Post Race Analysis: Belgian GP

With so many different race strategies, we have analysed lap times to get a better picture of the raw pace of each car. We have compared the best lap time for each driver when on the same tyre compound and broken down the race into ‘stints’ to compare cars on similar fuel loads.

Stint 1

Sebastian Vettel grabbed the early lead from Lewis Hamilton and quickly built a gap that he was never to surrender. Otherwise there were no major surprises in the first stint.

Stint 2

Fernando Alonso emerged as Sebastian Vettel’s only serious threat and drove an excellent race to finish second after starting ninth on the grid.  The Spaniard was over a second quicker than his teammate which doesn’t reflect particularly well on Felipe Massa.

Esteben Gutierrez sits third in the charts but he benefited from doing a long first stint and therefore had less fuel when setting his best lap time in the second stint. The Mexican is yet to score a point this season.

Stint 3

Jenson Button sits in a slightly false position as his tyres were much newer than those of his rivals. Otherwise the third stint is a fair reflection of the race with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso the quickest drivers. 

Summary
Sebastian Vettel grabbed an early lead and never looked back. He topped the charts in each stint despite racing conservatively to protect his tyres. He’s a barely backable 1/7 (Skybet) to win the driver’s championship but you daren’t oppose him either.

The Italian GP looks a shoot out between Vettel (7/4) and Fernando Alonso (7/2 both Skybet). A better qualifying performance from Ferrari would give Alonso a chance of winning the race but the bookmakers seem to have their prices correct.