Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM.....

[AndySt]

The greatest thing that will happen to Spa is going to be a wet race as by weather predictions which is showing rain in that location until at least Sunday night.This will greatly add adrenaline to the show and we know Hamilton is the king of wet races so far.It is going to be the most beautiful race of the season if the weather doesn't change and I doubt it will,all satellites showing rain on that day,can't wait till Sunday.

I hope not, esp if Verstappen is on pole.  Lol.  But yeah, just checked the weather forecast after reading your post and it looks like there’s a high probability of rain shower.  Sucks...  But I guess it’s good for an ‘Alonso top 6’ bet tho.  He’s at 4.95 to finish top 6 at Stake.    Seems like a decent value bet.

I really hope we can finally see a proper Verstappen-Hamilton battle that lasts the whole race. Mercedes brought an upgrade a couple of races ago, but because of the two crashes, we've not yet seen how their new pace compares with Verstappen in a Red Bull. Fingers crossed they are equally matched and we can see some exciting racing for the rest of the season. If they are equally matched, or close, then the second driver for each team comes into it as a tactical angle. How will the contract uncertainty around Bottas affect his driving? Does he have everything to prove, or is the decision already made?

In any case, Bottas ' career does not end with staying at Mercedes, and Mercedes may well contribute to the further employment of the Finnish driver in another team, if the cooperation within Mercedes is not extended. In any case, Toto Wolff said that the time has come to decide who will be in the team for next year, to meet Valtteri Bottas and George Russell at Spa and talk to them face to face. Therefore, in the very near future, this issue will be clarified and it seems that not the most successful results of Bottas this season make Russell the main contender for a place in the new season and it is unlikely that even the success of Bottas at Spa will greatly prevent this.

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[Cnut237]

Also keep in mind pole isn't key at Spa, you need a fast car for the race, however if the quali is rainy then I think the settings can be changed for a dry race (or the opposite).

I wonder what chance there is of the weather changing suddenly, and the whole grid coming in to change their tyres, but Hamilton inexplicably staying out, only to come in later and lose a huge number of positions. That could surely never happen.

I do like the rainy races though, it adds an extra element of excitement, and it allows good drivers to come to the fore. Sometimes good drivers are hidden away in bad cars, but in the rain you can often see who has the talent, regardless of what car they happen to be in.

[boltz]

F1 has just ended a few minutes ago and it's Bottas, Max and Gasly on first 3 placed.  Lewis has finished 17th doing so many warming laps and barely push on any of them.  McLaren are starting to have issues lately so I don't expect them to have a great race here and sames goes to Ferrari who still don't have the necessary speed for a circuit like Spa.

[Luzin]

I read in my country's local media. That the Yamaha SRT Team has officially disbanded for all Classes. This seems to be the impact of the resignation of their Main Sponsor Petronas. Azlan Razali Boss SRT has announced that. But reportedly Yamaha will still hold a satellite team for next season.
Next week's British GP, can Marquez be on the podium here? Or it will still belong to Quartararo. I can't wait for this after yesterday's break.

[coinlocket$]

1   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m45.199s
2   Max Verstappen   NED   Red Bull Racing   1m45.363s
3   Pierre Gasly   FRA   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m45.699s
4   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m45.818s
5   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   1m45.935s
6   Sergio Perez   MEX   Red Bull Racing   1m46.127s
7   Sebastian Vettel   GER   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m46.177s
8   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m46.336s
9   Esteban Ocon   FRA   Alpine F1 Team   1m46.497s
10   Fernando Alonso   CHI   Alpine F1 Team   1m46.612s
11   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   1m46.649s
12   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   1m46.683s
13   Antonio Giovinazzi   GBR   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m46.755s
14   George Russell   ISR   Williams Racing   1m46.772s
15   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   1m46.928s
16   Nicholas Latifi   CAN   Williams Racing   1m47.101s
17   Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   1m48.125s
18   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m48.224s
19   Nikita Mazepin   RUS   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m48.705s
20   Mick Schumacher   GER   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   1m49.059s

Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/985723/1/f1-2021-belgian-grand-prix-free-practice-results-1

Strange to see Ferrari so competitive on a fast track like this one, anyway fresh news of the day.

