Official Round 12: Belgium Grand Prix - Page 2

**Born Racer** · 1 Sep 2012, 15:30 (Ref:3128263)

It's set up fantastically, although some of the more surprise qualifiers sometimes soon drop back. It'd be great to see if Kobayashi can show some good long-run pace and maybe even Maldonado can keep it and others on the island. Raikkonen with his good qually session will be formidable if he can be among the frontrunners early on.

Some of this surprise form is probably down to the lack of a Friday so some big names are likely to come through the field tomorrow.

sparkione · 1 Sep 2012, 15:37 (Ref:3128265)

QUOTE=QnickFTW;3128232]Yea it wasnt too classy a tweet since Hamilton chose to run with the old wing, it was his decision, its not like there was only 1 wing ready.

Knowing Spa, conditions could be totally different tomorrow and LH could have the quicker car on the day. It's always a lottery here. But if it's like today Jens will drive off into the Ardennes, stop off for a beer and some chips somewhere, then pootle back and wait for the others on the top step of the podium...

QnickFTW · 1 Sep 2012, 17:16 (Ref:3128297)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

I suspect the brevity required for 140 Chars means the tweet seems worse than it is.

Amazing job by JB, congrats to him. I probably made a mistake choosing to run with the old wing this session, but there is always tomorrow!

-140 characters.

**Adam43** · 1 Sep 2012, 17:34 (Ref:3128303)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Lewis was interviewed and said well done to Jenson. Hardly surprising he's hacked off but he also said he felt uncomfortable with the new wing so chose to go back to the old one. I suspect the brevity required for 140 Chars means the tweet seems worse than it is.

Rubbish, it is the perfect excuse to use another form of social media to have a go at him.

Some people need more than 140 characters to be say someone bad about another and wait for longer so that it is considered before doing so.

**bjohnsonsmith** · 1 Sep 2012, 19:23 (Ref:3128384)

I missed Quali but Button on pole, Kobayashi second plus Maldonado and Kimi third and fourth. Vettel 11th, what happened to him?

Richard C · 1 Sep 2012, 19:26 (Ref:3128389)

As a JB fan, I am glad it went well for him in qualifying. Hopefully tomorrow will go just as well!

It was interesting to hear him during the post qualifying interview. He freely admits that due to his driving style that he has a narrow setup/performance window, but when everything falls into that window he is quick. He looked to be a surprised as anyone to be on pole. Its also interesting that his initial Q3 run would have been good for pole as well. It sounds like while Hamilton had issues with them, maybe the new development parts from McLaren are working their magic.

I was also happy for Kobayashi, but I would still like to see JB win.

It looks like the F1 collective is continuing try to drill into Maldonado's head that he needs to change his behavior!

Richard

QnickFTW · 1 Sep 2012, 19:33 (Ref:3128400)

Kimi didnt get the penalty for cutting the chicane. Maldonado did get one for holding up the Hulk. Plus of course Webbo and Rosberg for getting new gearboxes. My money is on Perez as JB's main challenger actually

1 1. Jenson Button 1’47.573
McLaren 2. Kamui Kobayashi 1’47.871
Sauber 2 3. Kimi Raikkonen 1’48.205
Lotus 4. Sergio Perez 1’48.219
Sauber 3 5. Fernando Alonso 1’48.313
Ferrari 6. Pastor Maldonado* 1’47.893
Williams 4 7. Lewis Hamilton 1’48.394
McLaren 8. Romain Grosjean 1’48.538
Lotus 5 9. Paul di Resta 1’48.89
Force India 10. Sebastian Vettel 1’48.792
Red Bull 6 11. Nico Hulkenberg 1’48.855
Force India 12. Mark Webber* 1’48.392
Red Bull 7 13. Michael Schumacher 1’49.081
Mercedes 14. Felipe Massa 1’49.147
Ferrari 8 15. Jean-Eric Vergne 1’49.354
Toro Rosso 16. Daniel Ricciardo 1’49.543
Toro Rosso 9 17. Bruno Senna 1’50.088
Williams 18. Heikki Kovalainen 1’51.739
Caterham 10 19. Vitaly Petrov 1’51.967
Caterham 20. Timo Glock 1’52.336
Marussia 11 21. Pedro de la Rosa 1’53.03
HRT 22. Charles Pic 1’53.493
Marussia 12 23. Nico Rosberg* 1’50.181
Mercedes 24. Narain Karthikeyan 1’54.989
HRT

