F1 Thread

[RichC]

He made a mistake today and got lucky

Bottas is an excellent driver, soon to move to a bigger team I'd imagine

[RichC]

Another cracking win for Ricciardo, proving himself to be a very good driver and outperforming Vettel consistently

[CJ]

rosberg has been shown to be very mentally strong. However doesn't mean it's quicker than hamilton.it's not all luck either.

so where will botas go. williams are in the top 4 at the moment.ferrari would be a huge risk.would you go to red bull i don't think so they have vettel ricardo and endless stream of young drivers including verstappen so who does that leave well at least mercedes and toto wolff is the guy who brought him to williams and is also his mentor . there isn't a space there at the moment. Can't see Toto letting hi. Going to the back markers mclaren.

[CJ]

Another cracking win for Ricciardo, proving himself to be a very good driver and outperforming Vettel consistently

Yep. Vettel really liked the blown rear cars and not as suited to these cars.

[ChesterDave]

Eddie Jordan sticking up for Rosberg like they are brothers.

Ah now come on guys!

[RichC]

rosberg has been shown to be very mentally strong. However doesn't mean it's quicker than hamilton.it's not all luck either.

so where will botas go. williams are in the top 4 at the moment.ferrari would be a huge risk.would you go to red bull i don't think so they have vettel ricardo and endless stream of young drivers including verstappen so who does that leave well at least mercedes and toto wolff is the guy who brought him to williams and is also his mentor . there isn't a space there at the moment. Can't see Toto letting hi. Going to the back markers mclaren.

If a drive comes up at McLaren, Ferrari, red bull or the Mercs he'll be off

[Vermilion]

He made a mistake today and got lucky

Bottas is an excellent driver, soon to move to a bigger team I'd imagine

It's not that Rosberg makes mistakes, it's that some of his mistakes directly effect his team mate, and only title challenger.

Jammy.

[CJ]

If a drive comes up at McLaren, Ferrari, red bull or the Mercs he'll be off

McLaren
Red bull - unlikely they have lots of drives verstappen to replace vettel in a couple of years.
Ferrari is a huge risk at the moment also vetelwill probably give that a go eventually
Met. Is the one. Tot wolf is in his management team but there is n vacancy. He will stay at wlliams while they are competative and no vacancy at merc.

McLaren

[CJ]

McLaren

[RichC]

Bigger team than Williams and have far more money to invest than that of Williams.

Why do you think they never keep hold of their drivers if they're any good ?

[CJ]

Bigger team than Williams and have far more money to invest than that of Williams.

Why do you think they never keep hold of their drivers if they're any good ?

Currently they are not that attractive to a driver who wants to win races. Bigger than Williams probably but not hugely different overall records. Williams seem to be on the up. Part due to merc engines. Part due to the excellent job Pat symmonds is doing. Ferrari is a bigger team than any other but it doesn't mean people always win race for them.

Even at Williams height they didn't keep drivers. It was the teams choice then. The past few years it was a lack of competitiveness and poor cars. ( interstignly cars in odd years are worse than cars in even years).
McLaren have no main sponsor and if it wasn't for button they would get very low exposure. It could all turn around very quickly but Honda's last f1 engine was a dudd.

I am not sure why the team that is the second or third quickest at the moment should fear mclaren. The last 10 years yes but not at the moment. Look how Williams went from challenging to not. McLaren isn't immune to that.

If McLaren were so good why did lewis leave?

[RichC]

Currently they are not that attractive to a driver who wants to win races. Bigger than Williams probably but not hugely different overall records. Williams seem to be on the up. Part due to merc engines. Part due to the excellent job Pat symmonds is doing. Ferrari is a bigger team than any other but it doesn't mean people always win race for them.

Even at Williams height they didn't keep drivers. It was the teams choice then. The past few years it was a lack of competitiveness and poor cars. ( interstignly cars in odd years are worse than cars in even years).
McLaren have no main sponsor and if it wasn't for button they would get very low exposure. It could all turn around very quickly but Honda's last f1 engine was a dudd.

I am not sure why the team that is the second or third quickest at the moment should fear mclaren. The last 10 years yes but not at the moment. Look how Williams went from challenging to not. McLaren isn't immune to that.

If McLaren were so good why did lewis leave?

