Grand Prix 2018 Belgian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

90 years ago, this November, the Bureau International Des Expositions was created by the signing of the convention relating to international exhibitions. Like most organisations, the BIE's home was Paris, France. The role of this organisation was to oversee the calendar, bidding process, selection and organisation of World Exhibitions and ensure that all countries worked together in the best conditions.

The first World Fair was held in Paris in 1844 and one of the best known of these early efforts became known as the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851 and featured the gigantic crystal palace. All these early world fairs featured technological developments and saw many technical wonders shown to the public for the first time.

As the years progressed, and with the formation of the BIE, the purpose of these fairs gradually moved away from technological developments and towards overall cultural themes. Ironically, the first of these was held in New York in 1939 and was titled "Building the world of tomorrow". Of course, over the next 6 years, nations did their very best to demolish the world of tomorrow.

Following the second world war, nation states were too busy rebuilding their shattered infrastructure and attempting to re-establish their economies to worry about holding cultural affairs. That was until Belgium was selected to host their 11th world’s fair. Expo 58. The theme would be "A World View - A New Humanism" and was set to run from July to September 1958.

The most well-known legacy of this event is the Atomium. The giant sculpture displays 9 Iron atoms formed into a cube representing the shape of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. The sculpture remains in Heysel Park on the outskirts of Brussels and is still open to the public today. It represented mankind’s faith and hope in scientific development and the nuclear age.

In 1958, Formula One chose its own way of honouring technical development as for the first time a trophy was awarded not just to the world champion driver but the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers was awarded to the most successful manufacturer. Initially, and until the late 70's, only one car, the best finishing, scored points towards the title. Vanwall became the first team to lift the new cup but Mike Hawthorn lifted the drivers title in his works Ferrari. Both cups were heading to Britain for the first time. Vanwall won 6 of the 9 races it entered that season with Moss and Brooks taking 3 wins each but unreliability cost both drivers the title. The Vanwall quite literally either won or broke down. Perhaps it was the involvement of an extremely gifted engineer, brought in to revise the car in 1957 after Vanwall's initial efforts in F1 were dismal failures. The name of that engineer? Colin Chapman.

At the 1958 Belgian GP, Tony Brooks finished first while Hawthorn finished second for Ferrari and Stuart Lewis-Evans brought a third Vanwall home in third place. Moss suffered an engine failure on the first lap. Further down the field, in the second Ferrari, a Belgian called Olivier Gendebien finished 6th in his first ever Belgian GP.

Gendebien had come to the attention of no less than Enzo Ferrari himself through his performance in sports car racing. Ferrari signed him to his team to drive in these events but also allowed him to make the occasional appearance in an F1 car. His best year however, was in 1960 where he took 2 podiums behind the wheel of a Cooper for the privateer Yoeman Credit racing team.

Enzo Ferrari summed Gendebien up as "a gentleman who never forgets that nobless oblidge and, when he is at the wheel, he translates this code of behaviour into an elegant and discerning forcefulness."

Such was this elegant and discerning forcefulness that, while very few would have ever heard of him in F1, his sports car record reads like this, 4 wins in the 24 hours of Le Mans, 3 wins in the 12 hours of Sebring, 2 wins at the 12 hours of Reims, 3 wins in the Targa Florio and 1 at the 1000km Nurbugring. A truly remarkable sports car record that few drivers even today, can match.

So, if anyone asks you in the future to name some famous Belgian racing drivers, among the likes of Gachot and Boutsen, don't forget to tell them about Olivier Gendebien. Gentleman, outstanding driver and Belgian.

Enjoy the race.
 
I hope they have the edge in Monza, my tickets arrived yesterday and I want to see the Tifosi go mad :D

The Tifosi went mad when Raikkonen got an unexpected podium in 2009, a win would be unbelievable but just think what would happen if it were to be a Ferrari one-two.

Which stand are you in? As usual I am in the first chicane; got 3 day ticket, checked in with EasyJet and also got a cheap hotel. Go out on Wednesday and come back on Tuesday but haven't decided what to do on the spare days, possibly a visit to Marinello.
 
Ferrari is fast, however slip streaming played a role as well. One could see Ocon at one point almost propelled to the lead. Good race, BTW. Hamilton might differ with me on that point, but that's fine.
 
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Hamilton referring to Vettel/ Ferrari: “You have tricks.”
What an honourable man. When he wins it’s because Jesus helped him, when he loses it’s because others are cheating.
I noted the comment too...but took a very different interpretation of it. There is obviously a lot conversation that goes on inside the team. As he said it rather straightforward, I assume he was repeating what others at Mercedes have been discussing. Therefore my first question is what are the couple of tricks that Ferrari has that is giving them a 0.2 second edge? Well, I think one is how they use their MGU’s if I choose to believe other rumors. If Ferrari’s advantage is due to a couple of such tricks, then Mercedes can catch up before they end of the season. If it is due to simply having a better power unit, then the season may well be over. So, I found his comment to be very interesting.
 
Hamilton referring to Vettel/ Ferrari: “You have tricks.”
What an honourable man. When he wins it’s because Jesus helped him, when he loses it’s because others are cheating.
Unless he’s absolutely correct, and then it’s you who is in the wrong... Let’s wait and see, it might be interesting to have some intrigue out there.
 