CTD · 1 Sep 2012, 19:41 (Ref:3128409)

Quote:

Originally Posted by QnickFTW

Kimi didnt get the penalty for cutting the chicane. Maldonado did get one for holding up the Hulk. Plus of course Webbo and Rosberg for getting new gearboxes. My money is on Perez as JB's main challenger actually

1 1. Jenson Button 1’47.573
McLaren 2. Kamui Kobayashi 1’47.871
Sauber 2 3. Kimi Raikkonen 1’48.205
Lotus 4. Sergio Perez 1’48.219
Sauber 3 5. Fernando Alonso 1’48.313
Ferrari 6. Pastor Maldonado* 1’47.893
Williams 4 7. Lewis Hamilton 1’48.394
McLaren 8. Romain Grosjean 1’48.538
Lotus 5 9. Paul di Resta 1’48.89
Force India 10. Sebastian Vettel 1’48.792
Red Bull 6 11. Nico Hulkenberg 1’48.855
Force India 12. Mark Webber* 1’48.392
Red Bull 7 13. Michael Schumacher 1’49.081
Mercedes 14. Felipe Massa 1’49.147
Ferrari 8 15. Jean-Eric Vergne 1’49.354
Toro Rosso 16. Daniel Ricciardo 1’49.543
Toro Rosso 9 17. Bruno Senna 1’50.088
Williams 18. Heikki Kovalainen 1’51.739
Caterham 10 19. Vitaly Petrov 1’51.967
Caterham 20. Timo Glock 1’52.336
Marussia 11 21. Pedro de la Rosa 1’53.03
HRT 22. Charles Pic 1’53.493
Marussia 12 23. Nico Rosberg* 1’50.181
Mercedes 24. Narain Karthikeyan 1’54.989
HRT

Uh, Maldonado right behind Alonso...
That could make the WC interesting.

QnickFTW · 1 Sep 2012, 20:08 (Ref:3128436)

Quote:

The stewards said: “The driver of car 18 was warned by his team not to ‘hold up’ car 12 which was behind him, and yet he clearly did impede car 12."

Classic Pastor

IceMan_PJN · 2 Sep 2012, 03:35 (Ref:3128743)

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTD

Uh, Maldonado right behind Alonso...
That could make the WC interesting.

I don't know if I'd call P6 "behind" P5, as it's on the same row. Either way, I was kinda hoping Crashtor would take out Alonso because other top drivers like Hamilton and Vettel have had unfortunate DNFs but Alonso has thus far lucked out. I kinda felt Alonso was due for a rotten day, and it would close the top of the championship up a bunch.

**Adam43** · 2 Sep 2012, 07:39 (Ref:3128789)

If we are looking at it like this, we don't want a DNF for Alonso. Alonso doesn't have the fastest car, a DNF and a narrowing of that gap quickly could remove him from contention.

If we look at it as a sport, then we shouldn't really want ill fortune on another and should recognise why Alonso has the lead. He has avoided the mishaps of others and Ferrari has build a reliable car. Both significant element of the competition.

Marbot · 2 Sep 2012, 09:32 (Ref:3128834)

I don't think that there is any doubt that Alonso is deserving of his current standing in the drivers championship. Massa shows where the car would be if driven by any other F1 driver, right now. And Massa is at least familiar with that car.

Great lap from JB! Could it be the 2009 season, but in reverse?

davyboy · 2 Sep 2012, 09:46 (Ref:3128840)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marbot

I don't think that there is any doubt that Alonso is deserving of his current standing in the drivers championship. Massa shows where the car would be if driven by any other F1 driver, right now. And Massa is at least familiar with that car.

Great lap from JB! Could it be the 2009 season, but in reverse?

Button's was a good lap but didn't they say that his car was trimmed for qualifying whereas Hamilton's was trimmed for the race ? Is this the beginning of McLaren's "Jenson supporting Lewis" for the remainder of the season ? It'll be interesting to see how their respective races unfold.