Mclaren much like Ferrari will always be a draw and have huge resources to bring in drivers if they so choose, next season with the Honda engines will be interesting as it's going to be a complete unknown as to how they're perform but with such a long lead into coming back into F1 I would imagine they'll do ok.

Hamilton left for a number of reasons, change of scene being one but also the restrictiveness of the Mclaren driver contracts, it's not an easy place to work and from friends that either worked for or know him Denis is a bit of a nightmare to work for to say the least.

As I said though if McLaren come knocking or Ferrari for that matter Bottas will jump ship.

He's your best driver for a number of years btw, really been impressed with his performances , up there with Ricciardo for driver of the season for me so far.

[RichC]

Wow

[Rosberg hit me on purpose - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton claims Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg admitted in a post-race meeting that he deliberately hit him during Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

Hamilton's race was effectively ended when he suffered a puncture on lap two at Spa after Rosberg collided with him.

The German went on to finish second, extending his lead in the championship to 29 points with seven races left.

"We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose," said
The 2008 world champion added: "He said he could have avoided it, but he didn't want to. He basically said, 'I did it to prove a point'."

Hamilton said he was "gobsmacked" by Rosberg's admission.

"He just came in there and said it was my fault," added Hamilton, who returned to the race after having his left rear tyre replaced only to quit with just a few laps remaining.

Rosberg has yet to react to Hamilton's claims but a Mercedes spokesman said Hamilton's remarks were "an accurate representation of what went on in the meeting".

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has already said the incident was "absolutely unacceptable" and blamed Rosberg for causing it.

"You don't try to overtake with the knife between your teeth on lap number two and damage both cars," said Wolff.

"Lap number two of a long race, a crash between two team-mates. It is absolutely unacceptable."

Asked if he could trust the German on the track again, Hamilton said: "I don't really know how to approach the next race."

The Englishman had already claimed that Rosberg would escape any kind of punishment from Mercedes.

But Wolff indicated that he could face action.

"If Lewis has said that it's going to be a slap on the wrist and that there's going to be no consequence, then he's not aware of what consequences we can implement," said the Mercedes chief.

Mercedes' boss Toto Wolff says Rosberg Hamilton clash unacceptable.
Hamilton said that Rosberg had admitted on Thursday in a team meeting that he was still harbouring resentment over the team orders controversy at the previous race in Hungary.

The Briton refused to let Rosberg past, claiming they were both racing for victory, and said the team told him he had done nothing wrong.

Sunday's incident in Belgium came as Hamilton led heading into the Les Combes chicane after overtaking polesitter Rosberg at the start.

As Hamilton turned into the second left-handed part of the chicane, Rosberg's front wing clipped his left rear wheel.

Hamilton claimed he was in the right and said other drivers, such as Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, would back that view.


Rosberg was booed as he came out for the post-race presentations
"When a car is less than half a car's length alongside you, it's not your job to leave extra room," said Hamilton.

"I knew he was behind, so I continued my line and thought for sure there would be an investigation or something about it."

Wolff's criticism of Rosberg, who was booed during the post-race presentations, was echoed by former world champion Niki Lauda - who is a key member of the Mercedes team - and former F1 driver David Coulthard.

But Eddie Jordan, a former team boss and now a BBC pundit, said he felt the Mercedes leadership was to blame.

"I think the management of the Mercedes team has been weak," he said. "They should have taken control.

"Like a child who has been naughty, they have to chastise the drivers, they have to tell them what is right and wrong. You do not attack each other in the first two laps,"

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo won the race as Rosberg extended his advantage over Hamilton with seven races remaining.

The next race is the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 7 September.

Full race results

Belgian Grand Prix as it happened

[CJ]

He won't go to McLaren as they are at the moment. They are not the draw they were.

No team apart from Ferrari will always be a draw. Even then no sure Ferrari are always a draw either.

Interestingly reports are saying lewis has said rosberg admitted deliberately hitting lewis during the race. Tough job on at merc at the moment.

Our best driver of the last 10 years possibly. However Webber didn't do to badly and rosberg isn't looking gtoo shaby at the moment. Hulkenburg was very good too.

[RichC]

I think you're wrong, money talks and the carrot of getting them back to "where they belong" is an enticing one.

He's impressed me the most tbh.

On the Lewis situation at Merc it's an ugly looking situation isn't it, read the post above from the BBC