The 2016 Belgian Grand Prix thread

Post by **Ataxia** » 23 Aug 2016, 11:37

The break is over! Formula 1 returns this weekend and the Ardennes will serve as the rendezvous point for our favourite circus act.

Race Notes:

- Esteban Ocon will make his full F1 debut with Manor Racing, replacing Rio Haryanto. He will race with the #31.

- Silly season rumbles on; apparently, Sergio Perez and Jenson Button have been spotted at the Williams factory over the summer.

- Mercedes will attempt to delay going over their power unit allocation in Hamilton's car until Monza.

AdrianBelmonte_ · Post by **AdrianBelmonte_** » 23 Aug 2016, 16:33

In the picture, Haryanto is still there

IceG · Post by **IceG** » 23 Aug 2016, 17:25

Does Ocon inherit Haryanto's tyre choices?

Post by **Ataxia** » 23 Aug 2016, 17:29

IceG wrote:Does Ocon inherit Haryanto's tyre choices?

Post by **mario** » 23 Aug 2016, 18:22

IceG wrote:Does Ocon inherit Haryanto's tyre choices?

As Ataxia notes, that is indeed correct - because the choice is made by the team, the choice of tyres is bound to the car instead of the driver (so, in the Spanish GP, Kvyat used Verstappen's original tyre allocation and Verstappen got Kvyat's old allocation). I think that Ocon will also have to use Haryanto's tyre choice for the Italian GP as well, as I think that the teams had to nominate those tyres before the summer break.

The same system also applies to the engines and transmissions that are fitted to the car - those are bound to the car rather than the driver, so Ocon has to use the engines which Haryanto would have had allocated to him before the season.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 23 Aug 2016, 20:52

If the white-walled tyres had been left unpainted, then the range of tyre options for Belgium would have matched the colours of Belgium's tricolore...

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 23 Aug 2016, 21:38

dr-baker wrote:If the white-walled tyres had been left unpainted, then the range of tyre options for Belgium would have matched the colours of Belgium's tricolore...

What would the forum be without wonderful insights like this one.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 24 Aug 2016, 08:21

Ataxia wrote:- Esteban Ocon will make his full F1 debut with Manor Racing, replacing Rio Haryanto. He will race with the #31.

The greatest of all the back-of-the-grid numbers!

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 24 Aug 2016, 13:29

dinizintheoven wrote:
Ataxia wrote:- Esteban Ocon will make his full F1 debut with Manor Racing, replacing Rio Haryanto. He will race with the #31.

The greatest of all the back-of-the-grid numbers!

*lots of reject goodness*

Can't forget about the Lotus 79 Rebaque HR100!

Post by **Miguel98** » 26 Aug 2016, 08:10

Hamilton is going to take engine penalties. IIRC, Hamilton will make two engine changes during the weekend, in order not to get any penalties this year.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 26 Aug 2016, 12:08

Rosberg is the leader, Alonso with engine troubles, and Esteban Ocon was 16th and 1 second ahead of Wehrlein (not bad for the #2 driver

)
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/belgi ... le-810007/

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 26 Aug 2016, 19:09

So, Hamilton is facing another 15 grid penalty for changing again his engine. Mercedes found a breach in the rules to make sure his driver is going to have two fresh engines while taking all penalties in just one race, despite being impossible to lose 30 grid positions for the race. Nice job FIA.

WeirdKerr · Post by **WeirdKerr** » 26 Aug 2016, 20:09

Dj_bereta wrote:So, Hamilton is facing another 15 grid penalty for changing again his engine. Mercedes found a breach in the rules to make sure his driver is going to have two fresh engines while taking all penalties in just one race, despite being impossible to lose 30 grid positions for the race. Nice job FIA.

Ive said it before, a 30 place penalty should be just that...... so make him start from 50m before the bus top chicane....or pit lane

Post by **mario** » 26 Aug 2016, 20:12

Dj_bereta wrote:So, Hamilton is facing another 15 grid penalty for changing again his engine. Mercedes found a breach in the rules to make sure his driver is going to have two fresh engines while taking all penalties in just one race, despite being impossible to lose 30 grid positions for the race. Nice job FIA.

Mercedes are by no means the first team to do that - given Honda's reliability issues, McLaren took exactly the same approach by fitting multiple sets of all engine components (an even more extreme version than what Mercedes have done with Hamilton, who has just taken new turbocharger and MGU-H units).

Remember, Button racked up a theoretical 70 grid penalty in the 2015 Mexican GP for fitting multiple additional engines, turbochargers and MGU-H and MGU-K units - equally, Ferrari have indicated that they are planning on taking a strategic grid penalty later in the year given that both Vettel and Raikkonen are running low on components (Kimi is on his last MGU-K and Vettel is running low on components after his engine failure in Bahrain). The rule has existed for a while and has been used in exactly that way before - it's just that it is the first time that Mercedes have had to take that route.

golic_2004 wrote:Rosberg is the leader, Alonso with engine troubles, and Esteban Ocon was 16th and 1 second ahead of Wehrlein (not bad for the #2 driver )
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/belgi ... le-810007/

Wehrlein's performance in FP2 is pretty impressive too - he punched quite high above the teams weight to pick up 11th, and it does look as if their low drag aero package is helping them quite a bit. Can we dare hope for a second points finish for Manor this season?

Post by **Londoner** » 27 Aug 2016, 10:59

Hamilton's taken a another new set of engine parts, meaning he now has a 55-place grid penalty. :badoer:

Meanwhile, Esteban Gutierrez has has copped a five-place grid penalty for this brilliant piece of driving in FP3. Truly a shining talent, our Esteban...

