Rindi Putra
In the F1 Belgian GP race in 2023, we witness the glory of the Red Bull team again. Although Max Verstappen started from 6th position due to a gearbox change, he managed to snatch 1st place from Sergio Perez on lap 17 and finished on lap 44 with a 22-second advantage over his teammate Sergio Perez. The following is a summary of the 2023 Belgian GP race by RindiTech.com
In this race weekend, F1 fans were also shocked by the news of the dismissal of Alpine's principal team, Otmar Szafnauer, 1 day before the start of the Belgian GP. Even though in this race Alpine's driver, Pierre Gasly, managed to get a podium by finishing P3 in the Sprint Race, it still doesn't change Alpine's decision to terminate Otmar's contract.
At the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, Pirelli brought a set of mid tires C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), and C4 (Soft). Apart from slicks (dry) tires, Pirelli also carries a set of tires for wet or rainy conditions, Full Wet and Intermediate. As predicted, racers use wet tires more often because of the weather conditions which always rain many times.
However, during the main race wet tires were never used because the rain only fell briefly and the drivers did not want to take the risk of having to enter the pits and losing a lot of time which meant losing a lot of positions.
Belgian GP 2023 Lights out! Drama Sainz v Oscar in the Opening Lap
On the opening lap, the fans were treated to the drama of Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri at turn 1. Carlos Sainz, who wanted to overtake Lewis Hamilton in front of him, had to take the inside lane because he was locked up moments before, unfortunately, Oscar Piastri was already on the inside.
Oscar also had to avoid Sainz's maneuvers at turn 1, but unfortunately, Oscar had no other way and had to
feel the hardness of the road dividing wall that was on the lane in turn 1. With this incident, Oscar was forced to stop racing (retire) in sector 3 of the circuit due to damage. the one in the car is too bad. This result is inversely proportional to the race at the British GP where Oscar managed to finish in 4th position.
Carlos Sainz also received damage to his car, but Ferrari made the decision to continue the race with the hope that the Red Flag would come when the rains came and they could repair Carlos Sainz's car, which had damage on his sidepod.
Because the damage to Sainz's car was also quite bad after the incident with Piastri, Sainz's race position continued to decline until he was in the last position.
On lap 24, Carlos Sainz was forced to leave the race or retire because the red flag that was expected to appear when rain conditions did not occur. That way Carlos Sainz became the second racer to leave the race following Oscar Piastri.
Finally, Ferrari was not too sad because their driver was one more, Charles Leclerc managed to take 3rd position at the end of the race, thus adding to Leclerc's and Ferrari's podium collections.
The peak of Max Verstappen and Red Bull in Formula 1
In this Belgian GP race, we will see again how the Red Bull team dominates by bringing home 1st place, 2nd place, and the constructors' cup. 1st place was awarded by Max Verstappen and 2nd place by Sergio Perez. The race constructors' championship is automatically awarded to the team whose driver finishes in 1st place.
Perez, who started from 2nd position behind Charles Leclerc managed to take 1st position on the opening lap, Perez took advantage of the car's momentum as well as the power of the Red Bull engine in the straight to overtake Charles Leclerc on the Kemmel straight.
However, Perez's position as race leader did not last long, Perez had to give up 1st position to Max Verstappen who used the same Red Bull car on lap 17. Even though Max Verstappen started from 6th position while Sergio Perez started from 2nd position.
Not only that but at the end of the race, Sergio Perez was far behind Max Verstappen who was in first place. Even though he finished 2nd, Perez must be mentally prepared because he will definitely be criticized for finishing 22 seconds behind Verstappen in the same car.
With this result, Verstappen managed to continue its record with 8 consecutive race wins, and Red Bull with 12 consecutive wins in one racing season.
Yuki Tsunoda's All Out to Defend 1 Championship Point
In the back group, I was very impressed with Yuki Tsunoda's struggle to get 1 championship point for the Alpha Tauri team. After being humiliated by Daniel Ricciardo in the Hungarian GP by finishing far behind, Tsunoda was finally able to avenge the defeat.
Starting from 11th position, Yuki managed to climb to eighth position on the first lap and continued to move up to sixth position on the fifth lap. Having stayed in sixth position until lap 10, Tsunoda finally entered the pits to change his Soft tires to Medium tires and exited the pits in tenth position with new tires.
Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo, who had to start from the 19th position because the lap time was deleted, was unable to overtake Kevin Magnussen, who was in front of him, until they both entered the pits and changed tires. Ricciardo managed to overtake Magnussen in the pit stop area which got a slow pit stop.
In general, Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo use almost the same strategy, namely 3 stops (changing tires 3 times). The difference is that Tsunoda uses the Medium - Medium - Soft strategy, while Ricciardo uses Soft - Medium - Medium.
After doing battle with several racers, including his former teammate, Pierre Gasly, Tsunoda managed to finish in 10th position (starting from 11th position). Ricciardo, who started from 19th position, was only able to move up 3 positions to 16th.
Even though Yuki only rose 1 position while Daniel rose 3 positions, Yuki's struggle to win 10th position is considered more meaningful because the racer who finishes in 10th position is entitled to 1 championship point.
Even though there is still half a season left, at least Yuki Tsunoda has managed to show what she is capable of and not immediately give up on the senior ex-Red Bull racer, Daniel Ricciardo.
Raining, Lots of overtaking, Hamilton's Fastest Lap
At the Belgian GP this time, many predicted that it would rain heavily, but in fact, it only rained briefly and after that, the circuit conditions were sunny again. That way none of the racers use wet tires because the time to change tires is too long and you can lose position.
In the front position, it is rare to see battles between racers, but in the middle and rear groups, there is a lot of overtaking between racers. With many variations of strategy, many drivers meet with different tire conditions so there is a lot of overtaking.
The last thing that caught our attention was the Mercedes team's effort to get the fastest lap points at the end of the race. At the end of the race, the Mercedes team decided to call Lewis Hamilton into the pits again to replace his old soft tire with the new Medium tires. And the result was that Hamilton managed to get 1 additional point for the fastest lap in the Belgian GP race with a time of 1:49.907.
Also read:
- McLaren Successfully Recruits Red Bull's Chief Engineering Officer, Rob Marshall
- Yuki Tsunoda's Uphill Battle for a Red Bull Racing Seat
- Origins of Lewis Hamilton's "Hammertime" on Team Radio - The Story
- Andretti On Joining F1: "They told me to buy but no one wants to sell!"
- What is the meaning of "Dentist" in Racing Community?
- Not Bridgestone, F1 Will Extend Contract With Pirelli Until 2027
- Toto Wolf Disagree With Anti-Red Bull Tweaks, What Is It?
- Max Verstappen Builds a GT3 Team with Sim Racing Driver
- Max Verstappen on Las Vegas GP Opening Ceremony: "Like a clown."
- F1 Las Vegas GP Race Notes: Leclerc Masterclass, Perez Locked P2 in Standings
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