And the move is official!
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Damn, beat me to it. Hereās an article anyway.
Not sure about this move just yet; unless McLaren make a drastic step forward next year, theyāll be struggling to score without Alonso to drive the wheels off the car.
I guess this means Gasly has that second Red Bull seat all to himself.
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Just seen red bull has confirmed gasley as Dannyās replacement
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Indeed they have. I wonder if this breaks any records for youngest driver pairing.
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I hope they manage him well, I feel the same about him as Leclerc. They both need another year in a lower team to build character and develop more skills.
https://redbullracing.redbull.com/article/going-full-gas-2019
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Bienvenue Ć Spa-Francorchamps pour le Grand Prix de Belgique Formule 1 2018
Welkom bij Spa-Francorchamps voor de Grand Prix Formule 1 Belgiƫ 2018
Willkommen in Spa-Francorchamps fĆ¼r den Formel 1 Belgien Grand Prix 2018
Iām so excited that weāre back to racing after the looooong mid-season break, that Iām using all 3 of Belgiumās official languages to welcome you to the iconic Spa circuit for the 2018 Belgium Grand Prix.
Hereās when the action happens:
And hereās the circuit where all that action happens:
Belgian homeboy Stoffel Vandoorne takes us around the circuit for a virtual lap:
(The F1 2018 game is also being released this weekend, so yāall can start doing your own virtual laps to compare if you want. hint, hint @DieGrootHammer - how about you provide the virtual laps for the rest of the season?)
Pirelli share their tyre thoughts via infographic as usual:
And F1.com provide some pre-race braai talking points:
- This weekend will be Hamiltonās 111th start for Mercedes, surpassing his career total at McLaren (110). He is the only man to make 100 Grand Prix starts for two different teams and the only driver to make 200 starts for one engine manufacturer.
- Vettel is currently tied on wins (51) and podium finishes (106) with Alain Prost, while a top-eight finish this weekend will take the German through the 1,000-point barrier for Ferrari.
- Raikkonen is seeking the 100th podium finish of his career this weekend, something only previously achieved by Schumacher (155), Hamilton (126), Prost (106) and Vettel (106).
- Despite a good finishing record here (with one win and two more podium finishes), Ricciardo has never started in the top four on this track and has only outqualified a team mate once (Daniil Kvyat in 2015).
- Verstappen (below) has never finished higher than eighth in three starts at Spa and has never completed a lap in a top four position here.
- The most successful track of his F1 career so far, Hulkenberg has twice finished fourth twice at Spa (2012, 2016) but only once at any other circuit (Korea 2013), and heās still never had a podium finish after 147 starts.
- Grosjean finished third for Lotus (Enstone) at the 2015 Belgian GP, which is the Frenchmanās only podium finish in the turbo hybrid era.
- Alonso has never won at Spa, and has failed to finish here six times in his career, more than at any track other than Montreal (8 times).
- Force Indiaās Perez has only reached Q3 once in the last five races (Hockenheim) - his worst run since mid-2016 - but he has qualified in the top four twice here (2012, 2015) - something heās never done anywhere else in his F1 career.
- Stroll took one of his 15 European F3 wins at Spa in 2016 on his way to winning the title, a race in which seven of the 12 laps were run behind the Safety Car due to rain (Stroll claimed a hat-trick with pole and the fastest lap).
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I loved this track on f1 2017.
That turn 2 into 3 became tricky the faster you go, almost feels as if their is no traction as you crest the hill
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This will be the first race that Iāll follow this year.
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Lol Iāll have to get gud first but I will see how I can record my sessions and try to do the virtual laps for the remainder of the season. That will be an extremely fun challenge to do!!
And yes I am really excited that F1 is back, but there are a couple of negative things hanging over this race weekend.
Firstly, there is a very real possibility that Force India might not race this weekend. The sale of the company to the Stroll group means that they own the hardware but not the entry ticket to F1, while Force India still owns the ticket to race.
https://www.racefans.net/2018/08/23/force-india-seeking-urgent-solution-allow-race-spa/
Then the weather forecast for the weekend is rain. Lots and lots of rain. Might be in for an interesting weekend if itās going to rain the entire weekend.
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The part that worries me the most
According to well-placed sources, once all issues are resolved the Silverstone-based team could be permitted to enter as a new entity starting from scratch. However, this would mean a resultant loss of all points and benefits accrued in the 2018 FIA Formula 1 constructorsā championship thus far.
This would have further knock-on financial consequences over the next two years as teams are required to score in two of three championship seasons in order to qualify for the full range of commercial benefits.
As for weather - its gonna be wet and dark, but sunday seems to be dryā¦
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And indeed, this is what has happened. The drivers may keep their points and place in the standings, but the team will be stripped of all points earned thus far.
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Pre-race driversā presser with a random four drivers. No idea why they chose themā¦ 
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Well daddy stroll can afford it I hope. They are such a good team. I dont want to see them dissapear
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That leaves Hammy to take on the Ferraris by himselfā¦ although Kimi might apparently be penalized as well.
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Ferrari topping both Friday practice sessions. A few drops of rain in FP1, but nothing serious. Rest of the day all dry. Rain still forecast for FP3 but should be dry for Quali and Race.
Top 6 in each session today - click for Full Results:
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That top 6 list has a familiar look about itā¦ Where have I seen these names before?
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We seem to be in for more driver shake-upsā¦
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