Formula 1 2018 Johnnie Walker Belgian Grand PrixFormula 1
- Thread starter Dennisch
- 104 comments
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- 29,311
- Glasgow
- GTP_Mars
- 3,151
- Idaho Falls, ID
- JakeDog23
Actually it was the rear wing of LeClerc that took the bite out of Alonso’s car
- 20,681
- TenEightyOne
- TenEightyOne
Looks to me like Alonso's front wheel was heading into LeClerc's head - anyone agree?
It's astonishing how much energy LeClerc's spinning (ie rotating under power) rear wheel transferred into Alonso's car, that's pretty much what ate the side away and launched him. Without that it would have been a relatively simple flat-on-the-track collision.
- 332
- Bristow, VA
- spacecowboy73
- spacecowboy73
Yeah after the first few times I watched the incident I thought there wouldn't have been any contact to LeClerc's helmet but once I saw the footage from Hartley's onboard camera I noticed where Alonso's right front was going and it wouldn't have been good. I thought it was interesting how the strength of the Halo cause the suspension to break.
- 23,979
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Don't know quite what it is about la Source at Spa that creates these incidents so regularly. Yes it's probably a tighter first corner than most circuits, but the run down to it is also very short so the speed they arrive at is slower.
I think maybe it is that short run to the braking point that is the main culprit. Cars are still on a steep acceleration curve at the breaking point so reaction times become paramount and slight distractions can cause pile-ups before you know it.
The only other circuit i can think of with a similarly tight first turn is the Nurburgring GP layout. Perhaps not quite as tight, but you have the added difficulty of heading quite steeply down hill just prior to it. The fact that the run-up is longer so the cars have reached a more plateaued acceleration level might be a factor.
I think maybe it is that short run to the braking point that is the main culprit. Cars are still on a steep acceleration curve at the breaking point so reaction times become paramount and slight distractions can cause pile-ups before you know it.
The only other circuit i can think of with a similarly tight first turn is the Nurburgring GP layout. Perhaps not quite as tight, but you have the added difficulty of heading quite steeply down hill just prior to it. The fact that the run-up is longer so the cars have reached a more plateaued acceleration level might be a factor.
- 23,979
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
A lot of races there, including the club-level races we did, were all rolling starts. Which is quite unusual. As races at Spa tend have large fields - allowed by being a relatively long circuit, for any traditional standing start race the cars at the sharper end of the field will have been stood on the grid, tyres and brakes getting cooler and cooler, whilst the tail end gets in position. Hence, i imagine, the reason for the rolling starts.
- 1,970
- United Kingdom
That will always be the most difficult thing to convey to a TV audience at least: the physics.
It's like when you see slow motion shots of the cars riding over kerbs or getting sideways through corners, and either the tyres or wings oscillate wildly: the naive response would be that the cars are therefore flimsy, brittle pieces of work.
Try to make the wing or tyre deflect the way it did on TV with nothing but your bare hands, and it's impossible.
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