Track Torque: Belgian delight for Clark-like Kimi
Tight racing at high speeds is the mark of Spa.
Young Italian Kimi Antonelli does not seem to put a foot wrong and in my mind is a born winner in the same vein as Jim Clark.
Antonelli won the Belgian Grand Prix in his Mercedes in some style at the Spa Francorchamps circuit last Sunday.
I look upon him as a modern day ‘wunderkind’ as Clark was in the early 1960s.
Clark had it all, he was smooth and fast and won easily.
He didn’t know how to finish second, third or fourth and generally disappeared into the distance soon after the start of the race.
His untimely death in 1968, when he had already won two world championships, was a huge tragedy.
I still regard him as the best driver that I have ever watched.
His book, a memoir written by South African Cedric Seltzer (his personal mechanic), was titled ‘If You Come Second You Have Lost: Winning the World Championship with Jim Clark and Other Stories’ tells it all.
Antonelli just seems to have all the right attributes to win races and I see a lot of Clark in his makeup.
He deserved his win on Sunday and was made to work hard by runner-up Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) who was less than two seconds behind.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) also had a good race and stayed in contention for much of it, finishing 12 seconds behind the first flying Ferrari and 17 seconds ahead of the second prancing horse which had Lewis Hamilton at the wheel.
The Ferraris had a good weekend and if they can find just a little more power they will be in contention for continued success at the top level.
Oscar Piastri (McLaren) had a difficult but good race while his teammate Lando Norris did even better.
They finished fifth and seventh respectively with the second Red Bull of Isack Hajar sandwiched between them.
The Red Bulls have done well to find more pace and both cars gave a very good account of themselves.
Typical of Spa, the cars were close together for most of the race where overtaking was easily possible if you could pick up a slipstream from the car ahead.
This is possible in the extremely fast section after Eau Rouge and again along the downhill section just before the end of each lap.
Bravery and a high level of driving at fast speeds is the norm at the Spa Francorchamps circuit.
Gabriel Bortoleto did well for Audi in eighth place, pipping Arvid Lindblad (RB) by one second.
The Alpines of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly came across the line in tandem together finishing tenth and eleventh while Liam Lawson and Nico Hulkenberg in their Racing Bull and Audi respectively also finished less than a second apart at the flag.
The next race is in Budapest in Hungary this Sunday (26).
The Hungaroring is a medium speed track where overtaking is a bit more difficult but it should provide a great spectacle with all of the contenders at a close level.
DRIVERS
1 Kimi Antonelli 204
2 Lewis Hamilton 159
3 George Russell 154
4 Charles Leclerc 126
5 Lando Norris 103
6 Oscar Piastri 92
7 Max Verstappen 91
8 Isack Hadjar 60
9 Pierre Gasly 42
10 Liam Lawson 39
CONSTRUCTORS
1 Mercedes 358
2 Ferrari 285
3 McLaren 195
4 Red Bull 151
5 Alpine 61
6 RB 61
HAVE YOUR SAY
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