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?
Not to the same extent, Chris. The fame and fortune are enhanced in Formula One, as are the arrogance and megalomania.
In Indycar, as former F1 drivers have discovered, there is a greater sense of comradery.
Seven different winners in 14 GPs; and GP victories by four different teams. Gradually, this has become a cracker of a season!
Addendum: Interesting development - the one-stop strategy of Russell may have backfired, in the sense that the missing kg's may come down to the significant tyre wear. Sad that this may be the case, though ...
It was an exciting race and also a tiring weekend! It is less than an hour's drive from my home to the circuit, but with the traffic it was about two hours there to the parking lot and more than three hours back home! And then I haven't even mentioned the kilometers I had to walk! But that shouldn't spoil the fun and keeps you young, let's say...
Anyway, I enjoyed it and found the race very exciting. Mercedes was unexpectedly strong and I never expected Russell's strategy to work. I really thought towards the end that he would fall back, perhaps even behind Leclerc. But he did fantastically so his disqualification was all the more heartbreaking. Rules are rules and numbers are numbers so completely justified, but it was painful. If only Hamilton had overtaken him at the end, that would have been easier to digest I think. Also for Lewis who drove a fantastic race again and also deserved the win.
McLaren was less strong than expected, but Piastri was much more convincing than Norris who drove a relatively weak race. I was surprised he didn't pass Max. I also feel like what happened in Hungary was a Coulthard>Hakkinen moment. I think Oscar will dominate and become the man at McLaren at the expense of Lando.
Ferrari ultimately fell short, but I still enjoyed them. Charles drove fantastically and was able to keep up with Lewis for a long time. But over the entire distance it was just not enough and that was a shame. That failed update really cost them a lot. But still, they both led the race so I had something to cheer about.
And the Red Bull dominance is clearly over. Of course Max could have fought for the win if he had started from pole position. But it is no longer so obvious that he will win and if he has to start in the midfield he will no longer just drive to the front like in recent years. And that was honestly refreshing because like 2022, but also last year was really ridiculous. But otherwise Max drove a strong race, unlike Pérez who now has to seriously fear for his seat, perhaps even immediately.
The annual photo impression will follow later today but here are already two short clips made with my phone.
The first lap where Leclerc is still leading.
And the last lap where you can clearly see Lewis closing in under breaking.
Thanks Rene Some superb pics, thanks for sharing. I am glad you had a good race on Sunday, makes up for some of the disappointments in the past. It's always exciting watching a Ferrari in the lead at the beginning of the race, I could feel it through your clips. Some good drives and the racing is so good at the moment.
Looking at your pics of the modern F1 cars from the side angle one can see how protected the driver's heads are nowadays. I remember watching at Kyalami in 1993 and noticed how vulnerable they looked, especially Senna's for some reason. Gave me quite a chill back then.
I imagine that the present cars look great "in the flesh" although photos often give the impression that they have grown too large. Actually, I thought that even the 2019 cars (with 13'' wheels) looked really good in reality - like slender "missiles", when they "flew" by.
Interesting to notice that Red Bull have reverted to their previous "bulbous" engine-cover design.
brilliant video's and photo's Rene, I know that part of the world is prone to weather inconsistency yet the contrast between Saturday and Sunday was remarkable. Also wholeheartedly agree with all the above comments, really felt for George, what Damon said later on resonated normally there is a warm down lap where they pick up all kind of debris and the extra 1.5 kilos would have been collected.
I think it is great F1 is no longer its foregone conclusion and one wonders the impact Adrian's disagreement is having on RB? Certainly we are seeing more illustrations how people cope in times of trouble.
Well, Carlos to Williams, interesting - what does he know
Love the photo's of yesteryears cars and was a bit puzzled who was driving Tom's Shadow? I ask as wasn't the helmet colour scheme reminiscent of Stefan Bellof?
Picking up on Mikael's point, to me a sweet engine note is musical heaven, now my triple [in sports mode] sounds glorious if one encourages it a bit...so does the DFV's and V12/ flat 12's in fact, I loved the 4 and 6's sounds of the 50's as well, even the 6's of the 80's and those Porsche's sound brilliant. Can't say the same for other cars.
Thanks guys, much appreciated and as always happy to share.
It was my first time at this grandstand (at Fagnes) and it wasn't the easiest place to take good pictures. As the videos show best, there was a relatively small window to photograph the cars. I could not see them coming, only hear them and then they were suddenly there. Very fast approach from the left and then hard breaking. Certainly when you zoom in it's hard to keep the focus but I managed for most cars. A bit less variation compared to previous years therefore.
@ Rob: Seeing F1 cars in the flesh is always spectacular but, with a Ferrari in the lead it really gives an extra buzz. The racing was really good.
@ Mikael: With only the modern F1 cars on track you don't really notice how much they've grown. At some places maybe in relation to the track width. But if they could make them a bit smaller and lighter, that would be better. It would make the cars more nimble. As for the looks, I also think they look great. Indeed like missiles. Very streamlined and aggressive.
@ Chris: The vintage cars are always great to watch... and hear! The driver in the Shadow was actually Thierry Boutsen who was there the entire weekend and had not forgotten how to drive!
Here is a video I made of some of the old cars from behind the fence. Unfortunately they didn't go full blast but it's still great to hear these old engines.
It must be "mind-blowing" to race at Spa Francorchamps - in any category whatsoever; even just to take a lap or two in a (reasonably fast) road car (one that can keep up the revs, at least, up the steep climb after Raidillon).
On a very humble level, of course, during my rather short time in karting, I thought that there's nothing more exciting than corners where you can just - and just barely - go through at top-speed without "lifting".
Well, maybe it's only F1 that - at present- can go through the Eau Rouge/Raidillon section without lifting ...
dohh, of course thanks Rene, Thierry really is a forgotten star isn't he, oops
If there is one circuit I would love to drive/ride it would be Spa, I could not think of a more adrenalin charged lap. mind you I would want to drive/ ride the old circuit as well - see what the Masta kink at speed is truly like, however only in the dry....and in something that holds the road very well
dohh, of course thanks Rene, Thierry really is a forgotten star isn't he, oops
If there is one circuit I would love to drive/ride it would be Spa, I could not think of a more adrenalin charged lap. mind you I would want to drive/ ride the old circuit as well - see what the Masta kink at speed is truly like, however only in the dry....and in something that holds the road very well
I actually forgot to mention that I drove the Masta kink on Sunday morning, albeit at 30km/h in traffic!
