After watching the Hungarian Grand Prix on television it was my turn to head to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix the following weekend. However, this time it was going to be different – for the first time I was going to be a (paid) guest of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team in the Paddock Club and be able to experience the race, the people & the team in person. The weekend experience will be a feature of an article in the next AM Quarterly and this report will focus on the race and the build-up to it.
The circuit, set deep in the Ardennes Forest, is one of the most famous and the longest (7 km/4.35 miles) on the F1 calendar and is much liked by the drivers. It has the biggest difference in elevation change (102 meters) and 19 fast-flowing corners with one of the biggest thrills coming at the roller-coaster lowest point of the track, Eau Rouge, before the cars race up the hill known as the Kemmel Straight. The circuit’s location is also renowned for the weather playing a central and changing role – the unpredictability adding to the challenge and the spectacle. Coming to the race, the team was still in a positive frame of mind, despite securing only a point in Hungary and there being some friction between the drivers, after Stroll didn’t give 10th place back to Alonso on the last lap, after Alonso had let Stroll past, in order for him to attempt to try and pass Tsunoda who was ahead of them both.
Despite rain being in the forecast FP1 commenced on a relatively dry track, thanks to the supporting races that had taken place earlier in the day. But to be safe, the green machines got on their way as soon as they were ready so as to get on with their practice routine. At this point I was able to sit at the back of the garage and observe all the proceedings right there where it was all happening, with a number of screens available and a choice of team radio or track commentary headphones. The team then brought Stroll’s car in and then Alonso’s right before my very eyes, less than 5 yards away! After 25 minutes, Stroll’s time was 11th fastest & Alonso’s was 13th, 1.433 & 1.787 seconds slower respectively than the front runner, Max Verstappen. Stroll was then sent out but there was still work being done on Alonso's car, as he’d raised concerns about the engine & why he was slower in the first sector of the circuit? Eventually, he was sent out, but they ended up posting only the 10th fastest time (Stroll) with Alonso 12th. The weather also stayed kind for the FP2 session later in the afternoon and again the AMs went out early so that the drivers could familiarise themselves further with the recently resurfaced areas of the track and for the team to learn more about the updates that were applied to the AMR24s in Hungary. When 15 minutes of the session had passed Stroll had posted the 10th fastest time & Alonso the 13th. I was then able to go back to the garage, watch the driver onboards & listen to the team radios. By the halfway stage, Stroll was up to 8th and he came back into the garage, while Alonso was 11th. I listened intently on the radio to the mechanics & engineers discussing the adjustments that needed to be made to the wings of fractions of a mm. When Alonso came in, Stroll went out, followed shortly after by Alonso. They both had a bit of catching up to do as with just under 15 minutes to go Stroll was down in 11th & Alonso was 12th. But when the chequered flag came out to end the session there was no improvement & that is where they finished.
The following day, Spa was truer to form and the predicted rain poured down saturating the track surface by the time FP3 began. I was allowed back into the garage again to watch the cars tiptoe round the circuit in very wet conditions and taking more than 2 minutes to get round the lap - 20 seconds slower than the previous day. Both AMs went out on track and no sooner had he started, Stroll lost control of his Aston Martin through Eau Rouge, snapped into the run-off area, did a 360 and thumped the inside wall, which caused significant car damage and put him out of the session. The session was red flagged and Alonso had to be brought in. Although the accident didn’t seem that bad, Stroll was taken to the Medical Centre for precautionary checks. Also, his car was scooped up by the cranes and placed onto the back of a recovery lorry. Alonso waited patiently for 15 minutes for the restart, under the watchful eye of an FIA scrutineer. When the session was restarted no drivers were in a rush to head back out on track when the green light came back on as the rain continued to fall and the track continued to get wetter. With 25 minutes remaining the red flag appeared again, signifying that the track conditions were too dangerous to continue. During this period sections of Stroll’s car were wheeled in, under cover. FP3 eventually restarted with just 3 minutes to go and as there was little chance that anyone could improve their time, that is how it finished – Stroll 7th, Alonso 13th. The mechanics then set about putting Stroll’s car together again. However, due to the G-forces that went through the entire car, even though the hit appeared innocuous, it was decided to replace the engine, gearbox & the battery, but only with existing stock rather than anything new, as that would have incurred grid place penalties, which Verstappen & Tsunoda were due