2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps

ashwin.terminat · 22nd August 2015, 21:31

Tough day for Ferrari today.

I feel terrible for Kimi. Showed promise in all the FP only to have an oil pump problem in Q2. Looks like the bad luck started early for the Finn this time around.

As far as engines go - Mercedes is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest look like. Mercedes powered cars have taken 7 of the top 8 qualifying positions with Renault taking that one remaining slot.

Tomorrow should be a two horse race again. With a one second between P2 and P3. Expecting to fall asleep during tomorrow's race again. :(

On the contrary, I am hoping Mercedes gets their start wrong so we have an interesting race. (Sadist, I know :P )

jfxavier · 23rd August 2015, 00:04

QUALIFYING.

Lewis Hamilton will start the 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix from pole position, after beating Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg by almost half a second in Saturday’s qualifying session. It was Hamilton’s sixth consecutive pole, and his tenth of the season.

http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-...corchamps.html

jfxavier · 23rd August 2015, 07:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Tomorrow should be a two horse race again. With a one second between P2 and P3. Expecting to fall asleep during tomorrow's race again. :(

On the contrary, I am hoping Mercedes gets their start wrong so we have an interesting race. (Sadist, I know :P )

I hope that in addition to the horrible starts, it starts raining cats and dogs only in some parts of the track.

Bad weather and failed starts seems to be working well so far in this season.

sgiitk · 23rd August 2015, 10:22

What is going on. Red Flag in practice 1 & 2 (I missed 3) and again in qualifying. Normally one Red Flag is one too many. The reasons will differ, but still....

ashwin.terminat · 23rd August 2015, 14:51

Things are going from bad to worse for Kimi.

A gearbox change means he will drop 5 places further down the grid! :(

vinitbhavi · 23rd August 2015, 17:27

Let the race begin BelgianGP Go #TeamLH Lewis Hamilton.Very sad @espnstarsport isn't playing in HD

vinitbhavi · 23rd August 2015, 18:17

It's ironic to say the least, on the day f1 completes 300k munching miles since 1950 they mix up the tires on the Williams of Bottas. Not half as exciting as the last race however.

asr245 · 23rd August 2015, 19:34

Mercs are boring the crap out of F1. Not to mention that Lewis is running away with it. Thanks to some close battles behind, i didn't actually fall asleep.

Moment of the race: MV overtaking a Sauber (can't remember which one) on the outside through some turns (can't remember that too). That was an awesome overtake.

arun_kun · 23rd August 2015, 20:04

What a snooze fest. Happy for Grosjean, hope lotus taken over by Renault. Those bunch are awesome guyz and they need to be on the grid for a long time.

Kimi's luck is as bad as mine

. Felt pretty bad for Vettel. He defended his position brilliantly. Move on to Monza. If SPA is any representative, ferrari have much difficult times.

Jeeper1941 · 24th August 2015, 05:00

Another bad race. The drivers did what they could, but there was never any hope of challenging the Mercs, despite following one at the end of the first lap. Also a damning indictment on the sport if we can't expect to do 28 laps on a set of medium tyres. Farcical.

The race was pretty boring, despite Verstappen's over eagerness to pass everyone everywhere and Williams' comical pit stop blunder. I take some satisfaction from McLaren's continuing struggles, but the lack of development at Ferrari can't be ignored

mayankk · 24th August 2015, 09:45

As a Lewis fan, BRILLIANT race!!

As an F1 fan, Deja vu!
I felt bad that the other teams fans will be feeling the way I used to when Finger boy was up there constantly.
As an F1 fan, agree, boring, but only at the top.
Get past the 1-2, and it was pretty intense racing, and from unexpected quarters! The Williams were expected to be up there, and they weren't. Verstappan, Grosjean, really cool!
As for Ferrari, and Vettel's outburst. Well, you took a gamble, didn't you? That's why its called a "gamble". His blowout though was not as satisfying as it would have been, cos I was really looking forward to see the Ferrari being displaced by the inevitable overtake.

PS:Why did button keep sounding like he was in a dentists chair, dosed?

