[funkdoctorspock]

Hamilton rules.

What a great quali session. Simply outclassed the field.

I love this track and its going to be a great race tomorrow. Hamilton for the win!!!

P.S. Massa is rubbish.

[Dirtycheat]

i hate that skin, go back on the black one, much better!!

Well, i dont hate that skin. Use universal colours ffs

(ps: yeah i have to admit the black one is better)

Originally Posted by funkdoctorspock

Hamilton rules.

What a great quali session. Simply outclassed the field.

I love this track and its going to be a great race tomorrow. Hamilton for the win!!!

P.S. Massa is rubbish.

let me just correct you, its kovalinen thats rubbish.

Most people now recognize Massa as a quality driver. I wont bother to argue with haters. Take a look at some Formula 1 sites and forums


Quality Drive from massa today but Hamilton was more constant on average and deserved to be 1st in qualifying.

Should be a very interesting race tomorrow. Unfortunately, i will miss it because i will be watching Egypt stampede over DR Congo. *touches wood*


also, just thought id end on the note that Raikonen has been fairly shit this season. Kubica and Alonso will probably be fighting for his place at Ferrari as we speak.

[funkdoctorspock]

Hello there dirtycheat...

Did you enjoy the race today?

I know I sure did.

Spa is by far my favourite circuit to watch and today was no different. Normally you see a lot of engine blowups and crashes, but todays edition had a different issue for drivers... RAIN!

Kimi was simply outclassed by Lewis and then was hard done by the rain. They battled side by side extremely hard and there was easily 3 instances where both could have crashed out. I'm a lil surprised that we didn't hear either teams race engineers tell the drivers to slow a bit because:

a. its raining
b. they had on slicks. Very, very dangerous to drive in wet conditions.

The amount of unfortunate luck Kimi has had in the last few races has been unreal. Its ashame really, because there are folks that actually have the gull to say Massa is a better driver.

Anyways, I digress. Great drive by Lewis and next weeks race will be interesting on the speedy Monza circuit.

[Dirtycheat]

one of the best races ive seen this year. The ending was just immense.

Hamilton took the most risks and pushed the most hence he deserves the win.

I cant believe Raikonen lost that, ferrari must be furious. He has been overtaken by kubica now and soon enough he could lose his seat at ferrari to kubica too.

Now its pretty much hamilton vs Massa. 8 points in it which means nothing as we saw last year. This will go down to the wire unless ferrari havent done something to improve reliability.

Although hamilton won i am satisfied because like i said its between 2 drivers now. Now, do you remember our little bet funky? :d

[funkdoctorspock]

Bet, what bet...

Of course I remember.

I still don't think this should be narrowed down to 2 drivers just yet. Hamilton or Massa go out of a race and its an open championship again.

As for Kimi in this race. He should have let the lead go and just nursed the car home. It was clear that the cars were very unstable and both Lewis and Kimi were in grave danger of crashing out.

Again, its just a lil shocking that neither race engineer told them to back off a lil...

[Dirtycheat]

Originally Posted by funkdoctorspock

Bet, what bet...

Of course I remember.

I still don't think this should be narrowed down to 2 drivers just yet. Hamilton or Massa go out of a race and its an open championship again.

As for Kimi in this race. He should have let the lead go and just nursed the car home. It was clear that the cars were very unstable and both Lewis and Kimi were in grave danger of crashing out.

Again, its just a lil shocking that neither race engineer told them to back off a lil...

yeah you are right, last season came down to the last race and not many people had their bet on raikonen.

I am shocked by raikonen tbh because in that lap he went of 3-4 times. He really should have put it into perspective because in the last quarter hamilton was the quickest driver. When the rain started falling immediately you can see a massive difference between the speed of hamilton and that of raikonen. He really should have settled for second place and hope something goes wrong with hamilton. He took a risk and it didnt pay off. Massa didnt take that risk and he got 2 more points than he expected.

Also, i believe raikonen was a bit dirty when hamilton tried passing him. He deserved what he got.

If the next couple of tracks are wet then i think the championship is as good as hamilton's.

[carlyluvsunited]

Hamilton is disqualified......

Massa first, Hamilton third now.

He got a 25 seconds penalty for manovering (sp ?) errors.

Or something like that ...

[funkdoctorspock]

its breaking news.

This is absolute bullshit and why I hate Ferrari to begin with.

Hamilton cut the chicane after he was bumped by Kimi. Hamilton immediately gave back the lead position to Kimi. And then later passed him again. Explain how that is worthy of Hamilton being docked seconds?

If this was a Ferrari, no time docking would have occurred. There is too much favourtism in f1 and it blows.

This better be reversed...

In a hugely controversial decision, Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his victory in the Belgium GP.

After reviewing footage of his duel with Kimi Raikkonen in which he cut the chicane on the corner before he overtook the Finn's Ferrari, race stewards have added twenty-five seconds to Hamilton's race time.

