Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
Having lost the last two rounds to his team mate, Oscar Piastri’s performance on the opening day of running at Spa-Francorchamps sent a clear message that he intends to put that right.
Teams’ 2024 performance in context
Mercedes had a one-two on the track in Belgium last year before George Russell’s disqualification. But McLaren set the pace on the first day of running before rain arrived in time for qualifying.
Teams’ progress vs 2024
McLaren haven’t made the largest year-on-year improvement at Spa so far, but they were already starting from a stronger position than key rivals such as Red Bull and Ferrari, and have therefore drawn further ahead.
Mercedes endured a disappointing Friday as neither of their drivers made it into the top 10 shoot-out. Although they won last year, they had been a second off the pace in dry running.
Williams was the slowest team at Spa last year but have made the largest improvement of any team year-on-year. Had it not been for Alexander Albon’s power unit problem in SQ1, we could easily have seen four Mercedes customer cars in the final round of qualifying but none of the factory machines.
Gaps between team mates
Charles Leclerc was dismayed to qualify over seven tenths of a second behind Piastri’s McLaren. But he was only 0.15 seconds off Lando Norris in the other MCL39, which underlines how disappointing Norris’s performance was in the opening qualifying session.
Only two drivers were further off their team mates, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, neither of whom had clean laps. Norris was further away from Piastri than Yuki Tsunoda was to his team mate Max Verstappen, and he has the disadvantage of driving an older car specification.
There is little to draw the sting from Norris’s 0.618s defeat to Piastri, besides the fact the McLarens are so far ahead of the competition only one car separated them.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:
