Belgian Grand Prix -- Formula One

Practice 3; Fernando is faster than you.

1 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:48.542 18
2 9 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:48.683 0.141 21
3 15 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:48.850 0.308 23
4 14 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:48.863 0.321 20
5 3 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:49.091 0.549 18
6 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:49.092 0.550 16
7 2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:49.164 0.622 21
8 10 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:49.266 0.724 23
9 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:49.292 0.750 23
10 11 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:49.382 0.840 22
11 18 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:49.561 1.019 23
12 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:49.615 1.073 19
13 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:49.621 1.079 26
14 12 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:49.674 1.132 23
15 17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:49.710 1.168 21
16 16 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:49.776 1.234 22
17 19 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:50.027 1.485 20
18 20 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:52.339 3.797 21
19 25 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:52.566 4.024 20
20 24 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:52.630 4.088 18
21 21 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:52.809 4.267 22
22 22 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1:53.383 4.841 22
23 23 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:53.562 5.020 23
24 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:58.113 9.571 5

"Let's go down to Will Buxton with Michael Schumacher."


Hmm.....Will sounds an awfully lot like Lee McKenzie.

HELL YES

BUTTON ON POLE
KOBAYASHI 2ND

NOTHING ELSE MATTERS

Maldonaldo 3rd
Kimi 4th
Perez 5th

Yeah budday

>Vettel 10th
>Webber 12th
>Rosberg 23rd

Dat starting grid.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE A HUGE ACCIDENT IN THE RACE!

Maldonado's been penelised 3 places on the grid for blocking Hulkenberg in Q1. Honestly though, who didn't see this coming? I think the odds of him causing a first-corner incident have at least tripled now.

I feel so sorry for Jenson.

RetrogradeRenegade wrote:Maldonado's been penelised 3 places on the grid for blocking Hulkenberg in Q1. Honestly though, who didn't see this coming? I think the odds of him causing a first-corner incident have at least tripled now.

I said front row gets cleared out in the first turn on facebook, make that the first 2 rows.

Damn it Schumi.....

nepatsfan02 wrote:Damn it Schumi.....

Actually, I thought he did well for once actually. The problem is that Mercedes is just hopeless.

And the drivers are on their parade lap...

We've got shenanigans in turn 1! Maldolan gets a great start, and it's Alonso, Hamilton, and Grosjean becoming victims of an incident in 1.

Safety Car is out.

I saw Maldonado jump the start, leave the officials to deal with him.

But seriously, that wreck was nuts. There were 3 drivers that could've easily flipped over. Glad to see everyone is okay.

That's typical La Source Carnage for you.

And we all expected it. If nothing goes wrong, Button has got this. If not Schumacher FTW

That first turn carnage was insane.

The cucumber just crashed.

Raikkonen just made the move of the year.

BWardboy88 wrote:The cucumber just crashed.

I laughed really hard at that. It's like it was almost scripted to happen.

Raikkonen making a baller move on Schumi.

Button dominated this race, nuff said.

Grosjean still too amateurish in starts. I don't think you can put any blame on Hamilton in that first corner incident, and it ruined the Sauber's race which was the worst part.

Summary of the race in two pictures.

Tweet from Jon Noble of Autosport: One race ban for Romain Grosjean. Full story soon

PKligBKFan wrote:Tweet from Jon Noble of Autosport: One race ban for Romain Grosjean. Full story soon

Put Kubica in PLEASE!

Metro 6r4 wrote:

PKligBKFan wrote:Tweet from Jon Noble of Autosport: One race ban for Romain Grosjean. Full story soon

Put Kubica in PLEASE!

I'd love nothing more, but he's still not fit enough. It'll probably be Jerome d'Ambrosio who gets the job, as Lotus' official test driver.

But Christ, was that a race or what!? Glad to Button back properly on form - that was as well driven a race as I've seen from him, certainly on par with Canada 2011 in my view. Vettel drove a good race too, there were times when I just couldn't believe he was that quick after missing Q2. He was pretty lucky with the first corner carnage, even if he had lost a net 2 places because of it. Also, props to Hulkenberg, he did a damn good job. Also, the Marussias put on a good show - I'm liking Charles Pic more and more each race.

As for Grosjean, that was simply atrocious driving. I wouldn't have banned him for a race, but I certainly won't argue against it. 7 incidents in 12 races is too many, and this is coming from someone who really likes him. Faildonado made his expected appearance, overcompensating for his penalty (which was his own damn fault in the first place) with the most blatant jump start I've seen in my life, not that it helps him avoid Grosjean's mess. Then he takes himself out crashing into Glock on the restart.

Yep it's official. Romain Grosjean will be suspended for the next race for reckless driving in causing the first corner crash in the Race.

