Belgian Grand Prix

[CaptainRaiden]

F1 is back after a painful break! And what better track to kick start things.....again.

First practice just started, and Mercedes are the only team who have put up a time until now.

[The Black Knight]

There is also torrential rain there. I'm glad I didn't go!

I have a feeling Schuey will do well this weekend actually. Fingers crossed. You being such a fan of his, I'm sure your coccyx was wagging with delight once you saw him out on track ;)

[CaptainRaiden]

I have a feeling Schuey will do well this weekend actually. Fingers crossed. You being such a fan of his, I'm sure your coccyx was wagging with delight once you saw him out on track ;)

:laugh: So far ahead of Rosberg by half a second. So far so good, unless come raceday Rosberg does the usual and beats him.....again. :p

[CaptainRaiden]

First practice results in:



26 - 28 Aug 2011
2011 FORMULA 1 SHELL BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps
1 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:54.355 13
2 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:54.829 0.474 15
3 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2:02.740 8.385 8
4 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 2:03.752 9.397 10
5 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2:04.301 9.946 7
6 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2:04.663 10.308 18
7 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 2:04.728 10.373 10
8 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 2:05.391 11.036 12
9 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 2:06.583 12.228 16
10 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 2:06.886 12.531 15
11 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2:07.055 12.700 12
12 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 2:07.481 13.126 15
13 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 2:08.233 13.878 14
14 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 2:08.239 13.884 14
15 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 2:08.918 14.563 10
16 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 2:09.792 15.437 8
17 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2:12.278 17.923 13
18 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 2:12.389 18.034 10
19 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 2:12.772 18.417 13
20 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2:13.058 18.703 8
21 20 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 2:13.090 18.735 11
22 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 2:13.601 19.246 10
23 9 Bruno Senna Renault 2:14.340 19.985 7
24 22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 2:14.933 20.578 11

Not much action apart from Senna and Di Resta crashing. Rain hit session with the two Mercedes drivers going early. Mclaren and Red Bull seem to be right on the pace for this one. I pick Lewis for the victory on Sunday. He won last year, and would have won in 2008 too if not for the stupid penalty.

[555-04Q2]

Even though it was rain affected, The Shoe on top is an ominous sign :s hock:

[Retro Formula 1]

Even though it was rain affected, The Shoe on top is an ominous sign :s hock:

Not really. Shu and Ros were the only two that set a time in the dry.

[Retro Formula 1]

FP2 punctuated by rain. Difficult to decide who is on the pace but Mercedes looked strong at a time when the conditions were sub prime going dry. Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren look strong and PdR looks stronger than his time.

All 3 British drivers completed only 6 laps each. Wonder what cycle the engines are on.

[555-04Q2]

Not really. Shu and Ros were the only two that set a time in the dry.

Even though it was rain affected...

[steveaki13]

Even though it was rain affected...

They went out in the dry rain. :p :

[i_max2k2]

After 4 weeks, couldn't have got better. I so hope it rains a bit during the race :)

[52Paddy]

Formula 1 (http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2011/858/6888/)

Just had a look at FP2 times. It seems standard play at the top of the field, though nice to see Webber top the sheets this time. Notice Hulkenberg got a shot in the FI. He did a good job with it too. What happened to Vettel though? Not sure of the conditions but given the closeness of times, it couldn't have been a dry-wet period. On another note, Senna hasn't really shown any major pace advantage over Heidfeld.

[Retro Formula 1]

All 3 British drivers completed only 6 laps each. Wonder what cycle the engines are on.

Apparently Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes are all on their 6th engine with RBR on their 5th.

P1ssingdown in FP3. Nico nearly took PdR rejoining track.

[steveaki13]

Mercedes already up for donkey of the weekend, Schumi loses a rear wheel

[Retro Formula 1]

3 wheels on my wagon :s hock:

[ioan]

Effin' stupid Mercedes mechanics didn't manage to make sure that the wheels are properly on that car?!

[steveaki13]

Crazy stuff

[ioan]

Crazy stuff

Not crazy, just damn stupid.

[ioan]

How long will the Mercedes board to have the brand's name associated with this under-par team?

[ioan]

MS very fair in his comments after the disappointing loss of the rear wheel, has excluded human error.

[ioan]

WTF Button?!