Hamilton referring to Vettel/ Ferrari: “You have tricks.”
What an honourable man. When he wins it’s because Jesus helped him, when he loses it’s because others are cheating.
To be fair, insiders in F1 are claiming that Ferrari have found a way to unleash more energy than what is allowed and their dual battery system is so complicated that the FIA don't understand it Ferrari suspected of using sophisticated battery-linked ploy
 
Perhaps words like innovative technical solutions and skillful driving could be used instead. Tricks have negative connotation for most if us.
Allison stated (per Sky), that both front teams have equipment of similar performance level, and strength of each is in different area.
 
Unless he’s absolutely correct, and then it’s you who is in the wrong... Let’s wait and see, it might be interesting to have some intrigue out there.
I could be wrong on what?
He thanks Jesus and God #blessed after every victory. Every time he finishes second or lower it's either something that was wrong with his car or others cheating. Let's be honest, he's a sore loser at least he's presented himself as one in the past few years. He probably still can't admit defeat to Rosberg and that wasn't just down to his engine failure, but mostly his lousy starts in 2016.
 
Perhaps words like innovative technical solutions and skillful driving could be used instead. Tricks have negative connotation for most if us.
Allison stated (per Sky), that both front teams have equipment of similar performance level, and strength of each is in different area.
I think “trick” would be a perfectly valid description of the advantage that the Brawn team had in the first half of 2009 that netted them a championship. Whether Ferrari is using an innovative technical solution now or a trick I guess depends on what they are doing and who you favor.
 
I think “trick” would be a perfectly valid description of the advantage that the Brawn team had in the first half of 2009 that netted them a championship. Whether Ferrari is using an innovative technical solution now or a trick I guess depends on what they are doing and who you favor.
I think Ferrari has achieved parity with MB due to diligent efforts across spectrum of activities. Optics suggest it is resultant of improvements in all areas. No dirty tricks are involved (so I trust; lord knows how many times rivals sent over FiA this season already to audit the car). Surprising for some might be the fact it was achieved in Italy, without necessity to move it all to England as some experts suggested.
 
* You have tricks* accusation - that has always been F1 when one team manages to maintain superiority over others or have found a clever way to exploit the rules until someone can prove what they did was illegal

So nothing new there Ferrari were the worst moaners back in Schumacher days , Horner/Red Bull would be moaning too if they were not venting everything at Renault's door

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Why did Hamilton have to go all out for a win when he has a 24pts lead but its down to 17pts so that is better than nothing? I've maintained that Ferrari should be streets clear this season so the fact Hamilton is leading is a bonus. We've seen Ferrari screw up race strategy numerous times this season.

Now we can see that Ferrari have superior grip when they both switched to the soft tyres and especially around the slow corners so that is a chance for Mercedes to work out to improve
 
Ruslan Angellica F1Brits_90

Ocon might find himself out of a drive but you need to ask yourself how did that happen ... well the big teams have been grabbing all the money for themselves including loyalty bonuses which was set up by the previous regime

Then there is no fit for purpose tests in F1 to check whether team owners are suitable to run F1 teams to maintain tight controls over money laundering

Then you have that teams must compete the season after in order to receive money earned from
So the only reason Ocon is out of a drive is the current F1 structure treats the big teams more favourably over the smaller team

Before we get all excited about the new Force India - how long do you think they will last before the team is sold on ? A look at who owns the team tells an interesting story
 
Ruslan Angellica F1Brits_90

Ocon might find himself out of a drive but you need to ask yourself how did that happen ... well the big teams have been grabbing all the money for themselves including loyalty bonuses which was set up by the previous regime

Well, I have been in disagreement with much of what the "previous regime" has been doing since the early 1990s (both Ecclestone and Mosley). They lead the series down that path where it is what it is today:

1. Only 2 or 3 competitive teams, and more often than not, only one.
2. The rest of the teams being a tier 2 teams with little change moving up to the top tier.
3. Only 10 teams, with always one, or two or three on the verge of folding.
4. Paying drivers essential to keeping several teams afloat.

This is essentially a dead end.
 
Ruslan Ocon is not the first driver to hit like this - Hulkenberg has been battling for the last 10 years to get a top drive and it always boils down to money. In some ways Mercedes are the victims of their own success because one of their young drivers can't get a drive because they've been monopolising the competition

How can the rest of the teams move up the grid if they don't get the money sooner and you've got loyalty bonuses handed out to bigger teams ?

Paying drivers essentially covers the hole left by not getting the money sooner to allow smaller privateer teams to compete

People talk about budget caps but how do you police it ? I mean Red Bull can simply plow money from the drinks business into the team for a start
 
The Tifosi went mad when Raikkonen got an unexpected podium in 2009, a win would be unbelievable but just think what would happen if it were to be a Ferrari one-two.

Which stand are you in? As usual I am in the first chicane; got 3 day ticket, checked in with EasyJet and also got a cheap hotel. Go out on Wednesday and come back on Tuesday but haven't decided what to do on the spare days, possibly a visit to Marinello.

First chicane too, then on to Lake Como for a week.
 
Unless he’s absolutely correct, and then it’s you who is in the wrong... Let’s wait and see, it might be interesting to have some intrigue out there.

Let's wait and see, seem to be a reasonable request. But, I really don't see that happening, especially when to some, and it applies to Lewis.
 
Ruslan People talk about budget caps but how do you police it ? I mean Red Bull can simply plow money from the drinks business into the team for a start

Well, I don't know how they are going to police it....but it is not that difficult. To gain an advantage it requires significant amounts of money over time.....which is pretty hard not to be noticed if you have someone reviewing accounts and records. Several sports series in the U.S. have budget caps. For example, the NHL tracks and controls the contracts for over 20 players on over 30 teams. If they can track the contract budget across over 700 hockey players in 31 different teams....I think F1 can track 10 teams.
 
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