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last round of the european leg for this season! (home of Eau Rouge!)...
it should be an awsome race (going by what happened last year) we should see plenty of action (n prolly rain)
will be interesting to see if Alonso can take the championship this round (thought it looks unlikely... but neva know with kimis luck)
Mclaren 1 - 2 for me... n BAR 3 n 4 :D
Alonso : DNF :wave:
haha, yeah, my money is on a McLaren win, but 50/50 as to whether it will be Montoya or Kimi, Montoya seems to be better at looking after his car....and there's a lot of full throttle work at Spa.....
Alonso for 2nd....Fisi 4th or 5th, BAR and Toyota fighting it out for the rest.
will it rain? and if it does, will we see a ferrari taking the checkered flag?
2nd practice was a 'washout'...
n more rain to come apprently...
Wow, must have been heavy rain. That's good for the race, it'll make the track nice and clean for the race. Spa is a great track, one of the my favourites. Not much passing, but goot for the driver. Again it'll test the reliability of the cars, so we'll see what happens.
hmmm not really =/Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivski
more rains expected on Sunday.. n theres even doubt that it'll go ahead ><"
Quote:
[09/09/05 - 17:28]
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Doubts develop over Belgian Grand Prix
'A normal race in these conditions is not possible'
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No surprise as it rains at Spa!
Leading drivers cast doubt over Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after revealing Friday that the race cannot run if atrocious weather conditions persist here this weekend.
Friday's second practice session around the forested Spa Francorchamps circuit was a wash-out when heavy rain made the track completely undriveable and none of the 25 drivers set a time.
Only a handful of laps were run in the first session and with the weather predicted to worsen rather than improve even world champion Michael Schumacher was left wondering whether the race will go ahead.
"A normal race in these conditions is not possible," said Schumacher. "Maybe it can get better, but if conditions are like this then it is not possible to race apart from behind the safety car."
"I think this is the best (conditions) it will be this weekend. As far as we know now it is predicted to get worse and at the moment they are predicting heavy rain on Sunday. Today was supposed to be the best in terms of rain, so we still have to find out what that means for the weekend. It is difficult to explain how difficult it is driving in these conditions."
"It is too much rain. We probably needed a propeller to make it through this amount of water! You could see when the drivers that went out were on track that they couldn't really drive. In these conditions nobody can drive except maybe the safety car. In the end, you can only do things that are possible. If it is impossible to drive we will have to find another way."
The two one-hour practice sessions were the first run in rain since qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in March and there has not yet been a wet race this season.
World championship leader Fernando Alonso revealed here Friday that he has not even driven his Renault car in the wet because the team does not run if it is raining to maximise their limited amount of available test days.
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Rivers run across the Spa Francorchamps circuit
Italian test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, of Red Bull, lost control of his car in the practice session and crashed into the barrier after his car aquaplaned off the circuit at Les Combes. The accident displayed how dangerous heavy rain can be, particularly at this long traditional circuit where crash barriers are closer to the track than normal.
Drivers can use wet weather tyres in the rain and there are specially designed extreme weather' tyres, but Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier said even those were not good enough to tackle the amount of water on track here Friday.
Jenson Button backed Schumacher's claims that the race cannot go ahead if conditions persist and explained: "It is disappointing for the fans but we can't really help with that situation. We can't stop it raining here. It's been a pretty boring day for all of us, not being able to do any running, but there was no chance and if it is raining like that we can't race on Sunday. It would be too wet. It is dangerous."
"You are not in control of the car in any way. If you hit a big puddle like Liuzzi did that's it, it could be a massive accident. You are not in control and that's not what we're here to do. And the forecast is for rain on Sunday."
E.A.
Source AFP
What about Luizzi crash?
Last practice and Alonso just topped Kimi for time, they reckon rain for first half of race, then slowly dry up!
Who knows with the weather these days!
Bridgestone should be good in the rain, especially when you have a lot of fuel and spray from other cars that can end our draught.
I hope Alonso DNF, I saw on Sports Tonight the track in the wet my god it was raining. Imagine doing Eau Rouge in the wet following another car?
Quote:
Jenson Button is hoping Michael Schumacher's forecast of rain in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix proves false.
Outgoing world champion Schumacher believes it is "pretty certain" Formula One will see its first wet race for two years at Spa-Francorchamps, but Button and his BAR-Honda team have pinned their hopes on a dry grand prix.
The Englishman qualified a disappointed eighth on Saturday but believes several of his rivals have compromised their strategies in planning for a wet race.
He said: "We are a long way off of the front guys but it is difficult to tell here what people are doing with their strategy.
"The weather has been very up and down over the last couple of days, we don't know what is going to happen. It might rain it might dry up, you don't know. I am hoping for a dry race and I think all the drivers will be.
"I'm sure people have set their car up because they think it will rain. I don't think you can plan everything on it being wet. I'm sure some people have run on Saturday thinking it's going to rain on Sunday but we haven't thought like that.
"Even so, starting eighth is not fantastic but we have a better race car here than a qualifying car and we will be challenging the cars in front more so than in Monza by far."
Button has his eyes on the cars immediately in front of him, particularly the Toyota pair of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, who qualified third and fifth respectively and are suspected to be running low on fuel.
Michael Schumacher and Sauber's Felipe Massa are immediately in front of Button, in sixth and seventh respectively, but Button is confident of quickly dispatching them.
He added: "The Toyotas seem to be very quick in qualifying but it will be interesting to see how quick they are in the race.
"I think we will be challenging them - people might be surprised by that but I think we will. I think Toyota think it will rain on Sunday.
"There's a Sauber in front of us which shouldn't be a problem and then there's Michael."
Schumacher is desperate to see a wet race, confessing only rain can give Ferrari a chance to win their first genuine race of the season.
The German, whose only win so far came in the six-car United States Grand Prix, is convinced the Ardennes weather will help him.
"We have to hope for rain on Sunday," he said. "If there is rain there is a big question mark on what we can do. If it stays dry we will again be fighting to get points."
David Coulthard, who famously clashed with Schumacher in the rain at Spa in 1998, starts 11th and was left to rue yesterday's lost second practice session.
Torrential rain robbed him of the chance to perfect the set-up on his Red Bull and he said: "The car was capable of going quicker in qualifying than it did.
"But following yesterday's lack of track time we didn't have the confident to push."
We haven't had one wet race yet this season. I hope it is wet, but not dangerously wet. Wet spa will really test out the drivers, make 'em earn it, I say.
i think a few of the teams r on a short first stint...hoping for rain n pitting straight away...
oh well.. i hope it dusnt rain.. for BAR's sake...
also interesting to note the Renaults seem to be running quite low downforce... their top speed was almost 5-10km's higher than most of the other teams...
if kimi DNF
an alonso finishs an get mores than 4points.
alonso = world championship
man the race started nearly half an hour ago... n ch10 aint gonna televise it for another hour... fockerzzz
what a race....wow. my fav of the season
podium for us!...
hopefully no disqualification this time round ;)
THIS IS ****ING BULLSHIT, AGAIN alonso gets a fat gift in the final laps. **** i hate that ****s luck
man... wtf is it with montoya lolz....
tips were looking good.. then hes involved in an incident a few laps from the finish...
arrgh..
anwyayz good to see jenson on the podium...
fark i gotta wake up in 4 hrz ><"
to watch tennis? same...
pizza ran into montoya...
ahahah what tennis?Quote:
Originally Posted by strider
i got fkn uni lolz
What happened between Pizzonia and Montoya? I only saw them sliding off the road, not what actually happened.
Webber finally had a good race. The car was performing really badly on the intermediates, so he switched to slicks for the last 5 laps and ate up all the positions he'd lost.
Oh Fisi, Fisi, Fisi. Into the wall again. Poor guy can't take a trick. This time it was driver error though.
OMG, Sato is so outta here. LMAO... if there's one way to end your F1 career, it's to ram Michael Schumacher. Although it did help Button onto the podium in the end. ;p
Did anyone see Karthikayan get airborne over the grass!??!!? That was hysterical!! Villeneuve (I think it was) forced him wide onto the grass and instead of backing off, he went straight and buried the throttle. Bounced about a metre into the air and ended up back infront of Villeneuve. Hope someone got a good photo of that!!
Once again Kimi shows his pace. Even if Montoya was going for it, Kimi still had the pace in the 2nd (or was that 3rd) stint to get ahead. He was absolutely flying. Just makes you wonder what he could've done this season given a bit of luck.
But one thing's for sure... Spa is an awesome track. And I loved the conditions. The drivers had to work so hard. And appart from the first 2 laps, the visibility was pretty good. Just about perfect for making the drivers earn their pay. And quite a bit of overtaking too. I loved watching Button just drive the BAR straight around the outside of people.
Spa is a great circuit isn't it? I love it.
Hey was Luizzi hurt in his crash at practice?? I dont know the back story but saw that Klien was driving.
good race! but damn pizzi had the crash into montoya!
kimi keeps the championship alive! thank god!
an webber damn out of the blue never thought he would finish 4th.
