Poll: Belgian Grand Prix 2020, Spa - Race 7/17

[booyaka]

sainz must be very very worried about going there next year...They are in a mess at the moment - the fact they nearly ran each other off the track fighting for 13th place tells you all you need to know.

Hamilton again in a class of his own....

Sad to see however that F1 is again back to "managing tyres/fuel etc" - There is very little racing these days, it's 80% strategy/20% driving.

All about managing tyres/fuel/temps etc etc.

 

[Dave M]

sainz must be very very worried about going there next year...They are in a mess at the moment - the fact they nearly ran each other off the track fighting for 13th place tells you all you need to know.

Hamilton again in a class of his own....

Sad to see however that F1 is again back to "managing tyres/fuel etc" - There is very little racing these days, it's 80% strategy/20% driving.

All about managing tyres/fuel/temps etc etc.

It was horrible but to be fair, the tyre management only came about because they were forced by the safety car to pit early - I did hear someone on the sky commentary mention a rule change to require using all 3 tyres for a weekend - that would be interesting. Re-fuelling would be another option to mix up strategies but I remember when they had it 90% of the time they all followed very similar stops because that was just the fastest way to the end of the race. It did throw up surprises every now and then though.

Like DRS it would be a sticking plaster for inability to follow in the corners, so overtakes are strategy, pit stops or top speed on the straights. I have no faith they can solve that problem though.

 

[Supernova]

"Valtteri Bottas has revealed he "doesn't recall" being told by Mercedes beforehand not to race Lewis Hamilton during the Belgian Grand Prix"

The only direct quote there from bottas is “doesn’t recall”. He was not told that he couldn’t race Lewis.

People forget things you know.

 

[Supernova]

Wolf has now said that he meant that both drivers was to keep the overtake mode to use against max only ...lmfao...

Why is this lmfao? Presumably you don’t believe it. Do you generally assume everyone is lying when they say something? Because this is not hard to believe. Mercedes only want to expend engine life (by using higher power modes) against other teams. Bottas was just too slow in equal machinery.

 

[MissChief]

It was horrible but to be fair, the tyre management only came about because they were forced by the safety car to pit early - I did hear someone on the sky commentary mention a rule change to require using all 3 tyres for a weekend - that would be interesting. Re-fuelling would be another option to mix up strategies but I remember when they had it 90% of the time they all followed very similar stops because that was just the fastest way to the end of the race. It did throw up surprises every now and then though.

Like DRS it would be a sticking plaster for inability to follow in the corners, so overtakes are strategy, pit stops or top speed on the straights. I have no faith they can solve that problem though.

The move to greater ground effect and therefore smaller front and rear wings should help massively in being able to follow another car. A shame it’s been put back to 2022 but it’s also understandable too.

Oh and NO to refuelling. ‘Don’t push him Danny, we expect him to pit in the next lap or two anyway’ and ‘box box box, were going to short fuel you for track position’ no thanks. I prefer my passing to be on track.

 

[deuse]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1300137169969963008

 

[GravyMonster]

Another dull race ruined by an early safety car, meaning all the front runners switch to a one-stop with a very long second stint where they trundle around saving tyres. All the strategists seem to be afraid to so much as cross the street these days.

 

[jonneymendoza]

Another dull race ruined by an early safety car, meaning all the front runners switch to a one-stop with a very long second stint where they trundle around saving tyres. All the strategists seem to be afraid to so much as cross the street these days.

time to make these tyres last longer when drivers going at it on full pelt.

 

[Toothy1911]

About the only exciting bit was the crash. Danny Ric did well and was good to see him happy. Shame Norris was unable to pull up the pack a bit more, he does like his late race surges.

 

[vanpeebles]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1300137169969963008

Hilarious I love that

 

[Destination]

Remarkably dull season thus far.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Remarkably dull season thus far.

Indeed. I may cancel Sky F1 next year and bring it back for 2022.

 

[this_is_gav]

time to make these tyres last longer when drivers going at it on full pelt.