[ioan]

Looks like Maldonado was to hot headed!

[ioan]

They need to take responsibility for some of the failure as they purchased a team that produced a championship winner and have a capable team principle/manager in Brawn. I'm glad McLaren blocked the takeover in hindsight.

Ross Brawn is in charge not Mercedes board.

[donKey jote]

Maldonado vs Ham (or viceversa) !! :crazy:

[N4D13]

WTF Button?!
Maybe he had traffic or had a mistake. The conditions were such that any of these could basically destroy your chances.

It's looking bad for Ferrari - Alonso got in first, but what would have been Hamilton's time if he hadn't lost time with slower cars at the Bus Stop?

[ioan]

WTF Button?!

Stupid McLaren had asked him to pit before the end of the Q2 session!

[Daniel]

Maldonado vs Ham (or viceversa) !! :crazy:

Maldonado's fault 100%. If he doesn't get a race ban at the very least then there's something very wrong with Formula 1.

[ioan]

Maybe he had traffic or had a mistake. The conditions were such that any of these could basically destroy your chances.

It's looking bad for Ferrari - Alonso got in first, but what would have been Hamilton's time if he hadn't lost time with slower cars at the Bus Stop?

Nah, we just go the pit to car radio and the team was telling him to pit and then he was to late out!
What a bunch of muppets!

[gm99]

Apparently McLaren called Button in too early instead of keeping him out for another fast lap.

[ioan]

Maldonado's fault 100%. If he doesn't get a race ban at the very least then there's something very wrong with Formula 1.

He won't get a ban, most probably will start last.

[steveaki13]

Maldonado could be in trouble. If they believe it was deliberate.

For certain Maldonado will claim he was moving back onto his line, but will the stewards buy that?

Lets keep calm and not shout for a ban for life and wait and see what is said and decided.

The Hamilton move was fine, Maldonado was asleep and wide on the appex so Hamilton jumped through to gain time. Then its about what happened then.

Is their some ill feeling after Monaco.

Also didn't Nigel Mansell like teaching backmarkers a lesson by getting agressive?

[ioan]

:eek: Vettel! :up:

[ioan]

Did Alonso again set up his car for rain like last time around here?! :D

[gm99]

Great qualifying also by Alguersuari and Senna, not so good for Alonso...

[The Black Knight]

Fair play to Vettel and Hamilton. Great performances.

Bruno Senna is man of qualifying though. Out qualifying Petrov in his first race. He starts 7th, the same position Schumi started 20 years ago.

[donKey jote]

Alonso says traffic :p

[ioan]

Marko did just say a bunch of positive things about Webber on the Austrian television.

[truefan72]

great qualy
wonder if they can make repairs to hamilton's car
1. maldonado might look at a race ban at the very least being sent to the back of the grid
2. Alguersauri and senna...well done ( especially senna, made me eat some crow)
3. what happened to Alonso? traffic?
4. good job massa
5. stupid mclaren engineers costing button. Mclaren can't ever seem to get it all together

this sets up for a great race
I think that Hamilton has a real chance to take the lead. But I pray he shows some patience if the opportunity starts to close, no need to loose the race in the first lap. In fact he is better to hang on to vettel's tail and then pass him with DRS after a few laps
-expect MSC to storm through the field
-expect some dicey racing from Alonso as he desperately tries to get past Jaime and senna ( DRS is his greatest ally)
-Button will be ok as long as he stays out of first lap incidents
-massa and rosberg will create a buffer for the first 3 in the early part of the race...but I can't make any predictions whatsoever about the race outcome
-I guess I will just have to watch. I'm excited

[ioan]

great qualy
wonder if they can make repairs to hamilton's car

They will be allowed to do the repairs.

[ioan]

Lewis, shut it FGS, these jokes about the stewards will not help you one bit.

[N4D13]

2. Alguersauri and senna...well done ( especially senna, made me eat some crow)
As for Senna, it remains to be seen whether he can keep this level in the future races. Heidfeld is great on the wet, so maybe (just maybe) he could have done an even better lap, although I admit it looks unlikely.


3. what happened to Alonso? traffic?
He blamed traffic, although personally, I don't buy it. It's true he had traffic in all of his laps, but even so, I don't think he put a good lap together either.