I like Grosjean but that ban is understandable. Quite the reckless move into the the first turn.

Okay race. Button gets a win to make himself relevant again and the silly move by Grosjean thickens the plot.

I read on /sp/ that the reason Maldonaldo jumped the start was because he had a Final Destination moment where he saw his death in turn 1, so he wanted to get away from everyone as quickly as possible.

Metro 6r4 wrote:

PKligBKFan wrote:Tweet from Jon Noble of Autosport: One race ban for Romain Grosjean. Full story soon

Put Kubica in PLEASE!

D'Ambrosio is already confirmed to drive unfortunately. In any case, Kubica isn't contracted to Lotus any more, and is most likely at Ferrari if anywhere next year.

A lot of the incidents that Grosjean has gotten into at the start of races this year wasn't of his doing. This one though... can't argue against a race suspension. When you cause an incident that causes THREE cars to catch some air... I'm sorry, totally uncalled for.

As for Maldonado... Hell of a start... if the fifth red light meant GO!

I just want to ask, what the hell was Grojean thinking? Is his special awareness just as short and narrow as Maldanaldo and Nakajima's?
Just downright pissed about that, took out two drivers with that stupid move.

And holy hell, what a start by Maldonaldo. To time a start just a fraction or so after the light goes out was just amazing. And thats just the first lap from the race so far that I recorded.


Now I'm gonna stay away from this thread so I don't get the results spoiled.

SPEED replay showed that Maldonado's start was absolutely legal. I guess he can do something right post-Spain.

inb4 D'Ambrosio trolls and gets points

crl wrote:SPEED replay showed that Maldonado's start was absolutely legal. I guess he can do something right post-Spain.

Really? Not sure why you're thinking that - it was the most blatant jump start I've seen in my life. Given the amount of times I watched Hamilton's start on the BBC, it's pretty clear Maldonado was gone before anyone else had even moved.

The FIA certainly seems to agree with me, as they've handed Maldonado a five-place grid drop at Monza. With another one for crashing into Timo Glock, which is why he went out after the restart.

RetrogradeRenegade wrote:

crl wrote:SPEED replay showed that Maldonado's start was absolutely legal. I guess he can do something right post-Spain.

Really? Not sure why you're thinking that - it was the most blatant jump start I've seen in my life. Given the amount of times I watched Hamilton's start on the BBC, it's pretty clear Maldonado was gone before anyone else had even moved.

The FIA certainly seems to agree with me, as they've handed Maldonado a five-place grid drop at Monza. With another one for crashing into Timo Glock, which is why he went out after the restart.

Actually, looking at it again, he did move just before the lights went out. And I mean JUST.

crl wrote:

RetrogradeRenegade wrote:

crl wrote:SPEED replay showed that Maldonado's start was absolutely legal. I guess he can do something right post-Spain.

Really? Not sure why you're thinking that - it was the most blatant jump start I've seen in my life. Given the amount of times I watched Hamilton's start on the BBC, it's pretty clear Maldonado was gone before anyone else had even moved.

The FIA certainly seems to agree with me, as they've handed Maldonado a five-place grid drop at Monza. With another one for crashing into Timo Glock, which is why he went out after the restart.

Actually, looking at it again, he did move just before the lights went out. And I mean JUST.

I still believe he jumped the start though, but it didn't matter to much as he got caught up in the turn 1 accident.

BWardboy88 wrote:

crl wrote:

RetrogradeRenegade wrote:

crl wrote:SPEED replay showed that Maldonado's start was absolutely legal. I guess he can do something right post-Spain.

Really? Not sure why you're thinking that - it was the most blatant jump start I've seen in my life. Given the amount of times I watched Hamilton's start on the BBC, it's pretty clear Maldonado was gone before anyone else had even moved.

The FIA certainly seems to agree with me, as they've handed Maldonado a five-place grid drop at Monza. With another one for crashing into Timo Glock, which is why he went out after the restart.

Actually, looking at it again, he did move just before the lights went out. And I mean JUST.

I still believe he jumped the start though, but it didn't matter to much as he got caught up in the turn 1 accident.

I don't think to matters but that was so close. He admitted to letting go of the clutch to early but boy, he probably could've got away with that start.

crl wrote:

RetrogradeRenegade wrote:

crl wrote:SPEED replay showed that Maldonado's start was absolutely legal. I guess he can do something right post-Spain.

Really? Not sure why you're thinking that - it was the most blatant jump start I've seen in my life. Given the amount of times I watched Hamilton's start on the BBC, it's pretty clear Maldonado was gone before anyone else had even moved.

The FIA certainly seems to agree with me, as they've handed Maldonado a five-place grid drop at Monza. With another one for crashing into Timo Glock, which is why he went out after the restart.

Actually, looking at it again, he did move just before the lights went out. And I mean JUST.