Webber put in just about his best laps of the season to get that 4th, he actually managed to pass someone without taking them out:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by JDM.Power
Awesome drive and passing from Button in the second half of the race, sometimes a i wonder if he really tries, but then he pulls out an inspiring drive...
Those cars trying to unlap themselves were crazy. The one behind Alonso looked like he was going to ram him!
Best move was Button overtaking Villeneuve! Nice feint to the inside and then line cross to the outside to overtake, all spread across 3 corners!
Yeah, how good was Button's pass round the outside!!! in the wet too! Villeneuve gave him room too so that was good racing.
I thought it was a good smart race from Alonso, stayed out of trouble, didn't risk the car or anything, why bother pushing for a win in those conditions if you don't need it?
As for Fisi, was devastated, was gold watching him slash through the field beforehand, even though half his passes we didn't get to see. I'd noticed he was taking a bit more of the kerb through eau rouge than the others.
Yeah, i agree, i think that incident with sato was the last straw, one more competitive seat up for grabs for next season.
this was one of the more competative races i reckon (throughout the field).. even a jordan managed a points finish... a shame there wasnt more wet races this season...
man sato sato sato... wot can i say.. kinda feel for the guy.. hes under so much pressure.. n i guess with last nights incident.. its all over ..
esp now that he gets a 10 grid penalty for the next race... which i think is a bit harsh.. i mean it wasnt delebrate.... hmmm maybe coz it involved schumi :rolleyes:
n i also think michaels reaction was a bit uncalled for... sure he has every right to be pissed.. but tapping satos viser lik that..:thumbdwn:
overall wasnt a bad race at all... plenty of overatking :thumbsup:
Quote:
Michael Schumacher
“Every accident is unnecessary but this one seemed more unnecessary than usual. Obviously I am not happy about it, I did not see anything and just felt a bump at the rear of the car. It was stupid to finish the race like this when we had hoped that the mixed conditions might help us. We decided to try the dry tyres but it was immediately obvious that it was like driving on ice. We tried to be competitive today and we got a bit closer to that goal, but not close enough.”
Quote:
Takuma Sato
“It was very tricky at the beginning of the race, but I made a good first lap and gained many positions. It was an exciting first stint and things were going well up to the first stop. The incident with Michael happened on the first corner after the restart, following the safety car. With cold tyres and brakes, it was very difficult to stop the car and unfortunately, I touched the back of him. Obviously, I am disappointed that we could not deliver a good result today."
i dun understand why he gets such a harsh penalty... i mean it was a racing incident rite... why din webber or schumi get penalized in turkey????Quote:
Takuma Sato’s race came to a premature end after just 13 laps when he emerged from behind the safety car with cold tyres and brakes and was unable to prevent contact with Michael Schumacher as he braked into La Source. As a result, Takuma has been given a 10-place grid penalty at the next race for his part in the incident.
f1live.com
It is a bit harsh. Is there a precedent for this kind of penalty? Pizzonia got fined too, but I think that was a racing incident. I've been in the situation before from both sides and you can't really apportion blame for the misunderstanding. Again had Montoya just let Pizzonia through, it would've been a 1-2 for McLaren. You have to be smarter than that when you're the one who stands to lose so much.
I think the Sato penalty is unwarranted. He already lost his points from this race and will start qualifying early at the next race. Poor Schumi also has to start early, so he'll be hoping for rain again. At least it didn't change the championship.
Quote:
Ron Dennis has defended 'blameless victim' Juan Pablo Montoya after his accident with Antonio Pizzonia cost McLaren a 1-2 at the Belgian GP.
Pizzonia and Montoya clashed when the Williams driver sought to un-lap himself from behind the McLaren. The two cars collided, sending both off the track and out of the grand prix.
Although Pizzonia claimed that Montoya was at fault for failing to see him, Dennis was adamant that his driver wasn't to blame.
"We had a comfortable, well-judged, disciplined team-oriented race which should have been a comfortable one-two," said Dennis.
"Pizzonia waved Juan Pablo past and at the next corner Pizzonia came straight into the back of him. Juan Pablo was the blameless victim of other people's mistakes.
"It is bitterly disappointing when you do things well and something out of your control happens."
Mercedes boss Norbert Haug also stuck to the party line and defended Montoya.
"Juan Pablo did a brilliant job and didn't put a foot wrong throughout the weekend,” he said. "I feel sorry for him as the accident was not his fault."
