[Official] Driver of the Grand Prix: Belgian Grand Prix 2019

[Born Racer]

Who gets your vote?

[F J Nedos]

On one leg - gotta be Kimi

[Adam43]

I wanted to give to Norris, but also Leclerc. So I went for the race winner.

Albon came good at the end too.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Not too sure who to give it to but I suppose Leclerc for his debut win.

[seanyb505]

Leclerc not just for the race win, but the management of the race that even gave him the opportunity to hold off Hamilton instead of dealing with a Vettel-like drop off.

Norris ran a quiet race. Leaders cleared off, and until the final lap Perez was a ways off. While that takes more talent than I'll ever have, I don't think that kind of performance warrants dotd.

[JacobP]

I was going to vote for Alonso as usual, because he always extracts 105% of performance from his car, so people always say, but this poll didn't have this option today

[Mike Bell]

Lando and Charles both deserve DOTR in my opinion, but as I can only vote for one, it’s the latter.

[Neil22]

Gave it to Charles. Kudos to Lando and Sebastian.

[Peter Mallett]

It has to be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZelPcA2Dz2c

I think Lando deserves more praise than some would give him. Yes it was a lonely race but he got there when others were throwing it away. Kept a very cool head to miss the accident and keep a consistent pace.

The other stand out was Albon.

We appear to have some very talented young drivers coming through although we very sadly lost one on Saturday.

[TrapezeArtist]

Three young guns fighting it out for DoGP.

Lando Norris had one of those first corners that every racer dreams of. Everyone in front is busy bumping in to each other and a beautiful gap opens up. He grabbed the opportunity and then made full use of it. Of course he was never going to get close to the Mercs and Ferraris but he built a good lead over everyone else, so he was clearly doing things right. He's a real talent.

Alex Albon was always going to have a sink-or-swim Belgian GP. In the first few laps it wasn't looking great but then he hit the sweet spot. After that he was mightily impressive.

Charles Leclerc outshone his 4xWC team-mate in both qually and the race. And he won, so he is my DoGP.

But let's not forget the former Young Gun (when that was a proper team) who chased down Leclerc in the closing stages and would almost certainly have won if there had been a couple of more laps. Honourable mention.

[BertMk2]

Norris for me - but only just. Albon and LeClerc were in the picture too.

Also - more excellent radio from Kimi

[Lancsbreaker]

LeClerc for a mature and measured performance in very difficult circumstances, with as others have said honourable mentions for Lando Norris and Albon - who disappointed initially but after the pitstop seemed to have a completely different car - and used it to good effect.

[Peter Mallett]

Albon - who disappointed initially but after the pitstop seemed to have a completely different car - and used it to good effect.

He had an engine upgrade, I wonder if they were restricting it or at least his use of it, in the first part? He certainly brought some smiles to the team's faces though.

[S griffin]

We'll see what the engine upgrade brings. I think I heard it on the Autosport podcast that they reverted to a spec 2 for the race. Still it was good to see them up there, would have nice have seen both cars up there

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

We'll see what the engine upgrade brings. I think I heard it on the Autosport podcast that they reverted to a spec 2 for the race. Still it was good to see them up there, would have nice have seen both cars up there

Red Bull report that Verstappen was on the old-spec (3) engine.
Albon took the new-spec (4), which is why he had the grid penalty. His explanation for the 'race of two halfs' is that he couldn't get the first set of tyres to 'switch on', but when he put softs on the car felt a lot better to drive.

[S griffin]

I am not if it was spec 2 or spec 3 Max was on. If Gasly was on spec 4 it makes sense to have it done now. It seems the RBR comes good at the end of the race, problem is their only one was a bit far behind

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I am not if it was spec 2 or spec 3 Max was on. If Gasly was on spec 4 it makes sense to have it done now. It seems the RBR comes good at the end of the race, problem is their only one was a bit far behind

After the Hungarian GP, the Red Bull and Toro Rosso cars were all using the spec 3 engine.

For Belgium, the spec 4 engine was available for all four cars. The team(s) chose to install this on Albon's and Kvyat's cars, resulting in them both having a grid penalty.

Gasly and Verstappen kept their spec 3 engines for Belgium, and will face penalties if/when they move to the spec 4.

The only drivers on the grid who could theoretically make an engine change without penalty are Vettee and The Cleric, and the expectation is that we will see their upgrade at Monza.

[GT6]

Well only one driver in this race really

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by GT6

Well only one driver in this race really

Alonso?

[gert]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

The only drivers on the grid who could theoretically make an engine change without penalty are Vettee and The Cleric, and the expectation is that we will see their upgrade at Monza.

And Hulkenberg, Ricciardo and Sainz. They all took a grid penalty but reverted to an old engine. They can use the new (unused) engine in Monza or Singapore without taking a (new) penalty now.

[chillibowl]

Norris...prior to retirment, his lead over Perez in P6 was massive.

Would like to know more about his pace. Not sure where the time was found but maybe Mclaren came out of the break huge?

[F1Pete]

I am disappointed. There was alot of hype on Sky regarding Kimi's performance prior to the race. I remember the commentators saying that the Mercedes team was concerned about the straight line speed of Kimi's car. Hearing that got me amped up only to end in disappointment which was totally Verstappen's fault. Kimi could have won the race. Who knows? Anyway, I abstain from voting.

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by gert

And Hulkenberg, Ricciardo and Sainz. They all took a grid penalty but reverted to an old engine. They can use the new (unused) engine in Monza or Singapore without taking a (new) penalty now.

Yes - I meant making an engine change that involves new units being used.

The Red pair are the only drivers to have used just 2 ICEs, TCs and MGU-Hs so far.

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Norris for me - but only just. Albon and LeClerc were in the picture too.

Also - more excellent radio from Kimi

Kimi left a huge gap himself



The gap Max went for was a lot larger than the gap Lando succesfully went for

[Peter Mallett]

Hmm, not entirely certain of your logic there, since Max was being squeezed, but when Lando got there, both cars were exiting stage left.