Poll: Official 2023 Belgian Grand Prix Thread - Spa-Franchorchamps, Stavelot - Round 13

[Scam]

Alonso, Vettel and Kimi (yes, Kimi!) all took part and created a relationship with the fans.

Yeah. Lewis has no relationship with his fans at all As @jaybee says it's quite hard to understand why people dislike Hamilton so much, and they're never particularly forthcoming with good reasons...

the amount of the track that Sainz dived across is crazy.

Yeah that's pretty nuts. Definitely a big mistake on his part, you can't be diving across the track like that right at the apex of the first corner. There's always going to be someone close on the first corner. You could argue that Piastri shouldn't';t have tried it up the inside (always optimistic on the first corner) but the space was there, at least initially.

 

[Feek]

And back to discussions about the race itself....

 

[Jono8]

How could he possibly predict that Sainz was going to massively lock-up and come steaming the entire way across the track like that? Start at about 20s in this video - the amount of the track that Sainz dived across is crazy. The other drivers who remained under control and were on a similar line to Sainz stayed well over on the left and Piastri would have had plenty of room without Sainz botching it.

Yeh. Sainz was actually looking at the outside of Lewis initially, but then locked up and just moved massively to the inside (presumably so he didn't rear end Lewis/others).

I don't really blame Oscar for not reacting in time. You don't normally expect a car to move from the outside, right onto the inside so late at corner entry.

 

[dansew123]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1685688963690815488

I genuinely thought this was a parody at first. Full laying the blame on Piastri

 

[Mr Jack]

I genuinely thought this was a parody at first. Full laying the blame on Piastri

A sharp contrast to Oscar's generous and even-handed response in the media pen.

Oh, and "that move has never really worked at Spa"... Norris followed Piastri round on the same line without problems literally seconds later.

 

[bayo000]

I was at a festival all weekend. Watched highlights on the phone but will be nice to fall asleep watching them on TV later.

 

[dansew123]

A sharp contrast to Oscar's generous and even-handed response in the media pen.

Exactly. I could understand if he said it in the heat of the moment or a post race interview, but to post it on twitter hours later. Disappointing

 

[t2na]

I genuinely thought this was a parody at first. Full laying the blame on Piastri

This is classic Sainz, isn't it? I don't think I've ever seen him accept responsibility for an accident. A bit similar to Russell in that regard...

 

[Slam62]

IMO sainz is out of his depth at Ferrari never understood why they signed him tbh. Having said that there’s no one else who particularly stands out.

 

[jaybee]

Yeah Sainz has been problematic this year. Been in the way a lot during quali and practice. Some of that will be the team not telling him I guess. He seems to be caught up in stuff from being stubborn and not giving room. I mean I'm describing most F1 drivers to be fair, but he could do with settling down and focussing on the longer game.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Yep, that first corner incident was totally Sainz's fault imo. Piastri would have got through fine if Sainz had remained behind Hamilton instead of diving to the inside at the last moment. That said, with it being a first corner incident, I guess it being treated as a racing incident is fine. Sainz's twitter post is definitely cringeworthy.

 

[Jono8]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1685688963690815488

I genuinely thought this was a parody at first. Full laying the blame on Piastri

I mean, that is really rich considering he was the one that locked up and swerved wildly to the other side of the track!

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I marked is as a 3 - mainly because I was bloody soaking all weekend

We left the UK Thursday and from the moment we pulled out of the Eurotunnel train till around Friday evening it rained almost non-stop. Had way too many beers Thursday night and woke up at 2am with water pouring into the tent, all my stuff drenched and the will to be in Belgium degrading fast.

Fortunately, the weekend improved as it went on with the help of an emergency poncho on top of the tent, a few sunny spells and finding a decent place to view the race on Sunday in the FanZone.

 

[413x]

Watched this today through other means now f1tv isn't working.

It was all good.. Until the race. Which was dull.

Unfortunately rain is needed to make f1 interesting now.
Not sure if it's just there is more entertainment today than 10 years ago or I just bore easier, or that f1 has gotten worse. But I'm not too bothered that f1tv isn't available anymore.
Saves VPN cost and the f1 tv cost.

 

[413x]

Alpine firmly routed to 6th.
Again,not sure why I support them anymore. And it's not actually the results. It's everything else.
Poor driver signing. Upper overlords seem like right bum holes. And generally, just not a likable team. It's only because I've supported the endstone team so long.

What they did to piastri (which I do not blame piastri for at all) was shameful.

 

[Skyboat]

I marked is as a 3 - mainly because I was bloody soaking all weekend

We left the UK Thursday and from the moment we pulled out of the Eurotunnel train till around Friday evening it rained almost non-stop. Had way too many beers Thursday night and woke up at 2am with water pouring into the tent, all my stuff drenched and the will to be in Belgium degrading fast.

Fortunately, the weekend improved as it went on with the help of an emergency poncho on top of the tent, a few sunny spells and finding a decent place to view the race on Sunday in the FanZone.

Sounded like a similar experience to me when I went in 2011 - weather and all. The race on Sunday was also dry and uneventful with a certain RB driver running away to victory too