Official Belgium GP thread 2019

[moffspeed]

8 Grands Prix to go.

In one of the greatest turnarounds in F1 history the Spa win acts as a catalyst for the Scuderia. With the team's allegiance equally split between their multiple WDC driver and their young charger they share the subsequent 8 wins so they each score 4 wins and 4 second places. Verstappen returns to consistent form with a remarkable series of eight 3rd places behind the flying Ferraris. Smarting from the last few GPs Bottas version 3.0 whitewashes his team-mate over the final 8 races and scores a similar sequence of 4ths.

Battling off the midfield runners a strangely demotivated Hamilton saunters in with a 5th position at each G.P from Monza to Interlagos. In Abu Dhabi hit with a 10 place grid penalty for a bad haircut he limps in with an 8th place...and wins the WDC...

I know its all fantasy but it does illustrate the mountain that they all need to climb...

[anonymous-user]

g4ry13 said:

At that speed and a little bit of grip loss that would have ended very badly.

I think the stewards did call both Perez and Albon after the race.

But that was a bit naughty by Perez.

[Deesee]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

g4ry13 said:

At that speed and a little bit of grip loss that would have ended very badly.

I think the stewards did call both Perez and Albon after the race.

But that was a bit naughty by Perez.

Good hard racing, no impacts..no causing a collision..

Here’s the steward report..

[paulw123]

One thing that I didn’t understand was why not use Bottas to back the two ferraris up before pitting to allow Lewis onto the back of Vettel. Bottas was garenteed fourth anyway and would have finished third today regardless. Very odd from Mercedes as Hamilton was miles ahead of Bottas this weekend.

[anonymous-user]

Deesee said:

Good hard racing, no impacts..no causing a collision..

Here’s the steward report..

Race steward Steve Chopping

I notice Piro is being used before the Italian round at Monza.

Perhaps that is for his safety after Montreal

[rscott]

DeltonaS said:

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Albon was very impressive…..

in the 2nd part of the race....

Given the performance gap between the best 3 teams and the rest.

Just like Gastly he struggled early on to overtake other cars.

At least he was sensible enough to not attempt a stupid overtake on the first corner and made it to the second half of the race...

[Dr Murdoch]

Petrus1983 said:

Errr - ok.

Apologies.

I had a few beers and logged on last night and misinterpreted the tone of your post.

I went to the Hungary GP two weeks ago and watched Hubert, for this reason, the accident felt closer to home that it might have done previously.

All the best.

[anonymous-user]

paulw123 said:

One thing that I didn’t understand was why not use Bottas to back the two ferraris up before pitting to allow Lewis onto the back of Vettel. Bottas was garenteed fourth anyway and would have finished third today regardless. Very odd from Mercedes as Hamilton was miles ahead of Bottas this weekend.

Bottas got 3rd in the race. Why would he help back up the Ferrari pair when he had his own race?

You could say why didn't Botta's attack Hamilton with more aggression when he had the run on him up the Camel straight.

Bottas is a clear 2nd in the Championship and still mathematically has a chance of the Championship.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

TheDeuce said:

I was watching with around 20 Dutch construction workers...
Luckily CLC was their second choice - essentially anyone other than Lewis would have done I think...

We all enjoyed the race very much. Even though I don't think they wanted Lewis to challenge CLC in the closing laps, there was plenty of anticipation when it looked like a charge might be possible in time..

Interesting, as at the track, despite their cheering HAM's crash in FP3 every time HAM made a move the Dutch cheered him on-his moves on VET were most appreciated. As the token enthusiastic Brit I was given much support and handshakes at the end when we didn't quite make it. Why do dutch girls lift your hat off when consolidating you All good natured fun!

ChevronB19 said:

I was in the Verstappen stand (due to Dutch girlfriend). Got to say, the Dutch as a group are great. Obvious dismay when Max crashed out, but general consensus it was his fault. While a few left, most stayed, and their behaviour during the minutes silence and lap 19 was impeccable, as you would hope.

I have inhaled an awful lot of orange smoke though...

A lot seem to be closet Hamilton fans as well, without Max to cheer the cheers were mostly for Hamilton and Ocon.

Last couple of laps of the Porsche super cup were very exciting too!

Were you there yesterday Chev? It was an absolute rave there pre qually- to the point we worried about the structural integrity of the stand during the YMCA and Zombie Nation renditions-the DJ was great fun! Today they seemed so subdued, very little partying pre race-I wondered if it was after yesterdays accident but thought it more likely most hit the sauce so heavy yesterday they were all worse for wear today!

Glad your stand had the good natured HAM cheering too, I think it's great when you get some intra-driver fan banter going. Those orange flares bloody stank though

Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Sunday 1st September 21:32

[Jasandjules]

Deesee said:

Good hard racing, no impacts..no causing a collision..

I think Albon said he and Perez had a chat and were both fine about their scrap on the last lap.

