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.
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.
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
