2011 Belgian Grand Prix Discussion Thread

[Londoner]

I open this thread with the FIA once again messing around with DRS. There is to be a ban on its useage through Eau Rouge.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/08/22/fia-confirms-eau-rouge-drs-ban-belgian-race-weekend/

[DanielPT]

I find this "let's ban DRS in some high speed corners because it is dangerous" a bit ludicrous. If some drivers don't want to use it in Eau Rouge then fine, don't use it, but to prevent others who can on safety grounds is just erasing the very purpose of driving and the distinction between drivers. Of course drivers can crash and get hurt or worse, but this can happen anyway. What if a wheel comes off, or there is a suspension failure, in the middle of Eau Rouge?

The day they will ban high-speed corners is fast approaching...*

*I am joking, so FIA, if you are reading this, don't take it seriously!

[QuickYoda41]

What would Villeneuve and Zonta say to this?

[FullMetalJack]

What would Villeneuve and Zonta say to this?

And Fisichella, although he crashed at Radillon, it's still the same combination of corners.

[Myrvold]

THey would say... Senna is on!

[stupot94]

Well to be honest this DRS Eau Rouge thing is quite stupid.

They all say nowadays that its easy to go full throttle through that corner and the challenge is missing.
If they allow the DRS through there the spectacle wll be better and it will become the daunting corner that everyone loved.

[DemocalypseNow]

It's the suing culture. If one of the drivers dies in Qualifying after crashing at Eau Rouge while the DRS is open everyone will blame the FIA instead of the person actually at fault - the driver in question. The FIA will be blamed for 'not taking appropriate precautions' and someome will lose a huge amount of money/be locked away in a cell for a few years, even though it was said driver's choice to use the DRS full well knowing the risks of doing so. It's an outcome the driver is in full control of, its not something fundamental like having barriers too close to the track which the drivers can't control.

I agree this ban is nonsense, but unless all drivers and teams involved are willing to sign a form declaring the FIA or any other associated F1 body is at no fault should there be an accident resulting from the use of DRS through Eau Rouge - that is iron clad in its wording - having DRS there is impossible.

[ADx_Wales]

.

[jpm]

If AUTOSPORT are reporting that Senna could be in the car by Friday, then the shizzle is really going down for Quick Nick.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93888

I hope this isn't true; Nick is still ahead of Petrov on points, and deserves a shot with the last upgrades of the season. And I must say, I don't particuarly rate Senna as a drive more worthy of a go than, say, Nico Hulkenberg, Lucas di Grassi, Christian Klien or any of the other F1 drivers hanging around the paddock.

[Phoenix]

I'm finding it difficult to pick a stance about this issue of the DRS at Eau Rouge. Using it through Eau Rouge sounds dangerous, but there's no proof it REALLY is dangerous

[FullMetalJack]

If AUTOSPORT are reporting that Senna could be in the car by Friday, then the shizzle is really going down for Quick Nick.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93888

I hope this isn't true; Nick is still ahead of Petrov on points, and deserves a shot with the last upgrades of the season. And I must say, I don't particuarly rate Senna as a drive more worthy of a go than, say, Nico Hulkenberg, Lucas di Grassi, Christian Klien or any of the other F1 drivers hanging around the paddock.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Who else is going to slightly bore people of the F1 Rejects forum.

[Londoner]

If AUTOSPORT are reporting that Senna could be in the car by Friday, then the shizzle is really going down for Quick Nick.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93888

I hope this isn't true; Nick is still ahead of Petrov on points, and deserves a shot with the last upgrades of the season. And I must say, I don't particuarly rate Senna as a drive more worthy of a go than, say, Nico Hulkenberg, Lucas di Grassi, Christian Klien or any of the other F1 drivers hanging around the paddock.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Who else is going to slightly bore people of the F1 Rejects forum.

Vettel

[FullMetalJack]

If AUTOSPORT are reporting that Senna could be in the car by Friday, then the shizzle is really going down for Quick Nick.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93888

I hope this isn't true; Nick is still ahead of Petrov on points, and deserves a shot with the last upgrades of the season. And I must say, I don't particuarly rate Senna as a drive more worthy of a go than, say, Nico Hulkenberg, Lucas di Grassi, Christian Klien or any of the other F1 drivers hanging around the paddock.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Who else is going to slightly bore people of the F1 Rejects forum.