Jeeper1941 · 24th August 2015, 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankk

As for Ferrari, and Vettel's outburst. Well, you took a gamble, didn't you? That's why its called a "gamble". His blowout though was not as satisfying as it would have been, cos I was really looking forward to see the Ferrari being displaced by the inevitable overtake.

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. His tyres let him down. There was no indication that his blowout was caused by wear BTW, because if you look at the lap times, the Ferrari was doing quite well, there was no indication that it had "hit the cliff", which usually happens when the tyres are approaching the end of their usable life and lose grip suddenly.

And Pirelli have done themselves no favours over the years by blaming everyone else whenever there's a tyre failure. They always seem to find some excuse - debris, wear, gravel etc.

RoadSurfer · 24th August 2015, 10:56

All along, I hoped the rains come down. Only thing that makes the race interesting these days. What a pity!!!

I am not a Lewis fan. But he keeps on doing these small things. Like, he slowed down considerably before the second pit stop so that the gap to Rosberg came down from about 9 secs to 2.5 secs. And then he showed what a gem of a driver he is to again increase it. Only to show how much better he is to Rosberg (this is my opinion though).

Another race hoping against hope, that Honda have something up their sleeves. They are frustratingly slow. I wonder what Alonso is feeling.

mayankk · 24th August 2015, 10:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeeper1941

Sorry, but I respectfully disagree. His tyres let him down. There was no indication that his blowout was caused by wear BTW, because if you look at the lap times, the Ferrari was doing quite well, there was no indication that it had "hit the cliff", which usually happens when the tyres are approaching the end of their usable life and lose grip suddenly.

And Pirelli have done themselves no favours over the years by blaming everyone else whenever there's a tyre failure. They always seem to find some excuse - debris, wear, gravel etc.

OK.
But Grosjean was going to pass on him very soon. Those tyres were right at the edge of the cliff, so to speak. Which is why I am way more upset that he got to blame Pirelli. The relegation would have been way more satisfying!

I wish for the days of Michelin-bridgestone rivalry. That was a sub-league within F! altogether!

ron_9191 · 24th August 2015, 11:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by asr245

Mercs are boring the crap out of F1. Not to mention that Lewis is running away with it. Thanks to some close battles behind, i didn't actually fall asleep.

Moment of the race: MV overtaking a Sauber (can't remember which one) on the outside through some turns (can't remember that too). That was an awesome overtake.

Yes I remember that, it was the one Verstappen overtook Nasr using the outside line on the Blanchimont turn.

Seriously but F1 needs to evolve a bit more where it gives room for everyone to improve their cars equally. I am not a McLaren fan but felt really bad for Button and Alonso. Two world champions in the worst possible situation. Many thought that Honda and McLaren was a match made in heaven, but now they should get that Honda engine plonk it where it belongs, on a lawn mover.

