Live: Belgium 2011 - The race
Published by Christine Blachford
Yesterday's qualifying sessions were full of intrigue, surprises and thrills. From the early moments of Michael Schumacher's crash, to the very end with a not-so-shocking Vettel pole, we were treated to some weather-induced chaos. Perhaps there will be more on the cards today, as the drivers prepare to race for 44 laps of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
The action will begin at 1pm GMT+1 with the Factbyte Factbox starting one hour beforehand to provide all the build up.
Statistics
- 14℃
- Low 13℃
- Humidity 88%
- Light rain
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | L Hamilton | McLaren | 1:29:04.268 |
| 2 | M Webber | Red Bull | +1.5 |
| 3 | R Kubica | Renault | +3.4 |
| 4 | F Massa | Ferrari | +8.2 |
| 5 | A Sutil | Force India | +9.0 |
Predictions
I feel positive that we have had conversations like this before, but it is another situation where Michael Schumacher is out of position and has a lot of work to do if he wants to scrape a good result today.
Bel 2011: Where can Michael Schumacher finish from last on the grid?
17 votes
I think Schumacher can make it into the points if he can avoid getting caught up in any first lap incident. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him exiting La Source really wide off the track and gaining 6 or 7 places
Ouchio
:D
Ping --> 2011 Belgian Grand Prix (Rd 12, Qualifying, Aug 27th, TV Notes)
theformulaoneandm…ug-27th-tv-notes/
Afternoon!
Actually with this tyre thing that's happened this morning, Massa actually has a half decent chance of winning...
I have voted for in the points, I can just see him fighting his way up
*waves at fbfb*
Not only that - I think he can beat Rosberg today.
*fires up the dashboard*
He had a really good race at last year too didn't he?
It's on
:)
oh now James is in the paddock, thats not as fun
Yup. Was actually ahead of Rosberg for most of the way.
just finished watching quali!
Surprised to see Pastor is racing today
As are a few I think
Me, not so much. Should've gotten a bigger penalty, though.
Nice bit of Supergrass :)
Absolutely
Well, there's a few quid for Supergrass.
A lot of us are. And some think it was Lewis's fault for not avoiding him
What's Eddie's star on his lapel, Schumacher creator of the millennium?
Yeah, well... they may need glasses.
Some people were actually saying Lewis was baiting him - which is silly, considering he still had to do Q3.
To me it's like causing dangerous situations in the pit lane. You need strong penalties to stampt the behaviour out.
What happened?
stamp
Did you not see qualifying, mr gavin?
Deliberately tried to ram Hamilton at the end of Q2
He could have moved over at least another 15 cm. Hamilton is a menace
To me he should have been banned for the rest of the season. Using a car as a weapon is not acceptable
He deliberately chopped Lewis after a Quali run cos Lewis edged him out on the last corner. Damaged front wing
Why should he have to, they weren't racing back to the pits?
Deliberately DID ram him
wow
That may have been a joke.
He got in a minor incident with Lewis, they touched wheels. Then on the slow down lap he appeared to deliberately smash into him as "payback"
Well, yes.
Sorry, did I forget the sarcasm tags? ;-)
Lewis had to compete in Q3 with gaffa tape holding his car together
ah got you :)
Lewis overtook him at the last chicane just before the end of Q2 when Pastor left the door wide open. Then after Eau Rouge he had a major temper tantrum and sideswiped Lewis like he was in NASCAR.
And got on the front row.
I'm not the greatest fan of Lewis, but that was pretty darn impressive.
la source not Eau Rouge ;)
Sounds like today's GP2 race was interesting
oops
Don't worry Lee will be talking to some 7 year olds who are currently racing in a random series instead.
today is an awesome day already. gooo Jenson!
the GP2 weekend as a whole was interesting - sadly with injuries....
Was Schuey's cross-thread wheel confirmed?
Schumacher finally admits that he is human SHOCKA
:)
:D
Someone give that man cake
Human? Who ever said he was human?
For anyone who can see the iplayer you can see the incident in a few seconds starting at 1:40:37 of the quali program
sidepodcast.com/p…8#comment-1161510
The cross-thread's gone out of skew on thredle.
:lol@
:lol:
Bruuunnnnooo. I'm so proud of bruno!
certainly not me. I believe he's a cyborg, and the version preceeding the 'vettel' model
although Boris Johnson appears to be his PR guy...
So far no mention of the blistering tyres on the BBC show...
He did a great job
Maldonado swiped so hard he ended up sliding across the grass
Very impressive.
I wasn't sure if people would get this comment, I expected some questions about it... But I didn't expect some kind of Spanish Inquisition.
I really hope Senna's reputation garners some re-evaluation. I think he's better than he's given credit for.
"oh, no, it wasn't intentional'
I can picture Graham Chapman delivering the line
French GP we'll be back in 2013 (Share the race with spa)
www.f1zone.net/ne…h-gp-return/8494/
I just Googled it. :D
Stewards say it was partly hamiltons fault for being there.
Considering this only became public less than 90 minutes ago, nothing would have been recorded for it.
It certainly given me the chance to reset my opinion of him
Well of course!
Started on the right hand side of the track and ended on the grass on the left despite hitting Lewis in between.
I bet they said it was Lewis' fault for being Lewis Hamilton
Jaime!
:D
Mate, if you'd stayed at home today, no-one could have rammed you off the road...
Nooooooooooo! I really need to go to Spa next year then
#confidential
No doubt he gets the special treatment as a platinum cardholder at the stewards room.
Me too. I may have "dissed" him a bit on Friday
/sarcasm. Maldanado clearly wanted to bumpngrind
Am reserving judgement until today. Quali is but one lap.
I've seen a lot of places source that from GMM so it's a nothing story for me still
BOOOO
Have been catching up on this tyre situation with the FBFB thanks FBFB
Hymie does well in the rain cos his eyelashes blow the water out of the way
it's never too early to plan because if you don't start early, you don't go :D
Jaime just seems so happy all the time. All smiles.
Worked for Vettel :)
Well, so far he is doing the job
Bruuunnnnooo
I love how much bruno we get now. he is the next Rubens
hehe
He does have intense eyes.
For Gavin and anyone else who missed qualifying yesterday:
www.youtube.com/w…tch?v=_0AYDK67Elc
www.youtube.com/w…tch?v=fO1uPZ6Hsbw
Who has longer eyelashes him or Jarome?
Best go anyway, just in case ;)
I bet they've got everything he likes set up on a little table everytie he comes in...
"I WANTED EVIAN, NOT FIJI WATER!"
There is not enough blue on Bruno's cap
:D
lol
thanks pat
I like that FBFB has time to mention that Jaime talks really fast before writing everything that he says.
Ted in the background
here we go...
Mad skills!
i did wonder if that was him or not.
I read that the source is L"Equipe newspaper.
translate.google.….html&act=url
Are Christine's agent?
hard to take a guy seriously when he's wearing braces
"Difficult moment"?
As the track was bending to the right, I think Lewis was following the curve and spotted Pastor and quickly corrected
Pastor looks at the camera a lot and it creeps me out
Maldonado mumbling something incomprehensible. Well, I believe him!
I shalln't lie, I can't understand anythign Pasta says
Although Whitmarsh is no better :)
It is onL'Equipe's site saying it is official
www.lequipe.fr/Fo…-bonne-annee.html
Pastor: "Well, I'm not gonna lie to you, Ted."
*silence*
Maybe he wears braces?
Really? Hardly relevant
to hold up his trousers
Harsh. Nothing wrong with wanting to sort your teeth out.
True. what is relevent is that he cannot enunciate when he speaks....
I agree with Eddie... (sadly)... If it's after the checkered flag then it's much worse
How's you Spanish? I know mine's pretty poor
Cheese
That slow mo then at Monaco was crazy, the amount of rubber flying off the tyres!
que?
It's horrible. But I don't have to give interviews in spanish as part of my gazillion dollar racing contract, lol
Yes and no. It means it is slower speed so the consequences of the accident at potentially less.
Well... let's be fair - you're not required rto speak English. It just helps
True, but it also removes any and all reason to be fighting for the same space on the track
What I mean is that there is no way to have an excuse if it's after the flag
Loved that Alonso shot there :)
With the musical cue
But Alex free wheeling back to the pits was a "difficult moment" apparently.
"Um.." ALONSO FACE DRAMATIC MUSIC
Epic :D
Especially when you have a big wide track. He could have just driven around the mclaren. But he didn't
I've predicted Hamilton to win. Cue humble pie, later
Ah yes, sorry I forgot :)
Don't hear much Schubert in F1
Is HAM's car still held together by gaffer tape?
Agreed. However it is hard to say if it is worse to do it out of stupidity at slow speed or to do it to gain advantage at speed a la Senna or Schumacher
Totally agree
Actually I realise what I meant was that the excuse for getting the penalty wrong is worse if it's after the chequered flag
its hard not to be annoyed by that smirk and finger combo
At least they did it as racers. I always prefer that
I reckon the director's been watching a Milos Forman film.
*da daaaa*
I can't say I prefer one to the other. Senna taking Prost out at 160-180mph can hardly be describe as preferable
He was obviously rocked by it
Quick question about the F1 Timing app with the map in it ... If I select the race now will it automaticaly switch to live when it starts? I have purchased the data...
The musical cues were straight out of there.
hmm, will schumi finish in the points? think i'm voting... yes.
You'll get a pop up when it goes live asking if you want to switch to it
Major movie pictures influenced musical selection... Amadeus earlier, Goodfellas now
thanks
I voted DNF because I'm really not a nice person :D
Snap :)
Sllowwmmooo raiinnn
Boo! Was this because I wasn't nice to Heikki? :P
I've voted int the points
Woah!
I voted points but commented that it was conditional on him surviving a first lap DNF
...in the points. By lap 12.
So what do we think will happen when Lewis laps Pastor?
Ha ha, good point
Lewis will get a penalty for provocation
Sutil looks angry with his glass of wine..
1st race I've watched live at home all season. I've forgotten how it works :P
Having a ber!
He'll get evils, at least
he he :)
:)
mmmm I made a Belgiun Trippel yesterday after qualifying. Thick dark beer smells so good when it's cooking
I miss the old Bus Stop
beeeeeefcake
Same
Brundle's car had Schumacher's name on it. Says everything about Benetton
No new tyres for the teams.
www.autosport.com…port.php/id/94070
I thought we were gonna get a Rocky montage there :)
+2, they go the wrong way now
You hit the wrong part of him my friend!
speaking of poor driving:
axisofoversteer.b…mbarrassment.html
hahaha
Ninja warrior style :lol:
DC the ninja warrior of style
I loved that ♥
Schumachers words are just empty.
Vyborg Rocket http://t.co/WirI5CA
(from @OfficialLRGP)
:)
i'm hoping Vettel gets a piece of Spa karma today...
sparma?
Totally and completely.
It is only a year ago since he did what he did to Rubens
Karma for what?
YOU want to be treated fair?!
grrrrr. sorry but that man annoys me after how he's treated others alongside him.
Sorry Eddie, but you're wrong there.
I keep losing the stream.
He understands we don't like him. I hate that!
I'm telling you he's a cyborg. He's been pre-programmed with over a half million sentience fragments...
I loved the shot of Flav getting his inspiration "he just parked it!!"
Spa 2010 :)
Taking Jenson out last year
aha!
I think he meant he wanted to be treated to a trip to the fair
Gridwalk talk
good blog that :)
Did ?DC's t-shirt come with some classic Schumi cowboyboots?
I laughed so much when that happened. Flav accusing Schumacher of cheating.
I meant to say time but out of habit it works out as a nice blog plug
i could have had a JB podium on my first race.. Vettel denied me of that. grrrr
a pot and kettle interface problem
not that i hold a grudge..
smiley JB :)
I hate that EJ takes the credit for Schumi, when it was Peter Sauber who paid for his drive in that Jordan.
How does JB hear him with those ears in?
Senna, Rubens and Jenson were the first three retirees last year so it's only fair they all have really good races today.
Why is brundle always suprised how many people are on the grid?
Flav's team had run Schumacher in bent cars and Flav was always the one who defended him like when he rammed Hill in Adelaide
EJ invented Schumacher, but Sauber invented EJ
Ferrari, upset?! Surely you jest Martin :)
I thought it was Haug's predecessor?
Camera man looked like he'd lost Martin for a sec
I thought Ferrari had not run too much camber?
the BBC could really do with explaining the blistering issue.
Nope - t'was indeed Mr Sauber
I like Petrov's smirk about the rain :)
Sounded like Martin thought they might have covered it already
I think they were upset at Red Bull trying to get fresh tyres.
Awww.
Yay Vitaly. :)
It will rain.
They hadn't - that's why they were upset
Sauber paid for it. Of course Merc were paying Sauber a fortune in sportscars
Very nice bit from Petrov, awww
#ranking for being lovely?
Rubens!! :)
Hehehehe!! aww. Poor rubens.
hehehe
Rubens wants to save Martin a walk and do better next time.
'you don't come to interview me any more.' :)
oh SNAP!
" you don't come interview me anymore, maybe it's a long walk for you"
Rubino just got +15 in my book
Least he's still smiley and lovely despite that car
Oh dear. Grumpy Fernando is back.
Clapton and Eddie
ooohhh Russell Batchelor!
Is that Spanish for no?
Eric Clapton!
(on the grid for free today)
:D
It's supposed to be dark and dramatic. Where's the soundtrack?
I think he was just zoned out.
he he
just been asked to switch over on the timing app :)
I love that Clapton says he hates rain.
:D
Is Mr C really Eric Clapton??
It would fit....MR.. C!
Eric - please get off the telly
Guys I love your coverage :D it's much better than our commentators :D Since i joined sidepodcast and I didn't focus anymore on what he said :D
he's at Spa!
wooo! Nat Pinkham!
He's explaining!
No epic intros here, so I'll just add one myself.
www.youtube.com/w…tch?v=dEWHAbuFU1c
That is odd
Ted spying on Ferrari :)
Don't mind it when they interview celebs that actually know what they talk about.
LIAR! I voted the same :)
I like that the FIA are sticking to their guns this time - am interesting race ahead
Webba in deep conversation
And play air guitar on the grid :)
Who were the journos?
But what about Geri Halliwell who, with her interview in monaco, we know she is a big fan of whoever is first!
Agreed. When they interview someone who doesn't know which team they are a guest of and the name of the driver they are supposed to be supporting it is a different matter but Clapton is a proper fan
he he Jake
its the teams fault, go past what Pirelli tell them and it'll hurt.
I think Leo Sayer was the last other one
Rightio, I'm going on a food run.
uh oh - those tyres
He has even driven an F1 car. A McLaren in the 80s I think
Woah gangster arm action from Vettel there....
Right folks,
I'm off to watch the race - back later on.
ooh i dont like Vettel's aggressive behaviour. Not cool
oh wow happy seb!
if only Ringo Starr was on the grid with clapton - I've got blisters on me tyres!
Of course, this is all down to Mr C and his unfortunate Ringo accident he's not there.
there's that finger again. I told you it was evil
oooh cross Seb
is that paulhembery with vettel?
you jinxed it :D
he's well in his face
Great camera work.
Nope. Mario. Whoever Mario is
So aggressive. Ridiculously unprofessional.
now that was interesting. morning all.
i was being sarcastic :)
indeed. Love that.
mario mario
pirelli guy is telling Vettel "Hey, we made those tires like 3 weeks ago, if you blistered the how are you gonna blame me?"
Luigis brother, he may also be super or a dr
I think I have forgotten what happy seb is like that it went completely over my head
whats going on with the tyres? I've only caught snippets of something about blistering and camber angles
that about sums it up...
the camber is set up for wet tyres, and is too severe for dry Pirellis, but they aren't allowed to change it back, so the tyres will take a poundin'
echoes of Indy 05
Red Bull and ferrari are unhappy and had a strop, and everyone else laughed at them.
Hey everyone. Had Irene move through my area overnight.
So who here had Belgian waffles for breakfast this morning? For me, it's CInnabon cereal, toast and coffee as the race is a few minutes from the start.
Some teams have run more camber angle that Pirelli specify and have blistered tyres. Now they want to be allowed to change the camber and have new tyres. Shockingly for once the FIA made a good decision and told them to sod off
Super Mario?
I made a belgiun style beer yesterday after quali. won't be ready for a few weeks but smelled delicious
Never thought I'd see you write that ;) But yes agreed.
i have some for later.. :)
I don't think so... I think Red Bull had a strop, and Ferrari laughed at them. They were unhappy that Red Bull might be about to get their way
It would be nice to see Webber make a good start for a change today
ah, thats why they were saying it only affecting the front of the grid as they are the only one to run on drys in qualy
o00o0o0o lee going all 007-style dark raincoat
Neither did I
Don't think so though. He'll bottom out.
Ah great. About to start my usual race ritual here:
1. Post to Twitter.
2. Run to TV.
3. Watch.
4. Run to PC.
5. Post to Twitter.
6. Repeat.
Enjoy. :)
haha, EJ: "watch out for Alonso. I won't say he'll win - just watch out"
EJ predicts Alonso to win
LH for the win. evnetually I'll get it right
After the race he will be saying that things are not working out for Alonso at Ferrari
As is traditional, predictions of the first spinner?
Maldonado
I think first corner multiple accident
Petrov today
I miss those
waiting for 5live comms on virgin tv.. *prays it appears*
But it was Lewis's fault
oh yes, red mist part 2 or 3 or whatever.
FBFB says "a Pirelli chap" So I think the guy must be called Mario Chap
It's usually on 2 or 3 minutes before 1
We have a few fast cars near the back so it could happen
#FBFB
I don't think Schumacher could get a podium from pole never mind last
Ahh I do hope those French GP rumours are nonsense. How can you not have Spa?
he he :)
ask 2006?
ooh helicopter shot of a helicopter! #inception
I thought it might have been a crane shot of a helicopter
L'Équipe the French national daily sports newspaper says it will be made official today by Bernie. They are usually right. Alternating Spa with Paul Ricard is horrific
*kicks virgin media* you usually have 5 live by now!
I am excited for this race...
I reckon Vettel will scamper away and then pit early.
Dream team!
you've assumed there. Maybe it was one of those remote control drones....
and then Spa karma will STRIKE!
5 Live is go on Virgin! Woohoo!
he he :)
on the hour...
wohoo hiii crofty!
I have the F1 Championship Edition video game for the PS3. Sadly, Spa was not on the list of tracks to race on thanks to the schedule for 2006. :(
I like the challenge of keeping track of who's on which pit strategy
I like your thinking :)
I remember a great shot from the crane-cam at the end of Kemmel. It had the cam-copter flying "crabbed" along the straight, at what seemed below the crane cam height.
There needs to be a French GP.. just not there
Jenson and Schumi on Hards
Despite the radio Martin thinks he's right
I would be happy to have an annual French GP just not at the new Ricard as an alternative to SPa
The rain has started coming down!
...in Newport!
:)
spa-fracorchamps baby! yeah!!!!
(sorry, I might be a bit over-excited...)
JB on medium tyres
Martin was right
Which corner number is that?
Well there is a bus stop in Newport
We have had rain an sun all day - it's intermediates in Copenhagen right now ;)
:-)
I always forget Liuzzi is still racing F1.
First race with Crofty commentating for me in a while...
So does everyone else
Except Joe
SO happy I get to see the start!
#Iloveelectricity
DC says technically the 2 stopper is the fastest, but thinks most of the front runners will do 3
Brief panicy moment realising I had washing out. Damn spa weather.
Here. we. go!!!
what is smoking??
Well, I wouldn't call it racing. Circulating maybe
Rosberg?
Rosberg has a really skinny rear wing
Rosberg smoking..
Who's smoking on the left? Rosberg
ooh was that senna
Noooooooooo Bruno takes out everyone
I was sadyl right about webber
Rosberg 2nd, wtf!
into 2nd... wow that's some tactic!
Rosberg's smoke makde him go fast
ROSBERG!!!!
Massa all over Lewis
Rosberg ahead of Vettel
ROSBERG LEADS?!?!?! waaahhhh??
Rosberg smoke must have been a rocket. lol
Rosberg on Jungle Juice or something?
Maybe the smoke was to hide a jump start?
Like I said
well said!
Bruno is 14th :(
genius
Tim is broken too..
I see
Terrible terrible terrible start for Webber. At least he didn't crash out.
LOL.
Rosberg's cunning "smoke-screen escape" is straight out the Wacky Races handbook.
less than a minute ago i thought his race was over......
No Jaime!!! :(
Schumi 14th!
or like a bull ready to charge? grrrrr, then GO.
hehe
Lewis very slow
Alonso gets Lewis
Oh my word....
Bruunnnooo :(
Senna gets new nose and options
Senna Glock and Heikki pit
of course he had contact at the first corner, he barrelled into everyone :D
The picture looks wrong. there's a car in front of Vettel. obviously he's coming up to lap him right?
those who did well in quali have gone backwards
Martin said he thinks the two lotuses hit each other
I think he got his line wrong :)
Do NOT show start replays while all this is happening
Tim retired
did dc just say alger-squary?
I kn ow Schumi was last but he's being overlapped after 2 laps, madness
come on JB.. p11 next.
I just realised that forgot to turn live timing on
sparks
I really want Rosberg to win this now.
Noooo vettel
Vettel coming back
i shouldn't have said anything.
Never going to happen
But wait Vettel can't overtake right
Poor Ant, he's not even sure what's happening :)
that is one of the worse starts ever from Webber
Why are we watching start replays????????????????????
Rubens-esque
Has a lot of competition....
Martin thinks t was Bruno's fault at the start
he must have seen i said he'd waste pole but forgot he wasn't on pole
What was Bruno doing there??!
'Lo everyone BTW *waves*
Oh my god, bruno!
didn't the FIA said last year that driver shouldn't cut the first corner? Alonso just did that...
Because we never really get overtakes for the start
Ted says Jenson needs a new wing
Trulli hit Heikki!!!
It was I think.
Red Bull in
Webber pits
so car or driver problem?
Wing and tyre change for Jenson?
Webber pitted
Alonso trying to take Massa
Massa has DRS from Rosberg
jaime crashed into him, it's not like he could do anything else...
might as well. nothing else to do when you lose that much
ohhh Renault... still think it was a good idea to put Bruno in the car...
and seriously?? JB! :(
oh here we go... massa alonso
grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
JB how are you going to win from 15?
Spa rocks!
Saubers are doing really well!!
Crofty on the BBC!
Avoiding an accident. Not the same as Kimi going that way on purpose imo.
Ted says Red Bull pitted for the tyres with Webber, so it's true that they are haivng big trouble
Goo Massa!
Good defensive driving from Nico
Vettel radio Mark has pitted, marks seem to have stabalised on the slow corners
Vettel worried about his tyres
the marks on the tyres
Alonso going for it
Oh my god!!
too deep
Lewis almos took him
Lewis must be loving this!!
OH MY GOD!
Wow!
"Brundle and Coulthard are wittering again. Just fade Crothy over the top of them".
go lewis
wow racing
yes yes yes two ferarri'scoming into one...
Massa driving backwards
Wow.
Love mass a for that
Cracking!
hehehe Crofty 'massa thinks.. damn can we do this lap again!' :)
Massa really squeezed Lewis
Nice!
Massa mugging time.
i have goose bumps! love this racing!
Vettel pits
Vettel pits
Softs for Vettel
hmmmsoft tires...
Webber FL
Webber has Mediums
Broken rear wing
Buemi has rear wing damange.
Buemi's wing is hanging off?!
and i can't spell.
Buemi
Toro Rosso's car design is extreme to say the least
THey have the information from Webber's tyres now
Senna and Glock incident being looked at by stewards.
I thought it was French
Over/Under on # of pit stops for the winning driver? I have it it 3.5.
9 and 24 cars under investigation
Black and orange flag for Buemi
Senna and Glock
You say that, but it's probably made the car quicker.
bruno gets a drive through for driving into everyone
Short investigation! Drive through 9
Senna and Glock get a drive through.
... poor Nick would have had a better race ;)
drive thorugh for 9 - bad senna
Drive through for Bruo and Glock
DTP for Bruno.
gooo Alonso!
My hug has caused all kinds of trouble!
gosh i'm fickle today.
Has Heidfeld ever had a drivethrough?
go fernando go! :)
Alonso makes it stick
The Ferrari is mighty through Eau Rouge and Radillon
Buemi serving his penalty
Alonso is MIGHTY through Eau Rouge and Rivage today.
Alonso had huge speed through Eau Rouge
Not in Massa's hands.
Lewis looking like he wants to move on Rosberg
Massa looks like he's losing rear grip.
JB has a looonnnnggg stint ahead.
Lewis has blisters
Sparks from the Mercedes!
Weaving surely from Rosberg.
Buemi pits.
Vettel fastest lap
Yellow flag again
yellows again.
Gosh it's awfully easy with DRS after Eau Rouge...
Lewis doesn't seem to mind the blisters that much
Massa now on Rosberg
Vettel overtaking people again...
I don't like to see drivers passing that easily on the outside
They're not exiting a slow corner beforehand
FBFB good tweet from Karun...
Alonso pits
Alonso pits
Vettel is absolutely flying!
Crofty says 3 stops for ferrari now.
Fastest lap from Vettel
Ferrari keen to make sure they don't get stuck behind Rosberg again.
Wow!!
Yikes that was so close
WOW Webber!
Woooooo webber
Respect to MW!
I thought that was going to be an enormous accident
Alonso saved them then
lets watch this, maybe from behind a pillow :D
Was it Kimi that did that a few years ago. Proper racing!
I had my eyes shut
A little bit crazy from Webber.
buemi retired
here we go
Wow that was scary
And that never happens
Sutil!
Hello random Force India :D
look at the back camber of that rbr...
What on earth is goping on there...
it was really really dangerous and close
Jeeeez! :D
Webber is MIGHTY! If only he got decent starts!
Alonso just has him covered
two for the price of one :)
This really feels like Alonso's day
Massa pitted somewhere in there
Yep
ooh my FBFB just suddenly caught up
What is the point in Webber taking a huge risk to get the position only to hold the door open on the next lap?
Eah, this is a great candidate to do every other year
vettel alreafy at the back of rosberg
*gasp*
Around the outside, woah
and now in front
Front Left for Vettel blisters
Vettel round the outside!!
Seb'#s new tyres are blistering already?!
Lewis pits
Vettel needs a plaster for his blisters
Remember folks, these are highly trained professionals. Do not try this at home. ;)
Silly parc ferme rules!
I do believe I just saw Vettel overtake without crashing!
TED NEWS - Rosberg smoke on the start was breaks
We should be racing here every other race, not every other year...
Doesn't sound a happy bunny
sorry, that took forever to post. That was for Webber before, but it may work at other times in the race, so I'll do that occasionally. :)
Best get the orchestra ready.
At least
Vettel in the lead again.
A number of overtakes... And even overtakes on the outside
two in a row again for alonso
well if the car is set up slightly differently, then insides will make more contact with the ground....right?
:)
Forget a spec car series, let's just have a 1 track series!
Hehehe at Jonathon Ross..
I am watching the formula one on tv. I find it a little frightening. I might record it then watch it back at half speed.
sounds good. :)
More camber = more load on the inside edge
Rosberg pits
Fastest lap from Alonso
LOL Lukeh. :D
Softs for Rosberg
So slow out the stop Rosberg. Surely he's messed himself up there.
I can't believe I was actually there last year!
I want that photographers spot...I bet he needed new underpants after Webber and Alonso though...
I like that the position for him was constantly updated as he came out of the pit lane. very tour de france...
Martin ignoring his own rule, "always be on the right tyres"
me too :(
Niiiiice from Lewis
webber is in good position having used the hards if it doesn't rain (yah, keep dreaming...)
JB's 0.4 behind Herr Chin - gotta DRS him soon.
Poor Toro Rosso... not a good day :(
There's Alger squarey.
Tim unhappy still wearing his helmet
There and at Monza going into the Parabolica. ;)
OHHHHHHHHHHHH
no no no
Woah!
Sweet Lord.
pants
All the good qualifiers, Senna and both Torro Rosso's have disasterous races.
WHOAAAAAAAA!
that's a shame
OOOOOOOO!!!
ias he conscious????
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
oh when i look away for a storm update...
what happened? (comercial)
D'OH! LEWIS!
Spa karma!... for something...hope hes okay...
Lewis moving slowly...
NOOO
that took him a scary amount of time to move
Safety car
Winded?
Woah! Hamilton cut in front too soon?
He's not doing a lot of moving
just got the feed back.
HAM out
is lewis okay? okay he's moving now
Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Looks like he's winded.
I think he must be winded
sc
Good for JB. *innocent face*
Weird.
That was Lewis' fault, he went back onto the racing line with Kamui still there
There was a camera man running away there
thats a scary crash.
Although he should get 5 reprimands definitely from the stewards ;)
Lewis' fault- didn't use his mirrors.
jb pits.
everyone in the pits
The pass was made, Lewis had the line, Kob was on the outside
Thought it was Kamui's fault at first, but after the replay, I'd agree.
bbc: ham overtakes koby then ham thinks he shifted out to normal racing line, but kobi was still there.
not alonso or webber
Why was Kamui there? He was not gaining and never going to make the pass
Nah he'l get banned for that, knowing what's happened this year ;)
I think DC might have it right, Kamui turned in a bit early considering that there wasn't a point to overtake
The move was totally done. Then Sauber tried to go back round the outside?
To look out for a guy on the ouside?
So he shouldn't give it a go?
Indeed - Lewis should've given him room anyway.
Poor Allianz
Racing incident perhaps, or Kobayashi's fault. Not Hamilton's.
Kobi does turn in I think...
If he has half a chance at a pass yes. But they were way beyond the point where a pass was remotely possible
He was in front!
hamilton could apply his 'freakin **** drivers to himself'...
This is what happens when two drivers like that try and pass each other.
Racing incident for me. Kamui put himself and his car at risk for no gain
in most seasons, #1 driver gets the first garage. for next year, hamilton should get the number that puts him next to the stewards...
I think I could hear HAM say "What is he doing"?
TED says Lewis was just frustrated which is why he didn't get out
I think that is the 2011 season slogan 'Lewis, give everyone room all the time every time'
50/50 - Hamilton did squeeze him a bit from what that that looked like.
