2014 Belgian GP - Spa-Francorchamps

[deterherligt]

Yeah Lewis was faster up until Q3 before his brakes glazed. He knows he has the pace on Rosberg for this race so he was not really bothered about losing pole.

Really? He sure looked bothered. I guess it's the "Teams" fault again.

He dosn't seem bothered at all:

I'm not too disappointed, though. Last year I was on pole, then Seb came flying past me down the Kemmel Straight, so I think P2 could be the best place to be. It may just be a blessing in disguise with the grid slot.

source

[Juzh]

sky


bbc

[prince]

http://www.planetf1.com/news/3213/94362 ... Brake-Disc

Mercedes technical director Paddy Lowe felt Hamilton just never managed to get the right brake temperature.

"He had a little bit of a problem with braking, but in the wet it is always difficult to get the right brake temperatures - not too hot, not too cold," he told BBC Sport.


One reason for this could be that, Lewis was approaching the last corner extremely slow, not wanting to shoot the corner before starting a fresh lap and in the process losing temperature in brakes. It kept resulting in not getting a good cornering for the first corner, which was also being repeatedly pointed out by his engineer comparing to how Nico was managing to get a clean entry and exit for the first corner. Martin Brundle pointed it out couple of times that Lewis is approaching the last corner in very relaxed way. Call it pressure or whatever, Lewis seems to be losing his qualifying touch and in the process, trying to overdo things. The positive for him is the experience of last few races, where he did came from behind to finish closer to the winner and so he should be fairly confident that he would be in best possible position to challenge for a win.

[Shrieker]

Relevant.

Rosberg used to bog down in the first half of the season on many occasions. He seems to have fixed that lately tho. The start will be very crucial and interesting.

[Sevach]

I'm not too disappointed, though. Last year I was on pole, then Seb came flying past me down the Kemmel Straight, so I think P2 could be the best place to be. It may just be a blessing in disguise with the grid slot.

source

Vettel overtook him at the Kemmel straight because his car was much much faster down the straights... but i guess Hamilton is trying to find find some positives.

[dans79]

Relevant.

Rosberg used to bog down in the first half of the season on many occasions. He seems to have fixed that lately tho. The start will be very crucial and interesting.

Lol, that's because Lewis fixed it for him!

[Shrieker]

Sort of yes...

[SectorOne]

Vettel overtook him at the Kemmel straight because his car was much much faster down the straights... but i guess Hamilton is trying to find find some positives.

Actually Hamilton went slightly wide in Eau Rouge, Vettel then got a proper draft and was ready to pounce.

[Juzh]

Vettel overtook him at the Kemmel straight because his car was much much faster down the straights... but i guess Hamilton is trying to find find some positives.

Actually Hamilton went slightly wide in Eau Rouge, Vettel then got a proper draft and was ready to pounce.

Yes, but RB was faster on the straights anyway, or rather merc was --- slow.

[SectorOne]

Talking of glazing,

“To be honest, the car was good today,” he reported, “We were competitive straight away - in Q1 and Q2 we were there, doing good lap times - but I had two problems [in Q3].

“First of all, my front right brake was glazed for the whole of qualifying, so I was struggling massively to brake in the heavy braking areas - corner one [La Source], corner four [Raidillon] and the chicane - although it was okay to do a reasonable lap.

While catching traffic could maybe have been avoided, Massa revealed that is was not the first time that he had struggled with glazed brakes, and let slip that he was keen – and has asked Williams - to try the Brembos that he had previously used at Ferrari.

“It's not the first time we've had [the brake issue] this year,” he confided, “With the brakes we use in conditions like this, we've had this [problem] a few times, and it's not great to be honest. It's something we're still working on, because it's just very difficult to warm them up.”

[Juzh]

What's going on with brembo this year?

[Richard]

It's depressing when so called fans of a sport seem to only be able to gloat over failure. Anti-Hamilton fanboys posts have been deleted. Please find another forum if you only want to talk about personalities.

[strad]

Thank you Richard...It does get old =D>

[Shrieker]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/08/23/2 ... -analysis/

The speed trap figures above from quali are very interesting. Speed trap is just after Raidillon if i'm not mistaken. Hamilton is fastest with Bottas 4.4 km/h slower, and what boggles me mind is the fact that Hamilton is 11.5 km/h faster than Rosberg! I mean, wtf ?? Speed out of Eau Rouge/Raidillon is dictated by how much grip you have in the wet, does that mean Hamilton is carrying substantially more wing ? I'd be inclined to think so.

[basti313]

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2014/08/23/2 ... -analysis/

The speed trap figures above from quali are very interesting. Speed trap is just after Raidillon if i'm not mistaken.

You are right with the position of the trap. But not with "interesting"...
Exit speed is strongly dependent on the line you take. You can either lift before or after Eau Rouge if you have to lift, which means either you loose time in Eau Rouge or at its exit. Lifting after Eau Rouge means lower speed at the trap.
The ERS strategy is another thing defining this early trap speed. Different line, different ERS strategy...you can not even read anything into 10km/h difference...