The group of Spaniards in the ‘paddock’ of Spa-Francorchamps changed their gesture when Alonso remembered a detail: “There are not enough wheels!” With rain in practice and qualifying, most drivers will hardly have a new set of intermediate tires, which looks like the ideal tire for the race. The teams have four sets of intermediates and three of extreme rain for the weekend. In rainy conditions, the intermission lasts about 15 laps and if the asphalt dries up, it can be destroyed in five. Resorting to used sets, with ‘blisters’, plans or flaws, more than one can make the 44 laps of today’s race (3pm CET, Dazn F1), with huge differences in pace between riders on a fresh or previously used tire.
The Spaniard chatted with AS before, after Q2, and emphasized his starting lap: “I had to wear down the tires and part of the battery before starting qualifying because we started late and I was running out of time, I was three seconds from the cut. “ Although the result would not have been much different, “it could be 10th or 11th.” In Alpine they bet on an intermediate set-up, between dry and wet, but they stayed halfway.
“We are not as competitive in the wet as we are in the dry. And it’s one of those races where you have to be lucky. At some point you will have to change to (tires of) extreme rain, or dry, and if more rain comes after three minutes you have to make an extra stop. We have to be quick and smart when making decisions and in the end also be lucky. But yes, we will see what we can do. It was not a good Saturday, it is not a good starting position and we have to improve it to score some points, “Alonso commented to this medium.
The Belgian GP is presumed open because it can rain throughout the afternoon and splash a race with pit stops and strategy changes. It is a car circuit, not a driver’s circuit, and in the long run the Red Bulls and Mercedes will take a breath in the fight for the podium. “There will be several stops, changes in track conditions, from dry to wet and vice versa, some cars will bet… there will be a lot of possibilities, I think, but you don’t know until the race starts because we still have a sunny Sunday. A repeat of Hungary with eight cars out in the first corner is unrealistic, it is something unique. It will be a more normal race and I hope that for once we are the ones who are lucky, “the Asturian ditch.