Belgium Grand Prix - Race Review

The 11th round of the Formula One World Championship has finished and what a race it proved be. Lewis Hamilton came through as the winner ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg whilst Romain Grosjean was welcomed back onto the podium for the 10th time in his career.

Romain Grosjean who finished an incredible 3rd place for Lotus.

The race was conducted over 43 laps after the first race start was aborted due to Force India's Nico Hulkenberg loosing power on the grid after concerns over his ERS system. On the second formation lap Carlos Sainz had a problem and had to pull into the pits before restarting the race 2 laps down.

As the race started no one really had amazing starts but people did have poor starts, Nico Rosberg in particular. Out of turn 1 Hamilton lead Perez from Ricciardo from Bottas from Rosberg. Rosberg however quickly dispatched of Bottas in the first few laps promoting him to 4th. This was the start of Valtteri Bottas very unfortunate and difficult afternoon.

The first pit stop of the day was made by Ricciardo as he was pressuring Sergio Perez for second place. Force India responded by pitting Perez the next lap and the strategies were split as Ricciardo went for mediums and Perez onto the softs. Perez rejoined behind Ricciardo but passed him two laps later on the Kemmel straight.

This battle was beneficial for Nico Rosberg who managed to jump both Ricciardo and Perez in his first pit stop and come out just 3 seconds behind leader Lewis Hamilton.

Things got worse for Valtteri Bottas as during his first pit stop soft tires were put on the car, except for the right rear tire which had a medium tire fitted. This was considered a breach of the rules for mixing tires and Bottas was hit with a drive through penalty thus demoting him to 10th place.

Max Verstappen (STR) leads Jenson Button (McLaren)

As the Ricciardo/Perez battle continued to brew it was abruptly finished as Ricciardo's Red Bull experienced a hydraulic problem which bought him to halt on the start/finish straight. This lead to the deployment of the virtual safety car. Perez, Grosjean and Massa pitted for new tires whilst the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel stayed out on mediums after a quiet race so far. Vettel found himself in 3rd place but was attempting the unthinkable 1 stop strategy.

As in qualifying Romain Grosjean was a flying Frenchman and was the fastest man on track behind the two Mercedes who were running there own race at the front. Grosjean got past 4th place Perez and began to pull away whilst Kvyat also passed Perez before pitting for new soft tires making him an interesting prospect for the end.

The biggest battle of the race began between Romain Grosjean and Sebastian Vettel for the final spot on the podium. In the last 6-7 laps Romain Grosjean found himself 3 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel and catching him with much newer tires. The battle was fought all the way onto the penultimate lap and Sebastian Vettel was holding onto third when he had a right rear tire failure on the start of the Kemmel Straight thus promoting Grosjean into third with Vettel a DNF and classified 12th. Vettel was very angry and frustrated after the race as he felt if the tire had blown 200m earlier (through Eau Rouge) he could have been seriously injured.

Whilst the battle for third was settled the same couldn't be said for 4th through to 8th. Firstly Daniil Kvyat's strategy worked as he managed to get past Sergio Perez and grab 4th place just a couple of laps from the end. On the final lap Felipe Massa was under a lot pressure from Kimi Raikkonen as they fought for 6th place. DRS from Perez kept Massa alive in his battle. Max Verstappen had a chance to get ahead of Raikkonen heading in to Les Combes but his inexperience definitely showed as he overshot the corner in a dive bomb move and he lost too much time to try another move.

Felipe Massa of Williams was disappointed with his 6th place finish.

It was an exciting race and was definitely enjoyed by most. With Monza just 2 weeks away teams like Lotus and Force India will take a lot confidence heading to the power dependent circuit. Teams like Williams will be left wondering and out of confidence. The drive of the day definitely went to Romain Grosjean, but money concerns are hindering the team and people are wondering if they will make it to Monza. The final classification was:

1st) Lewis Hamilton
2nd) Nico Rosberg
3rd) Romain Grosjean
4th) Daniil Kvyat
5th) Sergio Perez
6th) Felipe Massa
7th) Kimi Raikkonen
8th) Max Verstappen
9th) Valtteri Bottas
10th) Marcus Ericsson
11th) Felipe Nasr
12th) Sebastian Vettel (DNF)
13th) Fernando Alonso
14th) Jenson Button
15th) Roberto Merhi
16th) Will Stevens
17th) Carlos Sainz (DNF)
18th) Daniel Ricciardo (DNF)
19th) Pastor Maldonado (DNF)
20th) Nico Hulkenberg (DNF)

Monza will take place from the 2nd-6th of September.

All images courtesy of www.Formula1.com

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Belgium Grand Prix - Qualifying Analysis

It appears once again that when Lewis Hamilton needs to turn up his game he simply can. The Brit stole the show and recorded his 6th straight pole position of the season yesterday in Spa.

Pole Sitter Lewis Hamilton

It was again a second fiddle for Nico Rosberg as he couldn't find an answer to Hamilton and finished almost 5 tenths down to his team mate.