One rule for Lewis another for everyone else.
Racing driver is out, nooo
Kobi turns in - but has DC says, he was never going around the outside and was just going to lose more time by doing it - should have cut in, stayed close and carried more speed through the chicane.
Racing incident for me.
Agreed
only on lap 15 - vettel is on his third set of tyres
I think it was probably more Kamui's fault than anything else, but I'll go for racing incident.
Ham seems to have a very magnetic personality. Or car. :(
He got his bell rung on that one, looked like. I didn't like that he wasn't moving at all at first. Scary.
Good point
I was about to comment that he wasn't moving when he did
Yeah I didn't like that at first, just sitting there motionless.
Alonso my favourite for the win today
So's Button. And the safety car closed them up. Another win from a bad position?
I don't think Bruno is going to win today
Schumacher one position away from the points
Are we going to see Webber have to move over for Vettel? "Remember that contract we got you to sign"
come on JB.. P13 at the restart, same as your original starting position... make it worth while!
come on JB
Sky looks very blue, that must mean rain soon :)
enjoy the sun, it may not last ;-)
Hmm not sure after last year!
oooooh rubens in the points!! 1 point, yess!!!
is it noon yet? Oh, that was Edinburgh. :)
What happened to Buemi?
Bassano - sun = rain. :)
#quotefail
??
Retired quite a while ago now
is this good for Allianz (exposure) or bad (advert destroyed)
I got it :)
Rear wing damage
Did Bruno knock Tim off?
Any precipitation on the Spa weather radar yet?
Safety car in this lap
Spa need Burb to get the cars off the track :D
Yes, 1st corner
You want your car moved? €5.50!
very close between cars there
:D
yellows?? what?
Vettel going for Webber...
Thought Webber was allowing Seb past then...
wohooo! go JB!
Jenson past Rubens!
Good restart from Alonso
I saw this!
I wonder if inflation has made it €6 this year
Move it Fernando!!
WOW! Webber not so much leaving the barn door open as shooting the hinges off and hanging some bunting out.
The economic instability will surely have affected the value of munters
Are the Munters smaller?
Always the way.
I was hoping to one day go back and cash it in for 100 euro.
I wonder if Bruno has his cell phone camcorder on hand as he's racing. :D Remember the demo run he did earlier in the year at the World Sewries by Renault event?
Oooooh jenson!!!!
i can't watch! Petrov just be nice.
I thought he was going to have a Rubens moment then...
YES Buttski!
WOHOOOO!!! 2 overtakes!!
WOW Jenson!
Well done Jenson
Yeah Button!!!
No way!!!
boo
Vettel can't overtake though so that didn't happen
This race is excellent.
Vettel in overtaking a good car SHOCKA!
Nice two, JB...
Aweosme stuff from Jenson though :)
Good move from Vettel
dont worry everyone, in a few laps Vettel will have to change his tyres again..
Nooo we dont need to know about forest v west ham!
What about that drag race between VET and ALO?
i'm sure the tv director is the only one not enjoying this - too much work to do!
:D
Mr C, You're going to have to move to hexadecimal race ranking!
And it would have happened without DRS, too. He had him at the top of Eau Rouge.
Schumacher is in 7th
I cant decide who i like least, Vettel or Alonso.
Im gonna back vettel, after alonso's rudeness on the grid
9.99 recurring
VET = 1'52.281
Goooooooo Rubens!!!!!
It's just all going on
i just hope JB can overtake when he gets closer..
Alonso not in DRS range
alonso keep the position right up to les combes, ferrari power + better kers = rbr drs
I'm so happy he didnt crash into him for once :D
Oh no, Perez is back through!
Fastest S1 from Schumacher
I think he will say10.3 and Christine will beat him up
My FBFB has paused again :(
Andrea Stella gets more italian each race
Alonso radio not a disaster from the strategy
:) Mamma Mia
pausing?
Fastest Lap from Vettel
I hear he's gonna be in the next Dolmio ad
Yeah the last update is from 13:34...
This happened earlier and then suddenly I got a whole load of updates in one go
Vettel will need new tyres in 3 laps again
Come on Rubens, lets get this Sauber!
maldonado, no so much.
Someone needs to tell Vettel that driving this quickly WILL lead you to munching your tyres. Again.
Vettel has to go to Hards next, but Alonso has both
go on Jenson, another 2 overtakes please.
hmm, all good here. browser?
Or not, keep it quiet I say :)
Come on JB!!
Has there been an investigation announced for the Hamilton/Kobayashi crash?
that sounded like 'we are going to a stop less than them'
:) Shumi strikes again.
Chrome on the mac
here we go, into DRS zone...
Oh this time I just got the new update 14:45 and nothing in between
I am sure they will penaliseHamilton soon enough ;)
Nothing yet
Jenson couldn't get close... intriguing.
come on Jenson!!!
Well. Didn't expect MSC to hold him off there.
No further accident on lewis crash.
Firefox on VIsta hee
Mercs have really skinny rear wings
Are Mercedes still suffering with tyre wear? They don't seem as bad as RBR
No further action for HAM incident
I thought JB was going to munch him like a cake
Speak of the devil. Brundle just said "no further action"
same here. all is good. i can't reboot the server right now. apologies :(
accident?
Tony F
Jarno has overtaken bruno senna of renault. That's history.
Great top speed from Merc today
Lewis sounds down. Says he was ahead of 'whoever he was racing'
YAY JENSON!
Flipping disgrace. Hadn't they said every event of contact would be investigated this season?
Jb!
Car 17 penalty
BooM!
That didn't help Nico, and Schumi does get passed.
No ivestigation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All collisions have to be investigated. It's the rules
Penalty for Perez
Perez gets a penalty for being ahead of Rubens
TED is reading my comments just confirmed this
rules shmules
Fair enough. He should know better
No panic... I've taken a screen grab will post it later
my commentators said perez was being penalised for his collision with lewis. Bah.
I concur.
Quality broadcasting :D
can ya try another browser? firefox?
#fail
Oooooh Sutil...
Jenson is kicking asphalt today! Awesome
Maybe the graphics guy just hasn't published it. Did they show Perez was under investigation?
Maybe they want to speak to Hamilton, for old time's sake
You think you'd learn after the 43 years rubens has been racing
I can but it's working again now... I'll switch if it stops again
come on Jenson, just over half distance!
GO JENSON!
they only have to talk for about 10 seconds pre and post each adbreak and they still manage to screw up.
Brundle said on the commentary that it's been announced there's no further action.
and he's had 300+ chances
Lewis interview - Not sure what happened, hit the wall pretty hard.
good stuff :)
Lewis is not a happy bean.
Have vettel's tyres gone yet?
Thought Sutil was going to hit him there...
Just got that, thanks
Missing Vettel radio due to Lewis interview and Alonso radio too
does he not remember? he didn't even know the name of the guy. he sounds very quiet today. maybe being restrained?
grr
i knew it, Vettel to pit for new tyres soon.
vettel is eating his tyres...
blister on VET's LF. Pitting
what did the radio say?
Vettel sounded Finnish there...
come on JB, eat that Ferrari!
Hahahaha Lee asked him if "no action" was the right decision and there was just a long pause :D
And what did Alonso say please :)
Lee: Lewis, we've just heard the stewards are taking no further action - is that the right decision
*Lewis walks off*
BUT is 2.4s a lap faster than MAS
Ah, aus commentators listed to Amy and apologized
2! 2! 2!
Ok... hmmm
JB missing the right mirror
I s that drops on the camera of button?
On 5 live Gutierrez playing for Newcastle, no wonder Sauber brought in De La Rosa at Canada if he's doing things on a Sunday
I love the football guy on 5 Live today! Keeps referencing F1 :)
What?
Good spot
Was thinking the same.
Nice
WOHOOOOOOO!!
Well done Jenson
AMAZING JB
JB gets Massa! Nice :D
Woo!
I think DC just applauded
Jb on it today
amy success!
Ant: That was Jenson Button-esque :D
JB you absolute legend!
TM: Hey guys, I'm here with Emily watching a cracking race and cursing adverts! We're together watching F1! :D
He did!
come on JB.. go for Rosberg! go go go!
Tom Carnegie would probably agree with you. ;)
Speed viewers seriously at a disadvantage this year with so much on track action. They've missed the last 2-3 minutes of racing! STILL in ads.
Keeping your head down in case it gets windy
Podium for Jenson, anyone?
vettel already on alonso's times, with much newer tyres
Can I just say - none of the top 5 have ever won an F1 race at Spa.
TED NEWS - Alonso we're starting to go off with his tyres (that's what phase 2 is)
Good point there from Brundle - MS and JB have already got the hard tyres out of the way here. Both looking good towards the end here...
if you jinx him....
TED NEWS - Ted thinks 3 stops for Alonso and 4 stops for Vettel
Jenson all over Nico now!
yay! You got through the hurricane ok?
JB's flying
TED NEWS - Front left for Vettel starting to go offf
also webber
is it live or "australian delay" which meant it starts near live but for an ad break they'd come back from the ads and resume where you left off.
TM: It were not so bad where we are, if you look at NC we're in the middle of the state. It has now passed.
I didn't say nothing!
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! <3
it's like Button is in a different formula
jenson is awesome.
That Journeyer stat has Kimi written all over it
P4!!! P4!!!!
TED with his Over/Under picks. ;)
i've been saying this for years!! :) *saves comment*
no, the race keeps running while ads are on and they'll do little highlights 'what you missed while we were away'.
He really is
I think that Lewis got quite a knock to the head and thinks he's in another season.
boo...
See, crofty is saying it too!
That was DRS & KERS. Too easy
Same here.
Right. If it stays dry - could we see JB on for another win today?
DC says Jenson actually held back to make the most of the DRS zone? Is that what he was saying?
DON'T JINX HIM! :)
He passes at the bus stop weren't
Yes
Surely pausing would be more annoying.... You'd be all out of sync if you wanted to comment or use timing or whatever.
if it stays dry is webber's
Here they do millions of ads before and after the race but none during it
JB's performance is not only down to DRS + KERS...
I have the stream, but that's really crap today bc of the weather, I assume.
Sorry Lou. I won't!
