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F1 2021 Round 12: Belgian Grand Prix

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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 8,369 ✭✭✭Rossi IRL


    Racing for a few laps or a couple of lasp behind the safety car for half points is a joke. Should be 50% race is half points and 75% race is full points.



  • Registered Users Posts: 54,562 ✭✭✭✭walshb


    They should all just have a one lap foot race and done with it!



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,369 ✭✭✭Rossi IRL


    Lando asleep


    Only solution for this mess



  • Posts: 25,611 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    All the different procedures and additions and tweaks have come back to bite them on the arse. The sporting regulations are an absolute mess. They were created a long time ago and getting rid of refuelling (as one example) meant they had to change things, deducting laps here and there in certain circumstances. Having safety car restarts, formation laps under safety car, more confusion on top of confusion. And there now Brundle is saying "delayed start" refers to the orange lights rather than a rain delay. A complete mess.

    Could do with taking a page out of NASCAR and IndyCar's books and have the race directors make decisions and teams follow it. Unfortunately as with another rich man's sport (Rugby Union) everyone involved is either a lawyer or thinks they are. They love all the stupid arbitrary rules that kind of overlap and can be argued over etc.

    Why they changed the rules to 3 hours instead of 4 hours for this year is beyond sensible justification though.



  • Registered Users Posts: 12,138 ✭✭✭✭MadYaker


    Lando asleep with his old man on the right



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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,616 ✭✭✭Charlie-Bravo


    Would you not be pretty pissed off if you planned a lovely weekend away, with a chunk of cash spent, only to see your favourite race and for it not to happen? That's quite annoying.

    -. . ...- . .-. / --. --- -. -. .- / --. .. ...- . / -.-- --- ..- / ..- .--.



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,570 ✭✭✭quokula


    Time and again the FIA just keep embarrassing themselves with convoluted and poorly defined rules that are not consistently implemented, this could really be the culmination of that.


    Aside from not knowing their arse from their elbow when it comes to what a race start is, the track wasn’t overly wet, and they’d have cleared a dry line and been on intermediates within a few laps if they started. Plenty of races have started in far worse conditions. They’re supposed to be the best drivers in the world and as long as there is no aquaplaning, which it appears there wasn’t, then they should be able to drive to the conditions. If visibility is poor then stay further back or out of the trail of the car in front.


    It seems like F1 shouldn’t bother lugging wet tyres from circuit to circuit as they never actually drive when the weather is suitable for them.



  • Site Banned Posts: 12,341 ✭✭✭✭Faugheen


    Meanwhile Danny Ric is trying to start a Mexican wave.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,027 ✭✭✭H3llR4iser


    Of course there's the concept that it's an open air event, inclement weather can always be a factor - just the same way they do not run oval races in Indy/Nascar.

    There are a couple of huge failures brewing up however and the proof of it is in the abundant use of the "unprecedented" word everyone is making.

    The whole "the race has started / the race has not started" argument is beyond ridiculous - considering the "unprecedented situation" and the wheather conditions, there should be some level of flexibility allowed. If the conditions are such as that the race can't be ran, then it has NOT started.

    The second issue is the stupidest, silliest and the one that will send the attendance at the venue into a "I'll never bother with F1 again" mood - the 3 hours "window", which is a very short time in the best conditions, and becomes absolutely ridiculously rigid in a situation such as today. At 17.00 Irish time, the race will be declared cancelled; If you checked the weather radar, it's about the time the rain will start letting up. With another good couple hours of light available, there's no reason why, conditions permitting, they shouldn't try to get the event started. There's literally the chance that people will be sent home under a sky that's opening up, and they'll all think "what the fcuk, waited 3 hours and they call it off when this happens?".



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,514 ✭✭✭dor83


    Am I the only one who thinks that they should have just had them doing more laps behind the safety car to clear some of the water? Sitting around waiting for the track to dry while it's raining and there is no sign of it stopping is pointless, maybe I'm just getting old but we have seen racing in much worse conditions than this in the past.

