Three things we learned from the Belgian Grand Prix / Photo: © AFP/File
Three things we learned from the Belgian Grand Prix
Mercedes may appear to be the runaway Formula One leaders, but closer examination suggests rivals Ferrari have found the consistency and reliability to fight for both championships after the summer break.
As the 22-race season approaches its halfway point, with the 11th race in Hungary next weekend, the Silver Arrows are experiencing a run of alternating bitter-sweet weekends.
In Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli shone for a first win in four races while the George Russell crashed out on the opening lap.
AFP Sport looks at three things we learned from an intriguing Spa-Francorchamps:
- Furious Russell title bid unravels -
Normally mild-mannered Russell, who was a pre-season favourite to win the drivers' title, struggled to hide his feelings during an expletive-loaded outburst after his first lap retirement following a collision with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari.
He had lost all his battery power on the Kemmel Straight before clashing with Hamilton at Les Combes and blamed this for the accident and his exit.
"I'm out," said the 28-year-old Briton, who slipped from second, 25 points behind team-mate Antonelli, to third, 50 adrift as the Italian teenager secured his sixth win of the year.
"It was dangerous.
"I got swamped by three cars and I shouldn’t have been in the position and that’s why I am angry," he added to explain his rant.
Russell's season has been punctuated by power management problems in F1's new 'hybrid era' with Mercedes conceding his troubles were not due to his driving style.
Team boss Toto Wolff said the team were to blame for his Russell's Belgian issues.
Hamilton's series of 10 points-scoring races, including victory in Spain, has lifted him up to second, 45 behind Antonelli, with updates to come as Ferrari gain momentum.
- Antonelli finds a style -
As Russell flounders, his 19-year-old teammate flourishes under the guidance of race engineer Peter 'Bono' Bonnington, who was previously in charge of Hamilton and has vast experience.
Bonnington's calming influence and expertise has helped the precocious Italian handle the pressure of success, controlling his emotions and managing the complexities of battery deployment this season – leaving him to focus on his natural gift for speed.
His pure talent, giving him an innate feel for racing, has also played a significant role as he bids to become F1's youngest champion.
He will be 20 next month and may therefore be three years younger than Sebastian Vettel, when he took his first title aged 23 in 2010, if he succeeds this year.
- Hamilton in the title hunt, Verstappen open to offers -
At 41, Hamilton has shown he remains a force to be reckoned with by making the best of a difficult weekend when he crashed in FP3, collided with Russell, was given a five-second penalty, survived a narrow miss in the pits and drove a damaged Ferrari to fourth place.
It confirmed his determination to keep alive his bid for an eighth title at a time when the future of great former rival four-time champion Max Verstappen, who finished third behind Leclerc on Sunday, remains unresolved.
A performance clause in his contract may allow him to leave if Red Bull are not in the title race at the end of July, but there are no known attractive vacancies elsewhere – thus generating speculation, denied by all parties, of a swap deal with McLaren for Oscar Piastri.
In F1, this time of year is known as 'silly season.'
F.Patel--VC