to receive for using new engines. It was a race against time though, as Qualifying was scheduled to start just 2½ hours later, but with both driver’s teams of mechanics putting in a monumental effort to repair Stroll's car they had it ready for the session start. The track was still wet when the first period of Qualifying commenced (Q1) and rain was expected in ‘within minutes’, so all the cars jockeyed for position in the queue to leave the pits and proceeded to attempt setting their qualifying times on intermediate tyres. After the first set of runs, Alonso had got himself up to 9th fastest, while Stroll was in the elimination zone – 19th. As umbrellas started being put up around some areas of the circuit it seemed prudent to go out again, but it wasn’t the optimal time for the AMs & they both dropped into the elimination zone, with just 5 minutes to go. However, they put in one last effort & at one stage were 4th (Alonso) & 9th (Stroll) but by the time all the drivers had completed their final laps, they ended 10th & 15th & into Q2. In Q2, Alonso came out as soon as he could and put his car 3rd fastest. With10 minutes to go Stroll hadn’t been out and then it started to drizzle lightly. When he did go out he only managed to set the slowest time of the 15 remaining drivers & the clock was counting down. Both drivers came in for new intermediate tyres, as both were in the drop zone at that point, and Alonso managed to use his new set to put his car 5th but Stroll just could not improve and was last again. A couple of drivers that had gone out last managed to squeeze in ahead of Alonso & Q2 finished with Alonso 7th & Stroll 15th. In the final Qualifying session (Q3), Alonso, still on intermediate tyres, only managed to set the 9th fastest time yet his feeling was that it was the maximum that he could get out of the AMR24 in that session. With pole-setter Verstappen taking a 10-place grid penalty it meant that Alonso would start the race in 8th spot and Leclerc would gain pole position.
What a difference a day makes – the circuit was wallowing in glorious sunshine on Sunday, as the cars took off for the formation lap, led by Leclerc. He made a solid race start to hold the lead off the line, while Hamilton had a great launch and got the better of Perez. Norris, meanwhile, dipped a wheel into the gravel and dropped down a number of places, while Verstappen, starting 11th made early gains, such that on lap 2 he passed Alonso for P8, dropping the Spaniard to P9. Stroll meanwhile had got himself to within DRS range of Riccardo on lap 3. Three laps later, Albon had managed to get himself to within DRS range of Alonso, but then dropped out of range 2 laps later. On the next lap Riccardo & Albon came into the pits for new sets of tyres, which elevated Stroll up to 12th and over the next couple of laps most of the leading cars came in for their first tyre changes. This moved both Aston Martins temporarily into the points – Alonso 4th & Stroll 7th, but that was all normalised when Stroll came in for fresh tyres on lap 12 & came out 19th, and Alonso came in a lap later & came out 13th. Both drivers were fitted with new hard tyres, intending to take them to the end of the race. On fresher tyres Stroll moved up a couple of places in the next 2 laps, to 17th and then gained another place when Magnussen came into the pits for his first stop, while Alonso also gained a couple of places. At the halfway point (lap 22), with the race being led by Hamilton, Alonso was P11, Stroll P14 and they were both chasing down the cars in front of them so that by lap 25, Alonso had passed Ocon for 10th & Stroll had overtaken Bottas for 13th. A couple of laps later & it was time for many of the leading cars to come in again for a final set of new tyres which resulted in Russell inheriting the race lead and Alonso moving up to P9 & Stroll P11. Nearing the end of the race & having spent 26 laps on the same tyres, Stroll, having inherited 10th, was passed by Riccardo & then Ocon, who had both been into the pits a 2nd time for fresh tyres, so that with 5 laps to go Alonso was still in P9 but Stroll had dropped out of the points, to P12. These were the same positions when the 2 drivers took the chequered flag at the end of the race. It was not to be same though for Russell, who took the flag in P1 & topped the podium ceremony. Well after the race, a drama and heartbreak unfolded, as Russell's Mercedes was found to be underweight by 1.5kg and he was subsequently disqualified from the race results, handing victory to his teammate, Hamilton. That also meant that Alonso moved up a place, to 8th, and both he & the team collected 4 valuable points.
After the race, Alonso said, “I am pleased with 8th position today and 4 points after a hard-fought race. We had a few different strategies planned for today. We extended the first stint on the Mediums and then on the Hard tyres we managed the pace quite well and had decent tyre degradation”. Stroll’s comments were, "We were running in P10 a few laps from the end, but by that point I was struggling with the tyres and didn't have the speed to hold position. We were missing the pace we needed to fight for more today. As a team, I think we still have a lot of work to do to do catch back up to the top four teams."
F1 will now shutdown for its traditional summer break before returning for the Dutch Grand Prix on 23rd-25th August.