Formula One

[jep]

The race is sadly only a fraction of Lewis's work over a weekend.....I am not sure what I admire more in the modern F1 driver: the bravery and skill or putting up with the endless corporate PR/events/meets etc...

Justin

 

 

 

[exeterjeep]

6 minutes ago, Chillidoggy said:

Hamilton is going to refund Mercedes for not having raced.

I think he could afford that. Although just the race fee....

Think the presentation was a joke.

[Chillidoggy]

55 minutes ago, PaulCP said:

@Chillidoggy in your haste to have a pop at Hamilton you miss the point completely about how F1 have screwed the fans at trackside.

A clearly calculated move to start a “race” that was never going to be. 

 

 

And in your own haste you appear to have missed the point I made earlier about driver's safety, and the FIA acting within its regulations. The fans weren't screwed by the FIA, they were screwed by something out of FIA control, AKA the dreadful weather.

[PaulCP]

I don’t think I did miss the point since I never suggested that they should have raced in such conditions 🤔

 Postpone to a further date, race tickets still honoured?

Plenty of opportunity to do so with certain races in later on the season being recently cancelled. Hence @Chillidoggy, so there were other solutions that were well within FIA control.

Yes the availability of Spa would impact on such a decision but there was certainly no indication that any other option was even considered

[Chillidoggy]

We don’t know what was considered. What is for certain is that arranging dates for GP’s is about as easy as getting a GP’s appointment. So the chances are the only option FIA felt able to provide was what we saw on the day. 

[EldonZ]

The point was not that they should have raced because the conditions were horrible. The point is that they didn't have a race but yet called it a race by doing two laps behind the safety car. Therefore, the fans and advertisers all got screwed in the end. I believe the rules need to be restated that you must have at least X number of Green laps for it to be considered a race.

Later,
Eldon

[PaulCP]

The haste in which they went ahead to finalise a “race” with 2 laps behind a safety car heavily suggests that they did not consider alternatives, they couldn’t have within that timescale.

F1 rules dictate two racing laps is the minimum for points to be awarded.
These were completed behind the safety car at 18.17 local time. How could 2 laps behind a safety car be regarded as ‘racing laps’

According to BBC F1 website, F1 organisers are looking into changing the rules so that the events at Spa never happen again

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58385653

 

[Chillidoggy]

Be interesting to see what the outcome is. Moving or rearranging GP’s at present is a nightmare with covid around, hence the cancellations. I still wonder whether that was weighing heavy on their minds when they made the decision.
 

If there’s one good thing to come out of it, it’s served to underline my decision years ago never to attend another race, just sit at home and watch them on TV instead.

Unless of course your name’s Dan and you get flown in by helicopter to take full advantage of hospitality.🥂🥂🍷🍺🍻

[mg4lotus]

More points being scored on the forum than in the race 😄 and of course, all points count.

[yeller77]

Maybe they, too, should give out badges under the circumstances rather than trophies.   

FIA logged a race under the unusual circumstances (this last happened when?) as they had the rules to do so and followed whatever influences they had to do so. Safety car laps count after a green light and apparently they count without one as well. The two-lap rule was established for a reason, sometimes you don't know how crap a rule is until it gets applied. Moving on, they can change the rules. Red Bull are conspicuously silent, of course, and all others who have reasons to not like the outcome are not. And so it goes. None of that prevents the promotors, track, FIA, teams, and/or whoever else from making amends. That does have some some precedent in the "Indygate" tire debacle though it was mainly Michelin that ponied up some compensation and refunds. If they want to figure out what to do about $hit weather and cancellations, they should just talk to the WSBK and MotoGP folks who try to race at Phillip Island. 

[C8RKH]

9 hours ago, Chillidoggy said:

Let’s not forget it’s not long ago that a driver died at Spa. Would that have been right?

Just look at the huge 6-8 car wreck in the Formula W race at the weekend - that was a frightening crash. They should have called it off but this way Max gets some cheap points to close the gap!

 

[Chillidoggy]

1 hour ago, yeller77 said:

Red Bull are conspicuously silent

https://www.planetf1.com/news/red-bull-hollow-belgium-win/

[pete]

[Bravo73]

There is a better one:

 

[pete]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-hamilton-not-happy-george-russell/

[scotty435]

😂😂😂 the daily mail who believes anything that they write 

[Chillidoggy]

933,370 people, according to the July figures.

[Kevin Wheeler]

"There are only two things you can believe in a newspaper - the date and the price"

[pete]

How about the view of the express then https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1485594/lewis-hamilton-george-russell-mercedes-williams-formula-1

[PaulCP]

Similar to the report on BBC website

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/58371860

[pete]

Raikonen has covid. Kubica to take his place

[pete]

https://youtu.be/ZffipEcHQRA.  Interesting video on construction of Zandervoot track

[chipp]

I have always been curious and frustrated by the qualifying times how they relate into actual distance.

Today Lewis qualified 38 thousanths behind Max which is prety close, but how close??

Trying out some crude mathamatics I reckon that could be as close a 1 metre at the finish line.

Anyone able to work this out if say they are crossing the line at 150mph.

[ramjet]

150mph = 241.4kmh (give or take)

241.4kmh = 67.05m/s (give or take)

so 0.038s = 2.55m (give or take)

[exeterjeep]

Bottas must be on the way out now. Fasted lap instructions..

Max's RB does seem that bit quicker than the Mercs. Almost everyone else lapped. Certainly a more interesting track than some due to the banking/corners etc. Good to see it back. Looks like Max's year this year.