Grand Prix 2011 Belgian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

It's a long summer and the key discussions aren't about the F1.

As we are in the middle of the summer break, the SKY/BBC deal continues to take precedence over any on track action we saw at Hungary, which is a shame as we saw a cracker of a race where Jenson Button eventually won his second race of the season ahead of Sebastian Vettel who extended his lead at the top of the championship yet again and surely it takes a miracle for anyone to overtake him now with less than half the races to go.

However with Belgium coming closer on the calender, it seems as if Red Bull has lost the dominance it held over the first half of the season with McLaren appearing to have the best all round package with 4 wins now this year with 2 for Button and 2 for Hamilton. Ferrari aren't far behind and are perhaps the best team in warm conditions but that remains to be seen after a series of damp and cold races. However it would still be a foolish person to bet against Red Bull going into the Belgian Grand Prix where the fast sweeping corners and technical hairpins will no doubt play to their advantage.

Spa Francorchamps is regarded (quite rightly) as the best driver circuit on the calendar with the famous circuit having many variations from its original form to the current version which was last changed in 2006 to incorporate the new pit area and final chicane, the final chicane wasn't popular as both fans and drivers miss the challenging bus stop chicane and the 'new' pit lane which can cause problems.

The grand prix has been famous for it's unpredictable weather with violent storms and half the track being dry and the other wet at the same time and completely random showers, the big example was 2008 where a late shower caught out the entire field and cost Kimi Raikkonen (and eventually Hamilton) the win. In 1998 torrential rain caused one of the worst starts in F1 history where half the field was wiped out on turn 1, eventually (after a restart) Damon Hill won for Jordan in a 1-2 with Ralf Schumacher second, Michael Schumacher famously nearly started a fight with David Coulthard after crashing into him trying to lap him.

Michael Schumacher has an impressive record at this track, winning his first race at the track in 1992 and taking several wins at the track with his last coming in 2002 where he took his seventh world championship. However at the moment it is unlikely that he will add to his list of wins with the Mercedes well off the pace of the leading trio of Ferrari, Mclaren and Red Bull.

Mercedes might find themselves behind Force India at the race as the track suits them down to a tee, in 2009 Fisichella took a surprise pole position and then took second place just finishing behind Raikkonen in the Ferrari (who always seemed to win at Spa when he was driving there)
Sutil and Di Resta have shown impressive pace recently, with both achieving season bests at the last few races and are closing the gap to the flagging Renault team who have really lost performance since the start of the season with Heidfeld and Petrov dissapointing.

On a personal level I am really looking forward to this race as I have weekend tickets and will be at Pouhon all weekend to bring you the best coverage from the track, (better than these Sky lot anyway)

For Galahad's excellent circuit write up, see here http://cliptheapex.com/pages/circuit-de-spa-francorchamps/
 
Wow! I'm watching the race on TV and am just on lap four. I cannot believe how much I missed at the weekend. I was sitting right opposite the Red Bull and McLaren garages but where do you look? The screen, the pit lane, the start finish straight, the bus stop, la source? It's all so much to take in. Still, an amazing experience but if you ever go to a Grand Prix, make sure you record the race on the box or get the FanView (kangaroo) TV.
 
Met Petrov in a rester aunt too on Sunday night in Brussels. It only occurred to me after he disappeared with his entourage into a private dining area that I should have asked for his autograph and asked him to sign it, "for Alonso, with love, Vitali Petrov". Doh!
 
An expensive bug unfortunately :(

I met guys who had been to 5 races this year and travel everywhere business class. Got thier business cards. Maybe they'll hae me as a guest one day for the full treatment. Beggars belief how much money some people have!
 
I'm going to try and do Interlagos in November. Next year Silverstone and another one, undecided. I have the bug. I want to hear that noise again!
Seriously consider Montreal. It's impressive the way the race seems to co-opt almost the entire downtown area for the whole three days, and the track itself has an amazing atmosphere. Add in to that the fact that there is only one boring grandstand (22) and it's just a great way to go motor racing. Oh, and if you do swing past let me know and I'll show you where the good beer can be bought...
 
Seriously consider Montreal. It's impressive the way the race seems to co-opt almost the entire downtown area for the whole three days, and the track itself has an amazing atmosphere. Add in to that the fact that there is only one boring grandstand (22) and it's just a great way to go motor racing. Oh, and if you do swing past let me know and I'll show you where the good beer can be bought...

That's a great call. If I could pick any other race it would certainly be Montreal and I would love to holiday in Canada anyway. I like Canadians. The reason I may do Interlagos this year is because I have a friend I need to visit there so may kill two birds with one stone. Montreal? I think I have already decided! See you there.
 
My god. Just watched the full race on IPlayer. Eddie Jordan arguing with Martin Whitmarsh is the most uncomfortable and unprofessional piece of TV presenting I have seen in a very long time.
 
:o good God, a discussions about something other than Hamilton and Kobayashi. You'd think they were the only two people on the track. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH! Get over it Hammy fans, he crashed, it's finished, it was someone's fault AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHH!

Oh damn, I might have just started it all off again,

Hey, anyone else remember Sebastian Vettel won - well done him. Mark Webber was 2nd and Jenson Button 3rd.

Really FB? No, I didn't realise, I thought the race ended when car No. 3 slid into the crash barrier.

Yes FB, nothing else happened after Car 3 caused a safety car incident. Nothing at all....
 
Anyone know why McLaren were so slow on the straights? They can't have had too much downforce because they were only just keeping up in sector 2 and still their race pace vanished. Also it now seems that getting into the top 10 is really close, with Renault and Torro Rosso making gains on Sauber and Force India. However Williams looked poor even if they did score a point and one does have to wonder why will next year be any better? Give it 5 years and Williams will be gone.
 
Anyone know why McLaren were so slow on the straights? They can't have had too much downforce because they were only just keeping up in sector 2 and still their race pace vanished. Also it now seems that getting into the top 10 is really close, with Renault and Torro Rosso making gains on Sauber and Force India. However Williams looked poor even if they did score a point and one does have to wonder why will next year be any better? Give it 5 years and Williams will be gone.

Too much downforce. They were banking on some rain which never materialised on Sunday. The Red Bull seems to have regained it's advantage as confirmed in Sebastian's interview. Makes things look quite ominous for the rest of the season. I think the rain helped McLaren in quali and the lack of it scuppered them in the race. Of course, Jenson didn't burn a single set of slicks in qualli which gave him a fighting chance, but not enough.
 
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