Mercedes weigh up the future
Mercedes could not have hoped for a better end to the opening half of the season than a one-two for George Russell and Lewis Hamilton at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, only for it to turn to bitter ashes when Russell was disqualified when his car was discovered to be under the weight limit. The team are conducting their inquest now, with the engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, citing one theory that Russell running a one-stop strategy left their tyres underweight at the flag.
The discrepancy was 1.5kg, 375g per wheel – for perspective that’s about two of your household hamsters – and Pirelli’s motorsport director noted that a tyre might lose as much as 1kg during a stint. This is of course factored into weight calculations pre-race but the switch to a one-stop race, which was unexpected, may not have been part of the equation. However it must also be considered that both Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda pulled off a single stop and were not underweight.
Whatever conclusion Mercedes reach it will not soothe Russell’s pain but the team do go on their holidays in the best shape they have been all season. The car is fundamentally strong now, capable of fighting for wins at certain tracks and Russell will surely have another shot this season. “We didn’t expect to be competing with the McLarens or the Red Bulls at this point in the season with how we started off,” Hamilton said. “So for us to now have closed up, it’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season for sure.”
Time to focus for Norris and McLaren
For Lando Norris, the only real contender to Max Verstappen for this year’s title, stepping away from the cockpit is a chance to reflect. He has, by his own admission, made too many small errors in recent races for a driver who wants to be in that fight. From fourth on the grid, he put a wheel wide exiting La Source on the opening lap in Belgium, enough to cost him three places and left him finishing behind Verstappen, who had started from 11th in a race where putting points on the Dutchman was paramount.
“I need the summer break for a reset,” he said. “I have given away a lot of points over the last three or four races because of stupid stuff, mistakes and bad starts. It has been silly things, not even difficult stuff.” Norris is notoriously self-critical so this is all in character but if he is to even put pressure on Verstappen, who now leads by 78 points, when he returns he will know he cannot afford to allow the Dutchman an inch.
Ten races remain this season, making every point vital but McLaren have yet to prioritise Norris over his teammate Oscar Piastri. Zak Brown, the team’s chief executive, has said they are set to discuss the issue over the summer break but they will also be considering their other most vital aim. They are only 42 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship and could reel them in, aiming for their first constructors’ title for 25 years.
Verstappen focuses on the run-in
With a 78-point lead Verstappen remains comfortably in charge of the world championship from Norris. Even if McLaren do have the superior car, he enjoys an advantage that will be hard to overcome without at least one DNF. The 26-year-old is taking nothing for granted. He believes he would have had a good shot at the win in Belgium without the grid penalty and his pace in qualifying and in the race suggests that would indeed have been the case. Nonetheless he wants more from his team to make that run to a fourth title under as little pressure as possible.
Something the team will assess before the next round in Zandvoort is that the upgraded high-downforce aero package they brought to Hungary was unsuccessful, much to Verstappen’s displeasure, and they will also be considering at what point they switch resources to next year’s car.
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“With the car that at the moment it probably isn’t the quickest in the race, it’s about just limiting the damage and trying to be as close as I can every single time,” Verstappen said. “Naturally I would just hope that we can find a little bit more performance.” He will however surely enjoy a relaxed few weeks, as with seven different winners this season his rivals are all taking points off each other. It’s made for some brilliant racing but is also perfect for the man in clean air out front.
Ferrari have work to do
Belgium was Ferrari’s most competitive race for some time. Charles Leclerc delivered, as he so often does with a superb lap to take second in qualifying – pole position given Verstappen’s penalty – albeit some way off the Dutchman’s time. In the race he put in valiant effort in a car that has now been outstripped comprehensively by McLaren and Mercedes. Track position worked in his favour in holding off Verstappen and Norris in the race but Leclerc was under no illusions that, without the qualifying position, he would have probably been beaten by both those drivers.
After a strong start to the season the SF-24 has not moved on. Indeed the swathe of upgrades they introduced in Spain, aimed at improving pace in the high-speed corners, proved detrimental, provoking issues with bouncing. The team appear to just be dealing with that now and Leclerc finished only eight seconds down on Russell, which can be considered a step forward but he was insistent Ferrari had far more to do in the second half of the season.
“What makes me not so happy is that we have two Mercedes and one McLaren in front,” Leclerc said after the race. “The Mercedes, we thought that we were on a par with them, so it’s worse than expected.” He will want more come August when Hamilton too will doubtless be paying very close attention to how the Scuderia perform.