Sergio Perez renewen his concract with Redbull for 1 more year.

[boltz]

Strange indeed as this Circuit is a fast pace one but it seems the rumors about Ferrari making small improvements might be true but lets wait for qualifiers tomorrow to actually see who came with the best improvements after the summer break. My bet is on RedBull.

[Koal-84]

I read in my country's local media. That the Yamaha SRT Team has officially disbanded for all Classes. This seems to be the impact of the resignation of their Main Sponsor Petronas. Azlan Razali Boss SRT has announced that. But reportedly Yamaha will still hold a satellite team for next season.
Next week's British GP, can Marquez be on the podium here? Or it will still belong to Quartararo. I can't wait for this after yesterday's break.

I also read this, see there:

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/srt-quits-motogp-announcement-of-new-team-due-at-misano/6653934/

It is a pity that after Moto 2 and 3, STR Yamaha is now disappearing from the MotoGP class. The VR46 team would have liked to have Yamaha but it is too late for that now, but I think Yamaha (even if they are behind the competition except for Fabio) will surely find a new team and if they have to spend money in addition to the factory team.

Fabio has again set the best time in FP2, and Rossi is again in the TOP10, tomorrow another good result in FP3 and he will once again get a good starting position.

Strange to see Ferrari so competitive on a fast track like this one, anyway fresh news of the day.

Sergio Perez renewen his concract with Redbull for 1 more year.

It looks like Ferrari is competitive, but we'll wait for qualifying. I am happy about the contract extension for Perez and also for RedBull.

[tokeweed]

Strange indeed as this Circuit is a fast pace one but it seems the rumors about Ferrari making small improvements might be true but lets wait for qualifiers tomorrow to actually see who came with the best improvements after the summer break. My bet is on RedBull.

I’d wait til FP3 and quali.  We all know Hamilton loves sand bagging.  And the Red Bulls could be doing it too.  Merc and RBR’s real pace has not been shown yet.  Judging from the last couple of qualis, it seems like a pattern is starting to take shape:  HAM VER BOT.

[justdimin]

I really hope we can finally see a proper Verstappen-Hamilton battle that lasts the whole race. Mercedes brought an upgrade a couple of races ago, but because of the two crashes, we've not yet seen how their new pace compares with Verstappen in a Red Bull. Fingers crossed they are equally matched and we can see some exciting racing for the rest of the season. If they are equally matched, or close, then the second driver for each team comes into it as a tactical angle. How will the contract uncertainty around Bottas affect his driving? Does he have everything to prove, or is the decision already made?

In any case, Bottas ' career does not end with staying at Mercedes, and Mercedes may well contribute to the further employment of the Finnish driver in another team, if the cooperation within Mercedes is not extended. In any case, Toto Wolff said that the time has come to decide who will be in the team for next year, to meet Valtteri Bottas and George Russell at Spa and talk to them face to face. Therefore, in the very near future, this issue will be clarified and it seems that not the most successful results of Bottas this season make Russell the main contender for a place in the new season and it is unlikely that even the success of Bottas at Spa will greatly prevent this.

Mercedes doesn't seem to be giving it all, which is always what they do on the practice runs, whereas Max still races, of course we all know how many seconds they will gain, ALL cars will gain, it is just practice and nobody wants to give up how fast they could go, but while someone shaves of 1-2 seconds, others may do 3-4 seconds and Lewis is at that level right now, I can see 3+ seconds faster on his fastest lap during the race compared to his fastest on FP1 for example.