I whole reason for the softer tyres was because the Bridgestone races were seen as processional and dull with the rock hard tyres. Melbourne 2009 came along in Bridgestone's final season and all hell broke loose because the tyres couldn't withstand more a few laps without falling apart; hence Pirelli's brief since.

 

[Mr Jack]

Because I'm, you know, a nerd I decided to plot the forum's ratings for the races so far:



Make of that what you will.

 

[Wizzfizz]

First race I've watched in over two years and I can see why I stopped watching

 

[Entai]

It was horrible but to be fair, the tyre management only came about because they were forced by the safety car to pit early - I did hear someone on the sky commentary mention a rule change to require using all 3 tyres for a weekend - that would be interesting. Re-fuelling would be another option to mix up strategies but I remember when they had it 90% of the time they all followed very similar stops because that was just the fastest way to the end of the race. It did throw up surprises every now and then though.

Like DRS it would be a sticking plaster for inability to follow in the corners, so overtakes are strategy, pit stops or top speed on the straights. I have no faith they can solve that problem though.

One of my mates came up with the idea of putting names of all ten teams into a hat, then having a draw at the start of a race, and the 5 teams that get drawn out all have to do minimum one extra pit stop than the other teams.

Then the next race the 5 that were not drawn previous race have to do it.

Then next race start it again.

Nice easy way to randomise everything.

I'm sure there will be plenty of haters, but we thought it could be a good laugh.

 

[JRS]

Or, you know, fans could accept that this is a sport and that occasionally a team is going to dominate. It's been Ferrari before. Red Bull. McLaren. Lotus. Williams. Currently it's Mercedes. It happens.

If the technical rulebook wasn't forcing everyone into an ever tighter box then we might see something vaguely interesting happen - at least a lot more interesting than rake angles and variable toe-out - but I'm reliably (*chortle*) informed by F1 fandom that we can't open that up because [reasons]

 

[Deleted member 651465]

It’s not even the regulations... as soon as a team genuinely come up with an ingenious idea (Brabham fan car, McLaren F duct, Merc DAS.. take your pic) people cry foul and it’s banned, despite being genuinely legal.

The whole “spirit of the rules” grinds my gears sometimes. If it’s legal, it should be allowed to stay. Eventually everyone will have an interpretation or a clone of it and performance will level out until the next big thing but F1 seems intent on shutting every loophole after a single season because... F1?

 

[413x]

Or, you know, fans could accept that this is a sport and that occasionally a team is going to dominate. It's been Ferrari before. Red Bull. McLaren. Lotus. Williams. Currently it's Mercedes. It happens.

If the technical rulebook wasn't forcing everyone into an ever tighter box then we might see something vaguely interesting happen - at least a lot more interesting than rake angles and variable toe-out - but I'm reliably (*chortle*) informed by F1 fandom that we can't open that up because [reasons]

Id say its not a sport. Its a business.

Liberty/owners try to pull the front runners back, add drs etc to improve this

Where bigger teams throw more and more money at it. It becomes pay to win.


I don't see it as a sport anymore. I just want entertainment. So drs type systems are great. Heck, I'd even support Mario kart style boxes and reverse grids!


I also watch on C4 highlights and it makes the races much better. You don't hav3 to sit through boring bits. One of the best things that's happened in hindsight for me is move to highlights for free to air.
I was strongly against it at the start. Now its amazing

 

[Steampunk]

It’s not even the regulations... as soon as a team genuinely come up with an ingenious idea (Brabham fan car, McLaren F duct, Merc DAS.. take your pic) people cry foul and it’s banned, despite being genuinely legal.

The whole “spirit of the rules” grinds my gears sometimes. If it’s legal, it should be allowed to stay. Eventually everyone will have an interpretation or a clone of it and performance will level out until the next big thing but F1 seems intent on shutting every loophole after a single season because... F1?

The worst thing F1 ever did was ban in-season testing/development. That's why we have cars that always make it to the end of races, and the stable situation where everyone stays in their same relative positions from the beginning of the season. Then we complain when Mercedes does a great job, and no one can catch up during the season, because no one is allowed to develop the car in any significant way.