[Official] Driver of the race : Belgian GP

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by ASCII Man

Brilliant drive from the greatest racer in the universe.

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by Splatz the Cow

Yes, that line through the gravel trap really showed the other drivers didn't it - flawless.

Hamilton went off the track when many others did not.

He led the race from the start in the wet, when others had to make passes off-line.

What is the difference between flawless, and crashing out while leading when under no pressure? The gap between his left front and the gravel trap tyre barrier, is the difference.

So, you never driven a race car when it starts to rain then? You get NO warning. Suddenly, there is not grip. You don't see rain spots, you don't see the rain, you don't see any change on the track. It may only be a few drops, but the grip disappears.

I wouldn't have a go at any driver went off at the start of rain, it's just so unpredictable.

And no pressure? There is ALWAYS pressure when you are driving a race car, esp. in those changing conditions.

[Born Racer]

I was there, but I'll wait until I can watch it back on TV to work out mine.

[Marbot]

Hamilton. But he can't be that lucky all of the time can he?

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally Posted by JamesH

So, you never driven a race car when it starts to rain then? You get NO warning. Suddenly, there is not grip. You don't see rain spots, you don't see the rain, you don't see any change on the track. It may only be a few drops, but the grip disappears.

Not to mention that if you're in the lead then you're the first guy to find out where the track is most slippery. Under the circumstances, Hamilton did remarkably well - a couple of years ago he might have just binned it, but there was no panicking and that's what's really impressive about him now.

My vote goes to Hamilton, although I thought all of the top 3 drove really well. Wooden spoon to Vettel.

[Wims]

Hamilton for winning, honorable mention for TGF and Kubica

[Splatz the Cow]

Originally Posted by JamesH

So, you never driven a race car when it starts to rain then? You get NO warning. Suddenly, there is not grip. You don't see rain spots, you don't see the rain, you don't see any change on the track. It may only be a few drops, but the grip disappears.

I wouldn't have a go at any driver went off at the start of rain, it's just so unpredictable.

And no pressure? There is ALWAYS pressure when you are driving a race car, esp. in those changing conditions.

Oh, so you want to be insulting as well as incorrect do you?

It is irrelevant whether or not I have driven a race car in the rain, only that I know what happens, and that I know F1 drivers know what happens in the rain, and that now there is no surprise about the onset of rain, because the teams know when it will reach the track down to a couple of minutes, the direction it will approach the circuit, the severity of it, and when to pit, and that when you are the leader of the race by a substantial margin you don't risk staying out another lap when others are coming in to pit, because it could cost you the race. At this I have to credit Schumacher who came in when he wanted to, and not when the team thought was right, and in this area Hamilton, is severely average.

Your country is not the only one that gets rain you know, and holds race events in it, in fact, the rain in the UK isn't even much to worry about, compared to a lot of other countries around the world like Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, China, Brazil, USA, and in fact most other countries, have major torrential rain storms, unlike the half-hearted stuff that passes for rain that I experienced in the UK.

Harden up, mate. Look at it objectively; McLaren and Hamilton made the wrong choice to stay out an extra lap, when other guys were already getting called in to the pits. And rather than take that extra lap carefully, so as to make sure to get back to the pits, he goes off at the one corner at Spa, notorious for getting push to the outside when its dirty or wet. He screwed up, and should have had a DNF, but for the luck, and his skill at getting the car angled sideways as he went through the trap, so if there was contact it would be side on.

But here I am praising him for that one moment of skill that saved him, and its the one bit of praise you have over looked.

Dude, most of the rookies and backmarkers, got in to change their tyres, but he didn't. Deal with it.

[Splatz the Cow]

Originally Posted by Ralf's Girl

Not to mention that if you're in the lead then you're the first guy to find out where the track is most slippery. Under the circumstances, Hamilton did remarkably well - a couple of years ago he might have just binned it, but there was no panicking and that's what's really impressive about him now.

My vote goes to Hamilton, although I thought all of the top 3 drove really well. Wooden spoon to Vettel.

At the final stages of the race, the order of cars is all mixed up, and Hamilton is lapping guys all the time, especially with two or three of the cars this year being so slow. Are you seriously telling us the rain waited for all of the backmarkers that were in front of Hamilton, to go past and then it flooded the circuit in front of the leader of the race?

Wait no you are right, because everyone else went in to the pits like they were supposed to, so Hamilton was literally exploring one more lap, taking that huge risk, why? He is already leading? Why?

[Born Racer]

I'm giving it to Sutil. Easily outperforms his team-mate yet again and an excellent result. Hamilton drove very well and I thought he showed skill in how he extricated himself from the gravel trap. At first I thought of China 07 after he stayed out too long there. It was probably the right decision to stay out at Spa though, just. Massa was okay I suppose. Kobayashi did a top job again. Schumacher drove well, but still got beaten by Rosberg.

