A bit late, and now recovered from the World Cup celebrations, it’s time to talk about the other event that stopped the world last weekend. Of course, I’m talking about the Belgian Grand Prix.
Are you kidding, Goguma? Nobody watched that.
Alright, fine, maybe I exaggerated a bit. But it was interesting all the same, even if it wasn’t exactly the best race of the championship. Still, it was an important race: for me, the title has almost been decided. Well, maybe not quite, but Antonelli’s win has dealt a real blow to the championship.
What happened?
As I said, Kimi Andrea Antonelli won the race with ease. His teammate, Russell, had problems from qualifying onward; it seems his car is slower in qualifying trim. For some reason his engine isn’t performing the way it should, and even Mercedes is investigating the issue without reaching a clear conclusion. On top of that, in the opening corners of the race he was hit by Lewis Hamilton and ended up in the gravel, forced to retire. In other words, he scored 0 points. Antonelli won the race, adding another 25 points to extend his championship lead.
Ugh, Goguma, bad news for the championship.
It seems the lead is starting to look decisive if things don’t change. I know there’s still a long way to go and many races left, but it’s already 45 points over second place, now Hamilton, and 50 over his own teammate. It’s going to be tough for anyone to close that gap if Antonelli keeps this up. What I think could affect things most is Mercedes’ reliability, which has been inconsistent. If Antonelli keeps this form, it’s very hard to see him losing the whole advantage, but we’ll see.
But did anything else happen?
Honestly, apart from the first-lap incident, the race was predictable and even boring. I’m not a fan of this year’s Formula 1, which feels like it’s being run from the pit wall. The batteries don’t have enough capacity, so it’s up to the engineers to decide where to deploy energy. It feels artificial.
Antonelli was only chased by Leclerc, and he took the lead thanks to the virtual safety car when Leclerc made his pit stop. Antonelli then began the chase until he caught up with Leclerc. He arrived and passed him without any trouble.
What about the Spanish drivers?
Not great, they can’t do much with the cars they have: neither Carlos Sainz nor Fernando Alonso, finishing 16th and 19th respectively. Sainz qualified 14th but had to start from 19th after being penalized due to battery issues that required a change. On the positive side, the car held up for the entire race, and he even gained a few positions thanks to other retirements.
As for Aston Martin, the situation is worrying, with Alonso finishing last. Big upgrades are expected for the team this coming weekend’s race, though. We’ll have to see, although they’re so far behind that it might not be enough.
Did anyone else watch the race, or was it just me? Did it entertain you? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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