“Analysis of the sprint and qualification of the Grand Prix of Belgium. What changed and what to expect in the race?”, – WRITE: Sport.ua
Due to the sprint format of the weekend, the pilot and teams participated in the morning not in practice, as usual, but in sprint. He did not come out as intense as he would like, but gave some intrigue and became a test landfill with a chance to earn points.
Stable conditions during the first two days have made it possible to check how qualifying approaches in the race and understand what the car is missing. The teams that rely on the speed on the straight lines won the most, because in the case of rain, the first handwriting problems would be first. However, the forecast for Sunday is different, so all teams changed the vision of the settings for qualification and race. How it will affect the final race, we will see on Sunday.
Before that, it is necessary to understand where the enormous advantage of the Oscar Pastri, which takes place inside the bull, is the reasons for the failure of Hamilton and Ferstappen, and who, thanks to this, received an additional chance.
Preface. The article will often mention the turns and segments of the highway where the pilots lost or won time or position. For convenience, a map diagram of SPA-Francors with numbered turns from formula-1 is given.
McLaren. As Norris and Pastri changed places
Like the weekend, the car remained unattainable to rivals, and in qualification this advantage has become even more obvious. The day before, the team bet on a high level of clamping force, winning time in turns. This allowed Oscar Pastri to get sprint pool on Friday, but at the same time made him vulnerable at the start. Ferstappen, who started immediately behind, took advantage of the long line and was ahead of the Australian.
Nevertheless, through the forecast of the rain on Sunday, the team decided to leave the basic settings, only adding a little. The overall picture of rivals remained unchanged.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine The biggest changes occurred inside the team. Lando Norris, who was inferior to the partner throughout the weekend, was eventually ahead of Piastri, who had previously felt confident on his favorite track.
There are several reasons for this. First, during the sprint, Norris began to more actively attack the first turn before the long straight and significantly added to the medium-speed connections in the center of the highway. There was a feeling that he just needed time to understand how to squeeze his pilot with his style. Already during the sprint, he looked much more confident than a day before.
Secondly, the change of settings was important. The additional level of the clamping force that the team contributed to the qualification gave him a confidence for the more aggressive attack of turns. Earlier, as noted in Friday analysis, he did not make critical mistakes in sprint qualification, but simply was slower.
Comparing qualification attempts in sprint qualification and in the Saturday session before the main race, the situation for Mclarene’s pilots has changed. Piastry won the most high-speed and medium-speed turns from the 10th to 15th. On Saturday, Lando was already faster in the same area. Previously, it gave way to about three tenths of a second per 1500 meters, while the length of the route is over 7 km. It is a tremendous work of both engineers who helped find the right solutions and the pilot himself, who, throughout the weekend, did not look confused, but managed to improve significantly.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine And here is a Pastri Oscar, a British partner and a valid championship leader, on the first day of the weekend, it seems to show his maximum. If Norris has greatly improved his time, the Oscar, although it remained with a partner in the qualification and with his previous schedule, still gave way in both cases.
The main losses occurred in the second sector, although it was logical to be the opposite, because the clamping force became more. The only place where he won the time compared to himself was the 8th turn, the rest was solid losses on this segment. The only real mistake happened in the 14th turn, where it was a little at the entrance, and it lost about one tenth second.
Is it worth worrying about it? And so, and no. The main task for Pastri will be to overtake Norris to the end of the long straight line before the 5th turn, at the end of the first sector. As practice shows, most overtaking at the first rows of peloton occur just there. It was also demonstrated by Ferstappepen in the sprint, but in the case of Red, the Bull team was betting on the speed on the straight lines, and it would be strange with Slipstre if he did not do it. The situation is much more equal, so the chances can be estimated as 50/50.
Why is this critical in this race? It is forecast to rain, and when both team pilots go nearby, the preference is usually given to the one who is ahead, because it is under it that they choose the best strategy. If the rain starts suddenly, the stop even later can have a much greater impact than under normal conditions.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine Ed
The bulls chose the tactics opposite that was in the Silverstone of the past race. Then the team decided that the car would work better with less pressing force, despite similar fears of rain, as this time. In the qualification it brought a pole, but in the race on the wet route, especially after the loss of leadership, the car became unmanaged, which led to the loss of a number of positions.
This time, the Milton-Kinza team went the way of Mclarene, and along with Max Ferstappen’s skill, it still left him one of the favorites on the pool or the first row. It was likely that it was not for the first turn error: the Netherlands was a little bit, which spoiled the acceleration and cost about 0.2-0.3 seconds. It can be safely argued that he has lost at least a more profitable third position, giving way to Charles the Lecler. Looking ahead, Ferrari remained at a higher speed rate this time. Thus, Ferstapppen may find himself in a situation in which there was an Oscar Pastri, who in the sprint pursued the pilot Red Bull, but could not overtake him because of the opponent’s advantage at maximum speed.
