The Importance of Saturday

 

It might as well have been Bernd Mayländer who won this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix after what was a rain-filled, miserable Sunday. 

The grid failed to get away as the rain poured at Spa on Sunday. Aqua planing was the order for the day as every driver could not see anything ahead of them given the sheer amount of spray that spat up from the cars ahead. The safety car led every lap however it was the order in which the drivers had qualified which determined their final position at the end of the race. 

This meant that Max Verstappen would win the race with none other than George Russell in second after what was a magnificent Q3 lap and Lewis Hamilton to round out the podium places. 

Given that only 2 laps were completed (and that too behind the Safety Car), only half points were awarded to all the points finishers which now means that Max is 3 points behind Lewis in the driver's championship. The constructors would have seen a bigger swing had it not been for Sergio Perez crashing out on his out lap on his way to the grid. From 7th he was out of the race until the Red Bull mechanics fixed his car to bring him back but that would end up being useless given that he finished 20th. 

What this race has shown is that there is a huge level of importance that must be placed on qualifying on the Saturday. The poor lap times by the likes of Bottas, Perez, and Stroll ended up coming back to haunt them as none of them left the weekend with any points. Leclerc and Sainz, whilst finishing outside the top 10 did manage to gain some points because of the penalties for drivers around them. On the other hand, those who rose to the occasion and performed: George Russell, Danny Ric, Gasly, and Vettel (to name a few) all would depart Spa with happiness. The same cannot be said about Lewis Hamilton who qualified in 3rd and would have hoped to win given that the Mercedes was looking quick with the aero set up they had brought this weekend. 

A special mention has to be given once again to Mr. Saturday himself: George Russell. After making it to Q3 - a very rare occasion for the Williams team, they made a brilliant strategy call to not go out early in the final 12 minutes of qualifying. Instead, they waited till the track was at its optimum state - albeit with a decent amount of water, got their new, fresh tyres in the perfect window at the perfect temperature and with George at the helm, drove a brilliant lap and kept the car at the right places resulting in that brilliant P2 qualification. 

The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix was a clear example of how important qualifying is in Formula 1. Many feel as though it is boring and that it does not add to the weekend as it's just a method to see how cars stack up on the grid. Some believe that sprint qualifying should be the norm even, however, I will assert my validation regarding Saturday's qualifying sessions and their importance in the grand scheme of a weekend. 

I'm sorry this week's blog post has been short and lacking the spice that it usually should. There just wasn't enough happening this weekend apart from the brilliant Go Karting race next to the circuit which was captured brilliantly by the Heli-cam. 

Congratulations once again to you George Russell you absolute beauty. We head for the first time to Zandvoort - home of Max Verstappen for the second race of this triple header. Looking forward to actually having a race this time.