There's no question that Alonso is deserving of his position at the head of the championship. His driving has been stupendous and has always been a threat in what is far from the best car out there.

CTD · 2 Sep 2012, 10:03 (Ref:3128846)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marbot

I don't think that there is any doubt that Alonso is deserving of his current standing in the drivers championship. Massa shows where the car would be if driven by any other F1 driver, right now. And Massa is at least familiar with that car.

Great lap from JB! Could it be the 2009 season, but in reverse?

Alonso is doing an amazing job with what he has available, and my comment wasn't meant as a wish, but more what could happen when entering the first corner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davyboy

Button's was a good lap but didn't they say that his car was trimmed for qualifying whereas Hamilton's was trimmed for the race ? Is this the beginning of McLaren's "Jenson supporting Lewis" for the remainder of the season ? It'll be interesting to see how their respective races unfold.

There's no question that Alonso is deserving of his position at the head of the championship. His driving has been stupendous and has always been a threat in what is far from the best car out there.

Isn't Button famous for never compromising his race setup?.
But i agree that Hamilton is more setup for race than qualifying and his qualifying lap is a result of that + missing the brake in into the first corner of the lap.
My prediction for the race is that, if Button get a little gap into 2nd, he will win with ease. However, if anyone starts to battle with him, disrupting him from looking after the tires, Kimi Raikonnen will walk away with the victory.

Also, Hamilton has refused of letting Button becoming his support driver.

QnickFTW · 2 Sep 2012, 10:11 (Ref:3128849)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marbot

Great lap from JB! Could it be the 2009 season, but in reverse?

I couldnt believe it was his first pole since the BRAWN days. 1 pole in 61 races driving for top teams (50 of which was with Mclaren) doesnt sound that good

But he is a class act, so when he got that pole people went "Amazing lap" as opposed to "it's about time"

**Adam43** · 2 Sep 2012, 10:18 (Ref:3128855)

Button arrived at the circuit, more proof that he is supporting Hamilton.

QnickFTW · 2 Sep 2012, 10:31 (Ref:3128860)

Ive heard there are team-orders at Mclaren this weekend for Button to win this and steal points from Alonso and Vettel in the championship. How shameless

**Peter Mallett** · 2 Sep 2012, 10:42 (Ref:3128868)

Nah,

Maldonado has been told to go for the inside of La Source just as Button gets there.

QnickFTW · 2 Sep 2012, 10:56 (Ref:3128876)

Apparently Lewis had to delete most of his Tweets this weekend, including a picture of the telemetry data he shared on Instragram. He really needs to learn to just Deal. With. It. It's not like anyone thinks that JB is genuinely a faster one-lapper than him anyway.

In other news Mark Gillan said that A.) Pastor cost less than two tenth of a second to Hulkenberg B.) It was at a part where it's particularly tricky to get out of the way in time C.) Hulkenberg did go thru to Q2 comfortably anyway. So it's a bit of a harsh penalty. I think its very obvious that the FIA uses double standards against Pastor now, because neither this nor his move in Hungary was really penalty-worthy.

Im pretty sure there are hardly a driver who didnt cost a tenth or two to someone else during the Qualifying, it's called traffic.

FAS33 · 2 Sep 2012, 11:37 (Ref:3128897)

Spa is the best track in the world, looking forward to this race. go webber!

**bjohnsonsmith** · 2 Sep 2012, 12:04 (Ref:3128904)

I knew it a big pile up!

garcon · 2 Sep 2012, 12:06 (Ref:3128905)

Hamilton you STUPID ****ING ****!!!

**Adam43** · 2 Sep 2012, 12:07 (Ref:3128907)

Praise be, the championship is more exciting

**bjohnsonsmith** · 2 Sep 2012, 12:12 (Ref:3128909)

Quote:

Originally Posted by garcon

Hamilton you STUPID ****ING ****!!!

That was Grosjean's fault and it's not the first time this season he's screwed up.

rustyfan · 2 Sep 2012, 12:13 (Ref:3128910)

Quote:

Originally Posted by garcon

Hamilton you STUPID ****ING ****!!!

Little quick on the trigger there, eh?

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