I was screaming I HATE SATO at 12:30 or whatever it was last night.
What a complete spastic.
Cold tyres and brakes, he tried a hero move on one of the greatest defenders of the line and he hits both of them.
As Martin said, instead of locking the brakes up and just sliding in the wet he could of steered it out and not hit him.
Sato has to be thrown out of F1, they penalised him because they are sick to death of drivers complaining about him, even Martin and James tried to hold back.
Stupid move indeed and Michael reaction was fine, it shows how dumb Sato's "move" was.
As for the race.
Kimi is just a racer, he had the race won and still kept the pace up.
Montoya, again not his fault apparently, to me it looked like Pizzonia went in abit to quick and hit his rear (braking Pizzonias front left suspension)
Alonso, a poor loser in my books.
Doesn't deserve the WDC, so annoyed.
GO WEBBER.
I hope this proves to some of you the potential of this man!
Fisichella, I was so excited to see him in 3rd, then the 10 grid penalty (stupid rule) put him in 13th, god he was pushing.
So underrated it makes me angry.
Monterio did so well, but Toyota, why put Ralf on dry tyres?
All in all FUK SATO!
webber's 4th place didnt come from a great drive... more so from people dnfing
nice time to come in and get slicks on thou...
IMO it doesnt really prove much... except he was faster on dry's when everyone else was on ints...Quote:
Originally Posted by LUD02C
He stopped how many times?
Had a solid race, didn't make any stupid mistakes like that wank Sato.
Saw the track was drying up and put slicks on and got a great finish 4th!
Oh and I must say, channel 10's coverage was good last night.
Seeing all the drivers before the race talk to Bill Woods and getting more information then usual was fantastic.
That Leigh Diffy bloke needs some speaking lessions, but otherwise I thought well done 10.
Watch RPM with all the interviews.
yeah the coverage wasnt bad at all... just the late telecast was a bummer...
n that Leigh Diffy guy cant commentate for shyt.. unless its a bogan v8 race...
Die Sato
Go to hell webber
no further comment
Juan Montoya - "You faaarrking iiidiot, you broke my ****ing car, ****ing idiot.......Noooooo"
hehe
Channel Ten's work was really good. A lot better than usual. But the coverage was terrible. I reckon we were staring at the back of Ron Dennis' head for about 5mins if you add it all up. One of these days a team manager is going to chuck a skitz and knock out a cameraman for being stupid. Look at the cars, not the manager!!
They didn't get Montoya's crash on video.
They missed half of Fisichella's overtakes.
There was no onboard footage at all. I didn't see them onboard once in the entire race. Even in wet races you often get to see onboard shots. None.
Martin and James were pretty good. Even if the footage was all over the place, they stayed on top of all the mayhem with tyres and incidents and who was fast when. Good job.
Atleast Ten did a good job. Billy's input was good and I like the way they show the entire race on Ten. Because it's not live, when they go to an ad break they pause the video and then press play when they come back from the ads. It's good. :)
So 9/10 for Ten, 8/10 for Martin and James, and 2/10 for the Belgium crew.
hahaha lol :D .Quote:
Originally Posted by nEUROtic
Yeah, i don't think it proves that Webber is as good as they hype him to be, i mean, good steady race and he's not the worst guy out there, but he's far from the best (even if you exclude schumey).
Why was Alonso a bad loser? did he say something in the interviews (sorry, didn't watch them, went to bed!), otherwise, i thought he drove a good strategic race, whether he came 2nd ot 3rd he'll still win the title.
And at least SOME ppl rate Fisi! (thanks Jase!) I think he'll still be scoring in the mix next race even with a first on track qualifying position.
Fisichella with a team behind him (not just Alonso) could cause so much trouble.
He proves, over and over again how good he is.
Japan and China should be live at a decent hour for us.
i fear for sato as well....
and webber is good, to drive in formula 1 you must be good.
webber i feel had a more controlled race, rather than a rushed race (like monza).
alonso don't deserve to be world champ, kimi fought the hardest, drove the fastest, showed the most skill.....
i don't like renault one bit...the car's a gay blue and yellow, the team boss looks like he spends more time in a brothel then on cars, alonso have a huge head, and there's a bloody flower on the renault car!
i mean, wtf?
hmmm.. alot of us are saying Alonso doesnt deserve the title... BUT.. me thinks we're letting our personal opinions get in the way....
i mean hes driven well all year.. hes very very consistant n very quick!...
IMO.. he deserves to win... BUT so does kimi.. :D
rofl ahahahahahaaa ... some good points raised there ... :thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by strider