2013 Belgian GP - Spa

[LionKing]

RedBull still has more down force than the others even with a mid-low downforce wing. sigh.. 2014 cannot come fast enough!

I agree Red Bull had the best car today, heck even Webber if he had not been caught in traffic and had a dog of start would have gotten a podium, but Vettel did drive well today, love him or hate him.

Webber had as much pace as Rosberg that is it. He never even got a good run Rosberg! Finished 4 seconds behind him eventually...

Meanhile Vettel passed Lewis without DRS...

[Godius]

I'm surprised that Massa didn't got a penalty for crossing the white line on the exit of the pitlane.

[sennafan24]

Webber had as much pace as Rosberg that is it. He never even got a good run Rosberg! Finished 4 seconds behind him eventually...

Meanhile Vettel passed Lewis without DRS...

I am not arguing that Webber was as fast as Vettel today (he was not) but you have only really highlighted part of the race, if I recall right Webber was a good few seconds behind Rosberg at the start of the last stint and reeled him into 1.5 seconds where the gap stayed, until his tyres went off. A graphic came up on TV that at one stage Webber was taking some .5 seconds a lap out of Rosberg.

Webber also had a shitty start that hurt his pace and got stuck in traffic loads, with the car he had, he should have been a lot higher.

[Shrek]

Riccardo looks quite happy for only a 10th place finish, wonder if h got "the call"

[Juzh]

So I fell asleep during the Belgian GP...

Congrats to Vettel, RBR, and their fans. Well done.

I am done gnashing my teeth, I don't see the competition challenge them this late in the season.

Pretty much my thoughts.

I cannot fault Alonso and Vettel for their performances today, both had sterling drivers which I could not critic.

Lewis and Kimi (before he retired) had weaker performances than usual. Lewis beat his teammate at least, but he should have beaten him by more really. Kimi and Lotus had a weekend to forget.

Riccardo upped his stock by scoring and beating JEV in race pace. Button was again quietly solid, and got his team points, there is life in that old dog yet.

The Championship for me now is beyond doubt, bar a minor miracle. I am not a Vettel fan, but this has been his best year and the year I would say he is most worthy of being classified as the worlds best (that is not so say I think he is the outright best)

Overall a dissapointing race for a entertainment stand point, the rain really would have mixed things up.

Nice to see some objective opinion. Pretty much my toughts about the race.

[WhiteBlue]

The following press conference was also very interesting. Alonso was talking fighting language and made all the right remarks about how good his car was but his body language and mimic did not fit. He looked totally depressed. I think he knows that the championship is lost again this year unless the racing gods piss on Red Bull and Vettel more than you have to expect. I'm wondering what that will do to his long term commitment for Ferrari. Is he personally all by himself cursing himself for going there? And would he go for Webber's seat if gets any chance, perhaps for 2015 if he cannot make it in 2014?

[LionKing]

Rosberg also reeled Lewis upto 1.9 seconds. At the end of the day, all those three had almost similar race pace and they finished half a minute behind Vettel.

[stefan_]

Feel bad for Paul's and Kimi's DNF - my guess is that Kimi's brakes overheated due to some debree cought in the brake duct or some on-the-limit cooling solution. I pretty much saw that coming because there was too much brake dust for too many laps coming out of the front left.

Again penalties haded over left and right in an inconsistant way, Probably the single one who deserved it was Maldonado who made a retarded move. Again.

Other than that, pretty boring race. 80% that Vettel is wins WDC again, RB are simply unbeatable.

[Guisson]

It was ..quite boring..
Strangely when it's a RBR win the race has 90% chances to be boring as hell
At least we won't see a RBR on the top of the podium in 15 days..
But Great Drive from Vettel and Alonso , Unlucky Kimi..

[sennafan24]

Rosberg also reeled Lewis upto 1.9 seconds. At the end of the day, all those three had almost similar race pace and they finished half a minute behind Vettel.

Like I said, Lewis had a sub-par performance today. Vettel and Alonso were better drivers today on merit over Lewis, but Vettel had a better car to play with, I am not sure about Alonso.

Webber was only that far down from Vettel and behind the Merc's due to traffic and that start. He would have been behind Vettel anyway ,as Vettel is outright the better driver, but it is not as cut and dry as you are making it.

The stellar drive of Vettel did make some difference today, but the car did also is what I am trying to say.

Nice to see some objective opinion. Pretty much my toughts about the race.

Thanks

I do try and be fair.

[munudeges]

He looked totally depressed. I think he knows that the championship is lost again this year unless the racing gods piss on Red Bull and Vettel more than you have to expect.

I think he also knows that Massa will be gone at Monza and the driver they sign will mean his privileged position within Ferrari will be gone with it. Everyone knows they need to have two drivers next year who are going to delivering equally.

[QLDriver]

I think Mercedes have to feel reasonably happy with their performance. Given their pace throughout free practice, it looked like they were back in McLaren's clutches, whereas they ended up only being beaten by the two teams who had topped the times in free practice. I think they over delivered in qualifying, and wasn't surprised to see them slip back a little.

[rssh]

Great race for me as a VET fan ,Alonso and Massa had excellent start and the traction of the Ferrari was excellent (web vs alo and mas vs kimi) and the tall 7th ratio is now a norm for them . I expect them/merc to win at Monza atleast given they have good top speed . Merc clearly was more heavy at the start and Lewis was rubbing heavily at Eau Rouge which compromised the speed out on to kemmel straight.

Grosjean vs Perez incident was as clear as water, wonder why Martin was saying it as not a fault ;clearly Perez run him out on the kerbs which is not a part of track .

[Juzh]

The following press conference was also very interesting. Alonso was talking fighting language and made all the right remarks about how good his car was but his body language and mimic did not fit. He looked totally depressed. I think he knows that the championship is lost again this year unless the racing gods piss on Red Bull and Vettel more than you have to expect. I'm wondering what that will do to his long term commitment for Ferrari. Is he personally all by himself cursing himself for going there? And would he go for Webber's seat if gets any chance, perhaps for 2015 if he cannot make it in 2014?

Would love to see this conference. Real shame they dont broadcast them on sky.

[WhiteBlue]

... At least we won't see a RBR on the top of the podium in 15 days.

I would not bet the farm on that outcome.
For now this his how the championship looks to the betting man.




Alonso is still doing a lot better than Ferrari in the odds. I personally also think that Alonso is better than Ferrari and that he is depressed about that. When will he ever get a car that worth his talent and personal performance?

I will not bother you with more odds, promised!