22nd August 2015, 21:31	#16
ashwin.terminat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,711 Thanked: 2,192 Times	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps Tough day for Ferrari today. I feel terrible for Kimi. Showed promise in all the FP only to have an oil pump problem in Q2. Looks like the bad luck started early for the Finn this time around. As far as engines go - Mercedes is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest look like. Mercedes powered cars have taken 7 of the top 8 qualifying positions with Renault taking that one remaining slot. Tomorrow should be a two horse race again. With a one second between P2 and P3. Expecting to fall asleep during tomorrow's race again. :( On the contrary, I am hoping Mercedes gets their start wrong so we have an interesting race. (Sadist, I know :P ) Last edited by ashwin.terminat : 22nd August 2015 at 21:38.
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23rd August 2015, 00:04	#17
jfxavier BHPian Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Kollam, Kerala Posts: 790 Thanked: 1,337 Times View My Garage	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps QUALIFYING. Lewis Hamilton will start the 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix from pole position, after beating Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg by almost half a second in Saturday’s qualifying session. It was Hamilton’s sixth consecutive pole, and his tenth of the season. http://www.formula1.com/content/fom-...corchamps.html Attached Thumbnails
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23rd August 2015, 10:22	#19
sgiitk BANNED Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Gurugram Posts: 7,969 Thanked: 4,788 Times	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps What is going on. Red Flag in practice 1 & 2 (I missed 3) and again in qualifying. Normally one Red Flag is one too many. The reasons will differ, but still....
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23rd August 2015, 14:51	#20
ashwin.terminat Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,711 Thanked: 2,192 Times	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps Things are going from bad to worse for Kimi. A gearbox change means he will drop 5 places further down the grid! :(
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23rd August 2015, 17:27	#21
vinitbhavi BHPian Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Mumbai MH 02 Posts: 423 Thanked: 1,151 Times	Let the race begin BelgianGP Go #TeamLH Lewis Hamilton.Very sad @espnstarsport isn't playing in HD
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23rd August 2015, 18:17	#22
vinitbhavi BHPian Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Mumbai MH 02 Posts: 423 Thanked: 1,151 Times	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps It's ironic to say the least, on the day f1 completes 300k munching miles since 1950 they mix up the tires on the Williams of Bottas. Not half as exciting as the last race however.
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23rd August 2015, 19:34	#23
asr245 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 1,162 Thanked: 389 Times	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps Mercs are boring the crap out of F1. Not to mention that Lewis is running away with it. Thanks to some close battles behind, i didn't actually fall asleep. Moment of the race: MV overtaking a Sauber (can't remember which one) on the outside through some turns (can't remember that too). That was an awesome overtake.
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23rd August 2015, 20:04	#24
arun_kun BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Hyderbad Posts: 249 Thanked: 180 Times	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps What a snooze fest. Happy for Grosjean, hope lotus taken over by Renault. Those bunch are awesome guyz and they need to be on the grid for a long time. Kimi's luck is as bad as mine . Felt pretty bad for Vettel. He defended his position brilliantly. Move on to Monza. If SPA is any representative, ferrari have much difficult times.
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24th August 2015, 05:00	#25
Jeeper1941 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Adelaide Posts: 229 Thanked: 380 Times View My Garage	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps Another bad race. The drivers did what they could, but there was never any hope of challenging the Mercs, despite following one at the end of the first lap. Also a damning indictment on the sport if we can't expect to do 28 laps on a set of medium tyres. Farcical. The race was pretty boring, despite Verstappen's over eagerness to pass everyone everywhere and Williams' comical pit stop blunder. I take some satisfaction from McLaren's continuing struggles, but the lack of development at Ferrari can't be ignored
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24th August 2015, 09:45	#26
mayankk Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: New Delhi Posts: 5,148 Thanked: 8,168 Times View My Garage	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps As a Lewis fan, BRILLIANT race!! As an F1 fan, Deja vu! I felt bad that the other teams fans will be feeling the way I used to when Finger boy was up there constantly. As an F1 fan, agree, boring, but only at the top. Get past the 1-2, and it was pretty intense racing, and from unexpected quarters! The Williams were expected to be up there, and they weren't. Verstappan, Grosjean, really cool! As for Ferrari, and Vettel's outburst. Well, you took a gamble, didn't you? That's why its called a "gamble". His blowout though was not as satisfying as it would have been, cos I was really looking forward to see the Ferrari being displaced by the inevitable overtake. PS:Why did button keep sounding like he was in a dentists chair, dosed?
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24th August 2015, 10:56	#28
RoadSurfer BHPian Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: BLR, NSK Posts: 165 Thanked: 174 Times	Re: 2015 Formula 1 Belgium GP : Spa-Francorchamps All along, I hoped the rains come down. Only thing that makes the race interesting these days. What a pity!!! I am not a Lewis fan. But he keeps on doing these small things. Like, he slowed down considerably before the second pit stop so that the gap to Rosberg came down from about 9 secs to 2.5 secs. And then he showed what a gem of a driver he is to again increase it. Only to show how much better he is to Rosberg (this is my opinion though). Another race hoping against hope, that Honda have something up their sleeves. They are frustratingly slow. I wonder what Alonso is feeling.
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