The official 2009 Belgian Grand Prix thread ***SPOILERS***

@Chet, yeh, this season Ferrari wheren't to strong in qualifying, but alot stronger in the race, it could be that their car just suck with low fuel (well, not as good as others) but once fuelled up it's all ok, I certainly hope so

And Badoer, well, going WAY to fast into Les Combes when he crashed, he set 9 km an hour faster at the speedtrap which is I think in the braking point for Les Combes, meaning he just totally missed the corner.

Nick, Anthony Davidson also said that. I got it from Williams F1 site. It will very car to car, engine to engine... Either way will still work about about 10Kg extra is 4 laps extra.

Dave - which laps did he ruin... at Les Combs he must have ruined Vettels lap but was that out or flying lap. He will not be in the car under any circumstances now. A shame. Frankly he's come into F1 at the worst possible time... None of us can believe how close it is and when that little bit of time means 2-4 rows its always the hardest to find.

Grosjean again a victim of it...

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

DaveEllis Wrote:
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> Badoer dived bombed the RBR into La Source and
> f**ked it up. KERS and the tow meant he was in
> position to pass again at the top of the hill, and
> he f**ked it up again. He ruined the other drivers
> lap twice. He was an embaressment.

And as well as that, he would be the only driver who managed to dodge the best-known get out of jail free card on the F1 calendar, by spinning and crashing it instead of just cutting across Les Combes. @#$%& n00b!

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2009 03:51PM by EC83.

Dave - which laps did he ruin

Everybodys at the end of Q1? Pretty sure Vettels wasn't an out lap. There wasn't enough time to make it round the circuit for a qualifying lap. And as Brundle said, they watched him throw it down the inside at La Source.

The man is an utter disaster. If it wasn't bad enough that he is by far the slowest driver on the grid, he clearly has no common sense or even the most basica of race craft skills. The way he went about qualifying was a joke, and the ghost car comparissons of him at Valencia were nothing short of hilarious. He didn't even have the racing line remotely correct.

he set 9 km an hour faster at the speedtrap which is I think in the braking point

Speed trap is before the braking point. 9km/h is KERS + Red Bull tow.

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Bravo Fisi! =)

I feel sorry for Badoer. I never wanted him to get it in the first place, because to be quite honest he just hasn't been racing for 10 years and that was always asking for trouble. It is embarrasing watching him tarnish any sort of reputation he may have had by being so completely off the pace and off the talent and commitment levels required.

But Fisi! Wow, magic. Be interesting to see just how much lighter he is than the others. Kinda sorry that it wasn't Sutil that made the leap forward for them, but I think he was impeded on his last fast run in Q2...But whatever the result, well done to Force India team and I hope they score points tomorrow and score plenty! They're a breath of fresh air in F1, and their continuing development throughout the season shows the dedication to the sport. Whenever I've been listening to Ian Phillips on 5 Live or watching interviews with Vijay Mallya on the Beeb, they've come across as very genuine, down to earth and determined to do their best. To me, they're the most likeable team in the paddock by miles.

As for the race...well...I think it's going to come down between Raikkonen, Glock (fantastic to see Toyota return to the top as well!) and Barrichello. After a disastrous start to the season, Rubinho is very suddenly a real title contender, as he is pwning Jenson massively at this stage. But, if the Kimster is going to win a race this year, it's going to be Spa!

well done force india and fisichella.this team is in the right hands after a very long time.even if they are lighter than everybody else it was the right strategy for them to score some well deserved points tomorrow.

"But, if the Kimster is going to win a race this year, it's going to be Spa!"

very true.depending upon the fuel loads and the start raikkonen can get i think he has a good chance of winning tomorrow.

Raja Hassan Bin Naeem.

...as a one-eyed Aussie supporter (and quite happy to nail my colours to the wind!) disappointed once again Webber fails to capitalise on a briliant opportunity.

But wow, a Force India on pole?? Brilliant!!

Fuel levels will be very interesting

First all-Italian front row since Melbourne 2005, I think, when it was the same two guys in the same places.

I really hope Fisi can get a good start and lead the first few laps at least. With the first 3 places all being taken up by cars which(Toyota at Bahrain excepted) haven't been frontrunners this season, we're guaranteed an exciting first stint. And again, go Rubens! This is a great chance for him to basically halve JB's championship lead. Rubens has a great chance of winning now, and if JB's form in recent races counts for anything, he'll struggle to finish inside the top 10.

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Gareth, dont be so sure Webber was slow... They have effortlessly looked the quickest imo. If they are the not the heaviest I will be shocked.

