F1: Thoughts after Spa

Another twist of fate for Mercedes and Ferrari; Red Bull celebrated its 300th podium; McLaren had an average weekend, Hakkinen-style overtake by Colapinto and more

Kimi Antonelli is back to winning ways. It was a pretty smooth weekend for the Italian and a great result, especially on a weekend when his teammate struggled with the car, his overall performance, and even his luck.

The VSC helped Charles Leclerc jump ahead of Antonelli on track, but Kimi showed maturity and patience, chipping away at Leclerc’s advantage lap by lap, making the most of the Mercedes’ pace advantage over the Ferrari. And this time, Leclerc couldn’t do anything to stop him. Would we have seen the same outcome at Silverstone a couple of weeks ago? Probably, but we’ll never know.

Hamilton Penalized, Leclerc Cleared

Last race Kimi Antonelli suffered mechanical issues, was hit with a post-race penalty, and, as a result, failed to score a single point, while George somehow found himself in P2 after a far-from-smooth weekend. This time, it was Russell’s turn to suffer from bad luck, although he at least got his punch right on the very first lap. A small collision with Lewis Hamilton at the first Les Combes beached Russell’s Mercedes in the gravel. In my opinion, it was a first-lap racing incident, and Hamilton didn’t deserve a five-second penalty. Russell was unlucky to get stuck in the gravel trap, but I think it’s fair to say he was just as responsible for the collision as Hamilton. Given Hamilton’s penalty, though, I found it very strange that Leclerc didn’t receive one for his defense against Piastri. Was the difference simply the outcome? Russell was out of the race, while Piastri wasn’t? Even so, Piastri’s race was clearly compromised by the incident with Leclerc.

Reading stewards’ explanations, it seems Lewis was actually pretty fortunate not to receive an even harsher penalty, while Oscar was essentially self-penalized for an overoptimistic move. Even though Hamilton left room for Russell, and Leclerc was clearly aware that Piastri's car was alongside him on the left.

Hamilon (Car 44) vs Russell (Car 63)

Approaching Turn 5 on the opening lap, Car 63 attempted an overtake around the outside of Car 44 and had established sufficient overlap to be entitled to racing room. Car 44 remained on the inside.

During the corner, Car 44 experienced understeer and, despite attempting to avoid Car 63 by applying corrective steering, made contact with the right-hand side of Car 63 with its left-front wheel. The Stewards determined that Car 63 remained within the available racing room and that the collision was caused by Car 44 being unable to maintain sufficient separation.

The Stewards recognise several mitigating circumstances. Car 44 acknowledged the presence of Car 63, attempted to leave appropriate racing room and made a genuine attempt to avoid contact. The collision resulted from a loss of front-end grip rather than from an aggressive or deliberate manoeuvre. In addition, the incident occurred on the opening lap, where reduced grip and compressed racing conditions are recognised.

For these reasons, while Car 44 was wholly at fault for the collision, the Stewards consider that a 5-second Time Penalty, rather than the standard 10-second Time Penalty, is the appropriate penalty in accordance with the FIA Penalty Guidelines.

Leclerc (Car 16) vs Piastri (Car 81)

On the approach to turn 5, Car 81 moved to overtake Car 16 on the outside. Car 81 had some overlap on Car 16 but the front axle of Car 81 was not ahead of the front axle of Car 16 and there was no possibility of Car 81 completing an overtake from that position.

In the Stewards’ determination, Car 16 did not deliberately crowd Car 81 off the edge of the track. Car 16 followed the racing line before the entry to turn 5 by moving slightly to the left to open up for turn 5 and side to side contact occurred between the two cars. In the circumstances, the Stewards determined to take no further action.

Red Bull: podium for Max, excellent strategy for Isack

Red Bull reverted to its old rear wing specification after the costly incidents in Austria and especially at Silverstone. Max had a stellar start, but he couldn’t fight with Kimi and (thanks to VSC) Charles, but he still secured another podium. Even so, another podium isn’t enough to quiet the rumors that he may have activated a clause in his Red Bull contract and could move to another team next season. That would be truly breaking news, a real bombshell. I’ve read speculation about a possible move to McLaren or even a straight swap with Piastri, which at the moment seems, if not unrealistic, then at least highly unreasonable, especially from McLaren’s perspective. Another wild possibility would be a move to Aston Martin to reunite with Newey, while Alonso negotiates a one-year deal with Red Bull (how about that?). It’s not entirely impossible, especially with Marko out of the picture and the common-sense argument that Red Bull should have one experienced driver rather than effectively two rookies (with all due respect to Hadjar and Lindblad). It could also be good for Hadjar, giving him an opportunity to shine… Anyway, those are just rumors.

In reality, Red Bull executed an excellent strategy for Hadjar in Spa, making all the right calls and allowing the Frenchman to finish P6 after starting P21 because of multiple component penalties. That’s something McLaren, for example, couldn’t do with Norris. He finished P7 and earned some solid points, but he had started eight places ahead of Hadjar.

Beyond the Podium

Liam Lawson and the Alpine duo tried to recreate the famous Häkkinen-Schumacher duel on the Kemmel Straight from 2000 (with Ricardo Zonta in the unexpected “supporting role”), and I think it’s a real shame it wasn’t shown live or at least in the race replays. Sure, it was only a battle for a single point rather than the race lead, but it was still a fantastic piece of racing.

Gabriel Bortoleto scored another points finish for Audi, and the German team now sits just one point behind Williams in the Constructors’ standings. Unfortunately, Hülkenberg still couldn’t crack the top 10, and he really could use a bit of luck.

In Hungary, all eyes will be on Aston Martin, as the team has promised to unveil an updated (or perhaps even an entirely new) car there. Let’s hope it delivers, because so far it’s been a really embarrassing season for the Silverstone-based squad, even though Alonso managed to score a lone point in Monaco.

Thanks for reading, and until next time,
Kieran.