****The Official Belgian (Spa) Grand Prix thread 2015****

[HustleRussell]

NRS said:

Apparently it will be the first time they have more power than Australia this season! It seems very strange - you have to wonder if Honda are trying to keep something secret they believe will work in the long run, or if they're just clueless and taking far too long with updates.

Either that or they want to fully test the system and understand the problems and possible solutions before they throw tokens at it.

[Vaud]

NRS said:

Apparently it will be the first time they have more power than Australia this season! It seems very strange - you have to wonder if Honda are trying to keep something secret they believe will work in the long run, or if they're just clueless and taking far too long with updates.

Hond may be many things, but clueless is not one of them.

[vonuber]

Mercedes' thing was positioning of the turbos wasn't it?

[coetzeeh]

Gaz. said:

NRS said:

Logie said:

Looking forward to seeing who brings what updates. Hear Honda using some tokens for more power

Apparently it will be the first time they have more power than Australia this season! It seems very strange - you have to wonder if Honda are trying to keep something secret they believe will work in the long run, or if they're just clueless and taking far too long with updates.

I think they have something game changing in the car somewhere- they have not gone to the FIA for reliability upgrades as they'd have to show the others detailed plans of what they need to change and they'd rather run around at the back than do that. The question is, what the hell is it?

I agree - I suspect once Honda align all of the stars in their package it is going to be sensational.

[andycaca]

Gaz. said:

I think they have something game changing in the car somewhere- they have not gone to the FIA for reliability upgrades as they'd have to show the others detailed plans of what they need to change and they'd rather run around at the back than do that. The question is, what the hell is it?

interesting and highly technical (with the usual forum arguments thrown in) here:
http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4...

[Redlake27]

I hope it is a little more orderly than Hungary. I didn't get chance for my mid-afternoon nap last week.

[Pooh]

I am going, we will be in a covered stand at La Source, it is my first F1 race and I am massively looking forward to it.

[Dr Murdoch]

Pooh said:

I am going, we will be in a covered stand at La Source, it is my first F1 race and I am massively looking forward to it.

Gold 8? You won't be disappointed, amazing place to watch.

[Pooh]

Dr Murdoch said:

Pooh said:

I am going, we will be in a covered stand at La Source, it is my first F1 race and I am massively looking forward to it.

Gold 8? You won't be disappointed, amazing place to watch.

Yes that is the stand, I take it that the view from there is pretty good?

[Dr Murdoch]

Pooh said:

Yes that is the stand, I take it that the view from there is pretty good?

In a word, yes.

Ive sat their twice, you can see the exit of the bus stop chicane, the start / finish, run down to eau rouge, eau rouge itself and then watch them disappear up the kemmel straight. You can actually make out cars going down to Pouhan (not in great detail is its miles away, but still...)

[Pooh]

Dr Murdoch said:

Pooh said:

Yes that is the stand, I take it that the view from there is pretty good?

In a word, yes.

Ive sat their twice, you can see the exit of the bus stop chicane, the start / finish, run down to eau rouge, eau rouge itself and then watch them disappear up the kemmel straight. You can actually make out cars going down to Pouhan (not in great detail is its miles away, but still...)

Sounds great, I am getting quite excited about going.

[NRS]

coetzeeh said:

Gaz. said:

NRS said:

Logie said:

Looking forward to seeing who brings what updates. Hear Honda using some tokens for more power

Apparently it will be the first time they have more power than Australia this season! It seems very strange - you have to wonder if Honda are trying to keep something secret they believe will work in the long run, or if they're just clueless and taking far too long with updates.

I think they have something game changing in the car somewhere- they have not gone to the FIA for reliability upgrades as they'd have to show the others detailed plans of what they need to change and they'd rather run around at the back than do that. The question is, what the hell is it?

I agree - I suspect once Honda align all of the stars in their package it is going to be sensational.

I can understand this being the case, but it just seems strange the amount of time/ lack of improvement in both reliability and performance so far.

Vaud said:

Hond may be many things, but clueless is not one of them.

Clueless was perhaps the wrong word, more meaning not understanding the problem and solutions quickly enough for racing. I do understand it is complex, but effectively they still have an unreliable engine which only now is improving on the hp compared to Australia after 1/2 a season. Renault are not clueless either, yet they have been too slow in updating for both reliability and performance. It certainly is possible they have something special hidden away, but it is also quite likely they aren't good enough compared to Mercedes and Ferrari - particularly when you consider the lack of running time/ number of cars they are effectively testing on and missing last season.

[HustleRussell]

Significant power unit improvements may necessitate far reaching changes to chassis, packaging, electronic systems and software... The 2015 constructors championship is already all but won. I'd expect that most teams are weighting their development efforts heavily towards 2016, and the later they use their scarce tokens the better an idea they will have of what their 2016 PU will be like.

Just a theory.

[DanB7290]

I'll be going over with the OH, first GP for both of us after years of watching it on TV! Got general access, where's the best place to be?

[Jasandjules]

DanB7290 said:

I'll be going over with the OH, first GP for both of us after years of watching it on TV! Got general access, where's the best place to be?

I'd guess at anywhere you can see them fly through Eu Rouge...

[Logie]

So it seems Honda went with a really compact engine design. Not only are they down on BHP but it seems they also don't have the hybrid as good as the others. Smaller storage and less usage....

I guess they had a good look at a Merc engine at some point or got good information. I don't understand how these problems can come from a massive company.

But it cant be all Hondas fault, RB do ok considering they have a frail engine down on power too

[coetzeeh]

If you look at the comments from Honda this week following the Hungarian race they feel confident that they have a handle on the control side of the power unit end to end. They also feel more upbeat about reliability. As a consequence they will apparently start increasing the output for the power unit.

With more power they can add more aero. I think we will see a material improvement in the McHonda unit.

[Corpulent Tosser]

KarlMac said:

Spa is on the bucketlist, hopefully next year.

How much is Sunday on Eau Rouge covered grandstand (can you even get just the Sunday?)

We paid 440 euro for weekend tickets, gold tickets (covered stand at Eua Rouge)

[btcc123]

In 2012 I asked one of my sons what he wanted for his 18th Birthday and he said go to Spa to watch the F1 race which we did and had a great time.It was especially good as Jenson Button won the race who is my favourite driver.

This year I asked him what he wanted for his 21st Birthday and he said go to Germany to watch the F1 race so I booked it but then it was cancelled so we changed it to Spa and we are both looking forward to it.My sons favourite driver is Nico Rosberg so it would be nice if he wins but as Jeneon is not going to win I would like Lewis to win.

[NRS]

Logie said:

So it seems Honda went with a really compact engine design. Not only are they down on BHP but it seems they also don't have the hybrid as good as the others. Smaller storage and less usage....

I guess they had a good look at a Merc engine at some point or got good information. I don't understand how these problems can come from a massive company.

But it cant be all Hondas fault, RB do ok considering they have a frail engine down on power too

Thing is rumours are RB are down around 60hp now, McLaren 160hp (although no idea if that is correct). So even though both are bad Renault have had a lot longer to find the problems and get it closer to the top teams.

HustleRussell said:

Significant power unit improvements may necessitate far reaching changes to chassis, packaging, electronic systems and software... The 2015 constructors championship is already all but won. I'd expect that most teams are weighting their development efforts heavily towards 2016, and the later they use their scarce tokens the better an idea they will have of what their 2016 PU will be like.

Just a theory.

I would say the problem with that theory is it is ok if you are building on what you already have. However it would be far better to be able to test upgrades during this season, rather than waiting until next year and discovering the new upgrades don't work with a much reduced time to fix them as it's late in the season.

I would say Gaz. is likely more correct with the lead times - sometimes I forget it's not that long since the start of the season, particularly when one engine failure stops you seeing the one that develops after (unless some other damage is visible when they dismantle it for a diagnosis).