Just a note... The way the pit entrace and exits are a pitstop is not so much a problem here, the pitlane is also short.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Fantastic for Fisi, but i think Trulli is the favourite for the race.

Great work by Heidfeld as well.

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X (@ed24f1)

chet Wrote:
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> Gareth, dont be so sure Webber was slow... They
> have effortlessly looked the quickest imo. If they
> are the not the heaviest I will be shocked.
>

I hope so!

What's going on with your boy? He's seems like he's trying his best to lose the championship (and so do the RBR boys!)

How long can Fisi last?

wow fisi! didnt expect that! Well done force india, they really are improving!

looking forward to see the fuel levels though, and it should be a good race tomorrow!

gareth Wrote:
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> What's going on with your boy? He's seems like
> he's trying his best to lose the championship (and
> so do the RBR boys!)
>
> How long can Fisi last?

I blame the helmet myself. The sooner he changes back to the fluorescent colours on the top the better!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I think Button is just feeling overwhelmed by the expectation at the moment. You could see this from his fiery response to the press conference on Thursday.

Whether he can turn that around or not will be hard to tell, but at this rate - the Red Bull drivers and Barrichello might not score enough points to even catch him.

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X (@ed24f1)

There are six races left, Buttons gap to Barrichello is only 18 points, which averages 3 points per race. That's not at all much. Barrichello has a very good shot to win here. I think Button can get upto 6th at most. If Barrichello does win, he closes the gap with 7 points. That's only 11 points left. 11/5 = 2.2 points per race. That's very doable.

Huge crash from Coletti in the GP2 race @ Eau Rouge, no steering or braking and straight into the wall. Moving his arms and head so hopefully ok.

On F1: I was really cheering for Fisi there, just awesome! Almost impossible to pick a winner, but I'd say Barrichello

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Bring back the racing

I reckon it'll be Barrichello vs Kimi for the win, myself. Trulli will get a bad start and then hold everybody else up like he does. :D

My overall reaction to that qualy session is ... wtf?

Who wants to take bets on Kimi running into Fisichella's Force India and putting him out of the race when he's looking odds-on for points?

How gutted am I that Schumacher didn't make it into a car again? He'd seriously have a mega chance of winning this race.

Luca Badoer - ...the hell? I thought I said 'goodbye' at the last race, what the fook are you still doing here??

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antihero schreef:
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> Huge crash from Coletti in the GP2 race @ Eau
> Rouge, no steering or braking and straight into
> the wall. Moving his arms and head so hopefully
> ok.

[]

Very heavy, seems he went head on into the wall :S

01 McLaren Mercedes Lewis Hamilton 693.5*
02 McLaren Mercedes Heikki Kovalainen 697.0*
03 Ferrari Luca Badoer 691.5*
04 Ferrari Kimi Räikkönen 655.0
05 BMW Sauber Robert Kubica 649.0
06 BMW Sauber Nick Heidfeld 655.0
07 Renault Fernando Alonso 684.4*
08 Renault Romain Grosjean 704.7*
09 Toyota Jarno Trulli 656.5
10 Toyota Timo Glock 648.5
11 STR Ferrari Jaime Alguersuari 704.5*
12 STR Ferrari Sébastien Buemi 685.0*
14 RBR Renault Mark Webber 658.0
15 RBR Renault Sebastian Vettel 662.5
16 Williams Toyota Nico Rosberg 670.0
17 Williams Toyota Kazuki Nakajima 706.1*
20 Force India Mercedes Adrian Sutil 678.5*
21 Force India Mercedes Giancarlo Fisichella 648.0
22 Brawn Mercedes Jenson Button 694.2*
23 Brawn Mercedes Rubens Barrichello 644.5

As suspected RedBulls very heavy...

Rubens lightest... Fizzy, not a bad lap afterall!!

Lewis, Kovav, Button and ALonso maybe 1 stopping... as are the rest from then on... Looking good for Kimi and RedBull.

edit - [www.autosport.com]

A lucky Webber too !

edit again -

[www.fia.com]

Should be RedBulls still easy. Fight will be for 3rd.

edit AGAIN - At about 0.4 seconds for 10kg of fuel RedBull still in theory will be about 1.5 seconds a lap clear of Lewis/Kova/Button. A pitstop is roughly 20seconds and so within 13-15 laps even RedBull in theory will be able to pit and come out in front.

Of course I realize it's never as simple as that, but with a pitlane so short I cant see the Mclarens or Button getting into the points . I think the top 8 will remain the drivers in the top 10, just in another order. Button's and Mclaren in for a long day tomorrow.

PS - Will RedBull let Vettel win? I think so, Vettel to lead a RedBull one-two then!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2009 06:23PM by chet.