2017 Belgian Grand Prix from Spa

[theracer120]

Bottom post of the previous page:

I met Alex Yoong once. That's just one step away from Mark Webber and God.

Did that happen when he was driving for WPS (We Produce Safetycars) racing?

[MonteCristo]

I met Alex Yoong once. That's just one step away from Mark Webber and God.

Did that happen when he was driving for WPS (We Produce Safetycars) racing?

Lol.

Think lower: Development Series.

[John]

Just watched the recap over the lunch break. Nothing much to remember, the SC ruined what would have been an interesting strategy battle between VET and HAM.

I'd love to spend some time in the Force India pits during the coming weeks.

[kals]

Alonso may have intentionally retired a healthy car from yesterday's race

Honda says it found nothing on its data to suggest that Fernando Alonso had an engine problem when he retired his McLaren Formula 1 car from the Belgian Grand Prix.

Alonso had endured a frustrating afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps, as he slipped down the field thanks to a lack of straightline speed having jumped to seventh at the start.

His unhappiness at the situation was highlighted in a series of radio messages lambasting his McLaren-Honda's poor straightline performance.

"Embarrassing, really embarrassing," Alonso said on the radio at one point, and when given information about the positions of other cars he replied: "I really don't care too much about the gaps. This is just a test".

Having dropped to 12th place, Alonso then asked McLaren if there was any possibility of a downpour as that might give him a chance to salvage a result.

McLaren was quick to respond that there was no rain showing on the radar.

Shortly after that message, Alonso slowed and came into the pits after reporting an "engine problem" on the radio.

But Honda has suggested there was nothing wrong with its power unit - prompting conspiracy theories that Alonso had deliberately retired an actually healthy car.

Honda F1 project chief Yusuke Hasegawa said: "He radioed in with what he thought was a problem with the car, and although there was nothing showing in the data, we decided to stop the car as a precaution".

Alonso remained adamant that he had stopped because of a failure.

"For sure, it's not easy to race like this, as you cannot have any good wheel-to-wheel battles," he said.

"It was a difficult afternoon and we were not competitive in race trim.

"The car was too slow on the straights and it was impossible to have any battles out there, so points were also impossible.

"Eventually, we had to stop due to an engine issue."

[Antonov]

Crash.net is also reporting this story.

His radio rants are one thing, but retiring a healthy car is a step too far.

[Everso Biggyballies]

His radio rants are one thing, but retiring a healthy car is a step too far.

It is perhaps more a case of common sense..... a DNF allows him to not only preserve engines but also to change certain components without carrying a penalty into the next race. For instance they get freedom to replace gearboxes and transmissions. Perez I believe DNF'd for similar reasons. If the car is running with no chance of points the teams look at the $$$ saved (teams such as F1) or in the case of Honda put an end to embarrassment from Nando's spur of the moment public pit radio broadcasts.

It is nothing new... it has been a habit since the lifing of engines started. I recall Button retiring on the last lap of (maybe an AGP) once with a couple of laps to go purely to gain a penalty free replacement.

[kals]

Perez I believe DNF'd for similar reasons.

I thought they DNF'd Perez for reasons summarized in these 18 seconds...

[Everso Biggyballies]

Lol

[Antonov]

anyone else finding it painful to see how slow the cars are coming out of the last corner?
(not to do with the cars mind you, but all to do with the corner)

especially when they use that La Source cam looking back on the S/F straight

[kals]

Jolyon Palmer complained that Fernando Alonso pushed him off the track and that Fernando deserved a penalty. Be the judge for yourself as F1 have put a side-by-side onboard of their battle on their facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/video ... 691973714/

Regardless of my dislike for Palmer, he doesn't have any reason to complain. Why? Because this was a hard and close battle and he did the same to Fernando three corners earlier, plus he did the same to the Toro Rosso also. So if Fernando deserved a penalty, then so did Jolyon.

[DoubleFart]

Hard and fair racing by Fernando. LOLyon should have gotten it done way earlier, but he got schooled by one of the best.

[MonteCristo]

My rules of fair racing are to always give the other guys a car's width.

IMO, Alonso didn't do that. Naughty Nando.

Buuuuuuut.

he did the same to Fernando three corners earlier, plus he did the same to the Toro Rosso also. So if Fernando deserved a penalty, then so did Jolyon.

This.

[Antonov]

Renault Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer was "like a different guy" during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, reckons the team's trackside operations director Alan Permane.

I wonder if it is because I was present?

[John]

What utter garbage by Palmer. This is literally the oldest move in the book when someone tries to pass on the outside. Give him the squeeze.

Palmer has bigger issues than trying to get Alonso penalized.

[kals]

Palmer has bigger issues than trying to get Alonso penalized.

These are the only words from your sentence I read.

[kals]