Yeah, but that's the thing. In order to do that he had to have taken off while the lights were still on. It takes at least 0.15 seconds for a human to react to something - if you move before then, then you've jumped the start. You're supposed to react to the lights going out, and Maldonado clearly did not do that.

All I know is that SPEED showed a slow motion replay, and you could clearly see the lights go out, and THEN Maldonado gun it. It was plain as day. Whether or not he let go of the clutch early is irrelevant, his car first moved after the lights went out.

It doesn't really matter what happened at the start really, either way Maldonado would have probably retired either way.

Sparkz47 wrote:All I know is that SPEED showed a slow motion replay, and you could clearly see the lights go out, and THEN Maldonado gun it. It was plain as day. Whether or not he let go of the clutch early is irrelevant, his car first moved after the lights went out.

It's still a jump start no matter what - he moved before a human could've possibly reacted to the lights going out. He went well before anyone else moved.

Metro 6r4 wrote:It doesn't really matter what happened at the start really, either way Maldonado would have probably retired either way.

True, but jump starts are, no matter what way you look at it, cheating. I don't think Maldonado should get off scott free because he blundered into Glock on the restart. It can also be pretty dangerous to have a relatively large speed difference between one car and the rest of the field at the start - for an example (albeit an extreme one), look at the 1978 Italian Grand Prix

I wouldn't really call a 15 place grid drop fair, but I won't protest it..

Whats more about the accident on the first lap is that the FIA is now continuing to look into making Head Protection a possibility in F1 in 2014, which tbh is something I don't really agree with but as of what happened, the FIA may use it then for good.

BWardboy88 wrote:Whats more about the accident on the first lap is that the FIA is now continuing to look into making Head Protection a possibility in F1 in 2014, which tbh is something I don't really agree with but as of what happened, the FIA may use it then for good.

The thing is, Motorsport will never be 100% safe, no sport is. I do agree we need to make it as safe as possible but freak accidents will happen and I don't see how this will prevented head injuries fully, there was a incident in the 1996 BPR World sporstscar championship where a peice of rubber flicked up by a car in front went through someones window and covered their eyes in glass. Speaking of freak incidents, this is what I filmed a few weeks back, skip to 3:31 and look how serious that could have been.

Metro 6r4 wrote:

BWardboy88 wrote:Whats more about the accident on the first lap is that the FIA is now continuing to look into making Head Protection a possibility in F1 in 2014, which tbh is something I don't really agree with but as of what happened, the FIA may use it then for good.

The thing is, Motorsport will never be 100% safe, no sport is. I do agree we need to make it as safe as possible but freak accidents will happen and I don't see how this will prevented head injuries fully, there was a incident in the 1996 BPR World sporstscar championship where a peice of rubber flicked up by a car in front went through someones window and covered their eyes in glass. Speaking of freak incidents, this is what I filmed a few weeks back, skip to 3:31 and look how serious that could have been.

I see, but those were seom great reactions by that driver. Btw, which track that you were talking about was the place that that freak accident took place in the Sportscar Series?

Milan655 wrote:I wouldn't really call a 15 place grid drop fair, but I won't protest it..

It's actually just a 10-place grid drop for Maldonado.

BWardboy88 wrote:

Metro 6r4 wrote:

BWardboy88 wrote:Whats more about the accident on the first lap is that the FIA is now continuing to look into making Head Protection a possibility in F1 in 2014, which tbh is something I don't really agree with but as of what happened, the FIA may use it then for good.

The thing is, Motorsport will never be 100% safe, no sport is. I do agree we need to make it as safe as possible but freak accidents will happen and I don't see how this will prevented head injuries fully, there was a incident in the 1996 BPR World sporstscar championship where a peice of rubber flicked up by a car in front went through someones window and covered their eyes in glass. Speaking of freak incidents, this is what I filmed a few weeks back, skip to 3:31 and look how serious that could have been.

I see, but those were seom great reactions by that driver. Btw, which track that you were talking about was the place that that freak accident took place in the Sportscar Series?

Anderstorp, Sweden

Metro 6r4 wrote:

BWardboy88 wrote:Whats more about the accident on the first lap is that the FIA is now continuing to look into making Head Protection a possibility in F1 in 2014, which tbh is something I don't really agree with but as of what happened, the FIA may use it then for good.

The thing is, Motorsport will never be 100% safe, no sport is. I do agree we need to make it as safe as possible but freak accidents will happen and I don't see how this will prevented head injuries fully, there was a incident in the 1996 BPR World sporstscar championship where a peice of rubber flicked up by a car in front went through someones window and covered their eyes in glass. Speaking of freak incidents, this is what I filmed a few weeks back, skip to 3:31 and look how serious that could have been.

Were those from a 750MC event?