Grand Prix thread 2015 Belgian Grand Prix Chat and Predictions

Grosjean 38 points
Maldonado 12 points

Grosjean 282 laps ahead
Maldonado 94 laps ahead

Grosjean 10 quali's ahead
Maldonado 1 quali ahead


Pastor needs to up his game!


All this with Grosjean missing several FP1's as well.

 

I think someone came along shortly after and kicked him in the nuts whilst he was still on the floor from Permane's statement.........

 

No, they were going to, but then the Venezuelan govt stepped in with a suit-case full of cash.

 

If Renault do takeover the team he'll be taking his dodgy oil money over to Haas.

 

In all fairness, whenever anything is looking good for him, his car breaks down. Seeing how Lotus have treated their drivers the last few years, it wouldn't surprise me if it's just them saying it's his fault. Looks like they wanna put Palmer in the car and Maldonado might end up at Haas or nowhere.
Think I've also heard slight rumours of Perez going to Lotus? If so, it wouldn't be the worst shout ever, and he's beating Hulk this season too so him beating Grosjean will probably make him think he's proving everyone wrong about him.

 

Lotus (particularly Permane) went massively down in my estimation over the Kimi incidents before he left. They are doing the exact same thing with Maldonado now.

Ok, i'm no Pastor fan, there's plenty, plenty things he does you can blame him for, but c'mon..... That one is nonsense Lotus.

Reading between the lines, what they actually mean is "we have no money and we are struggling to fit enough new parts to the car to make them last, so we fit the older bits to Pastors car because (A) We'd have more money if he stopped crashing it and (B) the fact he does crash it means he's likely to be out before the older parts fail anyway........."

 

If you are averse to reading or hearing praise for Hamilton, please look away now.
This comment is purely about his ability as a racer and has nothing to do with his personality away from racing or how he chooses to spend his time. I've read it through and feel almost embarrassed to write it here, in this forum. Perhaps I should add that I have little time for the British press's propagandising view, including both Sky and the BBC (especially that sycophantic ignoramus called Benson – who does not have an original thought in his head and writes exactly what he thinks his naturally pro-British bosses want!). In this regard, I agree with the general view here.

But I would like to think my view of reality is not distorted by such propaganda. So far as Hamilton's concerned, this is my perception of things as they now stand.

When he's 'on it', he's out on his own – even when Rosberg is 'on it' at the same time. When this is the case, try as he might, Rosberg just can't live with him. And this weekend he tried very, very hard; but despite getting a significant early advantage and doing a better job during the first day of practice, Rosberg must have been crossing his fingers when he went to bed. Personally, I felt it was just a matter of how well Hamilton would get his set-up sorted on Saturday, and if that happened, that he'd probably have half a second in his pocket…

As to whether anyone else might now fare better than Rosberg at Mercedes, Vettel might have been the obvious choice prior to last season – and certainly he's doing a solid job against his Ferrari team-mate. Then again, despite his (lucky by default) World Championship, even when Kimi was at his best I've always thought of him as marginally below the top tier, if for nothing else than his consistent inconsistency! Yes, even when he won it. Alonso ought to be the other obvious candidate, but it's not as clear as it once was; and even when it was – years ago with Hamilton as a rookie – Alonso came off second best (albeit by the smallest of margins). Back to the present, we're still a couple years ahead of young Verstappen becoming a true force (and I think he will). Strangely, I have a sneaky feeling that Button – who is proving to be no pushover for Alonso – is/was the only guy to mentally threaten Hamilton. But alas, time has passed…

Ricciardo and Kvyat are too close to call. It may seem harsh but I do not have the gut feeling about either that I do for Verstappen.

Ferrari are closing fast on Mercedes and it might not be long before the remaining margin begins to blur. For the sake of F1, let's hope Vettel can hold that candle to Hamilton before Verstappen gets into his stride in a couple of years with a similar (yes, perhaps Ferrari) top drive. And if these two are eventually paired together, let's hope for the sake of racing that Ferrari have finally learned something from Mercedes about allowing inter-team rivalry to spill onto the track for all to see…

 

One thing to add though. Why is it when Hamilton has an issue with power on his car that the sister car also has an issue at the exact same time?

 

Sound thinking IMO!

 

Not so convinced Ferrari are getting close to Mercedes yet Cosi, although agree Button mentally challenged Hamilton more than any other, would add that the Vettel effect upon Hamilton would be minimal, in my humble opinion.

 

I think the Alonso v Lewis battle is very hard to quantify, as we simply don't know what was going on behind the scenes. Once Alonso was going it was highly unlikely he had access to any info or data, and so would hazard a guess he wouldn't have received all upgrades and tech info - similar to the end of Lewis's tenure at McLaren. What can be stated is that Lewis outperformed all expectation regardless of the quality of the car.

I would agree that Button has been the only one with the strength of presence and mind to pose a threat - although clearly he just wasn't fast enough over a season. However even a pure Lewis fan would surely acknowledge that over the three seasons together Button was more then a match for a driver who could break most F1 records. It could also be argued that had Zbutton nit been so strong! Lewis would have surpassed more records and potentially had another WDC. Sometimes knowing your not the best helps you beat the best.

In response to Cosi, I have to agree that Lewis is not only in a car that is in a league of its own but he is also in class of 'his' own himself. He just simply does what he has to do, but this is probably made possible by the fact that in reality he is not under much pressure from either his team mate nor his team. I say his team because I do feel that this is a significant point - Merc have adopted a stance (rightly or wrongly) to not allow their cars to fight or share the same part of the race track where possible. Yes they race to a point, but the restrictions on strategy nullify any real threat. This allowance of safety afforded to Lewis (probably through a No1 status by right) means he is at ease which makes him nigh on unbeatable. It's a deadly combination.

 

OK Ernie, you've caught me out. Perhaps I should admit to clutching at straws?


Then again, regulation changes will soon be upon us. Chassis design will play an increasingly significant role and may well offset Mercedes current power advantage. Ferrari has upped its game with a fresh look at its structure and philosophy. And Red Bull - when its leaders and mouthpieces stop bickering - are likely to be very quick to exploit a fresh design sheet. Of course, Red Bull's power supply is still the subject of intense speculation, but it's my guess that even if all power units were to remain unchanged from today, the next chassis regulations are currently being salivated over in Milton Keynes.

 

I mentioned this in the awards thread, but thought I would here as well
six drivers managed a sub 1:54 lap during the race
one of them was Alonso.

 

Lotus cars and trucks have supposedly been "seized by FOM" over unpaid debts. Reason for the debts is Charles Pic pursuing legal action over a contract to run FP1 last year.

Why legal action now? Charles Pic is backed by Renault, and being in debt isn't half going to make it easier to buy the team.

 

Lotus should sue Renault for misrepresentation by claiming what they delivered last season was a power unit.

 

I still haven't seen the race. I recorded it and was going to watch it Sunday evening as I was tied up most of the day Sunday. Then following the Indy race, I just didn't have the stomach for it.

I'll catch up with it this week. Did I miss much?

 

Reasonably good race, Max Verstappen the star of the show and Nico Rosberg ever the fraud.

 

Well yes, indeed, and lets hope the revisions bring all we long for, some competitive racing will do fine and Vettel a tyre that does not explode even when its recommended design criteria has been exceeded, he's a very lucky lad to get away with that.

I'm sure I've spotted you drinking Champagne through a clutched straw somewhere Cosi !

 

You missed nothng. If you have insomnia it was a great race!

 

seriously!?