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2017 Belgium Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: And now the momentum slides towards Hamilton. And though it will probably be the same through Monza, this momentum will continue to ride the see-saw.

TRACK: We expected more passing with the new regulations, but it's always a pleasure to watch a race at Spa.

EVENT: What an amazing crowd ... on Friday. That day alone outdid just about every flyaway event on race day.

QUALIFYING: Hamilton improves on every lap for complete control, Vettel pulls a flier on the last lap to leap to second, McLaren regressed, and Williams were miserable.

START: A good, clean, exciting start, the Force India's touch (oh, boy!), otherwise amongst all the excitement everyone essentially slots into their starting position.

RACE: A race of wills as the lead duo were hardly ever more than two seconds apart. Hamilton could not make a mistake while Vettel always had to keep the leader in site. Then, there's the Force India race of wills...

HAMILTON: The summer break did him good.

BOTTAS: Not even close to matching his teammate.

VETTEL: Will probably have to wait till Singapore.

RAIKKONEN: Not even close to matching his teammate. But what a pass on Bottas.

RICCIARDO: The 2017 master of opportunistic podium finishes.

VERSTAPPEN: Time for an exorcism.

HULKENBERG: The mainstay for Renault.

PALMER: Not the mainstay for Renault.

GROSJEAN: Nice rebound for Haas.

MAGNUSSEN: How many drivers have done dumb-ass mistakes on a restart? F1 teams really need to hire Indy car drivers as restart coaches.

MASSA: Somehow, Felipe salvaged the weekend for Williams.

WILLIAMS: Their second half development has just been dreadful.

PEREZ: You are not going to get the Ferrari drive, and not because Kimi signed on for another year. Because you are proving yourself to be a lousy teammate. And Ferrari will not at all put up with that. Not at all.

OCON: Esteban isn't exactly all innocent either.

FORCE INDIA: It's all about constructor points for this underfunded team. Having teammates who don't get along just won't do.

WEHRLEIN: We would predict Pascal at Force India next year, replacing Perez, with Mercedes making up for the lost Mexican sponsorship. But are two young Mercedes development drivers on the same team any better than the Perez-Ocon toxicity?

SAINZ: Gets a point for Toro Rosso.

KVYAT: Doesn't get any points for Toro Rosso.

HONDA: Honda makes huge steps ... showing off their lack of power.

ALONSO: Let's face it, Fernando abandoned the race on his own. His options are running out for 2018. McLaren (most likely), Renault (possibly), Williams (doubtful), or leave F1 altogether to run Indy car (for a lot less money).

VANDOORNE: What is the use of a 65-spot grid penalty? We would love to see a team setup a driver for a 100+ grid penalty. Just because it would be a hilarious statement to the FIA.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Teammates.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 50 -- The 50th time Spa hosted the Belgian Grand Prix.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Fifty is also the anniversary in which Dan Gurney won at Spa in an Eagle-Weslake, the only All-American victory in F1. The only other All American win in grand prix racing came in 1921 when Jimmy Murphy won the French GP at Le Mans in a Duesenberg. However, Gurney's achievement also included a car he designed and built himself.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Max Verstappen on his sixth DNF in 12 races, "I'm actually competing against Fernando [Alonso] in terms of retirements."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Although we believe the Safety Car call was the correct one because of all the potential tire puncturing debris leading into Eau Rouge, we still got a kick out of Lewis Hamilton's description, "I felt it was a bit like NASCAR, where they keep pulling out the Safety Cars for no reason."

SCHEDULE: Can the tifosi will Vettel to a win on a track more suitable to Mercedes power?

Copyright © 2017 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 44
2. Vettel 44
3. Ricciardo 44
4. Raikkonen 44
5. Bottas 44
6. Hulkenberg 44
7. Grosjean 44
8. Massa 44
9. Ocon 44
10. Sainz 44
11. Stroll(R) 44
12. Kvyat 44
13. Palmer 44
14. Vandoorne(R) 44
15. Magnussen 44
16. Ericsson 44
17. Perez 42
NC Alonso 25
NC Verstappen 7
NC Wehrlein 2

Time of Race
1:24:42.820

Margin of Victory
2.358 sec.

Safety Car
1 for 5 laps

Lead Changes
2 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders
Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel

Fastest Race Lap
Sebastian Vettel

Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Vettel 220
2. Hamilton 213
3. Bottas 179
4. Ricciardo 132
5. Raikkonen 128
6. Verstappen 67
7. Perez 56
8. Ocon 47
9. Sainz 36
10. Hulkenberg 34
11. Massa 27
12. Grosjean 24
13. Stroll(R) 18
14. Magnussen 11
15. Alonso 10
16. Wehrlein 5
17. Kvyat 4
18. Vandoorne(R) 1

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 392
2. Ferrari 348
3. Red Bull 199
4. Force India 103
5. Williams 45
6. Toro Rosso 40
7. Haas 35
8. Renault 34
9. McLaren 11
10. Sauber 5
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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