And something else - why didn't anyone pit for a second set of soft tyres at the end of Q3? I was surprised, although perhaps it was just that they thought that drivers getting used to the surface would give them a better advantage than having new tyres.

[Nikki Katz]

Can we nominate Maldonado for donkey of the race already?

[donKey jote]

or donkey of the season? :p

[truefan72]

They will be allowed to do the repairs.

ok thx

[Hawkmoon]

Can we nominate Maldonado for donkey of the race already?

I think the fact that he shouldn't be allowed to actually take part in the race may rule him out by technicality. :D

[gm99]

And something else - why didn't anyone pit for a second set of soft tyres at the end of Q3? I was surprised, although perhaps it was just that they thought that drivers getting used to the surface would give them a better advantage than having new tyres.

In conditions like these, I would imagine the soft tires take quite some time to reach optimum temperature, so new tires would probably have had less grip.

[N4D13]

In conditions like these, I would imagine the soft tires take quite some time to reach optimum temperature, so new tires would probably have had less grip.
All right, that's why. At first I was puzzled at Alonso not pitting for new tyres, but I hadn't thought of that. And the Ferrari is particularly slow at heating up its tyres.

[ioan]

Can we nominate Maldonado for donkey of the race already?

Too late, the Mercedes crew already got that one sewn up 30 minutes before him.

[52Paddy]

A very interesting qualifying session that was. Hats of to Bruno and Jaime for putting in impressive laps. Also to Kovi for getting into Q2 (why didn't he do more laps though?). A great shame for Button but also for Di Resta who was told to box earlier. Di Resta is certain there was more pace in the car to break into Q2. I also reckon there was more pace to be seen from his team-mate, Sutil, and also from Schumi but unfortunately both had accidents. Turns out Maldonado drops 5 places on the grid which is, at least, something. I personally think being demoted to the very back would be more justified but that's just my opinion.

I can't wait for tomorrow's race! I'd say it will be a cracker, especially if the weather spices it up :bounce:

[ioan]

More controversy in F1, this time it's tires:

Tyre controversy unfolds at Spa | Adam Cooper's F1 Blog (http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/08/28/tyre-controversy-unfolds-at-spa/)

[Ranger]

More controversy in F1, this time it's tires:

Tyre controversy unfolds at Spa | Adam Cooper's F1 Blog (http://adamcooperf1.com/2011/08/28/tyre-controversy-unfolds-at-spa/)

If they don't make an exception (which they shouldn't) then it will certainly be an interesting start!

[steveaki13]

No team should be allowed to replace their Tyres as its against the regs and is simply something that their strategy should adapt to IMO. I have to avoid all results until this evening as its lovely weather and I don't wish to waste it in front of the tv. Off to the beach.. :)

Buy me a stick of Rock Henners. ;)

[Daniel]

No team should be allowed to replace their Tyres as its against the regs and is simply something that their strategy should adapt to IMO. I have to avoid all results until this evening as its lovely weather and I don't wish to waste it in front of the tv. Off to the beach.. :)

You're only saying that because you're a biased McLaren fan.

[steveaki13]

Good race, but once again DRS made it too easy up the straight. Lots of good action on the rest of the track, but when someone was behind another car into the bus stop you knew he was past and thus it came true.

Other than that I enjoyed it.

[steveaki13]

Seeing the replays and Jenson was quite lucky, after Turn One that bit of Senna's wing wiped his wing mirror clean off, lucky it did not hit him on the head. Not a heavy piece but as Massa showed us it doesn't take much to do serious damage.

[ioan]

Seeing the replays and Jenson was quite lucky, after Turn One that bit of Senna's wing wiped his wing mirror clean off, lucky it did not hit him on the head. Not a heavy piece but as Massa showed us it doesn't take much to do serious damage.

The spring that hit Massa was about a pound heavy, made of metal, with small footprint and the impact speed was about 250 km/h, there is no comparison.

[Daniel]

The spring that hit Massa was about a pound heavy, made of metal, with small footprint and the impact speed was about 250 km/h, there is no comparison.


I imagine the worst that would have happened would have been a cracked visor.

[ioan]

I imagine the worst that would have happened would have been a cracked visor.

Nah, those are bullet proof.

[52Paddy]

Still, it's good that it didn't hit him.

[steveaki13]

Still, it's good that it didn't hit him.

Correct.