02.112	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
8	2:03.513	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
9	1:57.721	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
10	1:58.056	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
11	1:58.137	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
12	1:58.205	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
13	2:02.502	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
14	2:02.306	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
15	No Time		Lando Norris	   McLaren
16	2:02.413	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
17	2:03.973	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
18	2:04.939	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas
19	1:58.231	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
20	2:04.452	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:06 pm

Valtteri Bottas & Lance Stroll carried 5 place grid penalties into this event from their incidents in Hungary.
Lando Norris' McLaren was repaired but a new gearbox was fitted. This also incurred a 5 place grid penalty.
Kim Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo was changed during parc ferme and he was required to start from pit lane.

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Re: The 2021 Belgium Grand Prix Thread

Post by cmlean » Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:12 pm

Results (for the shortest Grand Prix in history)

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		   Team
1	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
2	George Russell	   Williams
3	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
4	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
5	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
6	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri 
7	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
8	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
9	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
10	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
11	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
12	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
13	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
14	Lando Norris	   McLaren
15	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
16	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
17	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas
18	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
19	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
20	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
Sergio Perez crashed on his out lap before the race commenced.
Lance Stroll received a 10 second penalty for work on his Aston Martin during the stoppage.

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