One of the best chances for a win other than Mercedes is Valterri Bottas. In the last 2 races, the car in the P3 grid slot has found themselves leading out of turn 1. If Mercedes can continue to have problems with the starts, especially with the new rules applied here, Bottas could be a chance to secure his first race win. The numbers are also good for him considering the Brackley team haven't yet experienced the winners champagne in Spa.

P4 was taken by the flying Frenchman of Romain Grosjean in his Lotus but due to a gearbox change has a 5 place grid drop. This will promote Force India to the best grid spot of the season with Sergio Perez qualifying in 5th after flying lap time in Q3. The odds are with him as well as the Silverstone based team tend to do well here with a 1, 2 finish in 1998 (As Jordan Grand Prix) and Giancarlo Fisichella scoring Force India's maiden pole position and podium here in 2009. Perez will hope to repeat the scenes of Bahrain 2014 where he drove his Force India to 3rd place behind the Mercedes.

Force India consider themselves a chance for serious points with P5 and P11 on the grid.

This has certainly been made easier for him with a disappointing session from Ferrari. With Kimi Raikkonen in 14th place after his engine gave up down at turn 15 on his out lap. Sebastian Vettel was the last man to cross the line in Q3 and could only manage a very mediocre 9th. It's definately advanatge Williams in the constructors battle for 2nd.

Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari will start in P14.

Red Bull weren't much better with Ricciardo managing 6th and Kvyat only 12th. This probably points to a low fuel load being used in practice where the team appeared to be quite strong and now we are just seeing there true pace.

It was no better day for McLaren as Jenson Button managed to outqualify Fernando Alonso in 17th and 18th places. Both cars will drop to the back due to there engine penalties.

The Belgium Grand Prix will commence in just under 5 hours. The grid order looks like this:

1st) Lewis Hamilton

2nd) Nico Rosberg

3rd) Valtteri Bottas

4th) Romain Grosjean (5 Place Grid Penalty)

5th) Sergio Perez

6th) Daniel Ricciardo
7th) Felipe Massa
8th) Pastor Maldonado
9th) Sebastian Vettel
10th) Carlos Sainz
11th) Nico Hulkenberg
12th) Daniil Kvyat
13th) Marcus Ericsson
14th) Kimi Raikkonen
15th) Max Verstappen (10 Place Grid Penalty)
16th) Felipe Nasr
17th) Jenson Button (50 Place Grid Penalty)
18th) Fernando Alonso (55 Place Grid Penalty)
19th) Will Stevens
20th) Roberto Merhi

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Belgium Grand Prix - FP3 Analysis

It was a pretty quiet session on the beautiful flowing Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. The teams would have been thankful that no red flags were shown after losing a lot of time to them in FP2. Things were a little nervous in the last few moments of the session as Romain Grosjean passed a slower car of Kimi Raikkonen down at Turn 16.

The session was topped by Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes setting a 1:48.984 on the yellow wall soft (option) tire. His team mate Rosberg was 4 tenths slower and found himself in second.

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.

It was an impressive lap from Sergio Perez as he put his Force India in 5th behind 2 Ferrari's and 2 Mercedes. The new b spec aero package of the Force India and the Mercedes power unit make it a prospect for strong points in Sundays race.

Williams finished lower down in 9th and 10th after again opting to run more fuel during the session. Rob Smedley of Williams said: "I think were we'd be happy with that session" sounding very confident and positive. Could Williams again dupe Ferrari and steal the second row? Are they really hiding there true pace? It's very hard to tell, but they seem to be further up the grid than they were yesterday.

Looking ahead to qualifying the biggest moment I'm waiting for is to see where Red Bull find themselves. Red Bull finished 3rd in FP1 (Ricciardo) and 3rd and 4th in FP2. FP3 they found themselves in 6th and 7th which personally I couldn't have pictured earlier in the week. The Milton-Keynes unit seems to be taking a lot of Confidence from the double podium they achieved in Hungary.

Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing.

Red Bull could realistically be in the fight for the 2nd row joining Ferrari and Williams. I am looking forward to it as it shall definitely provide some excitement and heartbreak. Could a team like Force India join the party due to the track history of the team based in Silverstone? Qualifying kicks of in just under 2 hours and it is set to be a cracking session.

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Belgium GP 2015 Preview: I believe we should be in a reasonable position - Lotus

With the Belgium Grand Prix now just 2 days away many enthusiasts are thankful that the Summer Break has come to a close and what better track to start the second half of the season on then the fast and flowing Spa-Francorchamps in the beautiful Belgium countryside.

The circuit is the longest track of the season at a tick over 7km. Famous for its long striaghts and fast corners like Eau Rouge and Blanchimont Spa is very power dependent and teams like McLaren-Honda and Red Bull should find themselves struggling to keep up. This opens the door for a team to follow behind the top three of Mercedes, Williams and Ferrari. But just who exactly would this team be?

