While the result was again predictable (at least, top 2 related), it was a fairly decent. Not the best Spa race, and not as good as last year, but still fairly decent. The biggest downside was probably the weather forecast, which changed midweek from rain all weekend, to sun all weekend, to the chance of rain hitting the end of the race today. Which, sadly, didn't happen.
Mercedes once again almost perfect. If Rosberg hadn't screwed up his start, he probably could've fought Hamilton, since he was on pace with him when he was not busy passing people. But 28 points of a gap from Lewis is just too big... The only way for Nico to win the title now is if Lewis has one reliability gremlin. And that just ain't happening.
Williams we're nowhere. This was clear Reject of the Race worthy. Not just for the shenanigans of the tyres with Bottas car, but also they had no pace in what should've been their most competitive circuit. They kept getting overtaken, and we're not that fast. Massa still grabbed 6th, but we expected much more from them on a power track. I wonder if they we're running a bit more downforce than most though, seeing they had no straightline speed what so ever today.
Ferrari had a troubled weekend. After Kimi's car died on Q2, and coincidently, that ruined Vettel's qualifying (he only had one set of tyres come Q3), and he made a scrubby lap out of it, they had to pull something amazing. And to be fair, Seb almost did the one stop work, until the tyre went boom. One can wonder though, if this was Pirelli's fault, Ferrari's fault, or simple debris that caused the tyre explosion. Who ever's fault it was, Vettel did a superb race. Kimi came from 16th to 8th, and he seemed to be running a shorter final gear than everyone else most times. Well, not the best way to see your first race after contract renewal ending, but at least he still brought points in order for Ferrari not to loose much for Williams.
Red Bull once again proving that running -1 wings (
) works. Even though the Renault engine wasn't great, like last year, their aerodynamic package was bloody incredible, and it did wonders for them with DRS. Shame Ricciardo's car kinda died on him, he probably could've gotten 3rd or 4th. Another bad luck for him... Or is it bad luck? Kvyat did a good race, using the soft tyres to great extent on his final stint, climbing into 4th place, which is a great result for him again. He's driving much better than what he was doing at the start of the year.
Force India had a great weekend. Their straightline speed was great, which helped Perez in qualifying (Hulk kinda borked his qualifying lap...) to grab a great 4th place on the grid. A great start saw him run 2nd, and attack Lewis, but the lack of downforce in the car showed come Les Combes. He still finished 5th, which is a great result, and now he's ahead of Hulk in the driver standings. Hulk had some bad luck, having loss of power, and couldn't even start the race. Shame, both Force India's could've scored points today.
Lotus we're the surprise package of today though. They had some very good qualifying pace (both cars on Q3, Grosjean P4 on the grid before penalty), but we didn't expect them to do so good come race day. Or, sadly, at least one of them. Pastor's bad luck continues, as once again, his car dies. To make it even more unlucky, today the car was a bullet. Hopefully Pastor's bad luck will end at Monza, where we expect the car to be even more bullet, where the lack of downforce of the chassis won't be clearly shown. Romain, though, a great race from him. 9th on the grid to his first podium since 2012, and one his best drivers so far on his career in F1. Bloody impressive, as Lotus become the first team besides the top 4 to score a podium this year. And they're into 5th in the constructors as well. Hopefully they'll be on the grid for Monza.
Toro Rosso again with mixed feelings. Verstappen once again made a great race, climbing into the points, and showing again great talent and prowess on overtaking (his move around the outside on Blanchimont and then finishing it into the Bus Stop, bloody hell). Shame though, Sainz continues to have bad luck, as he get's his 4th consecutive retirement. It's a shame really, since Sainz has been showing some great pace, as good or even better than Max, but he can't get the lucky to grab the top results.
Sauber had a circuit which suited them, with power. But the car has no downforce, and it showed when Nasr was eliminated in Q1. Ericsson did a great race, to score points, and Nasr finished 11th. While the car had barelly been developed since Australia, they've fallen way behind after 5th and 8th in Melbourne. They better wait for Monza, which should be the race where they should do better. Even though 8th place in the constructor standings is assured, since I hardly doubt McLaren will be able to score plenty of points till the end of the year.
McLaren... Well, do JB and Alonso have pacience? Most probably, a bit of it still. Honda claimed they would match Ferrari, and werent' even close. Then McLaren claimed they we're still 130HP down on Mercedes. Contradictory opinions are contradictory... Both drivers tried their best, gather data, and they probably did it, but the lack of straightline speed showed when the Sauber's passed them easilly. But then, according to the lap chart, Alonso did the *5th* fastest lap of the race. I wonder if they the engine at full power during one or two laps to test it. One can be hopefull of that.
Manor did again what they need to do. Drive on track to try and see if chaos happens and if they can snatch a point. Another 15th for the team, with once again Mehri beating Stevens. They're tanking this year, but, well, at least, if they we're running 2015 spec Ferrari engines, how far away would they be from McLaren?
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