Back after the August recess the 2019 Formula One season is 2/3rds done and so far the score board looks like this-
Mercedes 11
Red Bull 2
Ferrari 1
That 1 came from LeClerc who celebrated his very first Formula One victory today.
This is where the point standings are-
Constructors’ Championship
| Rank | Team | Points | 1 | Mercedes | 471 | 2 | Ferrari | 326 | 3 | Red Bull Racing Honda | 254 | 4 | McLaren Renault | 82 | 5 | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 51 | 6 | Renault | 43 | 7 | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 40 | 8 | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 32 | 9 | Haas Ferrari | 26 | 10 | Williams Mercedes | 1 |
Driver’s Championship
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 268 | 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 203 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda | 181 | 4 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 169 | 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 157 | 6 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 65 | 7 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren Renault | 58 | 8 | Daniil Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 33 | 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 31 | 10 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull Racing Honda | 26 | 11 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 24 | 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 22 | 13 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 21 | 14 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 21 | 15 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point BWT Mercedes | 19 | 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 18 | 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 8 | 18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari | 1 | 19 | Robert Kubica | Williams Mercedes | 1 |
To summarize the season so far, Ferrari entered it with a supposedly strong advantage in power. As it develops, not so much really and certainly not enough to counter a considerable Mercedes edge in handling and cornering. Only recently has Ferrari been able to demonstrate any ability to transmit whatever power advantage they have into on track speed.
Maranello has also been handicapped by their drivers. LeClerc is a pure rookie with potential who has taken the average amount of time to acclimate, Vettel’s only talent is to pull a hole shot and run away in a superior car while his partner blocks for him. He’s also a really nasty guy and a poor and petulant team mate who can never fail, he can only be failed.
Not that Lew Hamilton is a Saint, but by comparison…
Truth is that while technically undecided the season is done, unless you’re into betting the back markers. Today’s race was won by LeClerc from the Pole, but it was hardly decisive. Despite aggressive blocking by Vettel, had the race lasted another 2 laps Hamilton would have passed LeClerc on tires fresher by about 10 laps. As is typical of Spa there was a crash in the very first corner calling out the Safety Car for about 6 laps.
Earlier today Anthoine Hubert died after a major crash with Juan Manuel Correa at Eau Rouge during the second lap of the F2 race, which was halted.