Or rather so he didn't overtake him before getting into the DRS zone
TM: q re: Hamilton, was he knocked out in that crash?
:) thank you :)
How is maldonado ahead of rubens?! Thats so unfair.
No, just winded.
Don't think so. He would have been hauled off to the medical centre if he had been
he has no on-board for the stewards to know and penalize him ;-)
Was talking of that pass
In the last 15 minutes on Betfair BiUT has dropped from 28-1 to 7-1...
Yellow
ooh the swine!
Perez off in S2, back on.
ohhhh. fair dos :)
Right, so Webber's on the hard tyre and lapping about 0.3 seconds per lap slower that the (used) and blistered softs. This could be interesting as he'll be on the softs towards the end of this race too.
I love F1.
Ooops Perez
Perez looks like a broken suspension says Martin
God I've missed this over the summer :D
5 Live says loose wheel
JB just took a second off the gap to webber!
Perez retures
He has softs left?
ooh
Peter Sauber wondering if he'll ever get to retire..
Looks like Perez has retried
or retired, he aint trying anything.
Maybe button is getting an advantage from that damaged rear wing :P
Could be@
or rather Could be!
see Mclaren, if you just take a bit more care and get behind JB a bit more in quali and not bring him in early imagine where he would be now! ;)
Button took a second out of Webber in S1 there.
Key phase coming up
*S2 sorry.
what does Button have to do in pitstops? One more?
Alonso is not going to pit again
I would imagine so
doesn't have to pit again if he doesn't need to.
I just realised we finally had a race with actual first corner crashes
Ohh nooo EJ on 5 live...
he needs one more
Alonso now can go both ways on strategy, depending on if the earlier hards guys go faster he can switch back - Vettel can't
i mean he's covered both tyre types. i imagine 1 stop but he could push them if they aren't too bad..
Do you think he will stop then?
Alonso makes up a full second in the middle sector.
EJ: "The tyres are exactly what happened this morning"
...work that one out
Vettel is covering Alonso?
those tyres won't hold till the end
Vettel forced to pit in response to Ferrari
I can't imagine not watching this live next year. BBC better make it one of their 3 1st choices
Jenson ahead of Vettel too.
Mediums for VET
Steve Matchett just highlighted de-lamination on the right Button's rear wing.
Cos that always ends well
Poor exit for Massa
he's learnt from webber ;/
Rosberg all over Rubens
+1
He'll be alright. 14 laps to the end is easily doable.
live timing app says Button is ahead of Webber?
I hate seeing that Williams struggling for pace so much. :(
alonso is already flying on the mediums
f1.com says he's behind.
Go away football man, team radio!
Webber in pit
webber pits.
Webber's pit so he'a ahead now
Hards for Webber
JB leads!!! ferrari thinks JB may stay out on these tyres.
Yeah sorry - the app is all confused!
Noooo Vettel
That's fr the lead
ferrari: button may go to the end but he'll be very ambitious to do that
If in doubt, go to landscape and watch the live GPS
1'51.844 for ALO
i don't care if it's because of pit stops, JB started 13th and got to 1st.. that's impressive. :)
But of course Vettel can't overtakeI'll shut up nowButton's been mugged.
That's what's cpnfused!
And dropped to 20th because he needed a new nose ;)
Mclaren out for JB.
for some reason i read the first two words as fearne cotton o_O
b utton pits
unreal
JB on the option.
This is GAME ON
Vettel FL 1.51.0
He is So super good at reading the mad races
yep. he dropped to last in canada too <3
The Professor Part 2
Massa in again?
Massa stops again?? didn't he just stop
There was a photographer asleep at Eau Rouge, leaning on the wall!
Yeah. Odd.
weird. but yes that's him after two laps?
So vote - call it now...
Who will win?
hope his boss didn't see him. :)
he's super clever. i still remember that hungary timing disaster when he was memorising everyones lap times and trying to work out positions. :)
DC says Massa had a puncture
Puncture
Puncture
Perhaps he went partying at the campsite until 5am ;)
Alonso
]that's the word from bbc.
webber crushing everyone's laptimes on the softs
if i knew who he was i'd write to getty/LAT etc and say if i was there i wouldn't be asleep :)
Alonso
Vettel.
webber
Vettel 6.5 seconds ahead of Button
come on Spa Karma!!...
He needs some Curry Würst
Argh, damn it. What have I missed since lap 4?
Webber goes 1.49.8
1'49.883 for Webber
(i like how we agree on the predictions...)
Wearing black, he a had a shaved head
Not much
where to start?!
Anyone but Vettel please!
Loads
Umm...
i may be a stalker of f1 togs but i don't know what they wear! :) hehe
Schumi up to 6th
Schumacher passes Sutil!
come on Rubens
24th to 6th Not bad for an old man.
Alonso
come on Jenson. push those tyres!
I have to say that we often compalain about bad race directors... This one seems to have been quite good... They even seemed to pick the race start repeat when actually nothing happend.
JB and Webber are 1 second up in S2 and about 0.3 in S3 - I think the win is out, but Alonso's a target.
Vettel has got it
Webber putting in some good times
Alonso losing time hand over fist on these tyres.
Speed actually taking the time NOW to show the Austin Red Bull demo!!
and he's going to pass rosberg in a few laps
in the middle of the race?!
Pathetically bad
I guess it's a race director that's used to stuff happening rather than directors at rubbish race tracks surprised by DRS
Methinks Sebastian sould have been doing the laps at Austin. Sebastian Loeb or Ogier, that is... ;)
Crazy
Aww, Crofty Jnr predicted Schumi or Trulli to win :)
Yes Alonso now looks to be in some trouble
Do we need a bit of rain to spice up the end of the race?
:) Never seen an F1 car so dirty. It was freaking me out.
They must have dumped the clown who covered quali
webber has so much more straight line speed than the ferrari
Yeah, these Tyres have killed his chances
he must have had to get to Indy for later.
Korea last year was bizarre because the track was so muddy. All the cars seems to be drenched in soggy mud!
Yes that was rubbish... They were showing the Belgian driver rather than the important final laps
if Webber didn't have such bad starts (i.e. Marko fiddling with the CPU) then who knows how well his season would have gone
Webber has Anando
Ant is confused... bless him.
The Webber Lament is what I call that.
The Ferrari really doesn't like the medium tyres.
How long before WEB asks the team to tell VET to move over?!
;-)
Webber needs to sort his starts out for himself... It's tough without testing time though
If Vettel pits again, it could be a close finish. Otherwise, we'll see the finger
Vettel, Webber is faster than you....
do we know it's a driver issue? i mean it does look that way.
Can't heat them
The man does seem to like to come from down the grid, though. Responds to the challenge.
D'Ambrosio pits.
Front left of the Renault covered in brake dust because, DC says, a gamble on smaller break ducts
Ohhh, so that's who was fiddling with Rubens' car for the last 20 years too
can JB take Webber by the end of the race, if he manages his tyres?
yes. I'll let him know. :)
Rosberg radio - Martin says, "Michael's coming to get you"
Mercedes fight! Wooo
Alonso, maybe.. Webber.. not so sure.
*cue imperial march*
TED: I don't think you'll see overtaking for red bull.
What a gorgeous shot and a gorgeous track.
:D
Martin and David sound a bit bored now
oh..? wow what more do they want?
Yes they need a bit of a pep up
I thought Vettel had adopted that theme tune.
so when F1 said they'd go green, this is what they meant?
Rob!
Ignore that, my timing app is having issues.
C'mon Mark, catch him at the end, you're owed one
where is the rain when is needed?
Well they've been all exicited, and now it's a bit slower they've gone a bit slower
Here we go Schumi...
I think they expected the close racing to last all race
the forest in the middle of the track is quite nice!
Ah yes Schumacher is on softs
Crofty managing to use Old trafford as a metaphor for Schumi. Impressive.
JB 3.8 secs away from Alonso.. i wonder if he can catch him.
they're not fit enough to last the whole race.
kinda like when they were drivers.
Bored and/or exhausted!
Walking through the forest with the sound of cars flying past is absolutelu surreal.
Button radio - Yellow G1
Hoping for Webber to team up with Will Power for the ROC. If Australia beats Germany, Webber will assign Power the job of giving Vettel the finger. :D
'yellow G 1, let's get alonso!' <3
Like a G6?
Schumi HAS to use his magic paddle to pass Rosberg.
More the second than the former... Maybe they need some branded energy drink?
2.6! ahhh podium JB podium!!
Rubens is being caught up by Senna. jeez.
Tell me everything.
This will help: http://sidepodcast.com/factbytefactbox
FBFB does that. :)
See FBFB. ;)
Save fuel for Rosberg, deary me...
All we need now is a good dose of rain and this race will have had everything.
rosberg has to save fuel, let shumi pass
Really Mercedes?
Crofty picked that up instantly too. Stupid mercedes.
Nico's response: "Sod that!"
gap between JB and Alo now 1.5!!!
yep. Do they tell us in the stewards reports of how much fuel is left over?
*sighs* :(
Rubens getting close there
Rubens. :|
don't forget the radio was a few laps ago. it might be "make it look convincing"
contact. rubens goes straight into pit lane
Michael has raced for longer than you
0.7!!
:)
Jense only 0.7 secoonds behind Alonso.
sauber have given koby a tank.
Jenson gets the ferrari.
Button takes Alonso
OH MY GOD!
debris in the braking area of the bus stop
Go JB!
Easy peasy.
PODIUM!!!!
yay jenson
Yay jb!
Seriously impressive
*dances*
Oh right, I forgot. My bad. :P
just... <3 <3
Well done, Schumi.
Hence why I was so upset about Lewis being pushed out, think he could have got this one
what happened for the ferrari over this race?. heat with tyres?
Poor hard tyre performance, has been all year
14.014 km to go
I read (I think from Adam C) that Ferrari struggles to heat up the tyres in low temps.
He needs to talk to jenson
yeah
JB fastes S1 too far away from Webber but nice to pull away from alonso
The Lotus has odd looking front wings!
so what makes the ferrari different from other cars? the way they shape the air around their car? different levels of downforce?