[SennaTheGreat]

Kubica for me as he did well all weekend to drag a midfield runner to the podium

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by Splatz the Cow

Oh, so you want to be insulting as well as incorrect do you?

It is irrelevant whether or not I have driven a race car in the rain, only that I know what happens, and that I know F1 drivers know what happens in the rain, and that now there is no surprise about the onset of rain, because the teams know when it will reach the track down to a couple of minutes, the direction it will approach the circuit, the severity of it, and when to pit, and that when you are the leader of the race by a substantial margin you don't risk staying out another lap when others are coming in to pit, because it could cost you the race. At this I have to credit Schumacher who came in when he wanted to, and not when the team thought was right, and in this area Hamilton, is severely average.

Your country is not the only one that gets rain you know, and holds race events in it, in fact, the rain in the UK isn't even much to worry about, compared to a lot of other countries around the world like Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, China, Brazil, USA, and in fact most other countries, have major torrential rain storms, unlike the half-hearted stuff that passes for rain that I experienced in the UK.

Harden up, mate. Look at it objectively; McLaren and Hamilton made the wrong choice to stay out an extra lap, when other guys were already getting called in to the pits. And rather than take that extra lap carefully, so as to make sure to get back to the pits, he goes off at the one corner at Spa, notorious for getting push to the outside when its dirty or wet. He screwed up, and should have had a DNF, but for the luck, and his skill at getting the car angled sideways as he went through the trap, so if there was contact it would be side on.

But here I am praising him for that one moment of skill that saved him, and its the one bit of praise you have over looked.

Dude, most of the rookies and backmarkers, got in to change their tyres, but he didn't. Deal with it.

????? Huh? Not trying to be insulting, just trying to make a point. Unless you have suddenly come across a wet track in a race car (and maybe you have, I dont know), I would be very cautious in slating drivers, simply because it is so unpredicatable. In answer to your points.

Rain forecast accurate to a couple of minutes? Wow, a whole lap and a bit. In order to predict which corner the rain occurs on to stop the sort of thing that happened to LH would require you to be accurate to within 5 seconds at most. 2 minutes warning is insufficent to make an accurate call - look at the number of times in the last couple of years when teams have made the wrong call and come in early, the rain didnt turn up, and have shredded their tyres.

The call to come in is usualy done by the team not by the driver, but on input from the driver of course. Interesting that the first three drivers all made the same call. Did they all make the same mistake? Hindsight is a great thing, its easy to make the call after the event, but the team/driver have to make it in a split second, in unpredictable circumstances.

Yes, we have rain in the UK, but what is your point?

The rookies and backmarkers have lots of extra time to make the decision and the teams can see what is happening to the cars in front., That They have more infromation so can make a better decisions. The cars in front don't have that benefit.

I think you do LH a disservice (in fact the first three cars).

[Wims]

LH stated on the radio that he wanted to come in, but the team insisted on him staying out for a bit longer. He should have stood up to them and let them know that he knows the conditions best and instructed them to change his tyres, like JB did that one race and like MS have done multiple times in his career. The fact that he didnt do this almost put him out of the race in Bruxelles

[bjohnsonsmith]

The bottom line is Lewis got out of the gravel trap and won the race. Except for Button and Alonso the other championship contenders, Webber and Vettel messed up.

[Wims]

But he could easily have been out and potensially lost yet another WDC title by being trapped in the gravel in wet. He should simply have been a man and made the call himself. I guess these things comes with experience and confidence. He must remember that the team is there for him, not the other way round (at least when they are on the track, in a race, in the middle of the season).

That said, I still voted him as the driver of the race.

[Splatz the Cow]

Originally Posted by Wims

LH stated on the radio that he wanted to come in, but the team insisted on him staying out for a bit longer. He should have stood up to them and let them know that he knows the conditions best and instructed them to change his tyres, like JB did that one race and like MS have done multiple times in his career. The fact that he didnt do this almost put him out of the race in Bruxelles

What you said here is what I understood happened when the race was happening. You summed it up very well.

The commentators were surprised he went another lap, and so was I.

[Splatz the Cow]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

The bottom line is Lewis got out of the gravel trap and won the race. Except for Button and Alonso the other championship contenders, Webber and Vettel messed up.

Isn't it established that Webber had a technical issue, or has there not been any confirmation yet?

Not trying to double post, just doing a sort of manual multi-quote.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Splatz the Cow

Isn't it established that Webber had a technical issue, or has there not been any confirmation yet?

Not trying to double post, just doing a sort of manual multi-quote.

I didn't say anything about a technical issue, I just said he messed up.