Interestingly, the confidence in the car in Ferstappen was such that the 10th, one of the fastest turns, was passed with a fully pressed gas pedal. For comparison, Pastri squeezed 98 %and Norris only 77 %. In general, the advantage of a four -time champion was noticeable at the end of the second – at the beginning of the third sector, and especially in slow turns at the end of the circle, as well as in the first turn in front of DRS zones – key places for the preparation of overtaking. Max has every chance of competing for high positions, the main thing is to start well and not waste time.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine Another hero of qualification was Yuki Tsunoda. After ser She has finally succeeded with her out -of -date weeks and starts from the last positions. Already on Friday, on the old specification of the car, the Japanese pilot showed an encouraging speed by its own standards, becoming 12th in sprint qualification, and confirmed it in the race. The team, headed by the new leader, Red Bull and the former Tsunoda leader in the junior team of Reising Bulls, decided to update the car before the basic qualification, giving the Japanese a package that was very similar to the version of Ferstaphen, except for small differences. This immediately gave the result. Tsunoda himself commented on the changes as follows:
“A little more clutch is literally. The previous bottom was more sensitive and more nervous. As soon as the car began to be launched, it was no longer recovered. You can be more aggressive with new details. ”
As a result, 7th place, behind two pilots, which he could well be ahead. However, this is the best start for the Japanese during his speeches in Red Bull. Perhaps when the team was headed by Laurent Mekis, with whom Tsunoda has a much better relationship, and the new leader is much more loyal, the second car will finally start to make points and return the team to the fight for the second place of the designers.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine Ferrari
As it has been noted, Ferrari has updated the suspension, which improved the handling of the car and simplified the setup. After the sprint and qualification, this was generally confirmed.
The new suspension works effectively: during the sprint, where the Lecler had excessive tire wear and the insufficient rotation was caused, the team changed the tightness of the suspension and road clearance. They also raised a little bit of the clamping force in view of the forecast of rain on Sunday. At the same time, the car was not overloaded, because, according to Wasser (team leader), it is very difficult to break in rainy conditions under a poor starting position.
The team still needs to find the optimal balance of brakes for a new suspension. Now the road clearance has become more stable, including in braking, and the lecturer noted the ability to use less aggressive settings. This allows SF-25 to be easier to compromise between speed on straight and clamping force with clutch in turns.
In any case, Charles Lecler squeezed the maximum and gained the highest position that he could really claim – the third. If you can hold the seat at the start, it can be the key to the next podium for the Monegask.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine Hamilton and another failure. It seemed that the British finally adapted to a new car, engine and team. In the last stages, he steadily finished ahead or near the partner in both races and qualifications. There was also a speed here – there were no questions to the pace, but the unfortunate mistakes were spoiled for the second day in a row. Initially, the unexpected turn in the final attempt of sprint qualification, now-a violation of the boundaries of the highway.
It is most annoyed that both times he was on the way to a significant improvement in the circle. In the case of the basic qualification, you can not even doubt: the British would definitely take place in the second segment and further fought for more, but the canceled circle crossed out all chances. This cannot be called a mistake completely – there was a boundary that is very difficult to see from the cockpit because of the change of the direction of the route and the rise. However, the fact remains: he was wrong and the rest is not.
In the race you can expect from him risky and non -standard solutions, otherwise it will be very difficult to play.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine Mercedes
Silver arrows have become the main disappointment of the Belgian stage, and the most annoying is that the team still has no clear explanation of such results. Throughout the weekend, the required balance for the machine could not be found. Data from the symulators’ pilots will provide the information you need, and the same Kimi Antonelli will start from fully rainy settings, but it is unlikely to dramatically change the situation.
The situation in Russell looks more interesting. He bet on dry conditions and maximized the car. This gave a slight advantage compared to rivals who tried to find at least some compromise. But if the forecast with the rain comes true, the British will be very difficult, and difficult to earn sixth place may be under threat.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine Williams relay
The pilots of the British legendary team seemed to pass on each other relay, completely translating the task of earning points. Initially, Alex Albon was unexpectedly left in the first sprint segment, while Carlos Sainz showed the best result of the season – the sixth place that he was able to keep in the sprint. By the way, it became the highest finish of the team in sprints in its whole history.
In the main qualification, the situation has changed: now Carlos has unexpectedly completed the performance in the second segment, becoming only the 15th, but Albon won the incredible fifth position – the best in the last stages. It gives him a good chance of repeating the best result of the season, especially if something happens among the leaders.
It is a pity that both failed to show the maximum at the same time – they had the potential, and each of them in turn proved it with their performances.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine Zauber
Continues to impress the newcomer of the future team, which will be called Audi, Gabriel Bortoleto next year. In the races, he only managed to finish once in Austria, but in qualifications he demonstrates a stable level. After the unsuccessful start of the season, in the last eight stages, it is ahead of Nico Hulkenberg – one of the best qualifiers last season.
Hulkenberg himself will only start 14th, but given his experience this season, it does not seem a serious problem. If the pace allows you and a little lucky, the chances of points will be quite real. The team has already accustomed that it is no longer an outsider, and in the middle of the peloton became one of the most gorgest forces.
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