Webber hasn't narrowed the gap much to Vettel lately :(
final lap!
cor blimey, webber took a second out of vettel
Could be a mechanical grip thing, set-up, geometry, etc
too little too late... But is he after the fastest lap to annoy Vettel... who has it?
suspension, they're the only top team with a different geometry
Driver of the day then gang?
most likely mechanical grip - i.e. how the geometry of the car works the tyres into the ground
Jenson of course :)
It has to be Jenson for me... He's been to the back of the grid, so he does it for me
DC: His 200th GP was 7 years ago. :|
TIme for the U-turn at La SOurce
Gonna go with Schumacher
And this is the team that had blistering fronts?? RBR 1-2.
Gonna say Schumacher just to be different :P
Schumacher. :)
Jenson. But a strong second place to Schumi.
*yawn
wait, this wasn't a race recap from another GP?
DOTD = JB
Ban = DRS!
Our Driver of the Day? Our Jense. ;)
in the doghouse with you
reckon so.
yellows!
awesome first half, second half.. not so much
That bloody finger though!
Jensonnnnnnnnnnnnnnn <3 <3
i love that supporting JB means that his quali position doesn't really matter... he can win from 13th, he can win from last.. he can even get a podium from 13th. :)
I agree.
Poor Vitaly
ohhhh dear! Petrov!!
Maldonado scores a point in a race he shouldn't have been in ;)
Vettel (yes, seriously). I see this race as Brazil 2009 for Jenson, the race that 'make him a worthy champion'
when are they going to fine Vettel for having contact with his crew?
right i'm watching with no comms so i can hear clearly how happy JB is :)
Really... Maybe... Jenson did better considering he was also at the back of the grid at one point... But then he was near the back mainly because of a mistake in quali...
he did finish though.
Did it sound to anyone else like somebody was repeatedly shouting something very naughty then
Good point.
Ricciardo was fastest of the new cars for some time. Anyone know why he retired?
yep.
Hey folks,
That was a fabulous race. Truly great stuff.
he was 15th at one point and then vanished
Blasphemy!
I'm biased but JB for me. Pastor put a decent, if quiet shift in to come home in 10th.
Neway said, "I'm relieved to see you boys"
JB says first corner was mayhem
Man, Brundle sounds very quiet compared to Crofty!
Red Bull have over 400 points!
Good race, eh?
If I was guessing from accent it sounded like Jenson... But... of course that would be unlike him
newey on the podium :D
mark talking about anti-stall
Trying to listen to the pre-podium chatter. :)
A great drive by Schumacher too - joint drive of the race with Vettel.
Hehe, i like the "So what happened in the race"
and everyone fills each other in on the bits they know :)
Great race, for a dry Spa!
I feel like JB has won today.. am just so proud. i think i've finally excepted that if i just ignore the red bulls the result is great!
Indeed. :)
It was pretty good. Just felt like the last half was only worth watching for Jenson munching his way up but the first half of the race was very awesome.
first non-mclaren and non-ferrari win here since 1998
the australian flag looks very blue. i know i left the country a few years back but shouldn't it be darker?
Soon Vettel will have twice the points of second place man
schumi proved himself not...tooo...old to be racing today, but imma give it to Jenson with another great climb through the moving chicanes
Both Lotus' finished ahead of Rubens thanks to his annoyingness.
mark's mum??
Should be the same blue as the Scottish flag
Anyone planning on watching the MotoGP race from Indy in a few hours?
It's all Schumacher's fault that my mind expects the German national anthem to go into the Italian one on the podiums...
I know, riiight?
While we're on the subject, you think MotoGP sould have a race at Spa sometime?
The non-investigation of Lewis' incident today has left me pretty cold.
Nina's just started screaming... She was asleep didn't know Vettel had won until the Austrian National Anthem started
Yes, but not sure if it's safe enough for it. It's very similar to Suzuka.
hehe she's not a Vettel fan then :)
who did DC just talk about that passed away this morning?
Awww hehe :)
I doubt I'll have live coverage, but yes if I do
Martin Hines
looks like the Ausi GP trophy?
Beautiful trophy Martin? More like corporate tat.
Martin Hinds?
I actually quite like it. It's not as awful as Santander's.
Meh - racing incident for me.
Much nicer than Santander's awfulness mind
The Austrian National Anthem is pretty dreary!
well thenlet RBR have it then. Mclaren would have just tossed it in the garbageq
Newey should release an aftershave called Champagne
Classical shell logo on a proper shield, i like it a lot better than the silly sculptures
It's alright. But would you comment on how lovely it is...? It's just a plate with the shell logo on it.
Martin Hines. Karting legend. Mentor and trainer for pretty much everyone on the way up.
Would make for a lovely bowl for coco pops
My thought exactly.
rofl
'collected from soiled shirts and pantsof race winners'
It's a bit more 'subtle' isn't it. That Santander one is shocking - I saw them at the Reb Bull Factory (Note: Mr C. - I still need to do you a guest post, sorry new job has been BUSY).
thanks for the replies everyone. not someone I knew about.
Indeed: www.autosport.com…port.php/id/94071
Scariest racing moment of the season so far? Webber Alonso
There's a bloke behind them with a light blue Renault shirt and a green Ltus cap
#Confused
I think taking into account a) that it was decided every collision would be investigated and b) that he was reprimanded yesterday they'd want to at least look at what happened.
omg I can hear EJ and I'm in the bathroom. reminded me I need to do my morning things...
scary belgium pitlane guard looks as scary as they did last year..
Jenson ahead of Lewis in the championship too.
Definitely
Scariest in a few years
Like the guy at the Science Museum
And just as stupid, no doubt!
as the ones in the forest with dogs?
Eddie chant?
strong accusation :)
But what a truly stunning pass. Kudos.
I think the Schumi Rubens incident was last year right? That was close and similar.
Hmmmm
It was amazing... If it had gone wrong it would have been quite terrifying
Maybe this years ROC should be a karting race held in honor of Mr. Karting?
ahh yes Martin! JB can drive well in the dry and wet! woot woot!
Jenson from 19th to 3rd, schumi from 24th to 5th...
So MSC made more passes, but Button made BETTER passes
Oh shut up Martin.
How was he not behind Eddie? Fool
kobi had damage going into that?
that poor photog! thank goodness he managed to miss the debris
For a while before that, 1st corner I think
oh yeah. that front wing was damaged in the 1st turn
yep makes sense.
Eddie Jordan fans?
umummmmmmm....I'm horribly confused now
Vettel is the new German Beard League representative
oh gosh doesn't that mclaren jacket look even worse today?.
I don't know what to think about the Lewis and Kamui crash... I think they are both at fault for not giving each other enough room!
Shame about Senna's race in the end. I wonder if he carried damage from his turn 1 smash. P12 in the end.
I think it was a racing incident
"Who won a race with facial hair?"
I've met far more EJ fans than detractors...
Kai has lost power but otherwise is all good
Senna being shown in 13th on the BBC scroll thingy
+
Hate the fact Whitmarsh was implying it was a straight crash caused completely by Kobayashi. Utter nonsense.
Heidfeld would have finished in the points.
lewis 'thing' counts?
By that you mean they are both at fault, or that it's nobody's fault?
Just one of those things
eep. I'm in a much better spot here. no worries for me yet.
Webber says that Seb almost had the same problem with the anti-stall
People who have clearly not heard him speak...
The whole season seems to be a Webber vs Alonso battle!
I do agree that if you're behind, you're responsible for making sure the pass is possible before sticking your nose in.
How is FBFB ahead of the TV on the press conerence? Or is it a 'secret'?
or caught fire
#confidential
bbc do the conference on delay. the website and world feed usually go live
R5L had it live?
For 2nd.
ah thanks Bassano, was wondering why she was a bit quiet. am pleased she's okay
They get the script from Bernie :)
Oops, yes you're right.
Based on what?
woops. blew it.
I agree
Not mutually exclusive events
But Button had a better car under him.
oh gosh that sounds scary! someone's front wing took out JBs front wing, and wing mirror! that's a bit close..
A front wing hit jenson's car? Christ..
Pass of the season for me - and no DRS.
hehe JB has forgiven him so i suppose i can consider it..
Nice dig at Seb there :)
Both and neither... I think Kamui shouldn't have chosen to go in there for the overtake, but once he'd gone in the situation was compounded by Lewis assuming he couldn't get a return overtake. Part of winning the race isn't letting yourself be taken out too... I feel like Jenson would have kept more room, "just in case".
So 50:50 and just one of those things.
baby steps :)
the best bit of that was Seb looking back after a second or two later saying "really?" with his eyes...
yeah, can't go rushing myself..
NO FORGIVENESS FOR THE FINGER
Vettel now has more points than the whole of 2010
no, never!
and WHAT! at the pic of JB's rear wing!
so is the championship mathematically over yet?
This.
And he was too.
When I said jenson was munching other drivers...
Give it another couple of weeks
:)
If it was, Vettel would be champ. Not yet
He's already in a position where he doesn't even have to win another race and he could still walk away with the title
Bloody Sniff Petrol!
i think i just want it over and done with. Pity we're probably not going into a final race with 4 different potential winners but hey...
Not yet, but even if he gets finishes in the points let alone the podium, it'll be a tough ask for the others
But of course it was Senna being race rusty that caused him to cause the incident
Bruno was epic disappointment :(
likely won't be clinched until Japan (Vettel's favorite circuit)
Indeed. Shame.
boooooooo it's not allowed to be over before Korea!
I think it was more the fact he aaas in amongst the acton
surely heidfeld had something to say to the press. From behind the lotus/renault garage
Bruno took a completey different line
bad start. but he showed promising pace
It could be if Webber and Alonso keep them honest.
Big miscalculation on the approach to La Source. In all fairness, bit Glock and Trulli did the same thing as well.
Heidfeld surely has never done anything so exciting as smash into half the field
Ah, you mean Sidepodhagen weekend? http://sidepodcast.com/post/sidepodhagen
oh my god! it was senna;s front wing.
oh my goodness!
That is so scary
jesus, thats scary..
That could have been like Massa in 2009!
it sliced through metal like butter
wow. that took JB's right mirror off. lucky
i'm rapidly starting to dislike Senna. I think it's partly how bad i feel for Nick.
My thoughts exactly.
daaayyyum. button having a massa moment there.
