Grand Prix thread Not606 2016 Belgium Grand Prix Chat and Predictions

An entertaining race though i have a lot more people to criticise than i do to praise.

Vettel is having a bad season.
KMag bottled Renaults best shot of the season.
Vestappen driving like a moron.
Wehrlein's crash with Button was also amateurish from him.
The stewards failing to punish Max at any point or what was surely an unsafe release from Alonso?

A side note. I still hate the rule during red flags where you can change the tyres. Hamilton and Alonso were handed a bunch of positions. It enabled us to watch some good defending from Alonso, but there will never be a more boring run from 20th to 3rd than Hamiltons so killed the excitement there.

 

It doesn't make sense either that Perez didn't have to give the place back but Kimi did. Max hit both drivers and left the track on both occasions.

 

I think F1 is so much looking for a new super hero to revive interest in the sport that they seem to be ignoring what Max Vestappen is doing in these races. Today, I am very surprised that he wasn't given at least four penalties. Kimi was rightfully mad. The thing about it there is never any apology from Max, he seems to think that that madness if fine and that's what racing is about....well he will soon find out when he does one of those silly double moves or late moves and gets some seriously injured. I wouldn't even blame him, I would blame Charlie and the race officials totally for turning a blind eye. I think he was easily the worst driver on show today. Lewis did a great job to come from 2nd last to third, but I think Alonso with the best driver today. Force India must also be praised for its platings..best team today in my opinion.

 

Agree with all of this , even though I am a Williams Team fan first and foremost .

Mad Max needs talking to in a BIG way .

 

I think Will Buxton put it best when referred to Max as a human pinball today. He certainly had some moments.

 

We can laugh,but all joking aside there is something going on. The tolerances he is afforded is neither consistent nor fair on other drives. Like I have said on many occasions, baseball and cricket!

 

Benson mentions that in his article, thing is Hamilton always needed a penalty to pick that engine up, so It's not really changed anything in that regard

 

Well firstly, that has to be one of the most entertaining races we've had in a while, the opening laps were great entertainment.

But as everyone else is highlighting, were there stewards at the race this weekend??

-Vettel should have received a penalty for chopping across Kimi/Verstappen into the first corner. He could have left a gap.
-Wehrlein hitting Button was amateurish, the fact he retired immediately is the only reason I can think that got let go.
-Max running people off the road and putting that late block on Raikkonen was dreadful, the fact he's unrepentant after, and Horner (publicly) defended the move, really doesn't help.

I thought previous talk of F1 conspiring to give Max an easy ride was idle talk previously, but on today's performance from the stewards it's hard to see it any other way.

 

Alonso seems happier than for a long time, I get the impression Honda have found something, even if they can't get it on the car this year.

 

From both Mercs and Hamilton's point of view, I'm sure neither wanted to have these penalties in the first place. Was any of the new Belguim units he had put in of the new spec? If not, then he would need a further penalty to get the same spec as NIco later in the season? Can someone confirm that?

 

Yes, supposedly the new engine is coming for Suzaka, he has to take a penalty again if he wants it (10 places for a new ICE)

 

I imagine they were both ecstatic to get 7th from the back of the grid. The power defecit is clear for all to see, but the talk of McLaren having a half decent chassis doesn't seem too far fetched. If Honda can at least get something that matches the Ferrari/Renault in real terms, not just PR speak, then McLaren will be back up there.

Oh, and of course so long as no one finds the golden bullet in the 2017 rules.............

 

Decent race, although like most current F1, the middle laps were quite dull.

1st corner was a racing incident imo, but I do think Vettel should have known better as many people have got caught up taking a non-wide line on the outside of the first corner.

Understand why Verstappen is getting some criticism, but Hulkenberg on Alonso seemed even worse to me.

Great drive from Danny Ric again, really hope RedBull have a championship contending car next year.

The whole weekend has turned out perfectly for Hamilton, I didn't think Nico had much of a chance anyhow, but I think we saw the final nail in his coffin today.

 

I meant more over the weekend, he just looks "bouncier" walking around the paddock.

 

Some of his blocking today was just ridiculously bad. I have no clue how he escaped a penalty for it. Just out and out dangerous.

 

Quite enjoyed today, was a very messy race though. Vestappen was pretty lucky with what he got away with today, but I guess the other drivers not leaving their cars in saved any actual coming together. It's a style many loved Senna for, it's not for Max to control, it's for the stewards to draw a consistent line. He's no reason to change as it's helping his position and not causing penalties.

Hamilton will b delighted I'm sure, was a mature drive really, kept his nose out of trouble and used the cars pace to move up the grid. Wasn't a mad charge but it worked.

 

He's going to be bloody incredible to watch, there's no two ways about that. I think a slap from Kimi may better serve him than any penalty though.

 

I like Max's aggressive instinct and the fact that he doesn't let the big names make him cower, but he seems to be careless and those don't go together...someone will end up is a massive crash before long.... I started to like the kid, but after today I am just wondering..... What he said afterwards should really give Red Bull a reason to be ashamed and give him a stern warning. The racing officials should also speak to him after reading the below statement he made..... Why did he have to go and say this:

"The Ferrari's ruined my race in the first corner. Then I will not let them past. I'd prefer to run them off the track instead. Let them rage over the team radio, it's fun the people at home in front of the television".

To have a mentality like that ...he seems to think that this whole thing is some video game, where you run people off, get involved in a massive crash and then you restart the game and go again. Max, somebody could die! I really thought the worse was going to happen when Kimi made a move to overtake. Max was going left at first then when he saw Kimi coming at full speed to the right he just shifts to the right at the last minute...how they didn't pile up right there I don't know. Thanks to the commonsense of Kimi. He is lucky he didn't have Maldonado coming at him from behind.