The first option is the newly Mercedes powered Lotus. With an experienced driver line up of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado the team is definitely in a good spot to contest Red Bull. The reason why Lotus aren't already there has been reliability with Maldonado retiring in the first 4 races of the season. With only 11 finishes out of a potential 20, Lotus have been in the points 7 of those 11 times. If Lotus isn't plagued by any of these niggling issues they should be on for a very good weekend. In an interview with formula1.com Lotus technical director Nick Chester has said: “It’s a strong power track and we have a strong power unit. We have fairly low drag on the E23 so I believe we should be in a reasonable position.”

Pastor Maldonado at Pre-Season testing in Jerez.

Lotus had strong competition from Force India though, with a new car they'll have both the grip and the speed and will be tough to beat. Force India's team principal Vijay Mallya told formula1,com that "We expect to be in good shape this weekend and we will be aiming for Q3 on Saturday and good points on Sunday.”

Sahara Force India race driver Sergio Perez

Sauber is another potential to spoil the party. After an amazing start to the season with 14 points the Swiss team have only managed 7 more points and have really dropped off in terms of pace. But with a newer spec Ferrari power unit and brand new aero package the team is feeling confident to launch up the field.

Once again Belgium is a track to suit Mercedes but don't fully discount Ferrari. They will have a lot of confidence from the result in Hungary.

The Belgium GP begins on the 21st of August with Friday practice.

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Sahara Force India - Mid Season Report

Crossing the line first in Formula One is usually the main goal, but today lets take a look at a team (that I coincidentally support) that are just happy to be crossing the line at the moment. They are currently holding on to an impressive 5th place in the constructors standings, Sahara Force India.

It was back in February of 2015 when pre-season testing commenced for the forthcoming 2015 Formula 1 season at the Circuito Jerez. Silverstone based Force India knew things were bad for them when they weren't present because there car wasn't ready. They had to wait to the second day of the third test in Catalunya before there first running commenced. The car was underdeveloped in terms of aero and wasn't fast with only the 13th and 14th fastest times, the only thing the new VJM08 had on its side, was a strong and reliable Mercedes power unit. The team was really on the backfoot in terms of pace going into Round 1.

Force India's Race Drivers, Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.

However this power unit reliability advantage allowed the team to score its first points in Australia. Hulkenberg finished in 7th and Perez 10th (out of only 11 finishers) whilst most of the Renault and Honda power units hit trouble. The team knew it would be a long battle to Round 8 of the championship to a mid-season test where the team would debut its much faster "b" spec car.
The next 7 rounds proved relatively difficult with no points in Malaysia, China and Spain. But a very good race in Round 8 in Austria, a very power dependent circuit which suited the under developed car. Hulkenberg finished 9th and Perez a season-best 6th.

Nico Hulkenberg has a scary moment in Hungary as his front wing spontaneously fails.

Then finally, the team had crawled through 8 rounds and had 31 constructors points and found themselves sitting in 5th place ahead of Lotus, Sauber and Toro Rosso. The Austrian test was upon the team. Confidence was high after great results in the race. Everyone had worked hard. This was the moment. A brand new car. Esteban Ocon fresh at the controls. The garage opens and the light goes green at the end of the pit lane. This brand new sleek car pulls out of the garage, and the first thing you notice is these massive huge nostrils on the nose cone of the car! I have to admit I saw it on Facebook and was laughing. But as I began to read I realized the team had done what they do best. They had bought innovation, individuality and a lot of imagination to this new design. It's pushing the regulations to the limit, the limit, thats what Formula One about. For me this was the best moment of the season. It was such a proud thing to be a fan on this innovative team who were achieving new things. We headed to Silverstone with our heads high and hopeful for good results. The team didn't disappoint with both cars in the points with a 9th and 7th place.

The new Force India VJM08 with the unique "nostril" design.

The season hasn't been the best one for Force India so far but we are now looking up, it was more bad luck that caused a double DNF in Hungary and I don't think the team will dwell. I know the last nine races should suit them with power hungry circuits like Belgium, Italy and the new Mexican circuit.

One interesting question that I have been wondering, is how have we managed 5th in the constructors with such an underdeveloped aero package? One word: Reliability. At the halfway point in the season, Force India has only had 3 retirements, (it's only 1 if you minus Hungary!). Whereas competitors Lotus have had 9 and Toro Rosso 8. *I quietly thank the F1 gods for letting Vijay Mallya not buy Renault engines*. Now the team is looking forward to the Belgium Grand Prix a circuit which will suit the car and its power-unit.

Sergio Perez Practicing in Hungary.

But before I finish I have a message for the Milton-Keynes team of Red Bull. You better make sure that Kvyat and Ricciardo's mirrors are cleaned well in Spa, because that Sahara Force India is going to be right up nearly touching your rear diffuser through Eau Rouge and at that moment you will truly #FeelTheForce

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