This race will be wildly important, either Lewis takes the lead by a big margin thanks to 2 horrible race unluckiness by Max (three if you count Baku but Lewis was off at that one too) or Max finally makes this more fun once again. It is definitely going to be one of the most entertaining races of the season, I just hope nobody crashes, I want the top of the board to finish the races without any bumps on the road.

[swogerino]

Strange indeed as this Circuit is a fast pace one but it seems the rumors about Ferrari making small improvements might be true but lets wait for qualifiers tomorrow to actually see who came with the best improvements after the summer break. My bet is on RedBull.

Same for me.I expect them to win this race as it is a track in which the aerodynamics play a vital role.Together with a good engine like Honda they are going to win on Sunday in my opinion.It is such a big shame that Honda in their official F1 page on Instagram said this is the last year they will race in F1,I was expecting them to change mind and continue further now that they are doing quite well.

[jakdanyel]

According to the results of Practice 1 and Practice 2, Mercedes still seem to be strong in this grand prix also. Verstappen led the final practice by a low gap. Bottas and Hamilton followed him. Alonso and Gasly were also the winners of this practice round. But everything can change in the qualifying stage. I'm hoping to see Verstappen taking the pole position. He really needs a win now to start making things better.

[AakZaki]

FP 3 finished. Rossi in the top ten, the fastest  is miller. Other news Lorenzo Savadori withdraws from the Silverstone series, his ankle injury is still not healed. Maybe this will make the Vinales debut early.
Here are the results of the FP 3.

1. Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) 1'59.288s
2. Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) +0.098s
3. Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.108s
4. Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.173s
5. Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +0.227s
6. Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.227s
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.265s
8. Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.363s
9. Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.383s
10. Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.395s
11. Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.437s
12. Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.765s
13. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.787s
14. Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.869s
15. Alex Rins SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +1.049s
16. Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.071s
17. Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +1.257s
18. Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19) +1.260s
19. Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.595s
20. Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19) +2.158s
21. Jake Dixon GBR Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +3.526s

Source: https://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics/2021/GBR/MotoGP/FP3

[Kusman]

In the last practice round today, I really liked Verstappen's and Perez's performances. They captured the 1st and 2nd place and Hamilton ended as the 3rd. For now, the track seems to be really wet. I wonder what kind of a qualifying session we will watch. Hamilton likes the rain and he can show his talent and experience here. I wonder whether Verstappen will be able to keep up with him.

[boltz]

Red Flag in Q3 as the heavy rain hit the circuit and Norris crashed his car badly and I'm glad that he's fine and not injured. Also Vettel said on the radio that it should be a red flag as the conditions for driving were to rough for Spa and seconds later we was right.

Now , the rain is even heavier so it might be a long pause until the qualifiers return.

[coinlocket$]

Ferrari was doing decent with rain sadly for them in Q2 the track started to drying and they got outplayed.

In Q3 rain came again and MAN what a driver Russell, give him the Mercedes NOW!

1   Max Verstappen   NED   Red Bull Racing   1m58.717s   1m56.559s   1m59.765s
2   George Russell   GBR   Williams Racing   1m59.864s   1m56.950s   2m00.086s
3   Lewis Hamilton   GBR   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m59.218s   1m56.229s   2m00.099s
4   Daniel Ricciardo   AUS   McLaren F1 Team   2m01.583s   1m57.127s   2m00.864s
5   Sebastian Vettel   GER   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   2m00.175s   1m56.814s   2m00.935s
6   Pierre Gasly   FRA   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   2m00.387s   1m56.440s   2m01.164s
7   Sergio Perez   MEX   Red Bull Racing   1m59.334s   1m56.886s   2m02.399s
8   Valtteri Bottas   FIN   Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team   1m59.870s   1m56.295s   2m02.502s
9   Esteban Ocon   FRA   Alpine F1 Team   2m01.824s   1m57.354s   2m03.513s
10   Lando Norris   GBR   McLaren F1 Team   1m58.301s   1m56.025s   No Time Set
11   Charles Leclerc   MON   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   2m00.728s   1m57.721s   
12   Nicholas Latifi   CAN   Williams Racing   2m00.966s   1m58.056s   
13   Carlos Sainz   ESP   Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow   2m01.184s   1m58.137s   
14   Fernando Alonso   ESP   Alpine F1 Team   2m01.653s   1m58.205s   
15   Lance Stroll   CAN   Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team   2m01.597s   1m58.231s   
16   Antonio Giovinazzi   ITA   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   2m02.306s       
17   Yuki Tsunoda   JPN   Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda   2m02.413s       
18   Mick Schumacher   GER   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   2m03.973s       
19   Kimi Raikkonen   FIN   Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen   2m04.452s       
20   Nikita Mazepin   RUS   Uralkali Haas F1 Team   2m04.939s       


