The last race before the summer break at glorious Spa-Francorchamps. Much of the circuit has been resurfaced so that will bring an additional challenge, especially for the rubber magicians.
Max Verstappen needs a new engine and will therefore receive a 10 place grid penalty. This did not bother him much in the past two years and he was back in the lead after a few laps. But that will undoubtedly be a lot more difficult this year. You can overtake well at Spa so he will certainly come to the front, but the total dominance is gone.
Will McLaren dominate again like they did in Hungary and how well will Mercedes do? And of course Ferrari, what can they do? We'll see this weekend.
For the time being, rain is expected on Saturday and dry and sunny on Sunday. But nothing is as changeable as the weather in the Belgian Ardennes! In any case, I take my rain poncho with me... a red one... Forza Ferrari!
René, What a wonderful overhead shot! Have a great time in Belgium! Every time you travel to Spa-Francorchamps in search of a spa resort, you have to settle for a Grand Prix instead. Sacre bleu!
This is really the weirdest thing I have read in a long time ... This seems completely out of line with the proud F1-history of this brand.
"Renault looks increasingly likely to drop its works Formula 1 engine as its Alpine team focuses on closing a Mercedes customer deal.
"Ex-Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore was appointed executive advisor for F1 to company CEO Luca de Meo last month and has made it a priority to re-evaluate its engine strategy."
This is really the weirdest thing I have read in a long time ... This seems completely out of line with the proud F1-history of this brand.
"Renault looks increasingly likely to drop its works Formula 1 engine as its Alpine team focuses on closing a Mercedes customer deal.
"Ex-Renault F1 boss Flavio Briatore was appointed executive advisor for F1 to company CEO Luca de Meo last month and has made it a priority to re-evaluate its engine strategy."
Yes Mikael, this sounds so weird. I do hope they rebrand the team. Calling it Renault and/or Alpine with a Mercedes engine would be a disgrace.
I always liked Renault ever since my dad had a Renault 16 for a while. And they have a great racing history, at Le Mans, in Formula 1 and in rallying.
I had to think of my visit to the World Series by Renault at Spa in 2009. That was a great event with the (now defunct) World Series race but also demonstrations of historic Renault race cars and a lot of vintage road cars. It really was a surprisingly nice event I remember. I recall walking into a tent where there were several historic cars and there were rally legend Jean Ragnotti and René Arnoux chatting and signing autographs.
I made quite a lot of photos then. These are the first I found now.
(Would love to see that fabulous circuit just once in my lifetime ...)
Mikael,
Thanks for the wonderful photograph of Jim Clark approaching his pole position before the start. Another day at the office for the greatest at the time.
it is a very good photo indeed; it was a lucky find. To me, Grand Prix cars have never been prettier than they were in 1967, the second year of F1's coming "back to power", with large engines.
Curiously, I found that a British company (Stuart Taylor Motorsport) specializes in manufacturing exactly 1967 Formula One replicas, based on a Chevrolet V8 engine. Their standard "F1-67" has a list price of 70,000 GBP (90,000 USD). It's a good deal of money (for a "toy", as it basically is), but it doesn't seem "unapproachable" ...
Curiously, I found that a British company (Stuart Taylor Motorsport) specializes in manufacturing exactly 1967 Formula One replicas, based on a Chevrolet V8 engine. Their standard "F1-67" has a list price of 70,000 GBP (90,000 USD). It's a good deal of money (for a "toy", as it basically is), but it doesn't seem "unapproachable" ...
Just ordered the Ferrari. Had to order 4 extra cylinders too which wasn't cheap but it will be a nice addition to my collection.
I found some more photos of the Renault World Series event in 2009. Also a photo of Arnoux and Ragnotti next to a very old Renault. It was a wonderful day I remember, very relaxed, great weather and lots of great cars.
Last Edit: Jul 26, 2024 13:45:11 GMT by René: typo
Another good, old photo - from the Grand Prix of 1962. Interesting to compare with the present appearance of the same track section (some photos included below).
In 1962, a 1500 cc Formula One car had 180-190 HP. Even though the cars were light, I imagine the long, steep uphill climb would render these small-displacement engines rather "dead".
I do hope Norris does very well and clears up any 'misunderstanding' however I suspect Piastri will be very quick. I also wonder if MV's rise to the front in the race will also involved a few bumps and grazes,
Thank you Mikael for that wonderful picture, it really is one of my favourite years and I still can't get over the fact that Jimmy was 3.1 seconds faster than the second placed driver, Dan and 4.8 seconds faster than Graham who was 3rd on the grid. Just mind-boggling.
The 1963 GP was held in atrocious conditions and reminded me in a very small way of a journey I took, I think we were going to Donington and the heavens opened up and it was torrential so much so I was aquaplaning at times at speeds I wouldn't contemplate these days and my bike was around 210 kilos and my friends Bike was a Hyabusa which weighed about 270 kgs and in his words was 'planted' so what it must have been like for a 1500cc car on the fearsome Spa in torrential rain - especially as he was holding the gear lever in gear I can only guess.
The subject of world champions behaviour is strange to me- having been brought up with the likes of Jimmy, Graham and Jackie I struggle to understand the shenanigans of the more modern champion. Does this happen in Indycars?
Carl, metoo - loved the Renault 5 turbo. monster machine
Rene, have a fabulous time, haven't looked at the forecast just hope you get a result you are happy with
needs more than a new engine. He needs an entirely new disposition. 
