Belgian Grand Prix 2012, Spa-Francorchamps - Race 12/20

oldbag · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:06

Seems like we haven't had a gp for ages.

Skeeter · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:07

Flibster said:
It seems that McLaren loading Hamilton up with the higher downforce package has pretty much stuffed his weekend.

Agreed. What were they thinking? You don't overtake people mid corner with higher downforce, and they are just going to be driving away from him down the long straights. I can only assume they were planning on a Button in Monza 2010 style race. Stick it on pole then defend. Starting 7th Hamilton is screwed.

Westyfield2 · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:08

Skeeter · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:09

CaptainRAVE said:
It is the fastest race setup too? Wish I had your crystal ball

On a track with long straights with the overtaking spots at the end of them how is high downforce anything but a poor race setup? It's not a crystal ball, its common sense.

Matteysan · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:10

I fail to see how it is McLaren's fault that Hamilton set his car up wrong.

Surely he must have a say in how his car is set up ?

CaptainRAVE · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:10

Skeeter said:
On a track with long straights with the overtaking spots at the end of them how is high downforce anything but a poor race setup? It's not a crystal ball, its common sense.

You forget the tyre factor - downforce could have a huge influence on them. Fact is we just don't know with this F1 season.

It isn't common sense at all, there are a lot of other factors to think about.

Irish_Tom · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:11

As EJ has just said, the higher downforce could reduce LH's tyre wear and benefit him tomorrow.

Skeeter · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:12

Mattey1 said:
I fail to see how it is McLaren's fault that Hamilton set his car up wrong.

Surely he must have a say in how his car is set up ?

Last time I checked Hamilton was part of McLaren.

Matteysan · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:12

Skeeter said:
Last time I checked Hamilton was part of McLaren.

Last time I checked the drivers say if the car is working well or not.

Mr Men · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:12

Lewis is running the old wing not the new, said new was not working for him this morning, so they made a decision to go back to old, I guess he was a big part of that decision since he said the new one was not working for him.

Mr Men · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:14

Kobi and Pastor be afraid Jenson, be very afraid LOL

cuke2u · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:15

Hi, tyre wear at spa isn't usually a big issue. I just hope jb gets away in the distance and leave the rest to have the first corner melee...
Chris

CaptainRAVE · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:15

Mr Men said:
Kobi and Pastor be afraid Jenson, be very afraid LOL

And everyone else behind them.

Skeeter · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:16

Why does everyone assume that saying 'McLaren' means 'everyone at McLaren except the driver'?

Of course Hamilton was involved in the decision. Doesn't stop it looking like a bad one.

tummelv · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:16

Mattey1 said:
I fail to see how it is McLaren's fault that Hamilton set his car up wrong.

Surely he must have a say in how his car is set up ?

Presumably a computer sim showed it was the fastest set up and hamilton agreed.

Mr Men · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:18

Skeeter said:
Why does everyone assume that saying 'McLaren' means 'everyone at McLaren except the driver'?

Of course Hamilton was involved in the decision. Doesn't stop it looking like a bad one.

So the other option was to run the new wing that he said was not working for him and maybe doing worse?

For someone who says they support Jenson more than Lewis you sure don't show it much, his 1st pole for McLaren and all you do is complain that Lewis got screwed over

realscot · 1 Sep 2012 at 14:55

Mr Men said:
So the other option was to run the new wing that he said was not working for him and maybe doing worse?

For someone who says they support Jenson more than Lewis you sure don't show it much, his 1st pole for McLaren and all you do is complain that Lewis got screwed over

+1 there.

Looks like it's Hamilton's own fault, he was given the same equipment as Button and couldn't make it work, so he chose to go back to the standard wing. How in any way is that the teams fault?

Matteysan · 1 Sep 2012 at 15:32

realscot said:
+1 there.

Looks like it's Hamilton's own fault, he was given the same equipment as Button and couldn't make it work, so he chose to go back to the standard wing. How in any way is that the teams fault?

No nothing is ever Hamiltons fault it is always the fault of someone else! Don't you know?

Mr Men · 1 Sep 2012 at 16:05

Kimi has been to stewards, apparently he ran wide in Eau Rouge and had all 4 wheels off track.

trickycurve · 1 Sep 2012 at 16:11

Hamilton's situation reminds me of Monza 2010. Hamilton opted for the low downforce package because, on paper, it should have been better. Button, on the other hand, went with a higher downforce package with the thinking that the F-Duct of that season would shed enough downforce in the crucial areas of the track (i.e., the long straights), while also being able to carry more corner speed due to the extra downforce.

Obviously Hamilton's thinking at Monza 2010 to go with a low downforce package was theoretically sound, but there must be a reason he chose to go for a higher downforce package for this race.