2024 Formula One Belgian Grand Prix Preview

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Image: Red Bull Content Pool / Getty Images

WHO ARE YOU SUPPORTING THIS WEEKEND?

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    152
  • Poll closed .
Round fourteen of the Formula One World Championship takes us to Belgium at the sim racers favourite,
Spa-Francorchamps. After the thrilling and controversial event that was the Hungarian Grand Prix, Spa is shaping up to be another classic.

What did you think about Oscar Piastri's maiden victory? After the controversial finish, McLaren stayed very quiet and continued like nothing was wrong. Could it all boil over at McLaren in Belgium this weekend?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815688885747265698

Esteban Ocon to Join Haas in 2025​

Haas has signed Alpine’s Esteban Ocon on a multi-year contract to partner rookie teammate, Ollie Bearman, in 2025. Ahead of the final race before the break, and at the track where Ocon made his F1 debut in 2016, Haas announced Ocon would take the vacant seat left by the departing Kevin Magnussen.

With Ocon joining the American outfit in 2025, Haas have a Grand Prix winner in one of their seats for the first time in the teams would become the first Grand Prix winner to race one of their cars since they entered the sport in 2016.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1816382961379598835

The Frenchman has driven for Manor (2016), Force India (2017–2018), Mercedes reserve driver (2019), Renault (2020), Alpine (2021–2024). Haas will be the sixth team Ocon has driven for since his debut in 2016, although Renault became Alpine in 2021.

Spa's Brand New Track Surface​

Spa's track surface has been replaced for this weekend's grand prix. In the past, new track surfaces have caused teams a lot of problems. From the slippery and greasy Istanbul circuit to the grainy and deteriorating state of the Las Vegas strip. How will teams cope at the new Spa?

Formula One places a heavy strain on the circuit's surface, especially in the braking zones and fast bends because of the power and speed at which they are putting the power down. Over a long period, the track surface will begin to deteriorate and will therefore require resurfacing.

The Pirelli tyre choices for this weekend:
C2 as P Zero White hard
C3 as P Zero Yellow medium
C4 as P Zero Red soft

https://twitter.com/x/status/1815696514120843354

Max Verstappen Takes 10-place Grid Penalty​

The Dutchman is set to receive a ten-place grid penalty at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix. Verstappen has been on a knife edge ever since Canada when Red Bull had to introduce a fourth Honda powertrain. However, Verstappen has won the last two races at the circuit after similar grid penalties.

Unfortunately for Verstappen, his grid penalty is not the only reason his name is in the headlines. The Red Bull ace has had an official warning for his team regarding his sim racing antics before the Hungarian Grand Prix. Red Bull has officially banned him from competing in any events before a Grand Prix.

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen at last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. Image: Red Bull Content Pool / Getty Images

When to Watch the Belgian Grand Prix (UTC)​

Friday
Free Practice One - 11:30-12:30
Free Practice Two - 15:00-16:00

Saturday
Free Practice Three - 10:30-11:30
Qualifying - 14:00-15:00

Sunday
Race Starts - 13:00

Who are you supporting at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix? Let us know in the poll above or down in the comments!
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Connor Minniss
Connor Minniss
Website Content Editor & Motorsport Photographer aiming to bring you the best of the best within the world of sim racing.

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Richard Wilks
Badwheels said:
Fix. Lewis threw the race. Why do I say that? Find the video immediately after George crosses the line to win. They flash to the Merc garage and you will see Toto say "Thank You". I believe he was saying that to Lewis for not pressing George for the win. It was clear that Lewis was 1 sec/lap faster than George starting on the last 8 laps. Then all of a sudden he can't get by.

Wrong answer.


On another note, watching Piastri nail the jack dude was worth the price of admission.
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Lewis couldnt pass Russell, thats just it.No way in hell would Lewis Hamilton obey team orders, specially because he won't even be at Mercedes next year.
 
Enagee
Richard Wilks said:
Masterclass from Russell, showing that despite all the data, a clever driver can still make the difference.

Also, notice how the race was so much more interesting without the easy DRS passes...
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Clever indeed....a bit too clever.. It’s surprising how many people on a sim racing site miss the finer details like lift and coast, which was advised for both Lewis and Max. No one else did a one-stop, so clearly, the lack of tire change and going straight to the pits without picking up any tire debris, wasn’t on his mind.