Vettel

He extremely bores people.

[mario]

Speaking of Renault, albeit not their driver struggles, Autosport are reporting that Renault are abandoning their efforts to develop a rearward facing exhaust, and instead they are going to stick with their current forward exhaust configuration for the remainder of the season.

"We believe that we still have potential on the forward exhaust even though we have made some wrong developments sometimes," Boullier told AUTOSPORT. "There are some good performance packages coming.
"So we will continue with it and it's likely that we will use it to the end of the season."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93892

On another note, I wonder how well Force India might perform here? This has, after all, been one of their stronger tracks in recent years, and in the last few races their relative performance has been improving - which must be a worry for Sauber, who have admitted that the upcoming tracks might be some of their weakest (due to the low ambient temperatures and harder tyre compunds being used).

[ADx_Wales]

Sorry about the reply earlier where I thought they'd use it through eau rouge, I was not awake.
But choosing to use DRS on the build up to it is a bit pointless when theres another 2/3rds of flat out at the top of the hill to get past people.

This is possibly the only track in F1 that doesnt need DRS whatsoever...

[mario]

Sorry about the reply earlier where I thought they'd use it through eau rouge, I was not awake.
But choosing to use DRS on the build up to it is a bit pointless when theres another 2/3rds of flat out at the top of the hill to get past people.

This is possibly the only track in F1 that doesnt need DRS whatsoever...

I agree - besides, there are a lot of questions over whether the DRS will really have any impact along that section of track.

After all, thanks to the parc ferme regulations in recent years, the cars are geared based around running on their own during qualifying; it's often been the case that the advantage of the slip stream has been negated because the driver behind has been hitting the limiter. The thing is, that hasn't changed much with the DRS - the teams are still optimising their gear ratios for running on their own, albeit in race trim - so it is likely that the drivers will still be hitting the limiter and be unable to take advantage of having their DRS and a slip stream.

[Ferrim]

I think what the DRS has done is to allow the guy behind to hit its limiter much earlier than the guy in front, creating a speed differential so big that, by the point he hits it he's already ahead

[tommykl]

Going with the Grand Prix, the Nazionale Piloti has organized a football match between the drivers' team and a team of Belgian "celebrities" (failed musicians, comedians, past-it footballers and journalists) tonight at Eupen...and I'm going

[Faustus]

I'm finding it difficult to pick a stance about this issue of the DRS at Eau Rouge. Using it through Eau Rouge sounds dangerous, but there's no proof it REALLY is dangerous

Exactly! It's a load of rubbish. When cars had less downforce some drivers would try to take it flat and some would fail to do so (Villeneuve, Zonta, etc.). If the driver thinks he can take Eau Rouge flat with less downforce, then do it! To think that there would necessarily be a huge crash is a huge exageration.

[DanielPT]

Going with the Grand Prix, the Nazionale Piloti has organized a football match between the drivers' team and a team of Belgian "celebrities" (failed musicians, comedians, past-it footballers and journalists) tonight at Eupen...and I'm going

Hum... Schumacher is surely behind it. And then this will happen:

- Heidfeld will 'coincidentally' end up injured, missing the GP.
- Trulli will be replaced by Chandhok due to a troubling pair of feet. Chandhok will crash into someone in the first ball he plays.
- Lewis Hamilton will see a red card eventually.
- Once it starts raining Button scores a couple of goals.
- Vettel will be striker and Webber will be winger forcing him to cross for Vettel.
- Massa will produce a great play only to let Alonso score. Actually Massa will only pass the ball to Alonso.
- Rosberg is the cheerleader.
- Petrov will be the goalkeeper saving everything that is thrown at him.
- Kobayashi will be a spectacular playmaker.

Anyway enjoy the match, Tommykl!

[Klon]

- Petrov will be the goalkeeper saving everything that is thrown at him.

