Rhetorical question?

Russell really earned that win. He looked knackered after the race. Stellar drive.

Did anyone notice Toto's expression immediately after the checkered flag? He looked disappointed that Hamilton didn't win.

Edit: just saw Russell DQ. He still won in my book.

I wonder if they had too little fuel to make weight given the switch to one-stop strategy wasn't the default plan?

 

Agree on all counts Nizer. That was one of the best drives of the entire season for anyone! Going 75% of the race on just one set of tires is simply incredible and you could see it took everything George had to do it as he was sitting by himself in the shade trying to catch his breath. And yes, Toto looked like someone ran over his dog when the checkered flag dropped hoping the guy that stabbed him in the back and is going to Ferrari would have won, but didn't. Simply gutted for George now.

Mercedes clearly had the best car today but their short fueling was an awful decision. They were telling their drivers to lift and coast early in the race after a SC did not materialize and then the lack of 1 pit stop from George was the difference in post race scaling. Cutting the margins so close on what you might think will happen is a fools game.

Norris again with his starts. Perez from 2nd to 8th. Surely he must be thinking about his next family vacation in September, right?

 

3.3 pounds.

You wonder.....

 

Bummed for George. Such a great effort to not get the result.

Lando needs to practice his starts. He’s losing so many positions.

Piastri is looking like the real star at McLaren.

Perez still needs to go. From front row to 8th (7th from George DQ) isn’t going to cut it. Ricciardo almost beat him in the junior team.

Great race! Definitely the most entertaining so far this year.

 

Any thoughts on Piastri's disastrous last stop?
4.4 seconds...
If it had been a normal stop, the finishing order could easily have been different.
But a nice job from Superman on the front jack. "Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and stop a speeding F1 car with his bare hands!"

 

I found the difficulty passing for the equal pace cars interesting for a track that’s typically easy to pass at.
The drivers closed the gap then just got stuck even with decent tire delta.
shortening the DRS distance on kemmel the reason?

 

Piastri stated that he has gone in too hot several times in the past. Has to work on that.

I think Hamilton stated that he felt he could have stayed out on his tires, but the team told him to box so he did. So that might account for some of his body language post-race.

I think he and Russell looked pretty used up after the race. I have been there and done that for sure!

I think it was a bit hot for those hard tires, especially as a following car. I think that may have made it harder to pass than perhaps some previous races at Spa.

So even though it wasn't raining or wet, I think strategy and luck were big factors. Bigger than what might be obvious.

I suspect that the folks running the CPUs at the track and the factory got a real work out.

 

Christ, what are the odds that Perez drives for RB after the break:


https://www.si.com/fannation/racing/...nt%20continued.

 

Kind of a confusing article. Did both cars suffer from the same issue, but Max dealt with it better, or was Perez the only one with car issues.

If only Perez's car was compromised its kinda hard to judge him against Max.

Still, unless he won this race I don't think he has a seat in 2025, and perhaps not over the break.

What happened to RB being ruthless with its drivers?

 

I like the story and movie taken of Meikes, Horner and Danny Ric right after the race. Danny busts out a big smile and just about hops and skips away when he turns and leaves. Plus, VER posts a selfie with Danny Ric post race...

 

So what you are saying is that RB will give Max whatever number 2 driver he wants?

 

Can't embed the video.

 

Two questions for the gallery:

Is post race scaling done without fuel? I had always thought the scruts needed 1 liter of fuel to remove and test but I’m reading conflicting info that George was too light after all the fuel was removed from the car and that if they would have done the usual cool down lap, he would have picked up enough marbles to pass scrutineering. If this is true then it wasn’t a matter of short fueling him but rather a matter of not putting enough ballast on his car.

Second question:

Im of the opinion that Max purposely didn’t pass LEC because he was getting DRS from LEC. if he were to get by him then Max would lose the DRS and Lando would have a better opportunity to pass both LEC and Max. As long as Max stayed in front of Norris, it didn’t matter where they finish, Max as still gaining points on his nearest competitor. Anyone see it like this?

 

Rewatch the race this morning. That front jack took a hit! 👍👍 for staying on his feet. Could have easily been a major disaster if he was knocked down, and it was a hard hit. Oscar still very much showing a learning curve, but I think as he gains more experience, will end up as the #1 driver at McLaren.

 

Did you see the look on Toto's face and his reaction as well ? If I'm not mistaken, he didnt even go out for the podium ceremony but was rather in the garage doing some phone call. Its amazing that the 2 of them (Hamilton and Toto) were both so visibly peeved. Crazy also that we have our 2nd race in a row with a team finishing 1-2 and what seems like all kinds of contention in the team.

I cant believe that this got taken away from George