I am still surprised Perez had nothing done about his leaving the track and gaining and advantage ( though perhaps this is because Albon got the job done in the end? )

[ChevronB19]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

TheDeuce said:

I was watching with around 20 Dutch construction workers...
Luckily CLC was their second choice - essentially anyone other than Lewis would have done I think...

We all enjoyed the race very much. Even though I don't think they wanted Lewis to challenge CLC in the closing laps, there was plenty of anticipation when it looked like a charge might be possible in time..

Interesting, as at the track, despite their cheering HAM's crash in FP3 every time HAM made a move the Dutch cheered him on-his moves on VET were most appreciated. As the token enthusiastic Brit I was given much support and handshakes at the end when we didn't quite make it. Why do dutch girls lift your hat off when consolidating you All good natured fun!


Were you their yesterday Chev? It was an absolute rave there pre qually- to the point we worried about the structural integrity of the stand during the YMCA and Zombie Nation renditions-the DJ was great fun! Today they seemed so subdued, very little partying pre race-I wondered if it was after yesterdays accident but thought it more likely most hit the sauce so heavy yesterday they were all worse for wear today!

Glad your stand had the good natured HAM cheering too, I think it's great when you get some intra-driver fan banter going. Those orange flares bloody stank though

I was there from Friday, yes. Saturday and the DJ plus the crowd dancing really made it for me! Real proper party rave with daft Dutch oompah music! I’m not normally into that, but it made it for me! My girlfriend is Dutch, so translated for me - the DJ was hired directly by Max, and after yesterday’s tragedy he asked him to dial it down. DJ passed that on to the crowd, and when he said it everyone clapped, they just understood.

I have raced at Spa, and it did bring things home to me. Good to see a lot of the marshals were brits, the best in the world!

[RichB]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

... Why do dutch girls lift your hat off when consolidating you

Is that today's riddle?

What do you even mean by consolidating you?

[TheDeuce]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

TheDeuce said:

I was watching with around 20 Dutch construction workers...
Luckily CLC was their second choice - essentially anyone other than Lewis would have done I think...

We all enjoyed the race very much. Even though I don't think they wanted Lewis to challenge CLC in the closing laps, there was plenty of anticipation when it looked like a charge might be possible in time..

Interesting, as at the track, despite their cheering HAM's crash in FP3 every time HAM made a move the Dutch cheered him on-his moves on VET were most appreciated. As the token enthusiastic Brit I was given much support and handshakes at the end when we didn't quite make it. Why do dutch girls lift your hat off when consolidating you All good natured fun!

Well in the end, as I said, they were excited for the idea Lewis could pull something back at the 11th hour.

I think they're an incredibly patriotic bunch, so pretty much by default they like certain drivers more than others... But at the end of the day, I think they are a nation of true F1 fans (most motorsport in fact) and appreciate every bit of drama - it's just a bonus if it's Max that emerges victorious

They are indeed a good humored and friendly bunch - I enjoy working with them very much. I would hazard a guess the hat lifting thing, as in various cultures including our own back in the day, is to reveal the face to enhance openness of contact and attention. If so, it's nice they still do it. They're a nice people in general in my view. Nice... and a bit.. wild in a 'love life' kind of way!

[LaurasOtherHalf]

ChevronB19 said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

TheDeuce said:

I was watching with around 20 Dutch construction workers...
Luckily CLC was their second choice - essentially anyone other than Lewis would have done I think...

We all enjoyed the race very much. Even though I don't think they wanted Lewis to challenge CLC in the closing laps, there was plenty of anticipation when it looked like a charge might be possible in time..

Interesting, as at the track, despite their cheering HAM's crash in FP3 every time HAM made a move the Dutch cheered him on-his moves on VET were most appreciated. As the token enthusiastic Brit I was given much support and handshakes at the end when we didn't quite make it. Why do dutch girls lift your hat off when consolidating you All good natured fun!


Were you their yesterday Chev? It was an absolute rave there pre qually- to the point we worried about the structural integrity of the stand during the YMCA and Zombie Nation renditions-the DJ was great fun! Today they seemed so subdued, very little partying pre race-I wondered if it was after yesterdays accident but thought it more likely most hit the sauce so heavy yesterday they were all worse for wear today!

Glad your stand had the good natured HAM cheering too, I think it's great when you get some intra-driver fan banter going. Those orange flares bloody stank though

I was there from Friday, yes. Saturday and the DJ plus the crowd dancing really made it for me! Real proper party rave with daft Dutch oompah music! I’m not normally into that, but it made it for me! My girlfriend is Dutch, so translated for me - the DJ was hired directly by Max, and after yesterday’s tragedy he asked him to dial it down. DJ passed that on to the crowd, and when he said it everyone clapped, they just understood.

I have raced at Spa, and it did bring things home to me. Good to see a lot of the marshals were brits, the best in the world!

Ah that makes sense, they enforced the minutes silence at double gauche as well as the PA system wasn't working-very respectful of them all and a great bunch.

If you can buy tickets to the MV stand we want to go there next year as it looked like such good fun-I kid you not though that stand on saturday was doing some bouncing!

