Spa Remains a Driver’s Dream

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is widely regarded as the best of the calendar, and it’s easy to see why. A rider’s dream, combining superfast sections with a daunting, blind uphill bend. Everyone is wondering whether the unpredictable weather conditions also played a role in keeping the adrenaline flowing for the estimated 400,000 fans.

As Spa enters its 76th year of hosting Formula 1 – the first race there was won by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1950 – the 7-kilometre circuit currently features three drivers once discovered by Vijay Mallya: Nico Hulkenberg (2012, 2014-16), Esteban Ocon (2017-18) and Sergio Perez (2014-18). VJM ​​had its share of difficulties before leaving Formula 1 in 2018.

The thing is, resilient drivers seem to stay in this unforgiving sport forever, even if they share the grid with teenagers young enough to be their sons! It is not really known what the formula is!

Fernando Alonso is still performing strongly at 44, while Arvid Lindblad is just 18, pushing the average age of the current Formula 1 grid to 28.

Qualifying Day

Alex Albon, Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Perez, Alonso and Lance Stroll were eliminated in the first quarter after being nearly two seconds clear of Oliver Bearman’s Haas! Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Bearman departed soon after, but left Gabriel Bortoleto happy to take his Audi to Q3, albeit 1.5 seconds off the top spot.

Indian-British rider Lindblad played the proverbial cat among the pigeons with a commendable eighth place finish. He comprehensively proved that his victory as the youngest driver in F2 was no fluke and that he was destined for a bright future.

The usual suspects finally prevailed at the top.

At the post-qualifying press conference, pole position taker Kimi Antonelli said that Mercedes had added a small package for the third quarter that helped increase straightline speed, explaining the team’s jump in performance from the first quarter onwards. When asked if he expected a lot of overtaking in the race, he sincerely replied that he did not and that he hoped to move away and disappear once the race started. Such is his confidence.

Max Verstappen, who will start the race second, was frank in saying that he would have only qualified in sixth place had it not been for the charm of teammate Isack Hadjar, who will start from the back of the grid after receiving new power unit components. A dejected Lando Norris, who started in 13th place after receiving a 10-place penalty for technical violations (power unit changes), was happy to bring points for now.

Moreover, it looks like the energy recovery system hasn’t gone over well with many teams! The bend, which was very narrow last year, has now become flat. Max openly said that the cars felt like F3 cars with F1 downforce and were not very exciting to drive. “I don’t want to sit here and complain again, otherwise someone will shoot me outside the door! Or I can just sit at home and wear nothing, but that won’t do any good either.”

That’s life in the ‘not so fast’ lane for now!

(The author is a former national racing champion)