In the round-up: Honda’s Yusuke Hasegawa admits that the engine supplier should not have given the okay for Fernando Alonso to attempt a qualifying run after problems in free practice.
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Links
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Honda confirms new Alonso engine after qualifying 'mistake' (Motorsport.com)
"We thought we could do it, and take a risk to join qualifying. Actually my judgement was a mistake and it was not good, so we have to change the engine for tomorrow."
Vettel Q&A: Teams in the dark about rivals' pace (Formula1.com)
"I was honestly surprised that Mercedes were not much faster today on the supersoft tyres. Although what that means for the race is hard to say, because a lot of people did lots of different things in the last two days."
How Mercedes is recapturing the FRIC effect (Autosport (premium))
"A part that probably won't be used this weekend is also worth a look."
Button considering other options in F1 - and elsewhere (Fox Sports)
"But whether I am here or not, we will see in the next few weeks. My aim has always been to be able to win races in F1, and if this is not possible for me I will go and do something else."
Former race engineers say Kimi Raikkonen deserves 2017 seat (Autoweek)
"From the outside, Kimi does not seem to have changed from the driver I knew from nine years ago. He has always been able to do great results when the car and the conditions suit him."
Jenson Button pleased with qualifying display (BBC)
"Toto Wolff: (Stoffel Vandoorne) deserves a seat in F1. If guys like Stoffel don't come into F1, the system is wrong."
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Very happy starting P2 in Spa in front of all my fans! Big motivation to push for a great race. #bestfans #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/NyhAdhbdY2
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) August 27, 2016
A bit disapointed to end up been so close to Q2, but there will be lots of opportunities tomorrow at the GP👊😉! @F1 pic.twitter.com/JKf3fAmvK3
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) August 27, 2016
SPY: Not everyone is captivated by Allan’s insightful post quali delivery…#RBspy 🕵 #F1 pic.twitter.com/yitMEkYsnH
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) August 27, 2016
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Esteban Gutierrez was awarded a five-place grid penalty for impeding Pascal Wehrlein in final practice, but did he deserve it? @thegianthogweed disagrees…
I disagree that Wehrlein was forced onto the grass. He simply wasn’t. Gutierrez was in the wrong again but Wehrlein made it look a huge amount more dramatic and dangerous than necessary. Wehrlein could see that Gutierrez was in a very inconvenient place. However, he could have braked instead of only lifting off slightly and choosing to go on the grass. There was another more sensible option such as going around the outside of him. I know Gutierrez should have moved but Wehrlein made a rather big deal about it. It looked nowhere near as bad as what Verstappen did to Bottas in practice in Canada. That was much worse and Verstappen only got a reprimand. Verstappen was on a warm up lap going very slowly on a bend that was blind to Bottas (Bottas was on a fast lap). Verstappen didn’t even seem to move off the racing line as Bottas suddenly came up behind him and Bottas pretty much had no choice but to drive off the track as he had only just seen Verstappen and was going round a tight bend.
What Gutierrez was clearly doing yet another thing that was against the rules but I think he should just get a reprimand at max as Wehrlein didn’t really need to make it look as bad as it was. It only looked dangerous because of Wherlein driving onto the grass. As I said, I’m pretty sure he could have avoided that.
@thegianthogweed
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On this day in F1
Championship leader Damon Hill learned he was being dropped by his Williams team on this day 20 years ago.
Corey (@dragon86)
28th August 2016, 0:15
I like Fernando’s grid. Can we go with it?
ColdFly F1 (@)
28th August 2016, 9:09
Great post by Alonso. He still seems to have fun.
Biggsy
28th August 2016, 0:15
And what about Ocon getting in the way of one of the Saubers big time! Just in front of the last chicane, he parked his car on the outside, forcing the Sauber to take the inside line into the corner, which is of course absolutely what you do NOT want to do.
W-K (@w-k)
28th August 2016, 0:47
If we are to fully believe Toto’s comment on junior drivers replacing present day drivers, then why did he decide to keep Nico Rosberg and not promote Pascal Wehrlein?
Neil (@neilosjames)
28th August 2016, 2:02
I saw an interview of his on Sky in the qualifying show, he gave the impression he thought junior drivers needed at least a couple of years F1 experience before they’d be considered for the Mercedes team. But I’m not sure what else he’s been saying.
Daniel
28th August 2016, 4:48
Rosberg is performing pretty well, except when compared to Hamilton, but I’m sure he would beat most of the grid on equal cars, so there’s no need to promote a young promising but unproven talent like Ocon or Wehrlein. It’s not like Red Bull, who knew they were throwing points away with Kvyat.
Steven Robertson (@emu55)
28th August 2016, 11:31
Plus going into the 2017 regulation changes, it’s better to have consistency in the team. With the link between feedback from the drivers and how the engineers interpret it.
Karthik Mohan
28th August 2016, 6:01
Alonso, what have you done? Now that tweet will convince Bernie to go ahead with the reverse grid idea for 2017!
Palle (@palle)
28th August 2016, 11:01
Alonso has just realized that “reverse grid” is his only chance of a front row start in a McHonda:-)
joe jopling (@jop452)
28th August 2016, 8:59
Allonso has added to his 35 grid penalty…with 22 cars on the grid….How stupid is that comment!!!!
Looking at Alonso when he was attaching the steering wheel yesterday…..I thought his body language said have had enough of this…..thehonda engine may get quicker, but it will be a long time before it is reliable……
He stands a better chance at Renault
Markp
28th August 2016, 11:01
He gave McLaren a 2nd go, he gave Renault a 2nd go, continue the ppattern and give Ferrari another go…..please.
Sviat
28th August 2016, 11:19
First, I think that Honda’s power unit is a huge mistake. Second, I recall that last year some fans told that if Hulk doesn’t get a top seat after his maiden win in LeMans, then F1/the system is wrong.
I think we can watch F1 without Stoffel. He should drive in some other racing series, because F1 is no good.
Palmer
28th August 2016, 11:51
Poor McLaren fans…once the biggest UK F1 team (alongside Williams). And look where they are now…obliged to support a German team!