[Official] Belgian Grand Prix 2017: Grand Prix Weekend Thread

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Lewis on winning what was a rather dull race. He closes the gap on Vettel.

[Aysedasi]

I'm astonished that Perez wasn't penalised.....

[fourWheelDrift]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I'm astonished that Perez wasn't penalised.....

He certainly deserved it but I think the puncture and the debrief with the team may be more painful than anything the stewards were likely to do, which may have figured in their decision.

[Aysedasi]

True enough I guess, but as was commented upon, minor nudges in corners or pushing people off in relatively innocuous areas gets penalised, a bigger shunt there could have been catastrophic.....

[steve nielsen]

In Hungary Max recieved a penalty for running into his teammate by accident.

now Perez pushes his teammate into the wall TWICE: "no further action"

this makes no sense at all

[steve nielsen]

Red Bull throwing away points again, these reliabillity isues nee to be fixed.

Just hear the problem was with a spark plug wich caused the engine to go into safe mode.

[marcel82]

I believe Ocon could've easily backed out of it, that was a predictable line, and he wasn't alongside enough to claim the line.
Perez' move wasn't extreme nor sudden, imo.

I'm ok with no penalty for either

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by marcel82

I believe Ocon could've easily backed out of it, that was a predictable line, and he wasn't alongside enough to claim the line.
Perez' move wasn't extreme nor sudden, imo.

I'm ok with no penalty for either

Completely disagree. Yes, he could have backed out of it but he was very obviously squeezed. Plain dangerous by Perez.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

Red Bull throwing away points again, these reliabillity isues nee to be fixed.

Just hear the problem was with a spark plug wich caused the engine to go into safe mode.

According to Ted Kravitz so probably cobblers

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

According to Ted Kravitz so probably cobblers

The Dutch F1 comentator also said the same

[ScotsBrutesFan]

That could have been a Force India plane crash accident, Perez clearly moved to his right into Ocon.

Since the FIA have clearly bottled it, Force India need to do something ... Deliberately benching Perez for FP1 at Monza.

There would also be the clear instruction to both that anymore and either would be benched not just for a free practice but for a full weekend.

[steve nielsen]

What to think of this?

[S griffin]

I just want to say that the best thing about the race was that three abreast move at Les Combes

I love the way Lewis is now even with the Red Baron in terms of poles.

I just hope that them at RBR are able to get a better car for Max. I just think that the fact that the unluckiest was again him, Fred and Jolyon means that he needs to be a good deal more luckier than he is ATM.

The incident between the two Force Indias was more Checo's fault and he should have given Ocon more room

[newlaprecord]

Originally Posted by marcel82

I believe Ocon could've easily backed out of it, that was a predictable line, and he wasn't alongside enough to claim the line.
Perez' move wasn't extreme nor sudden, imo.

I'm ok with no penalty for either

Yepp thats spot on. Since when do you suppose to give ANY room to someone a full car length behind you. It was 100% perez' line to take or choose, ocon simply was way too optimistic squeezing in there. You want space granted to you, then be at the very least head to head (preferably a bit ahead) with another car entering a corner. Then the space has to be given to you.

Perez did iterraly NOTHING againts any rule, he didnt change line twice, didnt change line under braking, and wasnt obliged to leave space whatsoever. End of.

[ASCII Man]

End of?

[ScotsBrutesFan]

Originally Posted by newlaprecord

Yepp thats spot on. Since when do you suppose to give ANY room to someone a full car length behind you. It was 100% perez' line to take or choose, ocon simply was way too optimistic squeezing in there. You want space granted to you, then be at the very least head to head (preferably a bit ahead) with another car entering a corner. Then the space has to be given to you.

Perez did iterraly NOTHING againts any rule, he didnt change line twice, didnt change line under braking, and wasnt obliged to leave space whatsoever. End of.

If Ocon was a full car behind as you suggest then Perez would have been able to come across in front of Ocon.

The fact that Ocon's front wing was hit by Perez's rear tyre tells you that Perez was not a full car in front.

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by newlaprecord

Yepp thats spot on. Since when do you suppose to give ANY room to someone a full car length behind you. It was 100% perez' line to take or choose, ocon simply was way too optimistic squeezing in there. You want space granted to you, then be at the very least head to head (preferably a bit ahead) with another car entering a corner. Then the space has to be given to you.

Perez did iterraly NOTHING againts any rule, he didnt change line twice, didnt change line under braking, and wasnt obliged to leave space whatsoever. End of.

full car lenght behind?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRQA0986bBw

[S griffin]

First incident was a racing incident, second one Checo could of avoided it

[chunterer]

Ocon was annoyed at the team a lap or 2 before after the pit stop brought him out behind Perez. This is a factor. If the barging hadn't happened on the run down to Eau Rouge,it would have happened somewhere else round the lap. Ocon was on a mission. Perez would not have let him past.

Rock and hard place.

[gert]

Originally Posted by marcel82

I believe Ocon could've easily backed out of it, that was a predictable line, and he wasn't alongside enough to claim the line.
Perez' move wasn't extreme nor sudden, imo.

I'm ok with no penalty for either

I agree.
What was Ocon thinking trying a pass there?
He wasn't alongside when they touched (just a tiny bit - frontwing against rear tire), and he would never have passed him before Eau Rouge.

Wrong place to try that. Stay behind, pick up the tow, and pass on the Kemmel Straight.

It's a same that was Perez - Ocon again, but that move would not have worked in a <name anybody> - Ocon suituation either.

[newlaprecord]

Originally Posted by ASCII Man

End of?

yes. perez did NOTHING againts the rules, hence received no penalty. end of. the driver in the front choses his line. perez took that line when ocon was far behind.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I love the way Lewis is now even with the Red Baron in terms of poles.

The Red Baron, lol.

As a comparison Schumacher had:
306 starts, but had 308 GP entries as he was disqualified from the German and Belgian GPs in 1994.
91 wins
155 podiums
68 pole positions
77 fastest laps

Hamilton has:
200 starts
58 wins
111 podiums
68 pole positions
37 fastest laps

[ASCII Man]

Originally Posted by newlaprecord

yes. perez did NOTHING againts the rules, hence received no penalty. end of. the driver in the front choses his line. perez took that line when ocon was far behind.

Okay, that's, like, your opinion, man. Don't say 'end of.' like your opinion is the be all end all of this discussion. It's ****ing rude.

[RWill2073]

Not sure how anyone could view the force india incident as anything other than perez' fault. Ocon had a run on him and was pulling along side him when Perez ran him into the wall. Will Buxton said it well enough: guys don't just voluntarily drive into walls. And the responses in post race interviews showed Perez to be defensive and lacking for a reasonable explanation, similarly to the last time he clearly played dirty with his teammate. It's clearly getting under his skin that ocon is rising star and is passing him by.

[RWill2073]

And Bottas is hard to figure out. He will have weeks where he looks the match for hamilton and a legit title contender then he'll have weeks like this one where he looks like a weaker #2 than Raikkonen. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt that he needs a full offseason and second year with the team to prove which is closer to his true level, but fear that he may be labeled #2 going into next year anyway and not be given a full chance.

Would Hamilton handle verstappen as a teammate? I mean overall, not just on track, as I believe verstappen would prove to be better than Hamilton (or vettel, or anyone else).