Well, in the last game we had of that kind Petrov scored some goals, alright.

[tommykl]

Going with the Grand Prix, the Nazionale Piloti has organized a football match between the drivers' team and a team of Belgian "celebrities" (failed musicians, comedians, past-it footballers and journalists) tonight at Eupen...and I'm going

Hum... Schumacher is surely behind it. And then this will happen:

- Heidfeld will 'coincidentally' end up injured, missing the GP.
- Trulli will be replaced by Chandhok due to a troubling pair of feet. Chandhok will crash into someone in the first ball he plays.
- Lewis Hamilton will see a red card eventually.
- Once it starts raining Button scores a couple of goals.
- Vettel will be striker and Webber will be winger forcing him to cross for Vettel.
- Massa will produce a great play only to let Alonso score. Actually Massa will only pass the ball to Alonso.
- Rosberg is the cheerleader.
- Petrov will be the goalkeeper saving everything that is thrown at him.
- Kobayashi will be a spectacular playmaker.

Anyway enjoy the match, Tommykl!

Some of those won't be possible. Here's the line-up (I don't know the positions):
-Michael Schumacher
-Sebastian Vettel
-Jérôme d'Ambrosio
-Timo Glock
-Nico Rosberg
-Vitaly Petrov
-Felipe Massa
-Fernando Alonso
-Vitantonio Liuzzi
-Jarno Trulli
-Ivan Capelli
-Maro Engel (WTF?)

[DanielPT]

-Ivan Capelli

[Londoner]

The actual DRS zone for the race is between the exit of Radillion and Les Combes. The detection point is halfway between La Source and Eau Rouge.

Charlie Whiting is trying to justify the DRS ban through Eau Rouge.

“We’re not going to allow DRS to be used through Eau Rouge during practice. We want to avoid drivers going through thinking that their wing is in the right position, when it might not be.

“We think this is the correct safety measure to have taken at such a fast, demanding corner.”

I wonder what penalty the stewards will give to any driver who uses it in that corner.

[Shizuka]

Some of those won't be possible. Here's the line-up (I don't know the positions):
-Michael Schumacher
-Sebastian Vettel
-Jérôme d'Ambrosio
-Timo Glock
-Nico Rosberg
-Vitaly Petrov
-Felipe Massa
-Fernando Alonso
-Vitantonio Liuzzi
-Jarno Trulli
-Ivan Capelli
-Maro Engel (WTF?)

Schumacher will be heavily rammed by Alonso when trying to get the ball. (Spa 98 with changed roles, Schumacher being the Merc driver to get hit by a Ferrari driver)
Vettel and Rosberg will clash together somehow. Rosberg will be red carded immediately, Vettel continues with a yellow. (Spa 10)
D'Ambrosio will lose balance on the wet grass, forcing him to spin (Hungaroring 11)
Massa will do some very nice tricks on the field (Spa 04 - taking Montoya in Eau Rouge anyone?), only to get a message from Domenicali, who is sitting along with the viewers, saying "Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm you understand the message?"
Alonso will do four goal passes. (Spa 08)
Liuzzi will be ran off the field by Alonso (Spa 10)
Trulli will score the first goal. (Spa 04 pole position)
Capelli will be attacking a lot. (Spa 88)
Engel - no idea who this guy is
Petrov will injure himself early (Spa 10 qualifying)

I just realized, aside from D'Ambrosio and Engel, I tied everyone to a Spa event!

[DanielPT]

Engel is a low profile DTM driver.

Now what he is doing there I have no idea...

[Shizuka]

A sixth place in three and a half seasons is his best? Seriously?

[DanielPT]

A sixth place in three and a half seasons is his best? Seriously?

Worse, in the Non-championship round at the Munich Olympic stadium, he did not qualified for the second round...

[Peter]

I'm finding it difficult to pick a stance about this issue of the DRS at Eau Rouge. Using it through Eau Rouge sounds dangerous, but there's no proof it REALLY is dangerous

Exactly! It's a load of rubbish. When cars had less downforce some drivers would try to take it flat and some would fail to do so (Villeneuve, Zonta, etc.). If the driver thinks he can take Eau Rouge flat with less downforce, then do it! To think that there would necessarily be a huge crash is a huge exageration.