Never raced at Spa but done XXXs of laps on trackways there, a really special place and incredible to take my dad there for the race for his 70th birthday. Looking forward to the Stavelot museum tomorrow and then the Spa baths before home

[LaurasOtherHalf]

RichB said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

... Why do dutch girls lift your hat off when consolidating you

Is that today's riddle?

What do you even mean by consolidating you?

!

Consoling you I meant! When GIO fell off in front of us all it was obvious HAM couldn't go for a lunge at the last chicane so all the fans around us gave us a big lump of sympathy, handshakes etc but the girls took our hats off and said whatever Dutch is for "bad luck", I think!

[ChevronB19]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Ah that makes sense, they enforced the minutes silence at double gauche as well as the PA system wasn't working-very respectful of them all and a great bunch.

If you can buy tickets to the MV stand we want to go there next year as it looked like such good fun-I kid you not though that stand on saturday was doing some bouncing!

Never raced at Spa but done XXXs of laps on trackways there, a really special place and incredible to take my dad there for the race for his 70th birthday. Looking forward to the Stavelot museum tomorrow and then the Spa baths before home

We used the official site https://www.verstappentravel.nl/. I’m not sure if you can use it from the uk, as I think everything has to be delivered to an NL address, but you certainly get e-tickets, I think it’s only the bonus stuff (T-shirt, rucksack etc) that has to go to an NL address. We were ok, as the missus sister is in NL. I would recommend it though, I’ve been to a few GP (ok, only 4 in 20 years), but for pure fun with other spectators this beats mansell/senna in 94.

[Derek Smith]

DeltonaS said:

Derek Smith said:

Poor race from Verstappen. How many times do we hear that no race is won at the first corner. There's any number that have been lost there though. You can't overtake two cars into La Source. He might have been the car to stir things up a bit, especially if e'd gone long on his first set of tyres.

Easy comment which has two sides. First of all Verstappen didn't overtake two people.

Secondly Kimi was too commited after race start to the inside racing line. With the entire pack of cars going through that first corner, expecting a clear inside line there, even squeezing, is naive. He had all the space on his left.

Kimi took himself out as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkvc3e_mbqA

I would agree that it was an easy comment to make.

Verstappen had two cars on his outside that had, at one time, more than half a car's length on him. Both braked earlier than he did, one because he was baulked, the other because had he braked later,to avoid possible contact.

I would suggest, contrary to the majority opinion, that Kimi was partially at fault. I think he should have been aware of cars making a move on him and made allowances. However, and it is a big one, Verstappen should, and I think to a certain degree must, have known a car in front of him might well have taken the apex. It is, after all, what happens. I'm no genius at motor racing, but I thought it likely, my evidence being motor racing history.

Kimi did nothing wrong as such. The stewards did not act against him and they were, I think, right. I think Verstappen put himself in a position where he could not brake out of it. He could have got around that corner with his car intact and a very good chance of overtaking Kimi, certainly a much better one that he had.

It was a high risk move. High risk move + La Source?

He's one of the leading drivers in the WDC. He needs points to beat Bottas, To do that, he needs to keep on the circuit and not have accidents. Whether more blame is attached to him than to Kimi is irrelevant. The only question is whether he could and should have avoided that accident, and I think the answer is yes to both.

I was irritated at the time. I expected him to come into play later in the race, and to, perhaps, battle to put his car in front of one of the top four.

My irritation might have come over in my post, and perhaps my tone was inappropriate. But the content I stick by. Las Source is a graveyard for those who go for the gap that might remain.

Good race though.

[cheddar]

DeltonaS said:

Easy comment which has two sides. First of all Verstappen didn't overtake two people.

Secondly Kimi was too commited after race start to the inside racing line. With the entire pack of cars going through that first corner, expecting a clear inside line there, even squeezing, is naive. He had all the space on his left.

Kimi took himself out as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkvc3e_mbqA

Agreed.
The slow mo at 47 seconds makes it look like Kimi's at fault, Max was three quarters of the way alongside with plenty of room and, as mentioned above, Kimi had loads of room to his left.

Max took a huge amount of kerb to avoid a collision but ultimately was squeezed with nowhere left to go.
Yes, he could've braked but they're racing and that was a legitimate attempt at an overtake.

[g4ry13]

Look at 1:28 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE26FjROgB8 ) where he jiggles the steering and the car doesn't change direction and then continues to accelerate up to Eau Rouge. That's just stupid and not sure how he thought that was going to work out.

[Norfolkit]

Derek Smith said:

But the content I stick by. Las Source is a graveyard for those who go for the gap that might remain.

Good race though.

Really, the start line is far too close to La Source to avoid problems, the field doesn't have time to stretch out, the cars are still too bunched to avoid problems. It might be better to move it to right after La Source, seem to remember from walking it the first part after La Source is flat although I'm not sure you'd get the whole grid on the flat part before it starts going downhill, also (I think) there's no grandstand there so it would ps off the paddock club.