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

Cavallino · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:08

Oh hey Im not saying Hamilton is at fault, its purely Grosjean, but if there was a championship at stake and I was in Lewis's shoes, I wouldve done all I can to get out of the way knowing that Grosjean is still a relatively "unknown" in terms of driving eraticness.

Especially since a race ban for Grosjean isnt going to help Hamilton to get his points back...

There was actually a lot more space there it seems...

Raymond Lin · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:10

There is an ocean of space left of grosjean, why on earth did he go over that side?! It's not even the racing line is it?

Duke · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:12

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/102202

d'Ambrosio looks likely to be taking the seat for the next race. Would be great to see Barrichello back for one race, or someone like that. Guest appearance

Will · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:15

Raymond Lin said:
There is an ocean of space left of grosjean, why on earth did he go over that side?! It's not even the racing line is it?

Its not the racing line, but positioning himself on that side of the track would give him the best chance of getting up the inside of the cars in front if someone leaves a gap or runs very wide on the exit, and would also result in the least likelihood of having someone go up the inside of Grosjean to try and overtake him into La Source if he closes the door early enough.

Of course Hamilton was up the inside already...and in closing the door contact was made..and the rest is history. But its a fairly obvious area for Grosjean to position his car into, certainly not a 'why on earth...?' sort of maneuver in my view!

Cavallino · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:15

Raymond Lin said:
There is an ocean of space left of grosjean, why on earth did he go over that side?! It's not even the racing line is it?

True, but I guess thats not going to help Hamilton at that point of time knowing why is this guy coming all the way over like that... mind games? Sheer idiocy? Who knows... what I do know is that it sees there was "an out" for Hamilton at this time (which unfortunately in the heat of the moment is unidentifiable when you're going over 100mphs with a hairpin corner coming up)...

I am genuinely gutted for Hamilton. I'm not a Hamilton fan and I dont like the guy, but I know that him and Alonso we're robbed of some good points today, and we we're robbed from a potentially spectacular race, we know those two guys can bring something electric to each race...

Jono8 · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:16

Cavallino said:
Oh hey Im not saying Hamilton is at fault, its purely Grosjean, but if there was a championship at stake and I was in Lewis's shoes, I wouldve done all I can to get out of the way knowing that Grosjean is still a relatively "unknown" in terms of driving eraticness.

Especially since a race ban for Grosjean isnt going to help Hamilton to get his points back...

There was actually a lot more space there it seems...

Since when does a racing driver slow down just because someone is along side them on a straight? :confused:

PinkFloyd · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:16

Finally caught up with the race after Paintballing for the day.

What an absolutely cracking race. Great to see Button win, lots of overtaking and closing racing. Get in!
Love the move that Kimi did on Schumi leading up to Eau Rouge! Balls of steal

Cavallino · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:18

Jono8 said:
Since when does a racing driver slow down just because someone is along side them on a straight?

No not saying he shouldve slowed down, saying perhaps he shouldve continued going over completely the edge of the race track (which he wasnt at this point). Its all hindsight of course...

elmuzzy66. · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:27

No way can anybody say its hammy's fault. Were does he go after been squeezed like that?

Type_R · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:27

Looking at the replay again and again it does seem that the penalty was well deserved. The guy swept across the track mindlessly...reminded me of a certain Sato - although his moves had a little more class than the Frenchman.

Seems everything Lewis did this weekend ended badly

At least Schui and Kimi gave us a good race. Would have been great to see Alonso (possibly challenge for the podium) as even Massa managed to get some fastest laps out of the Ferrari today.

Cavallino · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:32

Type_R said:
Would have been great to see Alonso (possibly challenge for the podium) as even Massa managed to get some fastest laps out of the Ferrari today.

I think you answered you're own question there bud

I think if Massa was able to bring it home in 5th... I am sure Alonso may have been able to bring it home in second possibly first...

All ifs now

Merlin5 · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:39

I didn't get much sleep last night, had the start of the show on from 12.10pm and then fell asleep and missed the whole race. Woke up, saw the news and couldn't believe the carnage. :eek:

Looked awesome, lol. Mllions of £££ of cars destroyed in about 3 seconds. Glad no one was hurt.

I bet Button must be secretly delighted with Grosjean taking out Alonso.

It's given him a chance to catch up.

The_Abyss · 2 Sep 2012 at 20:58

No comment on the blame for the crash, but I would like to observe that I think this has been coming. It has been fuelled for a while by Charlie Whiting basically endorsing that anything goes from the start. That's resulted in some driving behaviour that wouldn't be tolerated in any other part of the race.

Of course, some drivers handle it better than others. I recall Vettel driving over Jenson in Japan last year...

MissChief · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:02

I think that is right up there for a race where the leader has spent the lowest time on TV ever! Cracking by Button, he was the class of the field all weekend. No bad thing that Lewis and Alonso didn't score as it majorly helps Jenson but he needs to win three of the next five to stand any chance of not supporting Lewis after that. A podium or Win at Monza with Alonso, Lewis and the Red Bulls off the podium would go a long way!

Duke · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:07

Good to see Massa actually doing his job today for Ferrari. I get the feeling they will still keep him for next season.

Skeeter · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:09

Here we go again, some people just aren't happy unless they can find a way to blame Hamilton.

I must say the Grosjean penalty highlights just how much Maldonado has got away with this year. Id say both driving into Perez in Monaco and driving into Hamilton at Spa last year were each more serious than what Grosjean did today, but hey ho.

Oh and Duke, you and Taggart are gits!

Mr Men · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:12

Has Lewis tweeted the telemetry of the crash yet?

Type_R · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:16

Mr Men said:
Has Lewis tweeted the telemetry of the crash yet?

lol nope but the BBC has put his telemetry from qualy on their website for the whole World to see

Merlin5 · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:26

Duke said:
Good to see Massa actually doing his job today for Ferrari. I get the feeling they will still keep him for next season.

I don't understand what Ferrari see in Massa, he's useless. He's only got 35 points. They should tell him to clear off and get di Resta in.

Type_R · 2 Sep 2012 at 21:28

Merlin5 said:
I don't understand what Ferrari see in Massa, he's useless. He's only got 35 points. They should tell him to clear off and get di Resta in.

That right there

Because he is so useless they don't need team orders, he is no-where near Alonso on track so cannot take points off him, win - win

EDIT - Di Resta is not on the cards for Ferrari, they will take Perez. I think Di Resta's best chance is Merc, if they have an opening in 2013.