    I fully expect them to use this as a reason to move away from the proper tracks like this and bring in more stupid street circuits, that's what they have been trying to do anyway so this will just be more ammo for that.



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  • Site Banned Posts: 12,341 ✭✭✭✭Faugheen


    ‘The track wasn’t overly wet’.

    Stop everything. Quokula was out on the track and knows more than the 20 drivers who have to race on it.



  • Registered Users Posts: 39,423 ✭✭✭✭Itssoeasy


    So the three hour time limit has stopped. So the rules aren’t as set in stone.



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,369 ✭✭✭Rossi IRL


    Masi has stopped the clock apparently



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,768 ✭✭✭✭ctrl-alt-delete


    So there is a time limit, but it has been stopped. Going to be a long evening - will someone wake me and Lando up if it gets going?



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,403 ✭✭✭Harika


    UPDATE: The race clock has stopped at 17:00. Citing Force Majeure under the International Sporting Code, the FIA has managed to give the race extra breathing space in these dreadful conditions. Excellent move.



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,679 ✭✭✭✭martingriff


    So what is happenning. Is the race going to run at some other time? Will there be points given? Just heard clock is stopped!!!



  • Posts: 25,611 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    I used to hate them running around and around under the SC but now that they've brought the limit down to 3 hours then there's no point in not doing the SC laps.

    So now they're pausing the 3 hour race window? Jesus Christ 😂



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,205 ✭✭✭cruizer101


    I'd similar thoughts myself, that said I think part of the problem is the lengthof this track, on a shorter track that may be a more viable option.

    Seems they have overruled the 3hr limit now anyway so should have some racing



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,679 ✭✭✭✭martingriff


    If the safety car is struggling and nearly spinning then you know its bad



  • Site Banned Posts: 12,341 ✭✭✭✭Faugheen


    Medical car is sliding all over the shop.



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  • Posts: 25,611 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    I nearly spun out my Dacia a couple of times yesterday when the road was bone dry.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,027 ✭✭✭H3llR4iser


    I should write posts like the previous one more often. Looks like they had some common sense and overruled the stupid "3 hours" thing.



  • Registered Users Posts: 4,403 ✭✭✭Harika


    If they can stop the watch, can they also turn it back? Else race time is an hour



  • Registered Users Posts: 650 ✭✭✭ricimaki


    Remember that the time limit rule was introduced after Canada 2011, which turned out to be an excellent race once it got (back) under way.

    It sounds like it will be a 1 hour race when it does get underway, but it will have to be completed before it gets too dark in the evening.



  • Registered Users Posts: 10,679 ✭✭✭✭martingriff


    Mother nature I may feel pissed for half a second until I realised it was for safety reason



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,514 ✭✭✭dor83


    In fairness, there is now over 2 hours of extra rain on the track and it's out there on it's own, if they had started the race and run a bit more behind the safety car the water on the track would have been cleared a lot quicker.



  • Registered Users Posts: 706 ✭✭✭barryribs


    He's not wrong though, whats the point in having races run behind a safety car until it's dry enough for inters? The track has never been safer, the cars have never been safer, the drainage as Spa has never been better, and on and on. If the cars had been running for 20 minutes, it would clear most of the standing water, give us and the spectators at the track something to look at, rather than sitting with their fingers up their arse waiting for rain to clear that has been forecast to be down for the day all week. Some of the most memorable races have started in conditions like this.

    But yea, let the drivers make all the decisions.



  • Site Banned Posts: 12,341 ✭✭✭✭Faugheen


    Ricciardo having the time of his life here



  • Site Banned Posts: 12,341 ✭✭✭✭Faugheen


    The quote was ‘the track wasn’t overly wet‘, which is nonsense.

    And the track is so long that the standing water won’t clear that quickly, especially if it’s bucketing it down like it is.

    And since the drivers are the ones out there risking their lives, yes I think of weight should be given to them, especially when 19 out of 20 are saying it.



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  • Posts: 25,611 ✭✭✭✭[Deleted User]


    Must be nice to be able to write off a couple of grand with a shrug.



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