FR3.5 @ Spa

[Rf1 Fan]

Race 1 this afternoon.

Sainz on pole
Gasly P2
Sirotkin P3
Stanaway P4
...
rowland P10

[bella]

the weather is broken - it's both sunny and (relatively) warm. i'd like to say expect the unexpected for the race but really, it's the wrong type of cloud!

bodes well for a properly competitive race. behind sainz anyway

[p-matt]

Shame Comtec aren't racing here. Was Martsenko impacted by the threats to Russian sponsorship that was talked about a few weeks ago.

Good to see Stanaway back and bang on the pace on the track that forced him out of single seaters for a few years.

[Rf1 Fan]

Originally Posted by bella

the weather is broken - it's both sunny and (relatively) warm. i'd like to say expect the unexpected for the race but really, it's the wrong type of cloud!

bodes well for a properly competitive race. behind sainz anyway

hmm i would'nt count out gasly

[skells22]

the hold up was the lights playing up, now under SC after 4 car crash

[bella]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Shame Comtec aren't racing here. Was Martsenko impacted by the threats to Russian sponsorship that was talked about a few weeks ago.

i don't believe he had anything to do with them. last year's russian money was different to this years russian money. not to say it hasn't been affected by a non-sanction related political rethink though.

[chunterer]

Well initial thoughts....

Couple of silly incidents at Les Combes at the beginning of both races. Merhi causing the pile up that took Stanaway out. Roberto is a good driver and is beginning to look a bit desperate as things haven't gone how he would've expected so far.

Sirotkin was a bit robust with Fantin at the same spot on Sunday too if you ask me.

Otherwise Sainz might well end up as one of the most dominant champions in the series history unless any of his rivals improve their consistency. At the moment Rowland and Stevens seem best of ths rest but you get the impression that Gasly and Nato are getting there?

Jafaar is exceeding my expectations, very strong drive on Saturday!

[Rf1 Fan]

I don't think that Nato is getting here, he is just miles behind Sainz Jr.

Gasly is already there even if he did not win a race he is really ultra consistant and blowing away Will Buller right now. We have to remember that right now he is working on his A Level exam before focusing on Racing contrary to his rivals.

[bella]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Couple of silly incidents at Les Combes at the beginning of both races. Merhi causing the pile up that took Stanaway out. Roberto is a good driver and is beginning to look a bit desperate as things haven't gone how he would've expected so far.

i'm undecided about whose fault that one was, it looked a bit six of one and half dozen of the other racing incident type thing! i agree merhi's not looking very good, but if he wanted to look very good then he probably needed a much bigger budget

i'm not sure who i felt more sorry for on sunday, rowland for not making it out of the pits quick enough or stanaway for not making it in fast enough. richie's pace all weekend more than justified a podium, but rowland was looking more like the driver we know he is!

it hasn't been a great start for sirotkin, has it? and nato is really frustrating to watch. he obviously knows his arse from his elbow, but why isn't it happening? he simply isn't that much slower than sainz in "real" terms.

[chunterer]

Nato = Sorensen malaise?

The ability is there but what's the story? !

[olev]

Well, Nato has only been in one FR3.5 team, whereas Sorensen's been in two and he performed a lot better in the first. So the first thing that comes to my mind is the team. He shined in Monaco, but as long as the car isn't a complete mess, the driver is what matters there. Anywhere else, he hasn't been where we would expect him to be.
As for Nato, his season and results are not so different from last year at this stage.

[bella]

insert obligatory "it's can't be the team, it's dams" comment...

[olev]

Originally Posted by bella

insert obligatory "it's can't be the team, it's dams" comment...

I don't know if it was a sarcastic comment, but just to avoid any misunderstandings:

In Sorensen's case, I think it might have to do with the car. He was reasonably quick at Lotus, why not with Tech1?

Regarding Nato, he's only been in Dams and his results are not so different from last year. If he goes for a 3rd season with another team and he's quicker, I'd would also say Dams car didn't suit his driving style. All this assuming the championship level would remain more or less constant (and I'd say this year is a bit lower than 2013).
In the end, the fact that Dams will potentially win 2 driver championships in a row, doesn't mean every driver that sits in their car can reach their maximum potential. When you have a good driver in your team (and they've had 2 recently), the tendency is to setup the slower car like the faster, even if it's only to show the slower driver you're providing both of them with the same material/possibilities. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't I don't know if this is actually happening in Dams, but I've seen it in other teams.

[bella]

it wasn't a sarcastic comment, more of a "well, someone somewhere is thinking that it can't possibly be the team because they're insanely highly regarded at the moment", so i'll say it

i was under the impression that there were very very minor differences in setup between teams, any variations are really just a slight tweak to get it to react in a way the driver is comfortable with. but you would hope that if there was a "he can drive it fast set up this way" attitude, then the driver would have moved on.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Surely if he's been failing to reach his potential for this amount of time in the same car with the same team, then maybe the car itself could be a problem...

[olev]

... or the potential it is what we've seen and the expectations too high ... It's always hard to say :P

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by p-matt

Shame Comtec aren't racing here. Was Martsenko impacted by the threats to Russian sponsorship that was talked about a few weeks ago.

Good to see Stanaway back and bang on the pace on the track that forced him out of single seaters for a few years.

According to the latest issue of Autosport mag, Martsenko's career is over after his Dad decided he wasn't funding it anymore.
That is, unless Martsenko can find alternative funding.

[Mekola]

Sad, mostly when Martsenko did some respectable results this season.