2018 Belgian Grand Prix preview

Finally the break is over!! Could not have taken one more weekend without a race.

Spa is one of my favorite tracks because in almost every race they host we see something unforgettable.

Everybody remembers what happend in the beginning of 2012 when Romain Grosjean caused a terrible crash and got banned from the next race. There was also a terrible crash in the beginning of the 1998 race which was one of the worst in F1 history. Check the video below. Jordan also took their first 1-2 in the race with Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher.



In 2000 Mika Häkkinen made one of the coolest moves on Michael Schumacher when he overtook him with Ricardo Zonta in the middle of them in full speed. See Hakkinen and Schumi from this video:



Spa is also the track where Giancarlo Fisichella took pole position for Force India in 2009 and Kimi Räikkönen won the race even though Ferrari had a lot of problems that season. See Fisichella's comments of the good qualifying session:



Here Kimi overtakes Fisichella:



Great memories! Now it's time for my predictions!

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Surprise: Keep an eye on Kimi Räikkönen this is his favorite track and he has won here more than once.

FORMULA 1 2018 JOHNNIE WALKER BELGIAN GRAND PRIX - PRACTICE 2

2018 Hungarian Grand Prix review

Kimi Räikkönen dropped a spot at the start again. I have mentioned this many times before and I am really sad that he always loses at least one position at every start this season. It always looks good at first and then he drops. His teammate Sebastian Vettel was the one who overtook him from the outside.

On lap 6 Red Bull's Max Verstappen had another retirement due to technical issues. He was furious and very angry with Renault for providing them such bad engines. Well next year you will have Hondas on so let's see how that will work out for you guys... Toro Rosso have been better than McLaren with Hondas which is kind of funny and sad at the same time.

The other Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo was just flying and didn't seem to have a problem like his teammate did. In the previous race it was Ricciardo who had to retire so maybe he will retire in the next race and Verstappen will finish? I will try to remember this comment if this actually happens.

Lap 40 Vettel pitted and got overtaken by Bottas. Ferrari's pit crew were too slow with his front left tyre and that cost him a position. Ferrari have had several screw ups like this in 2018 but usually on Räikkönen's car.

Stoffel Vandoorne had a DNF which was very sad if you look at how well he was doing the whole weekend until that point. If you look at the practice sessions and qualifying then it was the best pace for him all season. Räikkönen usually says that the race is on sunday so nothing else matters.... so maybe it doesn't then.

Vettel and Räikkönen overtook Bottas almost at the same time 5 laps before the finish line when his tyres were losing grip. Then out of nowhere he had contact with Vettel who luckily escaped without damage. People were speculating that Bottas might even get a penalty because of it. In my opinion Vettel turned too soon in front of him and touched his front wing.

If you thought that was it then you are wrong. Bottas also crashed into Ricciardo and had to give the position back and was 5th in the final standings. The car was very hard to steer with those tyres but Mercedes thought they would last better.

Let's move on to the predictions and the results:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - WRONG. Vettel was 2nd and Bottas was 5th
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari - CORRECT

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. Ricciardo was fastest

Surprise: Romain Grosjean, Haas - He got a point but I don't know how big of a surprise that was

FORMULA 1 ROLEX MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2018 - RACE

FORMULA 1 ROLEX MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2018 - QUALIFYING

FORMULA 1 ROLEX MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2018 - PRACTICE 1 & 2

2018 Hungarian Grand Prix preview

OK F1 fans! The wait is almost over. This weekend it's time for the Hungarian Grand Prix. A track where it's hard to overtake and also a place were surprises are more than welcome. 

We all remember one of the biggest surprises - Jenson Button's first victory back in 2006 with Honda. It was a very exiting GP and the excitement started when Räikkönen retired from the lead. Liuzzi (as a backmarker) braked to fast in front of him and Kimi smashed his silver arrow into his back almost flying over him.  

Later Renault had a bad pitstop with Alonso therefor he lost a tyre and needed to retire. Alonso did not retire very often back then because Renault was a very good and reliable car.

Fisichella and Schumacher could have had a good race but they spun of the track ruining it.

Another driver who could have ruined his GP but didn't - Pedro de la Rosa! He was second which was his best result ever. Pedro had replaced Montoya after he had made his last mistake with McLaren by crashing into Räikkönen in the American Grand Prix.

The 2006 Hungarian GP was also Robert Kubica's first race in F1. I knew right away that this guy is going to be a star! Unfortunately he is not driving in F1 anymore because of the rally accident in 2011. Kubica scored his first 2 points in his first GP but was disqualified after his car failed to meet post-race minimum weight requirements. 

But in the end we all remember this face! (picture below)

Now a few words about who might do well in the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Which drivers are usually good in this race? -Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton!

2001 - Kimi was 7th with Sauber which was pretty ok with that car.

2002 - Kimi was 4th leaving him just barely outside of the podium.

2003 - Kimi was 2nd after starting from 7th on the grid.

2004 - Kimi retired after having electrical problems with his McLaren

2005 - Kimi takes the checkered flag 35,5 seconds faster than Schumacher and wins!

2006 - Kimi retires from first position overtaking nervous back-markers on a very slippery track.

2007 - Lewis wins in Hungary for the first time! And guess who was 2nd? Kimi!

2008 - Kimi was 3rd when Heikki Kovalainen took his only victory with McLaren.

2009 - Lewis wins again and guess who is 2nd this time? Kimi again!

2010 - Lewis had gearbox issues and Kimi had left F1 in the end of 2009.

2011 - Lewis was fourth when his team mate Jenson Button took another victory in Hungary.

2012 - Lewis wins for the 3rd time in Hungary and after coming back to F1 Kimi is again 2nd 1 second behind.

2013 - Same thing! Lewis won and Kimi 2nd.
2014 - Lewis was 3rd and Kimi was 6th. Both of them had technical problems.

2015 - Lewis was 6th and Kimi retired. Both of them had technical problems again.

2016 - Lewis won the race and Kimi was 6th after a few problems.

2017 - Kimi 2nd and Lewis was 4th

This year I am sure that both of them will be on the podium and I am pretty sure that Vettel's bad luck will continue.

Let's move on to the predictions.

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

The race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
3. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Romain Grosjean, Haas