2023 Belgian Grand Prix Heroes and Zeroes

[Jericoke]

Heroes:

My first 'hero' is a little hard to quantify.  The combination of the modern F1 formula and the Spa-Francorchamps track itself really put on a display I don't really remember ever seeing in my 30 years of watching F1.  While having the 'best car' is still important, you could really see the difference between teammates, showing who is 'strong' and who isn't.  You could see that different phases of the race, dry, wet, low fuel, high fuel affected the cars.  Williams doing well early, while McLaren struggled, yet things were reversed as the race progressed.  Strategy calls were clearly making a difference in the race too.

Obligatory Max/Newey.  Their dominance is boring on one hand, but it's also a once in a generation thing we're witnessing.  It's dull now, but in 20 years we'll compare a 'good season' and say "Yeah, Schumacher III is pretty good, but he didn't win 15 in a row like Verstappen, did he?"

LeClerc, finally a flawless race.  As much as I love to 'hate' Ferrari, I hope they can build on this

Hamilton.  Where Verstappen has a car that suits him perfectly, the Mercedes just doesn't suit Hamilton at all.  He's doing all he can and trying to keep the proverbial stiff upper lip.

Tsunoda.  Not a world beating performance, but he had to show up Ricciardo or else he'd have to face Marko.  Good on him.

Norris.  McLaren seems to have taken over Ferrari's ability to get things wrong all weekend.  Without the car under him, fighting back to 7th place was great to see.

Alpine.  They're having a bad year, and such a weird weekend to fire the top guy... but he's still around.  Getting points shows that the people doing the work know what they're doing, even if no one knows how to run it.

Zeroes:
Ricciardo (boo Jeri!  boo!)  He's parachuted into a tough place.  His only job is to beat/match Tsunoda.  He showed he has the speed with his deleted qualifying time.  Where was that speed during the race?  It's not enough to be fast when things are easy, he has to be fast when things are hard.  And he wasn't.

Williams.  They made me think that Albon was going to get some solid points today, and then that hope was taken away from me.

[Dare]

I'd have to add in the hero's Lewis taking fast lap
on the last lap. Bet Max had a fit

I still wonder with Perez in the same car is Max that good?
Once Max passed Sergio he was gone

[John S]

I'd have to add in the hero's Lewis taking fast lap
on the last lap. Bet Max had a fit

Hey Dare, Lewis p*ssed me off too - I had Max for Fastest Lap in GG. 

[Dare]

I bet everyone did.

[Robem64]

Not really a Hero or Zero comment but I, for one, was sorry to see Piastri have to drop out so early. The boy doesn't seem to be having too much luck right now but I'm hoping that luck will come for him. I think he's quietly going about his business and has a very mature head on young shoulders. His time will come and I think McLaren have got a very exciting and talented driver pairing - now if they can just the car in the sweet spot at more races.

[Willy]

I too was not happy to see Piastri drop out after a great quali and early lead.
 He clearly has the talent and now McLaren needs to give him, and Lando, the cars to do the job.
Of course that can be said of just about every team down the grid.

I did not get a chance to watch the entire race and am not going to now. Another Max fest. So boring.
Although Spa is a fantastic track and one of my favs.

[Jericoke]

I too was not happy to see Piastri drop out after a great quali and early lead.
 He clearly has the talent and now McLaren needs to give him, and Lando, the cars to do the job.
Of course that can be said of just about every team down the grid.

I did not get a chance to watch the entire race and am not going to now. Another Max fest. So boring.
Although Spa is a fantastic track and one of my favs.

Even though it was a 'Max fest', there really was a lot going on further down the order.  If you're into the technical and strategy elements of the sport, you're not going to find a better race to see these things play out.  The teams and drivers really got a chance to shine (or not) that we seldom see.