This week the F1 circus heads to the iconic Spa francorchamps circuit for the Belgian Grand Prix, the final round before the summer break.
Finlay McSporran
Published: 16:30, 24th July 2024
With so many talking points following last weekends dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix, we’ve listed some of the main storylines to keep an eye on throughout the weekend.
Can Redbull Bounce Back?
Redbull have now gone 3 races in a row without a victory, there longest run since the 2021 season which shows how much closer the chasing pack is now. Last weekend they brought an update to their car that involved dropping the long cooling cannons that ran down the sides of the engine cover, in what was the most visually noticeable upgrade of any team so far this season. This upgrade was intended for high downforce, high cooling tracks such as the Hungaroring however failed to make any sort of improvement compared to the other teams as Redbull couldn’t match the speed of McLaren who had without a doubt the fastest car.
This weekends Belgian GP presents a different challenge for Redbull as it’s a low downforce, low cooling track meaning that they will swap back to the old package for this round, last used at Silverstone where Redbull had the 3rd quickest car. If that’s the case this weekend, it leaves the team with a lot of work to do heading into the summer break as they desperately try to hang on to their title lead.
Are McLaren Ready for a Title Fight?
Last weekend McLaren demonstrated that they had without a doubt the fastest car, as they qualified 1-2 and finished 1-2, however what should have been a perfect weekend for the team was overshadowed by some pretty major operational errors.
Their two drivers looked a little disappointed last weekend after securing a 1-2 finish and a first ever win for Piastry. This was a result of the team deciding to box Norris before Piastry, who was leading the race, to cover off a potential undercut from Hamilton, gifting the lead to Norris. What followed next was some of the most desperate and embarrassing radio messages ever heard during a Grand Prix, with Norris eventually giving up his 5 second lead to let his teammate by with just 3 laps left.
This once again raised doubts as to whether McLaren are truly ready for a title fight, as they have made countless strategic, operational and driver errors over the past few races.
Team boss Andrea Stella believes that this is all part of the learning curve as the team get use to fighting at the front. With the pace that they showed last time out in Hungary McLaren are definitely capable of fighting for the constructors title this year and Mabey even the drivers if Redbull continue to struggle, but it all comes down to whether on not they can iron out these issues and make the right decisions during those high pressure moments that could be the difference between winning and losing a race, as we saw at Silverstone.
Last Race Before the Summer Break
With this weekend being the last round before the summer break many drivers will be keen to put on a good show for themselves, non more than Sergio Perez. The Mexican is under huge pressure right now after a string of poor performances and while his car hasn’t helped him, his teammate Verstappen has still been fighting at the front while Perez has been struggling to get into Q3 most weekends. This weekend gives him a chance to put in a good performance and ease some of the pressure hanging over him before the summer break.
This weekend can also send a team off into the summer break in either good or bad spirits depending on the result, especially those in the midfield where points are hard to come by, and so a good result can allow a team to go into the break feeling far more relaxed than some other teams.
Driver Market Develpoments
There have been plenty of developments in the driver market since the Hungarian GP with the main story being about Audi, and how they’ve signed ex Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto. This could make the Sauber/Audi project more appealing to Carlos Sainz, after all Binotto was the man who gave him the Ferrari seat back in 2021, and once Sainz locks in a seat for 2025 all the other pieces should start to fall into place.
Another big player in the driver market is Kimi Antionelli, the Mercedes junior driver has had a slow start to his Formula 2 career, leading many to believe that he’s not ready for an F1 seat. However, over the past few rounds Kimi has begun to find his feat in F2, winning the sprint race at Silverstone and the Feature race in Hungary last week, moving him up to 6th in the standings and proving why Mercedes rate him so highly.
Finally, there’s Redbull’s situation which we went into detail in a previous article, however the short story is that Perez isn’t meeting the demands of his team and is at risk of losing his seat to Daniel Riccardo, while his teammate Max Verstappen is becoming increasingly frustrated with his teams lack of progress in recent races and may choose to leave before the end of his contract which would leave Redbull with a pretty underwhelming driver line-up, all while Liam Lawson and a host of other Redbull junior drivers wait for an F1 seat.
With rain forecast, drivers coming to the end of their contracts and a battle at the front, this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix is shaping up to be full of Drama both on and off the track.
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