Pick the Podium - Belgian Grand Prix, Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, 2016

[Retroram52]

The F-1 fellows are back to business with the Belgian Grand Prix after the summer break. We shall see if Lewis and Rosberg are rusty and if someone else can sneek a win.

 

[Retroram52]

In early practice, Massa, Vettel, and Raikkonen pace the field. Rosberg is 4th and Lewis has yet to get up to speed.

 

[forty_three]

Lewis and Fernando have 50+ grid spot penalties. Both really ignored qualifying because, why bother.

Listening to the Sky coverage, Lewis has, so far, just been testing power units for the rest of the season. Which is why he's off the pace a bit, the team is using this weekend as a test session, and they will be competitive when the lights go out. I expect a major charge through for him to minimize point damage.

 

[Retroram52]

I agree. I suspect that even though he and the Mercedes people are in test node, he'll try to win yet another race.

 

[forty_three]

I agree. I suspect that even though he and the Mercedes people are in test node, he'll try to win yet another race.

Buxton just interviewed him and he said that he has three power units the rest of the season and he was "saving" power units the last five races. And now he can push.

My picks:
VES
RAI
ROS

I think Nico, with Lewis so far back, will not dice it up with anyone and look for finishing the race and banking safe points. If Max pushes him, he will let Max through. Kimi has pace and momentum.

 

[Retroram52]

I'll go with Rosberg, Verstappen, Raikkonen.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

The Dutchie has to start on super softs. Not a good move.

I'll take Rosberg, Vettel, Ricciardo.

Lewis will finish in top 6.

 

[Retroram52]

Wow, Hamilton came from back of the field to finish third on the podium. That dude has some serious talent and of course all that Mercedes money.

 

[Retroram52]

Here's how we did:

forty_three: 1 point - got Rosberg out of position
Hank Kingsley: 6 points - picked Rosberg to win and got Ricciardo out of position
IndyAndy: 0 points - Did not show up for the race
Retroram52: 5 points - picked Rosberg to win

Season Totals so far:

Retroram52: 66 points
forty_three: 65 points
Hank Kingsley: 61 points
IndyAndy: 61 points


Next Up: Monza, Italy, September 2, 2016.

 

[Retroram52]

Good call by Hank forecasting Hamilton to finish in the top six. I hope Indy is O.K. Haven't seen him for some time.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Here I come on the run with a burger on a bun.......

 

[Retroram52]

Good for you Hank. Makin' tracts I see!

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Good for you Hank. Makin' tracts I see!

Dutchie is going to make a whole shitload of enemies.

He is a complete ass.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

Wow the start of this race was such chaos

Hamilton was surprising to me

He caught a ton of lucky breaks after the red flag I thought for sure he would finish 2nd at least

 

[forty_three]

Wow, Hamilton came from back of the field to finish third on the podium. That dude has some serious talent and of course all that Mercedes money.

Lots of luck in that podium, but I never thought he'd get that far up.

The thing that impresses me is how forward thinking his team is. They ran three different engine combinations in practice, which is why his grid spot penalties were so insane. But, since they did that, they now have a pool of three complete power units to use the rest of the season. And once the "upgraded" engine comes at Suzuka, since he's done all this, his grid penalty there if he decides to use it would only be 5.

He could have taken a 5 spot penalty at this race, but only had one engine left for the rest of the year. And at the end of the day, he only lost a few points to Rosberg.

I see no way he doesn't win his 4th championship.

Dutchie is going to make a whole shitload of enemies.

He is a complete ass.

The blocking on Kimi at the top of Kemmel was pretty ballsy, but I wonder why no one is calling for Vettel's head after turn one. He realized Mad Max was going up the inside and tried to squeeze Kimi into him. Instead he f'ed up both Ferrari's and let Danny Ric get away. I would have loved to see the FIA punish the golden boy. He doesn't seem to be handling the fact that Kimi is essentially the #1 at Maranello very well.

Also; this:

 

[forty_three]

Okay, yeah... it's Austrian. But:

Translation of the juicy part:

Lauda: "To be honest, he belongs into a psychiatric ward."
Host: "Now you're exaggerating. I think that's too harsh."
Lauda: "I have to say it like that. Now he says it's Kimi's fault and he's innocent..."
Host: "Well, he means at the start..."
Lauda: "Again... race drivers are professionals that don't endanger themselves unnecessarily. And he doesn't even realize that he might have done something wrong. I will tell Jos to talk to the fellow because he oversteps the limits and it's just unnecessary. He should foster his talent further and win races. With these mistakes he doesn't win races. It's too aggressive towards the other drivers and it's pointless towards himself because he can't get to the front."


Niki Lauda is not a good enemy to have.

 

[forty_three]

Actually, now watching replays, I don't think Vettel could see Max inside Kimi. Seb still pinched Kimi and it was multiplied by Max dive bombing Kimi (which Kimi saw and tried to leave room, hitting Seb when he turned in).

Turn one incident blame 60% Sebastien, 40% Max.

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Whatever Vettel did was done at low speeds, not 200 mph. And there was nowhere for Dutchie to go anyway, he'd already bolloxed up his start.

Max has a habit of making his block extremely late and when he does he leaves very little option for the driver trying to pass.

Somebody is going to run him off the road in a bad spot soon, rather than avoid him.