The Official Belgium Grand Prix 2009 Thread

[rage2]

Reserved.

[rage2]

Going to be an interesting race. Some teams are setting up for downforce (fast S2, slow S1 + S3) and others like McLaren and Ferrari are setting up for low downforce (fast S1 + S3, slow S2). The gaps are huge... 0.6s faster in S2 for the high DF teams, 0.7s faster in S1+S3 for the low DF teams. Should make for an interesting race! Surprised that the Brawns are opting for a low DF setup.

Lewis posted the fastest time in FP2 (FP1 times are kinda useless, a few guys didn't even run in the wet). Here's to seeing McLaren score another podium or win this weekend!

[Mibz]

Just for the record, FP1 and 2 times:

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:49.675            13
 2.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:50.283  + 0.608   18
 3.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:50.368  + 0.693   13
 4.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:51.045  + 1.370   20
 5.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:51.529  + 1.854   24
 6.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:52.321  + 2.646   18
 7.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:52.930  + 3.255   16
 8.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:53.383  + 3.708   11
 9.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:53.650  + 3.975   12
10.  Badoer       Ferrari               (B)  1:55.068  + 5.393   20
11.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  2:03.972  + 14.297  11
12.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  2:04.505  + 14.830  13
13.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  2:05.513  + 15.838  13
14.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  2:05.614  + 15.939  14
15.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  2:05.705  + 16.030  15
16.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  2:05.839  + 16.164  10
17.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  2:06.181  + 16.506   6
18.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  2:06.331  + 16.656  15
19.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)                       1
20.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)                       4

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps
 1.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:47.201           29
 2.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:47.217  + 0.016  29
 3.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:47.285  + 0.084  26
 4.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:47.329  + 0.128  31
 5.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:47.333  + 0.132  34
 6.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:47.506  + 0.305  27
 7.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:47.559  + 0.358  33
 8.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:47.578  + 0.377  33
 9.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:47.579  + 0.378  36
10.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:47.602  + 0.401  25
11.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:47.702  + 0.501  38
12.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:47.743  + 0.542  33
13.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:47.790  + 0.589  29
14.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:47.862  + 0.661  30
15.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:47.961  + 0.760  32
16.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:48.017  + 0.816  30
17.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:48.125  + 0.924  34
18.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:48.130  + 0.929  37
19.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:48.360  + 1.159  29
20.  Badoer       Ferrari               (B)  1:49.211  + 2.010  30

Great pace by Grosjean. I'd love to see him legitimately out-qualify Alonso this race.

[cloud7]

Badoer is still 2 seconds slower than Kimi. I wonder how long Ferrari can stand having him in the car. If I am the Ferrari team boss, I would replace him if he doesn't perform this weekend.

[Mibz]

That's the rumour. If he sucks on Sunday, which he will, he's gone.

[rage2]

I'm still hoping that the McLaren's are strong enough to get 1st or 2nd for the remaining of the season (there's a HUGE update coming for Singapore ). Lewis needs to score 7.5pts more than button per race to have a chance at the title. There's still hope!!!

[ryanallan]

Fuck Badoer, I hope Ferrari replaces him soon !
I cant take this anymore.

cool shot

[ryanallan]

after rage's comment on down force settings I went looking for evidence.

Toyota and RedBull seem to be running high down force as their S2 times are about 1sec quicker than the others.

Toyota's rear wing still looks to be pretty minimalist


Toyota last week


Ferrari this week


Ferrari last week


McLaren last week


McLaren this week

[DJ Lazy]

Wow.. they are SOOO much faster this year than they were last year... Buemi is over a second faster than the fastest time last year..

[DJ Lazy]

Wow... Force India topping the timesheets in Q1.... WTF is going on..

Badoer is GONE... 20th and last again...

[DJ Lazy]

Alo, Ham, But, and Kov out in Q2!!!!!

[DJ Lazy]

Am I watching the same F1??? Force India taking Pole Position?????????????? WTF!!

Good to see it finally happen, but totally wasn't expecting it this weekend... BMW up there too..

[Team_Mclaren]

they are light for sure, but wow. They do have the raw pace to score some points

[DJ Lazy]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
they are light for sure, but wow. They do have the raw pace to score some points

I think Trulli is too... both are 2/10s quicker than the rest of the top 10..

[Mibz]

I can't believe what I'm waking up to here. Both BMWs have a solid shot at the podium.

Webber "reprimanded" for blocking a rival. Who was it? Must not have had any effect for him to avoid a penalty.

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2        Q3      
 1.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:45.102  1:44.667  1:46.308
 2.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:45.140  1:44.503  1:46.395
 3.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:45.566  1:44.709  1:46.500
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:45.237  1:44.834  1:46.513
 5.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:45.655  1:44.557  1:46.586
 6.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:45.579  1:44.953  1:46.633
 7.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:45.450  1:44.877  1:46.677
 8.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:45.372  1:44.592  1:46.761
 9.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:45.350  1:44.924  1:46.788
10.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:45.486  1:45.047  1:47.362
11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:45.486  1:45.119
12.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:45.239  1:45.122
13.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:45.767  1:45.136
14.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:45.707  1:45.251
15.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:45.761  1:45.259
16.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:45.705
17.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:45.951
18.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:46.032
19.  Grosjean     Renault               (B)  1:46.307
20.  Badoer       Ferrari               (B)  1:46.359

Pos  Driver                             Weight (kg)
 1.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  648.0           
 2.  Trulli       Toyota                656.5           
 3.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            655.0           
 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        644.5           
 5.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            649.0           
 6.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               655.0           
 7.  Glock        Toyota                648.5           
 8.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      662.5           
 9.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      658.0           
10.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       670.0           
11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  678.5*          
12.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      693.5*          
13.  Alonso       Renault               684.4*          
14.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        694.2*          
15.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      697.0*          
16.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    685.0*          
17.  Alguersuari  Toro Rosso-Ferrari    704.5*          
18.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       706.1*          
19.  Grosjean     Renault               704.7*          
20.  Badoer       Ferrari               691.5*

[ryanallan]

WOW im shocked !

Pole position working out of this


didnt make Q3 working out of this

[Mibz]

This is gonna be a fucked up week in the pool.

[rage2]

With the pool so close, this weekend could see a huge change in positions!

[DJ Lazy]

5 hours later and I am still shocked that FI took pole.. It sounds like a headline you would hear on The Onion...

There is quite the mixed bag of fuel levels for the top 8... So there WILL be overtaking in the pits come first stop... Looking at my pool choices right now and it just doesn't look right...

[rage2]

Alright, so for the regulars that I hosted for before, my place for Spa at 5:30 in the morning, don't be late.

If you don't have the info or you're a newb, PM me for my cell # and address.