Jacques Villienuve almost lost it during the race in 2005 at Eau Rouge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDGfloz2RLw

And that's without DRS. Plus, drivers have crashed at Eau Rouge before in the past, more than once.

[Captain Hammer]

I wonder what penalty the stewards will give to any driver who uses it in that corner.

None. The ban works the same way as the one at Monaco - the FIA will program the software governing the device so that the drivers cannot open the DRS in the space between La Source and Radillion.

[tommykl]

Of course, the match was nothing like advertised, and Rosberg, Massa, Glock and Alonso were notable drivers who didn't show up. Instead, there was Johnny Cecotto, Jr., Stefano Coletti, Ricardo Teixeira, Sergio Pérez, Christian Muntanari, Kristian Ghedina,...

In the end, the drivers won 6-3, the goals were scored by d'Ambrosio, Vettel, Lukunku, Engel, Kimoni and Engel.

Lukunku and Kimoni were guest football players.

[Bleu]

So that explains what Engel was doing there

[Shizuka]

Did D'Ambrosio at least flip on the grass?

[tommykl]

Did D'Ambrosio at least flip on the grass?

Possibly. I wasn't really paying attention to anyone in particular.

[DanielPT]

Of course, the match was nothing like advertised, and Rosberg, Massa, Glock and Alonso were notable drivers who didn't show up. Instead, there was Johnny Cecotto, Jr., Stefano Coletti, Ricardo Teixeira, Sergio Pérez, Christian Muntanari, Kristian Ghedina,...

In the end, the drivers won 6-3, the goals were scored by d'Ambrosio, Vettel, Lukunku, Engel, Kimoni and Engel.

Lukunku and Kimoni were guest football players.

There is always someone who bumps his name and then doesn't show up.

Anyway the drivers cheated their way through victory (fielding professional players is cheating).

[tommykl]

Of course, the match was nothing like advertised, and Rosberg, Massa, Glock and Alonso were notable drivers who didn't show up. Instead, there was Johnny Cecotto, Jr., Stefano Coletti, Ricardo Teixeira, Sergio Pérez, Christian Muntanari, Kristian Ghedina,...

In the end, the drivers won 6-3, the goals were scored by d'Ambrosio, Vettel, Lukunku, Engel, Kimoni and Engel.

Lukunku and Kimoni were guest football players.

There is always someone who bumps his name and then doesn't show up.

Anyway the drivers cheated their way through victory (fielding professional players is cheating).

Actually, those two retired from professional football a couple of years ago

[DanielPT]

Of course, the match was nothing like advertised, and Rosberg, Massa, Glock and Alonso were notable drivers who didn't show up. Instead, there was Johnny Cecotto, Jr., Stefano Coletti, Ricardo Teixeira, Sergio Pérez, Christian Muntanari, Kristian Ghedina,...

In the end, the drivers won 6-3, the goals were scored by d'Ambrosio, Vettel, Lukunku, Engel, Kimoni and Engel.

Lukunku and Kimoni were guest football players.

There is always someone who bumps his name and then doesn't show up.

Anyway the drivers cheated their way through victory (fielding professional players is cheating).

Actually, those two retired from professional football a couple of years ago

Even so. It might be less unfair, but it still is unfair!

[GwilymJJames]

Senna and PDR have had seperate crashes at Turn 9, the latter causing a RED FLAG and the deployment of the Medical Car.

[jpm]

Senna and PDR have had seperate crashes at Turn 9, the latter causing a RED FLAG and the deployment of the Medical Car.

Fail. And this once again shows why Renault need some one relaible like Nick Heidfeld who won't crash willy nilly. I mean really, what did Renault expect? I seriously doubt Bruo will last until the end of the season, either Grosjean or Heidfeld will brush him quietly aside.

[Peter]

Big deal, he crashed in the rain, at a spot that is notoriously challenging in the wet, in his first time out in a while. Plus, he wasn't the only person to crash there, so did Paul.