2012 Formula One Belgian Grand Prix

[Tony Holder]

Hamilton to win....Rocket Red Sunday!! (Be good if JB got up there too)​

 

[Spiky Cactus]

So the F1 circus will be back in only 3 days and I was wondering how do you guys feel?

Me:

...your response is Stephen Colbert shouting 'NOOOOOOOOO'?

 

[Sérgio Marques]

I wish I could be there again:

But i'm starting to plaining for 2013!

 

[ufunacaoenn]

...your response is Stephen Colbert shouting 'NOOOOOOOOO'?

I didn't know he shouted no.

 

[Dmitry Zaharov]

This is really funny

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Williams GP Preview

Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: It’s great to be back racing again after the August break and the whole team has been preparing eagerly for the remaining nine races, eight of which are back to back. Spa is a fantastic circuit and an excellent challenge for the drivers and car alike. We’re expecting rain at the beginning of the weekend but are hopeful for a dry qualifying and race. Setting the correct wing level with DRS is crucial around this track and one tends to see a number of different aerodynamic solutions. Pirelli are bringing their hard and medium tyres which were last used way back in Malaysia.

Pastor Maldonado: Spa is a very special circuit for me because I’ve had a lot of success there in the past and I really enjoy the layout. The circuit also has a lot of history so it’s a race that you want to do well at. It will also be interesting to see the performance of the other teams and find out who has made gains since we last raced. I’m looking forward to getting going again after the summer break and hopefully we can build on the good progress we’ve shown so far this season and have a strong run of results in the second half of the year.

Bruno Senna: We’ve had a good streak of races recently and I had a solid result in Hungary so I’m looking forward to keeping the momentum going. Spa is one of my favourite tracks and I raced there last year with the Pirelli tyres so that knowledge will help with our performance this time around. Qualifying will be important and I’m looking to get into Q3 like I did in the last race and from there hopefully score some good points for the team.

Rémi Taffin, Head of Renault Sport F1 Track Operations: The driver will encounter every sort of corner possible so we have to get the RS27 to perform over all levels of torque and revs. The engine needs to deliver good top end power for the long straights, yet a smooth power curve through the flowing corners like Blanchimont. Response is also key out of the slower hairpins and chicanes. We actually use Spa as a control circuit on the dyno to test an engine’s reliability as it puts so much stress on the internal parts. With such huge demands exerted, we’ll be introducing fresh engines for this race.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Director: Spa is one of the most demanding circuits of the year for our tyres because of the high levels of energy they are subjected to, which is why we have selected the P Zero Silver hard and P Zero White medium compounds: a combination that was last used in Malaysia at the start of the year. The other important factor in Spa is the weather, as rain is a very frequent occurrence: sometimes with wet conditions affecting just one part of the circuit while the rest remains dry. Consequently there are many interesting opportunities to formulate a number of different strategies over the course of this very long race.

 

[Andrew Ford]

right, i'm not a betting man...only ever placed £1 on a horse in the grand national and i'm not about to start gettinginto it, i'm not lucky enough.

however, i've just placed a one off bet of £20 each way on schumacher.
win @33/1 £330 for win?
and estimated win of £416 each way if he places 1-3...i have little idea what this means even tho i'm pretty good at maths! just never taken interest in odds.
what i do think is that it's a good bet if ever there was one. the guy loves spa, he's handy in the rain and mercedes have a useful drs. they also do better in colder temperatures for the tyres...so it's worth a longshot don't you think?

i could be wrong, but lotus' new system is untested in a race, ferrari hopefully won't suit the track, redbull are having a few issues. i want mclaren to win and they should also suit the track...but they only have one driver on form...so there you go.lol

i win if i win and i win if i dont....because if i don't win..i will save a lot more money betting in the future!

p.s. anyone know that lewis hamilton's auntie just died? he'll either be even more focused to win or be affected negatively. still hope he wins despite the bet.

 

[Darren Bentley]

No Double DRS for Mclaren at Spa, not looking as good now they need to hope it is cloudy and cool to slow that Lotus down as much as possible

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Renault might win this one then.
Although it will be interesting to see how the system works.
Especially in the rain since it´s pressure based if im not mistaken.

 

[ufunacaoenn]

I really don't understand how this will automatically secure Lotus the victory?
Isn't the D-DRS just good for qualify while in the race it will be all about the car with the better aero, tire management and strategy?
Surely Lotus got a very good race pace too but I just don't see how the advantage that you gain in qualify will affect your race this dramatically (to basically turn it into a victory) when you can't use the D-DRS when ever you want and only on the DRS zone?

 

[Darren Bentley]

I really don't understand how this will automatically secure Lotus the victory?
Isn't the D-DRS just good for qualify while in the race it will be all about the car with the better aero, tire management and strategy?
Surely Lotus got a very good race pace too but I just don't see how the advantage that you gain in qualify will affect your race this dramatically (to basically turn it into a victory) when you can't use the D-DRS when ever you want and only on the DRS zone?

Lotus system is different to Mercedes so I don't know if this bit is true but it helps them with or without DRS active, plus Iceman is good here and only thing that will slow Lotus down is cloudy and cool weather otherwise they are in the drivers seat ATM

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I really don't understand how this will automatically secure Lotus the victory?
Isn't the D-DRS just good for qualify while in the race it will be all about the car with the better aero, tire management and strategy?
Surely Lotus got a very good race pace too but I just don't see how the advantage that you gain in qualify will affect your race this dramatically (to basically turn it into a victory) when you can't use the D-DRS when ever you want and only on the DRS zone?

Mercedes system only works in relation with the DRS.
Lotus version works all the time when you reach a speed of xxx km/h.

It´s a passive system just like the Mercedes one but it only needs airspeed to activate itself while Mercedes needs the DRS to activate it.

 

[Kartik Sri Harsha]

Spa From a Tire point of View

 

[ufunacaoenn]

Alright now that makes a lot more sense but this passive function of the Lotus DRS, is it working more like the F-duct effect or is it completely different?

 

[Hampus Andersson]

is it working more like the F-duct effect or is it completely different?

F-duct was driver controlled so not sure what you mean.

 

[ufunacaoenn]

F-duct was driver controlled so not sure what you mean.

Looking at it from an aerodynamic point of view, is it storing air in some part of the car and then blows it out somewhere when it reaches the speed xxx km/h?

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Looking at it from an aerodynamic point of view, is it storing air in some part of the car and then blows it out somewhere when it reaches the speed xxx km/h?

No it´s just a flap.

Take a piece of paper and hold it in front of your head with two fingers.
If you blow softly nothing will happen. If you blow hard the air will push the paper up and the air can continue going forward.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

To make it simple.

Could be flap controlled, pressure controlled without a flap or some other thing.
What we know for sure is that it´s a system that works by itself and it needs no DRS to activate it.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Quite a loophole, if it's flap controlled, it's a moving aerodynamic part.. It isn't driver controlled and they made it so that it doesn't go to the same category as wings and other conventional aero parts that can not move...

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Belgian GP preview with Scarbs and many others. Great show for the hardcore fan.
I have only watched 10 seconds and they said they would talk about the Lotus system so we might get a clearer picture of how it works.

Edit: seems like there´s no moving parts at all, it´s all pressure based with no flaps or similar.
And legal for next year.