Cant even see the mirror as is vanishes
Paul's done his own performance report. He clearly been listening.
he's had a lot of thinking time today
imagine what that could have done to JB if it hit him!! *curls up in a ball*
Really? On the strength of one mistake?
noooo :(
di Resta is very diplomatic... "Glock was quite ambitious"
Carnage!
Helmet is stronger than a wing mirror mount but still not nice
oh no.. i just feel awful for Nick.. that and he nearly killed JB.. ;)
Textbook JYS, is how DC would describe that. :D
It might have given him wing-based superpowers
That's one for lukeh's f babelfish
Paul is so good at describing the detail of the sport
Admittedly I like Senna. Heidfeld had plenty of opportunities and wasted them all.
Paul to be the next Martin Brundle?
Look away Lou, here's bruno..
oh here we go
mmm, black, gold, red and blue
totally agree. he's angling for Ant's spot.
Next Ant Davidson, I think,
I think he's pretty good, you can't really blame him for what happened.
I don't feel sorry for Nick, he hasn't done that well this year. and it's not like he deliberately flung the wing bit at Button?
but.. he's so unhappy! :(
Bruno could've hit Rosberg. Shudder.
Bruno went full throttle into Eau Rouge with no front wing. Surely he must have realised it was missing!
Poor bruno. v.v
'I don't think so I think was misjudgement and also I'm not as good as everyone wants me to be '
turns away to cry
hehehe well Seb didn't deliberately hit JB last year but i still don't like him ;)
#superbiased ;)
Why?? He can't see it.
I think he's better than Ant, maybe not as personable as Ant (depends on your taste), but he seems to be super clear on explaining the way things work
Better than his team-mate.
He did hit another car, and that tends to do some damage.
I think it's too hard to ask Bruno to come into a team at this stage of the season after a year off and at Spa, a very tricky circuit!
He's a real cutie. What's unpersonable about him??
noooooooo Paul will be much more successful in F1 :)
I think he's the next Ant because I see Ant moving up to BBC TV if Brundle or DC needed to move on,
You can't lift off if you don't know for sure - lots of cars around you
Eurgh.
He drove over his own front wing. Must have moticed that.
Too much expectation after a good qualifying.
so, watching the people gathered back on the force india step, I have a question...
Can they walk around the paddock with open alcoholic beverages? What about the wine glass?
Doesn't mean the wing is gone.
Ask Nick Heidfeld about Canada.
oooh Pastor... bad
I suppose Senna's problem is his name ... it helped get him here, but it's too much pressure on him.
Ooooooh big words from pastor.
omg Pastor having a go at Lewis for being taken off!
The racing's over, the support races use another pit lane [if there rare any more races]
Ooookay.
that movie about his namesake has finally made it to my area. really looking forward to seeing it in the next week
Pastor's body language [touch to the face] indicate he's lying
Watch the hand gesture from Lewis on the replay, when his hand goes up, Pastor drives into him
Oh I don't think so... I think Ant is a cheeky chappie and quite excitable and stuff so I imagine some people really like his radio personality etc. But I like Paul better
hehehe it's like we've in 'lie to me' :)
Not impressed with Pastor there.
well, that....and the video footage
You think they are the same kind of incident?
Worst rubens team mate ever.
Including you know who.
(not voldemort.)
I mean, when he said Lewis did the same today
Maldonado doesn't seem to have his story straight.
We slowed down after turn one
We were fighting
That is racing
None of those statements agree with each other
There are similarities, but not quite the same.
he he at FBFB... that's what Katherine just said :)
new F1 obstacle: just after the first corner, a couple thousand paintballs will be dropped onto the racetrack.
It'd be like dodging bits of wing and bodywork, but less damaging
Not quite the same?? One is under racing conditions where road position is all. The other is just pottering back to the pit.
Schumi cap!
*drool*
so do we all get ready to figure out the song?
Yes like the fact that Lewis was in front in one, and behind in the other?
Yes, please. :)
One was at racing speeds in a race and the other was after the session cruising back to the pits when Maldonado rammed him
20mins more of BBC coverage. Long show today
is that villas boas? o.O
devices are somewhat ready.
WTF! it is!!!
Exactly why they're not the same.
Aston Villas-Boas?
Why is the Chelsea manager there?
that's.. who?... right.. cause we really wanna hear about football BBC. cheers for this. :/
Jake got his name covered.
"Plenty of famous faces..."
Cue some football manager. Ehhh... yeah Jake
I'm so confused, that is so very random. Chelsea had a game yesterday, and his rivals are playing today, and he's at the f1! Awesome!
But I don't understand how they are in any way similar?
Too much football in F1 these days
#BlameSky
EJ grabbing Ants arm. Waiting for the backhand;
"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU LITTLE TROLL!"
He might get sacked for that - it is Chelsea after all! ;)
I love how he chose F1 over football, hehehe. Brilliant.
why would they ruin our beloved sport with such awfulness :(
I mean, err, Jake's arm
STOP TALKING ABOUT FOOTBALL! :'(
It's not that bad. He's actually quite interesting.
Stop with the football dammit!
hehehe @lou_uk and i really are the same person
' I have never seen this man before in my life. I thought he was just a fan invading their personal space.' :D
It's not like he has no idea about f1..
not when you don't have the slightest interest in football it isn't. :)
jesus, that move is absolutely mental on eau rouge!
even an hour later - yikes
Psycho.
But utterly brilliant
A lot of butters?
Has he been watching south park
alonso smiles about that question (battle with mark)
ohhhh I've got something in my pocket for you....
Laud a, cue the stupid comments
uh oh
Lauda + EJ = ?
There we go
Oh my word. Why are they talking to him
well done. he literally used the word stupid
He does kinda have a point.
Indeed. Lost a lot of respect for him lately. Just a grumpy old man.
bring back villas boas!!
;)
Laud a should understand the racing line. Fool, spoiling his reputation
aww i didn't realise who waved the flag.
http://yfrog.com/kgc43hj
love this :)
The whole triple world champion gives him some kudos
I am not surprised to find they haven't put him in as a steward
He just sounds like a confused old man.
sorry who is this?
Lauda is taking so much crap he's making up what nationality he is.
:)
John Surtees
"...when the races are getting boring you can entertain yourselves..."
lolz!
Jake says he'll be on the BBC every week. :D
Nicola!
ahh Nicola, been a while since i've seen her on tv.
Why did they not ask Lauda about the Maldonad o incident?
"That sucked" :)
thanks. off to google...
#sameperson #sametime
A 'Who can you spot' game for Lou ;)
http://t.co/y12hI5J
:)
I have heard no mention that he was doing that
!!!
Surtees is the only driver to be both F1 and motorbike world champion
I heard his name in the build up but didn't catch the context
Andy is right in the centre..and i think i see Sutton, but it's not clear enough for me to find the others.
Valentino Rossi, are you listening? :D
Lovely overtake
You mean there is an F1 photographer who can't take a good photo of the press room?
hehehehe!!!! DC 'he's a racer' yes DC... and we're at a race. bless him.
I don't know heaps about F1. and since coming to America I feel myself drifting toward other motorsports.... nooo...
:D to be fair, JYS has always differentiated between drivers (think Prost) and racers (think Senna).
Jenson just nee to sort his Saturday performance out
I would love to see the number of overtakes stats run between Lewis and Jenson adjusted for laps raced. I think Lewis might have done more overtakes but keeps going a bit aggressive and not making it around
it's certainly not in focus! silly phone camera. Daniel takes some amazing photos tho, so don't judge his ability from a phone camera :)
a great move by JB. good call DC.
Fair enough. Surtees is an absolute legend and probably one of the sport's most undervalued names, along with Brabham.
in sutton's words, "it's a photo you can't sell, so why to put a good photog there?"
...other motorsports? please explain
Not quite as undervalued as Hulme and Hawthorn, IMO.
aah but as an aussie, I know Brabham because I grew up hearing about it!
Surtees was way better than either of them
True, but Surtees and Brabham are legendary for feats beyond simply driving.
Hardly anyone in NZ even knows who Hulme is. No mention of either Hulme, McLaren or Amon in the sports section of the national museum, but there was a Britten bike...
That's true.
John is also the father of Henry Surtees who was killed in F2 in 2009
the one that turns up on my tv when i turn it on. i'll leave it vague. it has decent live timing shown on tv, and more importantly I can get it in HD on my tv. i haven't watched a lot of it because until a driver can turn in two directions....
Smiley Smiley JB :)
he was on a stamp though :D
Good. Finally.
Thanks FBFB
Thanks Christine! FBFB was fab as usual! :)
*waves bye bye to fbfb* awesome as always.
in good company too stamps.nzpost.co.…-world-motorsport
bye fbfb!
get ready to listen to the song for journeyer
Interesting that the BBC highlights are at 5:30, around the same time they mentioned with the Sky Deal. testing the waters out?
Yes.
Oh that's lovely. You've made my day posting that :)
Probably because Moto GP is straight after it
no idea mr journeyer.
Yeah and more importantly they are on BBC2 not BBC3. But they have MotoGP on at the usual time they put the highlights on (7pm).
ahhh love this song!!
ooh i just realised theres no f1 on the weekend of my trip to Sydney. Well timed tennis world, well timed.
Calvin Harris "Feel so close" [extended mix]
soundhound
calvin harris
feels so close (extended mix)
Soundhound says: Feels So Close by Calvin Harris
Shazam confirms this.
Calvin Harris 'So Close'
You booked a trip without checking?
Cheers for another awesome session of f1 all, im off for a lay down. stinging eyes and beating head is no fun :(
#blamesutil
fbfb replay: sidepodcast.com/p…1-race-highlights
Red button picture looks like it's streamed content. Awful
It's unanimous, then. :D
Gotta run. Thanks, everyone! :)
bye lukeh
bye lukeh
i'll be half hanging around for the forum. need to get my day kicking.
Forum time.
people whined about them of course www.stuff.co.nz/s…-spin-over-stamps
Bye Lukeh, Journeyer
webcam from the broadcast truck?
Off to rest up a bit as well. See you (virtually) in Italy in 2 weeks if not before then. :)
What's the point of checking if it wouldn't change your plans either way.
i checked that it wasn't the same weekend I'm in Singapore, perhaps subconsciously I was aware of the fact Singapore isn't back to back with something before it :D
I'm off for a shower and maybe out for a bit, before MotoGP at 7 and IndyCar at 9. :)
Meantime, I'll be catching the conclusion of the 2CV race from Snetterton. :D
You would miss a race to watch tennis?
I'd still go, I'd just have to make sure I booked a hotel that gets ONE HD and has good internet :D
they don't play tennis at 10pm so I'd be pretty safe, I just don't know what tv channels my hotel gets :)
I'd miss a race to go on holiday definitely.
Agreed.
mark was going to say no to DC I think and then Jake with a camera came over.
I'm already kind of missing Japan due to my friends wedding since my parents don't have Sky. It'll be like living in the UK in 2012 ;)
'lets talk about the start'
'well.. i didn't do one. Ah there it is... beautiful'
Mark is awesome :)
Ooh burn!
I missed this earlier, mid-season testing to return to Mugello next year
www.autosport.com…port.php/id/94068
I'm missing a race to go to another race, but only because I can iPlayer it when I get home
I won't even be able to stream it well since they have rubbish "we live in the middle of nowhere" internet :D
ranking points!
these places still exist?
T'is in the Daily thread
count yourself lucky you don't have that kinda connection every day :)
*looks around* yep!
I'm not sure it's as bad as they say it is, perhaps its just their middle-aged technophobiness talking :D
ha :) don't worry. my connection a few years ago wasn't great.
But it was only agreed pre-race?
been told that we wont be getting a better connection till 2015 *cries*
They'd been meeting about it all weekend, but confirmed it this morning
How does Webber fix his starts?
eeks. and to think you'll miss this sort of stuff in quality...
Change teams :P
Also:
F1 teams are also seeking a slight tweak to the 2012 schedule, requesting that the Indian and Chinese GPs swap places on the calendar to help with the travel of freight for the opening four races of the campaign.
no HD at home either.. cause we can't afford it. hehe tis okay. i'll just stick with 1mb broadband and SD for a few more years. :)
Ooopsie Jarno
:) but he's never been too good at starts I think.
i think i want that jumper..looks nice and warm
Do people really think this or is it a joke? Some people seem to think it might be true, but it seems really unlikely to me?
His starts are terrible way too often
they can move anything they want, as long as they leave Germany alone :D
:)
He was a qualifying specialist before Vettel was his team mate too
Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time it's enemy action...
I say they should do what they can like this. cut the costs by making geographical races be closer together on the calendar.
Just remember the calendar hasn't been solidified yet
Maybe the clutch is to Vettel's liking or just different to earlier versions
That reputation was built as DC's team mate. Even at his best DC was not a great qualifier so Webber outqualifying him most of the time proved nothing
How big is Ted's antenna!!
its why I've booked no flights. Well, that and not having any money for them :D
it looks like Adrian's been hit on the head..
His skull can't keep up with his growing brain
Exactly... I do think lots of the comparisons are a bit off because people forget the other person.
is Spa one of those tracks where the broadcast centre is a long way away?
I'm glad he's getting this interview though. I'm enjoying this.
Can't agree with that, surely it was from qualifying the terrible Jag in the Top 3 several times?
Adrian Newey is NOT afraid of Wasps!
You always need a benchmark to judge drivers and people rarely look for a solid benchmark. di Resta is getting great praise this season but is Sutil's performance level established?
Newey: I'm relieved both our drivers are safe
The motorhome looks like a shiny London bus
now I understand why newey made a comment before they went on the podium about seeing the two of them - i just thought he meant happy to see you in P1 and P2 not "safe and well"
I think of all the things i've heard about that crash Martin's is the best
His team mates at Jaguar were Justin Wilson, Antonio Pizzonia, Christian Klien. Out qualifying any of them proves nothing
yep. and MB shut down argument on someone else's "Nonsense"
he refers to what there?
the condition of the tyres.
Newey is very safety sensitive because Senna died in one of his cars and for a while it was suggested a modification he made to the steering column caused the crash
ah, ok
I'm still not sure what did, TBH.
I haven't seen Newey too often in interviews post race but like the bbc just said, he was "emotional"
Do you really think the Jaguar was a top 3 car on merit? I wouldn't care if Yoong was his teammate for those years, that clearly wasn't a car that should have been fighting for top grid slots, you could tell that on any onboard shot.
He also had some very good perfomances in the Williams, fuel adjusted pole a couple of times I believe? Anyway, rightly or wrongly I am certain that he was known as a quali expert before he was paired with DC.
There has been so much stuff thrown around that sorting out the facts is difficult
Newey thinks he had a slow puncture, apparently.
Ultra short forum :(
Very good point...
I feel the same about Vettel's overtaking. People don't overtake every race, and some of winning is being sensible rather than super racey, and Vettel must have led more laps than anyone else. It's hard. Of course Lewis is more flashy and brilliant in the truest sense, but how much of it is opportunity to overtake, and how much of it was unwillingness to overtake because of wanting to preserve the points and how much of it is because he's less good at overtaking? I think it's hard to say.
aw that was a god forum
Because the main show finished late?
i'm not complaining. I can get on with things now :)
see you all later. oh i better sync f1 with my upcoming time off.
or seemed to
Good stuff. Actually felt the forum was just the right length. Right folks, I'm off - IndyCar is at 9pm, should be back in the daily for that.
:)
Twas good though.
Right I have to go and watch Doctor Who from yesterday... Catch you all later!
It was scheduled that way
Good. Longer main show, shorter forum, the way it should be IMO.
You can only judge how good a car is by the results it gets. If you have a known driver you can judge reasonably how good the car is. Webber did not have particularly good team mates so the fact he was faster than them does not necessarily make him a great qualifier.
THe only real benchmark he was up against was DC. His reputation as a qualifier was there before but that does not mean he was genuinely mega quick. His reputation improved when he kept outqualifying DC but DC was always a poor qualifier.
Now Vettel is destroying Webber so either Webber has slowed dramatically or he never had the speed or Vettel is the faster than any driver there has ever been
Think we're going to have to agree to disagree over the Jaguar Steven, and my main point was that Webber had that reputation (rightly or wrongly, I stress) before he was up against DC anyway.
There is also the question about the cars they are driving. My impression based only on watching is that the Red Bull is so aerodynamically efficient that in dirty air it suffers more than the McLaren so that hinders its ability to overtake. It could reasonably be argued though that since it is faster in the first place any aero-hindering is not a sufficient disadvantage to make overtaking more difficult.
For me Lewis is the better driver but he needs to reduce the level of risk he exposes himself to. Today I think he was not to blame for the crash but he could have avoided putting himself at risk just as Kobayashi could have avoided putting himself at risk. He was going to exit the corner behind Hamilton so why try to enter it half way along the outside of him. That makes no sense in that situation.
Being in that position is only sensible if it compromises the other driver's line and therefore gives you a faster exit speed and the chance to pass on the run to the next corner and only if the other driver can definitely see you. That is what Lewis did to Webber at the last corner at the Nurbugring and it worked.
but he was compromising lewis' line, as proved by lewis moving over him to take the corner (and if lewis didn't see him, he's blind)
I agree he had the reputation before but I think that it was beating DC that changed it from being a particularly good qualifier to being rated as one of the very best
Lewis was looking right because he was about to turn into a right hand corner.
He was not compromising Lewis's line with a view to gaining an advantage because he was not far enough along side. To do that he had to be at least level and realistically half a car length in front. Even at that there is no chance of passing at the chicane. That only works in situations like the Nurburgring because there is a long run to the first corner so there is enough time for the greater exit speed to make a difference.
Kobayashi gained nothing by sitting where he did. Decisions in motor racing should be based on risk vs potential gain. The potential gain was zero so why take the risk? All drivers now move to take the optimum racing line in the situation Lewis was in most of the time. It wasn't always like that but now it is accepted that is what happens so Kobayashi should have expected that.
why should he base his move in a 'realistic opportunity'? it was his only chance to get the place back, realistic or not it was better than sit there doing nothing. in any case, is the same place where alonso started his pass on massa, so there was a realistic oportunity.
the problem is when drivers (lewis above all) take that as a truth, and act as if everyone else agree with it. and when somebody doesn't agree and doesn't move when being shut the door, this kind of thing happens
There was no opportunity. Had Lewis been right on the extreme right edge of the track with the most compromised line possible he was still going to get into the chicane first and there is no way to use an exit speed difference from the chicane to the next corner because of the very short distance. If by some miracle he Kobayashi had stayed level through the chcane he is on the outside of the 90 right and would have to gain enough exit speed to make a move at Rivage. None of that is possible when he is not even halfway level with Hamilton at Les Combes.
All of the drivers do it now and in the vast majority of occasions they get away with it. It is like any convention in that once it has existed for a certain time people assume it always will. When someone does not behave the way all the others do you get contact. Regardless whether it is right or wrong to expect it to happen it happens
I disagree, because that's what alonso did to massa
then drivers should stop assuming it and use their eyes instead
I can't remember that incident clearly but I can't believe Alonso was so far back at the turn in
he wasn't even alongside him, but he got a better exit of les combes and dived inside at rivage
I will watch it later then.
I still think even if the positions were identical Alonso was faster than Massa during the part of the race where he passed him while Lewis was clearly faster than Kamui so for Kamui to pass in that manner he had to be in a better position than Alonso to achieve the same result.
I simply cannot see how he could have gained a position and I am not convinced it was in his interest to do so because the two of them were not racing for position at the end of the race. All they would have achieved by Kamui passing there would be to slow their race time and compromise both their race results
will have to agree to disagree then.
but seriously, do you think kamui thought about all that before his try? it's kobayashi! he saw the (small) chance and took it. I'm sure lewis would have done the same ;-)
To me Kobayashi saw the chance to go up the outside and get the position back and tried to take it but it very quickly became clear he was not going to get it. At that point he could have eased off, slotted behind Lewis and given himself a better chance to pass at Rivage or even the chicane at the end of the lap. Instead of slotting in behind he seemed to just lazily leave his car where it was with the intention of following Lewis into the corner. I think when he ceased to gain ground on Lewis he mentally gave up the position.
As long as there was a chance of causing something that would gain the place then like Lewis he would have tried to make it happen but the chance had passed at that corner.
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