Source: https://www.crash.net/f1/results/986053/1/f1-2021-belgian-grand-prix-full-qualifying-results

#Team Russell

[tokeweed]

It could be an interesting start tomorrow if it’s still raining or if the track is wet...  I could see 10 guys outside of the top  3 who could be possible podium finishers here. 

Is Russell already 100% confirmed going to Merc next year?

[swogerino]

Is Russell already 100% confirmed going to Merc next year?

I doubt he is so far,today is the birthday of Valteri Bottas so they could not ruin his birthday,in the few upcoming weeks I think this is going to become official,unfortunately for Valteri he didn't show anything to us with the best car so far during these last couple of years.It is only natural for him to be removed from the team.

On the race note I think we are going to see a really beautiful race tomorrow as the weather forecast is still rain as of now,the SPA race has been beautiful without rain so the rain just adds up the difficulty for F1 drivers which in turn increases the chances for a better race for us the viewers.

[DireWolfM14]

Pol positions are set for the British Grand Prix. Quartararo is still on the first row, and Rossi is in the middle of the third row.  Marquez has had a lot of success at Silverstone in the past, this may be the race he makes his come-back official.  Obviously he won't have time to make a go at the championship with so few races left, and some may be cancelled still.

Over all, I like Quartararo for the race, and Miller to make the podium also. 

Here are the first four rows:

Pos	#	Rider	Team
1	44	Pol ESPARGARO	Repsol Honda Team
2	63	Francesco BAGNAIA	Ducati Lenovo Team
3	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP
4	89	Jorge MARTIN	Pramac Racing
5	93	Marc MARQUEZ	Repsol Honda Team
6	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini
7	43	Jack MILLER	Ducati Lenovo Team
8	46	Valentino ROSSI	Petronas Yamaha SRT
9	5	Johann ZARCO	Pramac Racing
10	42	Alex RINS	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
11	36	Joan MIR	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR
12	33	Brad BINDER	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Source

[boltz]

What Russel did today will be remember for a long time when it comes to Spa Circuit , Rain , and a heavy underdog with one of weakest car right now in F1 , delivering a delightful lap and scoring almost a pole-position. This kid will be a multiple champ one day and I do hope Mercedes will give him that seat as soon as possible.

[DIA7]

What Russel did today will be remember for a long time when it comes to Spa Circuit , Rain , and a heavy underdog with one of weakest car right now in F1 , delivering a delightful lap and scoring almost a pole-position. This kid will be a multiple champ one day and I do hope Mercedes will give him that seat as soon as possible.

I think it maybe the reason of having a boxy car helped create more downhole for his car so he had more grip then others that is the only thing I can explain from him getting great numbers because in the other races and while having a mercedes engine he should have got better results as the aerodynamics would helped his car go faster and not get dragged by air.
I'm not saying that the car helped him to get that he needed skill to do that when you look at his team mate Latifi he didn't get to Q3 while having the same car.
Anyway congrats to Russel I hope he manages to stay on podium position for tomorrow but it will be very difficult one especially when Verstappen and Hamilton are fighting so hard.
And I'm glad that Norris is OK for tomorrow race he was outstanding in quafication but unfortunately the rain made him lose control then the crash happened.