Skipping the pit stop put Russell at risk, which he decided to take. In F1, 1.5 kg can make a big difference.

Russell's impetuousness cost him
 
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Durge Driven
Toto's demeanor told you something was not right hey.
Max increases his lead, others need to wake up, stop making unforced errors.

Ironic isn't it, 30 years ago Michael DSQ Belgium.
You in very good company George :)

www.planetf1.com

F1's disqualified race winners: The illegal victories erased from F1's history books

George Russell isn't the only Formula 1 driver to have lost a race victory to disqualification — as these five champs can attest.
www.planetf1.com www.planetf1.com
 
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D
and yet the teams have very PRECISE instructions on how to present the car for inspection with a completely empty tank. They knew, since they left the exact amount needed to maintain the weight standard, that they were light.
Think of Spa. No victory lap, no driving around piling up the marbles on the tires. Reversing right into the pits and to the winner's circle. Someone asked earlier...did Lewis' car then get the same inspection?
 
Durge Driven
Just a thought normal cool down lap how much weight does car gain ;)
Maybe victory laps need to be looked at.
 
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K
Wow yet again an awesome race, it's unbelievable to have 4 teams and 7-8 drivers in a few seconds and potentially anyone can win it, incredible, just incredible!!
 
Pete Conway
Premium
Durge Driven said:
Just a thought normal cool down lap how much weight does car gain ;)
Maybe victory laps need to be looked at.
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Like I said, ban using pick up as a 10 kg weight addition, at the finish of the race parc ferme rules and New boots all round, Georgie got caught out because there can be a vairation in how much junk a driver can pick up on the in lap, (I wonder if the smaller diamiter of the worn out tyre had any impact on his top speed or whether it was limited by aero)
 
P
Enagee said:
Clever indeed....a bit too clever.... surprising on a sim racing site that the number of people who miss the finer details in racing.. lift, and coast was advised, and not for just Lewis...Max too.

Forgoing the pit stop put Russell in the position of disqualification. 1.5 kg in racing is a lot of time in F1
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Fuel usage has no bearing in weight check. You deliver the demanded 1 kg sample, the tank is drained and to the scales it goes. It does not matter if you finished with 1, 5 or 10 kg of fuel left in the tank, it's strictly forbidden to use this fluid as ballast.
 
Richard Wilks
Enagee said:
Clever indeed....a bit too clever.... surprising on a sim racing site that the number of people who miss the finer details in racing.. lift, and coast was advised, and not for just Lewis...Max too.

Forgoing the pit stop put Russell in the position of disqualification. 1.5 kg in racing is a lot of time in F1
Click to expand...
Sure sure, conspiracy theories seems to be Hamilton's fans forte. Everybody was lifting and coasting, fuel management is a thing in F1.
1.5 kgs is about 1.5 hundreds of a second, Hardly anything to write home about.
 
Richard Wilks
Pete Conway said:
Like I said, ban using pick up as a 10 kg weight addition, at the finish of the race parc ferme rules and New boots all round, Georgie got caught out because there can be a vairation in how much junk a driver can pick up on the in lap, (I wonder if the smaller diamiter of the worn out tyre had any impact on his top speed or whether it was limited by aero)
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There is no way the rubber that is worn around the tires for those extra laps amount to so much weight. Mercedes screwed up the ballast calculations, simple as that.
 
mopro
Richard Wilks said:
Sure sure, conspiracy theories seems to be Hamilton's fans forte. Everybody was lifting and coasting, fuel management is a thing in F1.
1.5 kgs is about 1.5 hundreds of a second, Hardly anything to write home about.
Click to expand...
Read some technical discussion about this on Redd:
"The rule of thumb is that 10kg is 0.3s/lap somewhere like Barcelona (so might be slightly more at Spa). Based on that 1.5kg is worth ~0.05s/lap, or around 2 seconds over the whole race."

"Worth considering other cars wouldn’t be running bang on the minimum reg weight so he was probably more likely around 2.5-3kg underweight compared to normal. I.e. 4seconds over the race + better tyre deg"
 
P
Richard Wilks said:
There is no way the rubber that is worn around the tires for those extra laps amount to so much weight. Mercedes screwed up the ballast calculations, simple as that.
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I remember that worn Pirelli tyres could lose +0.5kg per wheel, not sure I would count this out tbh. Those tyres did 34 laps!

