With the start of the nine-race second half of the Formula One season at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, it’s time for teams such as McLaren and Toro Rosso to wipe the slate clean from their first half struggles and essentially start from scratch.
It was a difficult time for both teams in the first 10 races of the season. While Lewis Hamilton leads the series with 202 points, Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen is 11th (just 22 points) in the standings, while teammate Carlos Sainz is 16th (nine points).
Things are even worse for the once illustrious McLaren team, in its first year back with Honda power units. Fernando Alonso is mired in 15th place (11 points), while Jenson Button is two positions lower in 17th (just six points). On the bright side, both scored in Hungary.
But as bad as the first half was, drivers on both teams are looking forward with optimism to turning things around in the nine-race second half, starting with this weekend’s marquee event at Spa.
“The next few races will be important for us,” Alonso said in the team’s pre-race advance, via the official Formula 1 website. “We need to continue our forward momentum, and, with the addition of some tweaks to the car and power unit, we will be looking for more progress and good correlation between the simulator and our on-track performance.
“That might not necessarily appear above the surface in either Spa or Monza, but we’ll keep pushing development forward at each race.”
Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen is coming off a fourth-place finish in the last race at Hungary before the annual mid-season break.
“The Hungaroring was clearly a good track for us from a performance and point-scoring point of view,” Verstappen said.
Spa will be much harder as it doesn’t suit our car that well, but we will make sure we work hard to achieve the best result possible. The P4 in Hungary definitely gives us all extra motivation!
“I raced [at Spa] last year during my F3 season and we won all three races that weekend, it felt great! So hopefully we can score some more points and continue with our good performances in Spa! It’s such an amazing track to drive, it’s unique! It has some very challenging and fun corners, like Eau Rouge, and the home crowd just makes it even more special. I am really looking forward to the weekend ahead.”
Alonso had a strong run at Hungary as well, finishing right behind Verstappen in fifth position, and one spot ahead of Hamilton.
“After Hungary, we were all really encouraged by the outcome; although we were fortunate to have had some good luck, we still battled hard and finished the race with a positive result,” Alonso said. “Spa will be tricky for us, due to the configuration of a track that requires power, downforce and a big chunk of the lap spent at full throttle.
“But, from a driver’s perspective it’s a spectacular circuit and the fans there also make it a truly special place.”
Button, Alonso’s McLaren teammate, finished ninth at Hungary and is hoping to continue the momentum he gained.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back into the car and seeing where we stand among our nearest competitors,” Button said. “We can’t pretend that we’re expecting a huge jump forward in performance – especially at this circuit, as it doesn’t suit our car’s characteristics.
“But after the break, I’m feeling refreshed, positive, and ready to continue the solid progress we’ve made so far.
“What a place to resume the second half of the season! It’s such a great place to come to after the break. Spa is a circuit I’ve always loved (he won there in 2012) right from the start of my racing career, and every lap around this incredibly special circuit is still hugely exciting and puts a massive grin on my face. It’s genuinely a circuit like no other.”
As for Toro Rosso’s Sainz, he failed to finish at Hungary and is looking for a bounce back at Spa.
“After Hungary, we are one step closer to our target of finishing fifth in the championship. We are all working flat-out together and this is a very good sign! We will need a kind of race like the one we had in Hungary to be able to be competitive in Spa.
“In the Renault World Series last year in Spa I won back-to-back races in a very solid way and it really consolidated my championship chances as well as my position within the Red Bull Junior Team. It will be emotional to go back there. The good memories will definitely give us a lot of energy and I will try and perform at the same level as I did there last year.”
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