The point is that drivers with resilience seem to remain in this unforgiving sport forever, even as they share the grid with teenagers young enough to be their sons! What the formula is, one doesn't really know
The very word 'Spa' conjures up visions of a cool and relaxed atmosphere. Add to this some frenetic racing and the confusion is complete!
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is widely regarded as the finest on the calendar and it's easy to see why. A driver's dream as it combines super-fast sections with a daunting blind uphill corner. Whether the unpredictable weather also plays a part in keeping the adrenaline of the estimated 400,000 fans flowing is anyone's guess.
As Spa enters its 76th year of hosting Formula 1 — the first race here having been won by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1950 — the 7km circuit currently features three drivers who were once discovered by Vijay Mallya: Nico Hulkenberg (2012, 2014-16), Esteban Ocon (2017-18) and Sergio Perez (2014-18). VJM had his share of trials and tribulations before eventually exiting Formula 1 in 2018.
The point is that drivers with resilience seem to remain in this unforgiving sport forever, even as they share the grid with teenagers young enough to be their sons! What the formula is, one doesn't really know!
Fernando Alonso is still going strong at 44, while Arvid Lindblad is just 18, bringing the average age of the current Formula One grid to 28.
Qualifying Day
Alex Albon, Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Perez, Alonso and Lance Stroll were eliminated in Q1, after being about two secs off the pace from even Oliver Bearman's Haas! Liam Lawson, Pierre Gasly, Franco Colapinto, Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz and Bearman departed soon after but leaving a delighted Gabriel Bortoleto to take his Audi into Q3 despite being 1.5 seconds off the top rung.
Lindblad, the British driver of Indian descent, played the proverbial cat among the pigeons with a commendable eighth. He has proven comprehensively that his win as the youngest driver in F2 wasn't a fluke and he is destined for a bright future.
The usual suspects finally prevailed at the top.
At the post-qualifying press conference, pole-sitter Kimi Antonelli confided that Mercedes added a little package for Q3 which helped improve straight-line speed and explained the team's jump in performance from Q1. When asked if he expected plenty of overtaking in the race, he candidly replied that he did not and hoped to disappear into the distance once the race began. Such is his confidence.
Max Verstappen who will start second was frank in his assessment that if it wasn't the tow he got from teammate Isack Hadjar — who will start from the back of the grid after taking new power-unit components — he might only have qualified sixth. A dejected Lando Norris who starts 13th after a 10-place penalty for technical infringements (power-unit changes) and was for now just happy bringing in the points.
Further it seems that the energy recovery system hasn't gone down well with most teams apparently! A corner that used to be a tight one last year has now become flat-out. Max bluntly commented that the cars felt like F3 cars with F1 downforce and not very exciting to drive. "I don't want to sit here and complain again or someone will shoot me outside the door! Or I can sit at home and drive nothing, but that also doesn't do anything."
That's life, for now, in the 'not-so-fast' lane!
(The writer is a former national racing champion)