Edit: Mario Isola went on record saying that on a normal stint a single tyre sheds 1kg.
 
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Pete Conway
Premium
pai said:
I remember that worn Pirelli tyres could lose +0.5kg per wheel, not sure I would count this out tbh. Those tyres did 34 laps!

Edit: Mario Isola went on record saying that on a normal stint a single tyre sheds 1kg.
Click to expand...
Exactly, and with no pick as replacement it's probable that helped him to the naughty step.

I still can't see why Toto Wolff wasn't jumping up and down and shouting when his team got a One Two, he was really excited in Austria with that win, why so dispassionate as George and Lewis crossed the line here (or were Sky playing games and showing a timelate clip)
 
markg88
Premium
Is tyre pickup really relevant? I would think tyre pickup is more for ride-height checks. The fuel saving is nothing to do with the weight check after a race, the weight check is a 'dry weight' check. Fuel saving is relevant where teams fuel up with the minimum fuel they think they can get away with to last the race (less fuel = less weight). They factor in things like safety cars etc and if those 'things' don't occur then fuel saving might be needed to ensure the required amount of fuel for a sample is in the car at the end.
 
markg88
Premium
Pete Conway said:
Exactly, and with no pick as replacement it's probable that helped him to the naughty step.

I still can't see why Toto Wolff wasn't jumping up and down and shouting when his team got a One Two, he was really excited in Austria with that win, why so dispassionate as George and Lewis crossed the line here (or were Sky playing games and showing a timelate clip)
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When I saw Toto's face when the race ended, it seemed to me he wasn't that excited. I believe he was not that excited his darling got beat to the flag.
 
Richard Wilks
eetcake said:
This aged quite well.

Max drove brilliantly. Amazing what a good night's sleep will do for you. ;)

Was a great race, multiple strategies, overtaking but not overpowered DRS, multiple teams in the running. I hope it continues.
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Max was awake until late again, he was online on discord. Just because he isn't doing a big iRacing event doesnt mean he is sleeping...
 
Damage Inc
eetcake said:
This aged quite well.

Max drove brilliantly. Amazing what a good night's sleep will do for you. ;)

Was a great race, multiple strategies, overtaking but not overpowered DRS, multiple teams in the running. I hope it continues.
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yeah that bit me on the arse big time...luckily not a massive Lando fan. He doesn't seem to be able to put everything together in a race much. I wonder if years running low to mid pack can dull the senses for being at the sharp end?
 
P
Damage Inc said:
yeah that bit me on the arse big time...luckily not a massive Lando fan. He doesn't seem to be able to put everything together in a race much. I wonder if years running low to mid pack can dull the senses for being at the sharp end?
Click to expand...
I think it's a matter of perspective from we as fans. We are more forgiving of drivers on the midpack, we do not expect for them to get everything right, because it can be the car not performing, the team letting him/her down, other cars doing actions that affect them, or being victim of chain-reactions, and a large etc. When the same driver is at the front, he is under the spotlight, and he is expected to get everything right, because "has the fastest car, has no excuses". Norris has been thrust into the spotlight mid season unexpectedly perhaps. Nobody expected for McLaren to become a benchmark so quickly, but this is also why F1 is so demanding: drivers need to be able to adapt all the time, things change way quicker than at any other racing series. He needs to use the summer break as a proper reset and come back with the mentality of a front-runner.

For years it was believed that Checo Perez was a top dog that deserved a better car (even forgetting that he was thrashed by Button when they were teamies), as "top drivers have everything easy at the front". We can finally lay that narrative to rest.
 
jgf
When racing returns to the real Spa track I will be impressed. Cars of the sixties, on narrow tires that wouldn't even be deemed adequate for street use today, raced hundreds of laps at the original track; yet modern F1, with its massive downforce, high tech suspensions, and wide high grip tires, is not capable of negotiating the same circuit. The cars are decidedly better today, so the problem must be with the drivers.

www.everythingf1.com

The 1963 Belgian Grand Prix - Racing In The Rain & The Miracle Of Spa

Sixty years ago Jim Clark won the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix in circumstances so dangerous nobody would dream of racing in them today.
www.everythingf1.com www.everythingf1.com
 

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