As a result, Hamilton is demoted to third from first and, with Felipe Massa handed the race victory, his lead of the World Championship has been cut to just two points. Had the result stood, Hamilton's lead would have amounted to eight points.

McLaren have yet to comment on the ruling.

Source

[Dirtycheat]

PMSL!!!!!!!!!!!!!1




well, all i can say is that this decision is 100% correct.

It is unlogical that massa could finish second, it makes complete sense to disqualify lewis lol.


Raikonen did push lewis off the track but it was only because Hamilton called him and i quote "the son of a terrorist whore". Its a good thing it didnt end up in headbutts.

[Mark]

Hamilton stripped of Spa win

McLaren star's Championship lead cut to two points

Lewis Hamilton has been demoted from first to third place in the Belgian Grand Prix after being handed a penalty following his late duel with Kimi Raikkonen.


The defending World Champion led the majority of the race after polesitter Hamilton spun at the start of lap two at Spa-Francorchamps.

But rain which had fallen two hours before the start of the race returned during the closing laps, allowing the McLaren Mercedes driver the chance to close the gap once again.

Hamilton re-took the lead from Raikkonen at the La Source hairpin with two laps to go and then, as the rain worsened, both drivers spun - but managed to keep their cars going.

However, after momentarily regaining the lead, Raikkonen then slammed his Ferrari into a wall at Blanchimont corner, with Hamilton using that as a cue to slow his pace considerably and tip-toe round the final lap to the chequered flag.

But it was Hamilton's move at the Bus Stop Chicane at the end of lap 42 just prior to his pass at La Source which later attracted the interest of race stewards.

Hamilton tried to pass Raikkonen under braking but instead straightlined the chicane. Emerging in the lead, he briefly let the Ferrari back through.


Penalty


Nevertheless, about two-and-a-half hours after the race had finished, the Englishman was handed a 25-second penalty.

Hamilton's demotion means that Ferrari's Felipe Massa has now been handed the win, with Nick Heidfeld's late gamble on wet tyres paying off as the BMW Sauber driver moved up to third place on the track.

Fernando Alonso finished fourth for Renault, ahead of Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica.

Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais finished seventh, with Red Bull's Mark Webber claiming the final Championship point.

Timo Glock had finished eighth on the track but the Toyota driver was also handed a 25-second penalty for making an illegal move on the Australian driver.

The race was pretty much a 'must win' for Raikkonen, whose chances of successfully defending his title have been slipping away throughout the summer.

Without a win since the Spanish Grand Prix at the end of April, he nevertheless came to Spa in the knowledge that he had won there three times in a row.

And for the majority of the race's 44 laps it appeared as though Raikkonen would extend his dominant run.

With Hamilton leading off the line on a damp track, McLaren team-mate Heikki Kovalainen made an awful start, the Finn dropping down from third place to 13th.

Massa also slithered wide at La Source, allowing Raikkonen up to second and when Hamilton spun at the same corner one lap later, the opportunity to take the lead presented itself.

Although Hamilton initially regained the lead, Raikkonen's momentum was such that he had caught the McLaren through Eau Rouge, before making the pass round the outside into Les Combes.

He edged away to build a lead that stood at 5.8 seconds by half-distance, but Hamilton managed to close the gap when both drivers made their second and final pit stops at the end of lap 25.

With both cars now running on harder compound tyres, Hamilton suddenly appeared to have the edge and Raikkonen's lead came down to 1.8s with 13 laps to go.

But for the gathering clouds, Raikkonen would likely have held on for a victory which would have given his Championship challenge renewed momentum.

Instead, he fell victim to what appeared a lottery - the inability of the current breed of F1 car to handle extreme conditions writ almost comically large as the World's best drivers were suddenly made to appear mortal.

As the rain started to fall, Hamilton homed in on Raikkonen and committed the move for which he was later penalised.


Chaos


Forced to hand the lead back to his rival, Hamilton soon darted past again at La Source, with chaos predictably ensuing as the conditions worsened.

All of a sudden cars seemed to be spinning left, right and centre and, trying to avoid Nico Rosberg's spinning Williams, both Hamilton and Raikkonen lost and regained the lead once more before the latter's shunt.

Despite Raikkonen's late retirement, Ferrari still lead the Constructors' Championship over McLaren after Kovalainen failed to finish.

The Finn's afternoon hardly improved after his tardy getaway and, attempting to climb back through the field, he received a drive-through penalty after a collision with the sixth-placed Webber on lap 11.

Sunday's amended result means that, with five races remaining, Hamilton now leads Massa by just two points in the Drivers' Championship, with Kubica climbing to third place, albeit 22 points off the pace.

Raikkonen now stands fourth, one point adrift of Kubica, and, more crucially, 17 points behind Massa: will Ferrari now decide to throw their full support behind the Brazilian?


Review Here!

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX images - Sunday in Spa | MORE HERE!


Belgian Grand Prix atmosphere | MORE HERE!

After 13 races the Drivers and Teams Standings are:


DRIVERS:







TEAMS: