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

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

Author
Discussion

007 VXR

64,187 posts

193 months

Wednesday 12th August 2015
quotequote all
Hoping the latest Honda upgrades make a big step forward..

buy Lewis will win biggrin

johneturbo

113 posts

158 months

Thursday 13th August 2015
quotequote all
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?
You'll love it, we went the year Hamilton got taken out by Grosjean at the start 2/3 years ago? gutted as we went to see Hamilton!

We did GA and for the race we did the bus stop chicane, we had to get there early( a few of them had little garden spades so you can dig your chair in as your perched on the hillside) but you get a great over view of the cars smile

andy-xr

13,204 posts

210 months

Friday 14th August 2015
quotequote all
Always remember this, Villeneuve and Zonta dared each other to go flat out at Eau Rouge, both stuffed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRH75RyTgKk

I think Mclaren Honda would really really need to come to this one with some more power from somewhere, I cant see them being good enough on aero after the long high speed stuff to whip round other cars in the twisty bits. I'd expect Williams to put their cars 3rd and 4th, Ferraris 5th and 6th depending on what kind of mood Raikkonen's in. Also think Torro Rosso might hand Red Bull their arses at this track.

More interested to see how McLaren have progressed the car really, I hope they're not using Hungary as a benchmark of the cars progress, great though it was there wasnt as much merit as luck

What's the deal with the clutch starts for this race, same as Hungary or up to the driver now?


Munter

31,326 posts

247 months

Friday 14th August 2015
quotequote all
andy-xr said:
Always remember this, Villeneuve and Zonta dared each other to go flat out at Eau Rouge, both stuffed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRH75RyTgKk
If you look closely at Zontas accident. You'll see they even bothered to do the 1/2 and 1/2 "paint" job on the bottom of the front wing.

ajprice

29,118 posts

202 months

Friday 14th August 2015
quotequote all
Munter said:
andy-xr said:
Always remember this, Villeneuve and Zonta dared each other to go flat out at Eau Rouge, both stuffed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRH75RyTgKk
If you look closely at Zontas accident. You'll see they even bothered to do the 1/2 and 1/2 "paint" job on the bottom of the front wing.
Insert Maldonado sponsorship joke here...

suffolk009

5,744 posts

171 months

Friday 14th August 2015
quotequote all
It's just the best track.

Gazzab

21,218 posts

288 months

Saturday 15th August 2015
quotequote all
I'll be there. First time to a GP since my dads's co used to own a few tracks and I had free access (last time 86 I think at Brands Hatch - although the free bar did mean I couldnt really concentrate on the racing). Again a freebie but I think I have to pay for my own beer.

BoRED S2upid

20,292 posts

246 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
Weather forecast is trying to predict showers on Sunday I hope it is. Spa an a damp / drying track is awesome.

007 VXR

64,187 posts

193 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
Honda claiming some big power upgrades for this race..

rdjohn

6,349 posts

201 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
....and that the McLaren chassis might not be as good as Ron thinks it is. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120337

It seems the relationship has the potential to go in a similar direction to Red Bull / Renault.

andy-xr

13,204 posts

210 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
I think Ron's going to be more bothered about grid penalties for engine work, it's going to need to be a good tradeoff from what Honda can bring as to whether it's worth running. I'm not sure if an extra 50hp is worth taking the tumble on the grid for when there's still another 100hp to find on top.

Wonder if Red Bull are already working like this as well, keep going with what you've got, be slow and in the middle rather than quicker and at the back

NRS

22,930 posts

207 months

Tuesday 18th August 2015
quotequote all
rdjohn said:
....and that the McLaren chassis might not be as good as Ron thinks it is. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120337

It seems the relationship has the potential to go in a similar direction to Red Bull / Renault.
Obviously there is the potential for improvements in the chassis etc, but to be honest those quotes sound a bit like nonsense considering the amount of time car is behind and how it changes between tracks. Yes, part of it was luck in Hungry, but part of it was the engine power is less important there. So I can't see the engine being as good as Arai claims. If nothing else claiming that because the cars survived one race without a breakdown that they have a good package is a bit telling (particularly if I understand correctly McLaren used new components to try and maximize points from a track they would benefit from).

Galileo

3,147 posts

224 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
rdjohn said:
....and that the McLaren chassis might not be as good as Ron thinks it is. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120337

It seems the relationship has the potential to go in a similar direction to Red Bull / Renault.
Arai said"[Engine] unreliability has meant lots of parts were changed in winter testing and so things like flow-vis and taking data has been done during the season in FP1, due to the unreliability in the winter."

Seems to me he's blaming his engines unreliability in winter testing for the lack of chassis develpement.

Drive Blind

5,230 posts

183 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
my fave few weeks in F1, Spa then Monza. rotate

007 VXR

64,187 posts

193 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
Drive Blind said:
my fave few weeks in F1, Spa then Monza. rotate
Spa should be good, but Monza will be great for me as its the first time ive been biggrinbounce Cant wait....

noell35

3,173 posts

154 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
Not long now. Seems like ages since Hungary.

It'll be interesting to see how the start/clutch bite changes pan out.

another 3 points

964 posts

203 months

Thursday 20th August 2015
quotequote all
Almost like the start of a new season it seems so long since the last race.

mollytherocker

14,372 posts

215 months

Thursday 20th August 2015
quotequote all
Its a bit quiet considering this is the best race of the year, no?

Vaud

52,033 posts

161 months

Thursday 20th August 2015
quotequote all
mollytherocker said:
Its a bit quiet considering this is the best race of the year, no?
Not much to talk about until FP1...?

Looking forward to it, one of my favourite tracks.

Pebbles167

3,734 posts

158 months

Thursday 20th August 2015
quotequote all
I watched the press conference. It was pretty crap. Amazingly the one who did most of the talking was Kimi, as he was asked some decent questions. The rest were basically asked "do you like spa?" and "are you looking forward to it" to which they gave short answers.

Race should be good though.