2016 Belgian Grand Prix

[TC]

So apparently Mercedes found a loophole in the rules and decided to change power units on Hamilton's car in-between every practice session. This gives him a 55 place grid penalty for this race, but it also gives him 3 brand new power units for the rest of year. Clever way to avoid future grid penalties, but I imagine a rule clarification will be forthcoming.

 

[NooDle]

Yeah the whole engine penalty rules suck, since neither driver nor team can help it ifs something breaks...

Good q, expecting lots from Max and Kimi tomorrow...

 

[Four Five Eight]

I guess it's easy to criticise that rule but I guess it makes sense. Although Mercedes found a cleaver loophole by swapping in new engines for every practice session Lewis didn't get a whole lot of running in that weekend; in fact he didn't really bother much in qualifying either so he's pretty reliant on the work that Nico has done.
It's good to see that Ferrari are doing better on pace then they have been but It was a bit of a bummer that Max managed to pip them in qualifying, Everyone around him is starting on softs so that should make for an interesting first few laps.
It's also interesting that Kimi seems to have gained a qualifying edge over Vettel, one of the biggest criticisms of Kimi's recent stint at Ferrari is that he's had poor qualifying sessions but not it seems like it's Vettel who is struggling.

 

[mpicco]

Well,god fucking damn it, Im glad i woke up early for this.

Before some individuals come along assuming shit, no I dont blame Kimi.

 

[WDWBen]

On lap 5, I said Rosberg would win this thing. On lap 10, I'm convinced Hamilton will come in second. As a Ferrari supporter, this sucks balls.

 

[Four Five Eight]

I guess Ferrari's only consolation is that Vestappen finishes outside of the points. That Hamilton though has all the luck in the world. 55 place grid penalty, he has 3 fresh engines for the rest of the season and on top of that 2 crashes takes him from the back to the podium.

 

[xecutioner]

Awesome race..love this circuit

Daniel and Webber on the podium was great haha

 

[Brabham]

Well that first lap collision really ruined this race as Ferrari's might had something on Merc's here...

Many put the blame on Vettel but to me dive bombing Verstapped was more at fault there. Those things tend to happen on first lap, but it did totally spoil the race.

Rest of the driving from Max we got to see thought.

Alonso got great 7th place and FI overtook Williams in WCC!!!

Both Mercs were on the podium again so good for them I guess.

I was laughing when I learned that Jost Capito will be the next Mclaren F1 CEO. :lol:

 

[bone]

i don't understand vettel, he new raikkonen was there, if he just had taken a wider line, he would've caried more speed, and after the straight, would have been ahead anyways...

I guess it's easy to criticise that rule but I guess it makes sense. Although Mercedes found a cleaver loophole by swapping in new engines for every practice session

McLaren did the same on Alonso's car

 

[Four Five Eight]

i don't understand vettel, he new raikkonen was there, if he just had taken a wider line, he would've caried more speed, and after the straight, would have been ahead anyways...



McLaren did the same on Alonso's car

I suppose, it's a shame they're still a bit crap though.

 

[NooDle]

Well that was certainly entertaining (even as a Kimi fan). Was there to see it live so I didn't have complete coverage (a billion dutchies were in the way) Will definitely re watch this and comment

 

[WDWBen]

I think the blame could go both ways. The way I see it, however, is that Vettel was counting on Kimi being able to actually hit the apex of the corner, and then when Verstappen just dive bombed the corner, Kimi couldn't move over. There was no way that Vettel could see Verstappen shoving his nose in there, so he moved in as planned, assuming that Kimi was able to shift over.

 

[Kiskaloo]

I think the blame could go both ways. The way I see it, however, is that Vettel was counting on Kimi being able to actually hit the apex of the corner, and then when Verstappen just dive bombed the corner, Kimi couldn't move over. There was no way that Vettel could see Verstappen shoving his nose in there, so he moved in as planned, assuming that Kimi was able to shift over.

Which, IMO, still places the blame for the incident on Vettel as he didn't leave any leeway for Kimi locking up, going deeper while making a configuration change, or someone dive bombing on the inside.

 

[mpicco]

Verstappen was driving very aggressively all race long, we know he's young and eager but there's a limit. The kinds of moves he pulled on people trying to overtake are just inviting tragedy. He was just too deep into that corner, even if he had been given all the space in the world, that is an absolutely horrendous line to take, youd lose any places you gained in the next few meters, because the car would have slowed down so much just to make it around. It's the old "No race has ever been won in the first corner; many have been lost there".

As to Ferrari, this year is like a polar opposite to 2010. The car is there, there is a chance, yet the human errors pile up, be it by drivers, strategists, directors, whoever.

Also seeing Hamilton start last, win the race, and that meaning only gaining a couple of points on him, must be extremely frustrating for Rosberg.

 

[mpicco]

Verstappen is very unapologetic about his antics in Belgium, saying the way he defended was kind of a revenge on Kimi, because he felt Kimi had been too aggressive towards him at the start.

[FONT=&quot]n unrepentant Verstappen told Ziggo Sport that Raikkonen and Vettel had ?wrecked my race at the first corner?. ?I?m not letting them get away with that, I?d rather run them off the road,? he said. ?I want to defend my position. If someone doesn?t like it, that?s their problem.?

[/FONT]
The reactions to this were mainly ... funny.

Niki Lauda says that he needs a psychiatrist if he really thinks it was Kimi's fault :

[FONT=&quot]?Max needs psychiatric help if he?s saying it?s Kimi?s fault,?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Drivers mustn?t put each other in danger unnecessarily,? Lauda told German television after the race. ?He went way over the limit when he didn?t need to. The boy lacks the insight to see he has made a mistake.?[/FONT]

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archiv...nrepentant-verstappen-after-belgian-gp-drama/

 

[TC]

I'm disliking Max more and more with each passing race, I have to say. I'm still rooting for Ricciardo and RBR, but I'd almost like to see Max and Sainz switch seats. lol

 

[bone]

what do you expect? from the age of 4 he's been sculpted to be that way
jos made him into the little asshole he is, and i love it
i think senna and schumi would like him as well!

 

[mpicco]

I dunno about you but a guy who died in a crash and another who was thrown in a coma for an accident would argue for minimizing risk to one self and others...

 

[Four Five Eight]

what do you expect? from the age of 4 he's been sculpted to be that way
jos made him into the little asshole he is, and i love it
i think senna and schumi would like him as well!

Senna would have crashed into him to prove a point, he never had any patience for young whippersnappers. I think he punched one driver for trying to Un-lap himself.

 

[Dr_Grip]

Senna would have crashed into him to prove a point, he never had any patience for young whippersnappers. I think he punched one driver for trying to Un-lap himself.

Yep, he punched Irvine, who successfully unlapped himself.