2011 Belgium Thoughts
THE BIG PICTURE: You can declare no work is allowed during F1's mandatory shutdown, but it's not like you can tell Adrian Newey to turn his brain off. Give Newey four weeks "off" to think up ways to get his team the advantages they once enjoyed over others, and guess what ... that's exactly what he will do.
EVENT: Got to love Spa. Too bad they will be forced economically to alternate the Grand Prix with France in order to survive.
QUALIFYING: Wild and crazy. Wild and crazy. But in the end, a Red Bull is on pole.
RACE: An exciting race with lots of lead changes, and not all of them in the pits.
TRACK: The ever changing conditions caused a weekend chain of events that led to severe tire issues for the race which led to Spa being even more exciting than usual.
START: Rosberg pulls off the greatest start of the season, Webber may as well start from the pits for all the good lining up on the grid does him, and Senna screws Alguersuari of his great qualifying effort.
VETTEL: Back in the saddle for Sebastian. Was there really any doubt?
WEBBER: Mark will be back at Red Bull next year which is his best option, even if he does get all pissy over the way he thinks the team treats him. They certainly cannot be upset with Mark's bravery as shown with his heart stopping outside pass on Alonso through Eau Rouge.
RED BULL They really pushed the margins with their camber settings, which resulted in a war of words with Pirelli.
BUTTON: On the one hand, you expect Jenson on the podium with the tire issues. On the other hand, perhaps we expected more than just third place.
HAMILTON: It's not like Kobayashi could just disappear. Besides, there was no reason to even move over in that situation.
ALONSO: Mixed results on this mixed weekend, but the Ferrari still appears to be behind McLaren, never mind Red Bull.
MASSA: One has to wonder why Ferrari wants to keep Felipe.
SCHUMACHER: Perhaps all the criticism concerning his comeback during the summer hiatus fueled Michael's passion again, because no doubt this was his best race since driving a Mercedes.
ROSBERG: Don't look back, Nico, someone (your teammate) may be gaining on you.
SUTIL: Eau Rouge is fun in qualifying ... weeeeee ... oh, sh--.
SENNA: Back in F1 under controversy and thanks to money, but his qualifying effort quieted a lot of people. Until he pulled a brain fade at the start.
HEIDFELD: Nick, you've been in F1 long enough to know it's a business first sport and contracts mean nothing.
ALGUESUARI: Jaime is one driver who would have voted to keep Heidfeld in the Renault seat...
GROSJEAN: Finally, a GP2 title. Another F1 opportunity forthcoming?
WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Camber.
STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 12 -- Number of races so far this year and the number poles Red Bull has won this year.
HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Sebastian Vettel became the second German since WWII to win the Belgium GP after Michael Schumacher won it six times. Before WWII, three different German drivers each won it once, twice for Mercedes-Benz (Rudolf Caracciola in 1935 and Hermann Lang in 1939) and once for Auto Union (Rudolf Hasse in 1937). All of them were at Spa.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Jenson Button on the demolition after the start, "Turn 1 was mayhem."
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Adrian Newey on Mark Webber's pass of Fernando Alonso through Eau Rouge, "Brave, wasn't it!"
SCHEDULE: Monza right after Spa. The best back-to-back race weekends on the calendar.
Copyright © 2011 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.
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