If I’m honest, I didn’t have Red Bull leading the Belgian Grand Prix or finishing ahead of Ferrari in my weekend picks. For reasons that may still reveal themselves, I felt the Re-badged Renault engine and chassis combination has been a bit of a revelation this year but perhaps not the strongest combination on a circuit like Spa Francorchamps.
Friday may be making a liar out of me if you read the time sheets as the Red Bulls set the pace and led the FP2 session. Ok, perhaps it’s a bit of sandbagging or running different programs but Max Verstappen says it may not be:
“Compared to other competitors, we showed great pace today, I think better than expected,” he said.
“This track is very difficult for setting up the car balance. I had some struggles but at the end it also paid off with the last set-up change we did.
“We can definitely improve even more and we have to wait and see what [Mercedes] does.
“We have had a very good Friday and a very good start from the weekend.”
How do you see this playing out? I’m under no illusions that they can beat Mercedes, a team that has won 43 out of the last 50 races, but can they beat Ferrari at Spa? A circuit requiring less chassis downforce and more shove?
Hat Tip: AUTOSPORT
It’s very close, but I think RBR has a shot, probably Ricciardo leading Vettel.
Hamilton’s long run pace on Friday (admittedly on the medium tyre) didn’t look any better than that of the Red Bull’s or Ferrari’s. As he will be starting from at least 20th place (both Alonso and Ericsson also have penalties), he may find it difficult to get into the top five.
It does look like Red Bull are ahead of Ferrari even at a power circuit. However the red cars were fast in the first and third sectors but not so good in the twisting sector two. Some more wing today may help them.