Will the return of the F1 sprint expose Mercedes’ setup woes? Belgian GP talking points

Mercedes on the backfoot?
Merc🔥edes traditionally start weekends slowly as they struggle to get the W1𓆉4 setup right from the off.
With just one practice session ahead of qualifying, due to the sprint format, Merced✱es will have just 60 minutes of running to fine-tune their 🍬setup.
While this is the case for every team on the grid, just one session of running isn’t sufficient time to optimise 🎶the setup.

Let’s take Hungary as an example.
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lewis Hamilton clai🃏med the W14’s handling was the “worst” it had felt all season after t💟wo practice sessions on Friday.
Mercedeღs quickly turned it around overnight with another practice sessionౠ in the morning.
Obviously, they won’t get that luxury at Spa.
With the weather looking like it’s going to be wet, their inability toꦛ get on top of the setup quickly mꩲight not come back to bite.
Could McLaren finish third?
McLaren’s remarkable turnaround in F1 2023 couldn’t have been predicted by anybody.
Let’s not forget McLaren failed to score a single෴ point in the opening🌠 two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Their recent upgrade was expected to move them 💛ahead of 🅺their midfield rivals, such as Alpine, however the gains they’ve found have been unprecedented.
You’d have to go back to 2009 with M𓂃cLaren when a team made such significant progress mid-season with an upgrade.
In Britain and Hungary, McLaren were the second-fast💃est team behind Red Bull.

Their form will be a serious cause 𒉰for concern for Ferrari and McLaren.
If the current points scoring continues over the next handful of race💟s, McLaren will likely move ahead of Ferrari and Aston Martin within the next six rounds.
Finishing third in the constructors’ championship is surely a serious possibility for the Wo🐻kin♏g outfit now.
Verstappen’s biggest margin yet?
168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Max Verstappen reached a new level of dominance last time out at the Hungaroring, finishing over 33 seconds clear of 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lando Norris.
The scary thing is that it𝕴’s likely Red Bull wiﷺll be even more dominant at Spa given their advantageous aero efficiency.
A year ago, Verstappen ಞwon the Belgian🌄 Grand Prix from 14th on the grid.

His ꦍadvantage over the rest of the field was 18 seconds that day.
Should he have a smooth qualifying session, there’s no doubt it will be a greater margin, particularly if 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Sergio Perez’s underperformance continues.
Safety concerns
F1 returns to Spa less than a mont🥀h after the death of 18-year-old Dutch driver Dilano van ‘t Hoff.
Van’t Hoff tragically died in 🎶a Formula Regional European Championship race following a multi-car incident on the Kemmel Straig💛ht in treacherous conditions.
The accident resulted in a number of F1 drivers, most notably 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lance Stroll, to call 🦋forꦡ changes to the famous Belgian circuit.
Fingers c🌠rossed this weekend goes smoothly with all drivers across all categories coming away from Belgium safely.
The weat🍬her at Spa looks bleak with rain expected ♋across all three days of running.


With a sharp eye for F1’s controversies and storylines, Connor is the🔯 heartbeat of our unbiased reporting.