Car & Bike Force India goes P1 in Belgium !

[vb86]

Best Result of this season for me. Was rooting for a good result for Force India and Kimi.

I am glad Force India came through this time because in the past either they screwed up or got screwed somehow. Till a week back they didn't have a single point but now they have got a pole position and a podium finish in the bag.

It was really nice to see Kimi smile for once. Fantastic start and great driving. Please give some tips to Luca if he is still racing (sorry testing if it runs) for Ferrari in the next race.

Fisi in the interview said he deserved to win because he had a faster car than Kimi, wonder what Vettel should have said. Also, Kimi might have overtaken Fisi in the first lap itself if Rubens didn't have a sloppy start. Plus I have seen a lot of drivers pull this trick in the safety car's in lap they slow down extremely for the last corner and just rocket off, Fisi should have used this trick.

Force India must really think of Kimi as their worst nightmare don't they?

Good drive by Barichello as well glad he could hold on.

can you please point me to the link where fisi said that he deserved to win? from what i can see, he said that he is sad that he couldnt win inspite of having a faster car. that honestly is quite different from what you said.

Of course, obviously it is great result for us. The important target was to score even a point and to finish second with eight points is a great result. It's a great day, but actually, you know, I was quicker than Kimi. He could overtake just because of KERS at the beginning of the race, at the restart after the safety car, and I am a little bit sad for that because I was quicker than him. I was keeping his pace, even behind his car. We did exactly the same strategy race, so it is great because I finished second just one second from the leader which is a great result for us but actually we could have won the race.

 

[prabs]

Was Kimi's move on the outside and joining in at second after the first corner on the first lap legal?

Well I guess I mistook 'could have' to be 'should have'. My apologies.

 

[vb86]

^^ No worries..

Regarding the first corner, it's debatable. I would say that Kimi successfully managed to exploit the run off area, and he has done so in the past too at spa. The FIA has left a concrete run-off area instead of a gravel run-off area. I think the reason for that is the first corner being too close to the start. Spa in general has very generous run-off areas.

As far as gaining an advantage goes, remember, he didn't cut a corner. On the contrary, he actually took a longer route which is also dirtier. Yes, I do agree that he had more momentum out of the corner though.

Going by the rules as mentioned below, and knowing that Kimi did gain from the run-off area, I guess he deserves to be penalised (although I hate to admit it):

Apendix "L"

CHAPTER IV - CODE OF DRIVING CONDUCT ON CIRCUITS

c) The race track alone shall be used by the drivers during the

race. Drivers must use the track at all times. For the avoidance of

doubt:

- the white lines defining the track edges are considered to be

part of the track but the kerbs are not, and ;

- a driver will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car

remains in contact with the track.

Should a car leave the track for any reason, and without

prejudice to 2(d) below, the driver may rejoin. However, this may

only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any

advantage.

 

[prabs]

Well, I don't think the stewards are going to take any action now, they could have handed a drive through or a stop-go penalty to Kimi during the race if they wanted to.

Not to mention he had to take a left at the start of the race to avoid running into Rubens.

I hope no one cries fowl now after all Hammy did the same 2 years back and wasn't punished.

He could have won last year's race as well. That would make it 5 out of 5.

 

[vb86]

afaik, kimi intentionally went went off the track. he could have easily stayed on track. like i said, kimi has done it in the past too and it has worked, so i dont think there's any reason for him to get penalised this time, specially since the stewards haven't said anything till now. they're obvously not gonna look into it unless someone else raises the issue.

 

[prabs]

Well Force India is too happy to complain and Lewis and the others were not there till the end of race to complain.
Vettel and Barichello are the only people who can gain something extra for their championship battle from this but it is a see-saw situation for them, if Vettel complains he gets 2 points more but does Rubens gets 1, if Rubens complains then Red Bull gets 2 extra points and he gets just 1. The person who can gain the most is Vettel.