F1 2024: Belgian GP - Spa-Francorchamps (July 28)

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

I have no idea , because I never bet . But you can GOOGLE that for you in England .

Needless to say I never did put a fiver on for a MAX win as you are normally right
Just too many obstacles in his way including this DRS zone change which was important and negated RB's chances shown vividly with Checo struggling with too short a run.

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

That’d be an extra 375g/tire (obviously not evenly distributed)….but if the team had planned a two-stopper and he’d have presumably finished with more fresh rubber at the end of the race….seems a possible explanation?

Possible, but not probable. I would think there have been plenty of races where guys wore down tires to the bare minimum and not gotten DSQ'd for minimum weight. Nearly 3.5 lbs to me sounds like MB may have been trying to push the envelope a bit like they did last year in COTA. Take a chance by being too light or wearing down the skid block too much hoping they don't get caught...

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by HeelToeShift

Possible, but not probable. I would think there have been plenty of races where guys wore down tires to the bare minimum and not gotten DSQ'd for minimum weight. Nearly 3.5 lbs to me sounds like MB may have been trying to push the envelope a bit like they did last year in COTA. Take a chance by being too light or wearing down the skid block too much hoping they don't get caught...

Yes, although I think we’d know if the plank was worn too thin as that gets measured anyway (as you say, see COTA last year)

[Artemis]

Russell DSQ.

Drivers usually pick up rubber 'marbles' after the finish to add weight. No extra lap at Spa to do that (7km circuit).

Bummer for Russell. Congrats to Hamilton for the race win.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Could be it has something to do with RUS car being underweight when the fuel was drained, hope it's not true.

It's true . And LEW wins SPA (!)

But I think other (strange)! things are going on with the Benz cars ....

[E86Z4MC]

Interesting constructors race. Mclaren do have the fastest car. Followed by red bull, merc and then (by some margin) Ferrari. Every team has been squandered points in some form or fashion (George dnfs, mclaren race day execution, Lando race starts, Perez under performance, verstappen loss of composure in Hungary). Even basic communication like the out lap importance in Monaco and today's lack of communication about George's one stop ahead show some atypical gaps from Mercedes. Great drive from George, but Lewis wasn't even aware he was racing George as he began his final stint.



It's up for grabs in the second half of the season.

[G30M]

Every kg is worth 0.1s a lap so the DSQ is unavoidable

Although people know that they drive around a lap picking up rubber after the race, but I don't know how many g/kg of rubber you can normally pick up.

They also weigh the driver so maybe russell had a big dump before the race or didn't eat or drink enough, so who knows!

Maybe they removed the bump and forgot to add the weight back

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

It's true . And LEW wins SPA (!)

But I think other (strange)! things are going on with the Benz cars ....

You can tell me on PM's and I smell 'Cn', flexi wings, reduced DRS zone, strat tailor made to perfectly fit into the sudden increase of speed, tyre management (except for car 63 at the end) etc.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

It's a possible explanation, but it would be very sloppy of all those engineers at the pit wall. They should know how much tyres wear and how much weight this looses.
Somewhere else I read that there was no real runout lap, so RUS couldn't pick up enough marbles after the race and that that possibly made the difference.

I Think it’s pretty dumb to have to account for the potential to pick up marbles throughout the race which is highly variable so a car can be within weight spec.

[Artemis]

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

I Think it’s pretty dumb to have to account for the potential to pick up marbles throughout the race which is highly variable so a car can be within weight spec.

Long final stint with tires = less rubber at the chequered flag.

[Artemis]

Last 8 races + 1 Sprint:

• Verstappen: 141 points;
• Piastri: 126 points;
• Norris: 116 points;
• Perez: 28 points.

[Fillip]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Last 8 races + 1 Sprint:

• Verstappen: 141 points;
• Piastri: 126 points;
• Norris: 116 points;
• Perez: 28 points.

It will be a surprise if we see him racing for Red Bull in 2025 unless he gets a couple of wins after the summer break this season that looks very unlikely.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

You can tell me on PM's and I smell 'Cn', flexi wings, reduced DRS zone, strat tailor made to perfectly fit into the sudden increase of speed, tyre management (except for car 63 at the end) etc.

The Benz car got a lot upgrades , also for SPA . They re-built the old Benz floor specific for SPA , ect...

I think they tried something with Russell's car to make it faster with lighter upgraded parts .

As we know Russell lost the race with -1.5 KG .
But with the (minus)! -1.5KG he gained a 0.15/0.25 sec. laptime X 44 laps = (!)

On the other hand : LEW's car was also bullet fast ,and his car weight was fine.

The Benz Empire Strikes Back !

[///M Power-Belgium]

[

Originally Posted by Artemis

Last 8 races + 1 Sprint:

• Verstappen: 141 points;
• Piastri: 126 points;
• Norris: 116 points;
• Perez: 28 points.

Checo let off some steam after the race ...
He said : Our car upgrades are really bad . The upgrades from the other teams are a lot better .
I wouldn't know what I did wrong ..

Marko wasn't happy with Checo's comments and said : Checo gets next Monday his evaluation .
I'm not happy with how Checo has performed in this season (!)

After the race , Marko had an urgent meeting with Mr.Teeth aka. Daniel Ricciardo (RIC)

This could be a very long rest for Checo in Mexico

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Checo let off some steam after the race ...
He said : Our car upgrades are really bad . The upgrades from the other teams are a lot better .
I wouldn't know what I did wrong ..

Marko wasn't happy with Checo's comments and said : Checo gets next Monday his evaluation .
I'm not happy with how Checo has performed in this season (!)

After the race , Marko had an urgent meeting with Mr.Teeth aka. Daniel Ricciardo (RIC)

This could be a very long rest for Checo in Mexico

I think Serge is right, the upgrades are not good and I suspect his PU was turned down which is why HAM outgunned him at the start.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by MJE60

Agree. Imo 1.5kg under weight is not all down to an extra 10-14 laps tyre wear. It also looks like the team tried to deceive the stewards by claiming fuel had been fully drained when it had not, in other words the team knew there was an issue. Given the 44 car was not underweight this does raise the question, were Mercedes running two different spec cars? This and the team rejecting Ham’s pre-race one-stop suggestion does perhaps explain glum looks and leaving the party early.

LEW doesn't know anything about the car or car upgrades anymore .
All he can say is , it was a great job from the Benz factory .

LEW is forbidden access in the Merc box and to shoot pics from the Merc car .
LEW is now actually the #2 driver at Mercedes , because LEW will be a Ferrari driver in 2025 .

Russell's car will get a further FIA investigation .

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

The Benz car got a lot upgrades , also for SPA . They re-built the old Benz floor specific for SPA , ect...

I think they tried something with Russell's car to make it faster with lighter upgraded parts .

As we know Russell lost the race with -1.5 KG .
But with the (minus)! -1.5KG he gained a 0.15/0.25 sec. laptime X 44 laps = (!)

On the other hand : LEW's car was also bullet fast ,and his car weight was fine.

The Benz Empire Strikes Back !

There was a mistake when draining fuel from the 63 car when they left some in but it was a genuine mistake. As you say Merc didn't 100% configure 63 car out with those lightened components with guessing what the weight would be at the end and no tyre marble stick on weights to the already worn down hards. HAM won instead but Merc suffered an 18 constructor points loss.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

I think Serge is right, the upgrades are not good and I suspect his PU was turned down which is why HAM outgunned him at the start.

Checo's battery power was low from at the startgrid .
It took a few laps to reload (recharge) the battery .
Coming out of a corner : The cars pace is not what you want...

So far in this season ,Checo crashed and totaled RB20's for $3.5Million (!)
There goes the Red Bull buget cap .

That's a lot of RB20 upgrades gone missing....

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Checo's battery power was low from at the startgrid .
It took a few laps to reload (recharge) the battery .
Coming out of a corner : The cars pace is not what you want...

So far in this season ,Checo crashed and totaled RB20's for $3.5Million (!)
There goes the Red Bull buget cap .

That's a lot of RB20 upgrades gone missing....

3.5 million $ holy moly no wonder Marko is seething. Can't help it but it makes me think of mr magoo

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

This could be a very long rest for Checo in Mexico

There's always Uber if he still wants to drive

[toxik]

man it really sucks for F1 to have summer break now, the last 2 weeks have been so exciting in formula 1 racing world.