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 27 Aug 2016, 13:44

Simtek wrote:
dinizintheoven wrote:The greatest of all the back-of-the-grid numbers!
*lots of reject goodness*

Can't forget about the Lotus 79 Rebaque HR100!

I didn't forget, I left it out deliberately on the grounds that however rejectfully it was used, it was still a winning car in its original hands.

Kauhsen would have been a much more worthy recipient of the #31 in 1979 - the 1970s F1 equivalent of the Chinese copies of Western cars that look like they've been described down a phone and built on that basis.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 27 Aug 2016, 14:51

dinizintheoven wrote:The greatest of all the back-of-the-grid numbers!
*lots of reject goodness*

I am just going to disagree and post his here instead.

Imagine the effect it would have on this if someone scored with this number...

And Wehrlein in the top-10 in Q1! Has this ever happened to Manor (or Fondmetal Team Malaysia or HRT Campos) before?

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 27 Aug 2016, 16:35

East Londoner wrote:Meanwhile, Esteban Gutierrez has has copped a five-place grid penalty for this brilliant piece of driving in FP3. Truly a shining talent, our Esteban...

In other words, he's potentially cost himself yet another decent shot at points. If that isn't the case, then his strategy to score his millionth 11th place of the season is, at the moment, going to plan.

Forester · Post by **Forester** » 27 Aug 2016, 17:13

dr-baker wrote:And Wehrlein in the top-10 in Q1! Has this ever happened to Manor (or Fondmetal Team Malaysia or HRT Campos) before?

Not sure if there are any others, but GVDG took his Caterham to third in Q1 at the 2013 Belgian GP.

By gambling on slicks on a drying track, but still.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 27 Aug 2016, 18:45

Forester wrote:
dr-baker wrote:And Wehrlein in the top-10 in Q1! Has this ever happened to Manor (or Fondmetal Team Malaysia or HRT Campos) before?

Not sure if there are any others, but GVDG took his Caterham to third in Q1 at the 2013 Belgian GP.

By gambling on slicks on a drying track, but still.

So I assume that this might be the first time in normal weather conditions then.

Post by **mario** » 27 Aug 2016, 20:26

dr-baker wrote:
Forester wrote:
dr-baker wrote:And Wehrlein in the top-10 in Q1! Has this ever happened to Manor (or Fondmetal Team Malaysia or HRT Campos) before?

Not sure if there are any others, but GVDG took his Caterham to third in Q1 at the 2013 Belgian GP.

By gambling on slicks on a drying track, but still.

So I assume that this might be the first time in normal weather conditions then.

Yes, I think that none of those teams were able to drag themselves into the top 10 on pure pace in normal dry conditions.

In some ways. the team are actually quite disappointed that they couldn't manage to make it any further up the grid - Wehrlein used up his allocation of fresh supersoft tyres in Q1, so he was forced to revert to a scrubbed set for that solitary run in Q2 (hence why he was slower in Q2). If he'd been able to replicate his Q1 time, he'd have been 13th on the grid and would have put Magnussen under pressure for 12th - if anything, 15th (due to Gutierrez's penalty) feels like a slightly missed opportunity.

Hopefully, though, the race itself might be a bit more promising for Manor - I imagine that Wehrlein might fancy his chances at passing Sainz and the two Renault drivers, since both drivers are probably going to be vulnerable on the run down to Les Combes, so it will be interesting to see how his race strategy plays out.

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 28 Aug 2016, 07:06

I'm no Hamilton fan, but him having to carve his way through the field ought to make it entertaining today.

I have a sneaky feeling we could see a Verstappen win, though. Not that I don't want Rosberg to score big to keep the title race interesting!

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:03

Would love to see Ricciardo win or Alonso or Rosberg cause championship.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:04

Crazy start. Vettel and Raikkonen.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:05

Grosjean is like 6th. Palmer is up in 10th!!!

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:07

Wow Sainz's car.

This Could Be You · Post by **This Could Be You** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:08

This is chaos: Sainz's cars disintegrating, Raikkonen on fire and Ocon up to 13th! :shock:

Post by **Londoner** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:09

The bathplug was Verstappen doing? He was driving like an absolute idiot on the first lap. I'm surprised he didn't wreck the entire field. :facepalm:

This Could Be You · Post by **This Could Be You** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:11

Wehrlein out.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:13

So Pascal hit Button.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:15

Oh man...K-Mag.

Limping away.

This Could Be You · Post by **This Could Be You** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:17

The Renault seems to lose control rather easily- this accident is somewhat reminiscent of Palmer at Monaco.

Aislabie · Post by **Aislabie** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:19

I've a nasty feeling that Hamilton's going to win this.

Post by **Londoner** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:19

I hope everyone's ready for another Hamilton win. :pantano:

This Could Be You · Post by **This Could Be You** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:24

Red Flag!

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:24

Red Flag. Expected and correct.

This Could Be You · Post by **This Could Be You** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:27

Arrgh they can do tire changes, so Hulkenburgs advantage is gone and we end up with a HAMILTONWINSLOL probably.

This Could Be You · Post by **This Could Be You** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:49

Verstappen :facepalm:

Post by **Miguel98** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:52

I love agressive racing and all, but please, Max has taken it too far this race. Ban the damn kid for one race.

lance_rambert · Post by **lance_rambert** » 28 Aug 2016, 12:53

Okay. Max did a d***headed move for the second bathplugging lap in a row, and the FIA forgot to bleep out Kimi that time.

...there goes Palmer pulling out the glass of whine again. :lol: