Rate the race: 2017 Belgian Grand Prix

2017 Belgian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Belgian Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

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What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

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This poll has now closed. The 2017 Belgian Grand Prix was given an average score of 7.25 out of ten.

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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129 comments on “Rate the race: 2017 Belgian Grand Prix”

  1. 7/10, decent race, had a few moments of excitement but it was an average race.

    1. +1 Can’t add much more, plenty of little things to enjoy but nothing hugely memorable.

      1. Same score. This was a race some people found boring but the contenders did engage, we had home race drama, suprises, dumb (….), other drama because of that, and quite some fine entertainment without rain. It wasn’t that great but these days many races are a 5 but I actually enjoyed this one quite well. You could say a 6 but then again Ocon and Perez are filling in for Sainz and MC Torpedo and that crash could’ve been much worse so there is enough entertainment for me.

    2. I actually think it had quite a lot of moments. And the tense battle between Hamilton and Vettel was great to enjoy IMO.

      Another account of infuriatingly inconsistant penalties however did ruin it a bit for me. Perez got 5 seconds for missing the corner after passing, so far so good. But why on earth did he not get any penalty at all for pushing Ocon into the wall? Compare that with Verstappen getting a 10 sec stop and go in Hungary!

      But overall, I really enjoyed this race.

    3. +1 i had to pink and tear when i saw Max dropping out but after that the race really started!

  2. Utterly boring.

    1. Unfortunately, yes. Ferrari didn’t have the pace to attack. Verstappen robbed of another podium by Red Bull.

      Only excitement came from Perez.

    2. Totally agree.
      Boring and could have been so much more fun with some rain. As even Spa doesn’t get some rain ….

      Of course the DNF of VER was a shame and took the pleasure out of it for many spectators at the circuit and around the world. RIC got an other podium that should not be for him.

      I think this in not helping RB to keep him after next year. And Ferrari keeps the door open with that 1 year extension for RAI.

      1. Man I felt bad for Max dropping out AGAIN through no fault of his own, while f.i. Lewis and Sebastian have had no DNF at all this year.
        But Daniel did the right thing and deserved to be on the podium.

        Kimi did himself in by not slowing down at all at the yellow flags – and why? He wasn’t under threat by Ricciardo nor able to fight Bottas? He could have stopped, wait a couple of seconds and get going again and still hold position.
        He chose to power on not lifting at all. At a double yellow. Less than one year after Nicogate. Not smart.

        Valtteri did a Valtteri – braking early for the corner after the restart, otherwise he would have been side to side with Ricciardo taking the inside line of the first corner of the chicane.
        He might have pulled it off anyway had not Kimi chosen to dive up on the inside; hemmed in by Daniel and Kimi, the line to the apex blocked, he had to hold back and fall behind Daniel while Kimi could power past unhindered.
        In hindsight he should have held the inside, forcing Kimi behind Daniel and getting the benefit of the second corner. He would have held 4th at least.

        I’m happy for Daniel to score another podium.
        Max’s speed looks ominous enough, when his luck turns Daniels days in the sun may be numbered. This is the first year ever that Daniels teammate beat him at qualifying for more than 7 times – and the year is barely past the halfway point! Max has led Daniel on more than 75% of the laps they raced together – this race added 7 more laps to that tally.
        But the final tally is points, not potential.
        Hungary may have left a bad feeling, but Lady Luck has clearly chosen her favorite among the two; Daniel has no reason to complain, and he no doubt is very aware of that. It is not his fault that Max got sideswiped again. He just did what he needed to do, getting the best result possible.

        Bonus points for leaving out the shoey. The joke had become a foot-in-mouth. Mark Webber had no intention to drink sweat on his birthday, and thankfully he got spared.

    3. I pretty much agree with that evaluation. It wasn’t the worst by any means (I didn’t fall asleep like I often do), but it’s clear that the inability to follow really ruined this race. For the most part the race was quite predictable.

  3. Hamilton didn’t win his engine did.

    1. So why didn’t valteri’s engine place him alongside Lewis?

      1. It’s the Hamilton clause of the FIA sporting regulations:

        Anything Hamilton accomplishes is due to luck and overwhelming superiority of equipment.

        Anything Valterri (or any other driver racing against Hamilton) accomplishes, is because of skill and talent.

        Example: In 306 races, Schumacher scored 68 pole positions, because of his skill, talent, and dedication. In 200 races, Hamilton scored 68 pole positions, because his car was better than everyone else’s.

        1. Yes, that is correct.

    2. @philby Duh, it’s not a foot race, it a M-o-t-o-r race. As in all the competitors drive cars with engines in them. So of course the engine played a huge part. Have a carrot for discovering that gem. Who knew?

      1. “all the competitors drive cars with engines in them” stupidest argument ever. As if all these engines are equal. The 2 decisive moments Vettel pulled alongside the Mercedes grunt made sure he couldn’t overtake.

        1. I am crying here, because Vettel couldn’t overtake. What a mess. Valtteri, shame on you, you don’t deserve mercedes.

          – ‘That was close, ha?’
          – ‘I lifted’.
          – ‘Whaa?’

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            27th August 2017, 16:51

            Hamilton’s messing with him – he got 15 poles in the last laps of the race bringing his pole count to 83! The adrenaline was so high that it took him forever to cool down.

    3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      27th August 2017, 16:48

      @philby actually, Hamilton won. The car with any other driver would have lost both this race and the WCC and WDC.

    4. If we can believe the guy who lost that battle @philby, it was his own mistake that helped Hamilton keep ahead. Fearing to be too far behind, he actually was too close to get a good run of speed to overtake – said that right after the race!

      So in other words, the engine was not the deciding factor, it was just that Vettel made a small mistake that allowed Hamilton to use the advantage of a good engine to stay ahead.

      1. Yes, definitely. I saw it happen and felt Vettel came up too close for comfort. A tad more distance through Eau Rouge and he could have maintained his speed and get a perfect tow.

        But isn’t that one aspect that makes Spa one of the greatest tracks, if not the greatest of all. Even when the cars change and are now able to go flat out through Eau Rouge and Pouhon it still requires an almost insane level of skill to get the most out of it.

        This should be a stark reminder to not dismiss Palmer just yet.
        He was best of the rest all weekend until he hit technical problems, and the fix apparently did not work out; but to be fast at Spa, even if it did not last, tells you who is the real deal.

    5. For me Hamilton drove a faultless race, most of the race any mistake at all and Vettel would have been on him.

  4. 8/10 old school F1 race with Hamilton and Vettel in a class of two and flat out for the whole race. Reminds me of F1 in the pre DRS days.

    Superb battle between Vettel and Hamilton for the whole race.

    1. And yet, robbed of a proper battle by the NEW F1 and its reliance on aero. Get rid of the aero and we’ll see those proper old school battles again. Just like in Hungary, the cars can’t follow and its blatantly obvious. Until F1 fixes it, we are just going to continue to see these potential epic battles ruined by their in ability to follow closely.

      1. @boombazookajd Can’t say I disagree with that view at all! Hopefully the over large, over complex front wings will get fixed for the next major regs overhaul.

        1. @ju88sy I don’t know how far one needs to go to strip the cars of reliance on aero. Certainly Brawn does but is he willing/capable of changing the sport in a healthy and exciting way? Who knows. I won’t be surprised if F1 goes to joker laps and sprinklers before is addresses the obvious issues, aero and tires.

          The cars cant follow and the tires don’t let them push. I wanted to see Hamilton fight off Seb or Seb battle Lewis and over take, something epic for this generation of cars and F1…maybe something like Lewis and Nico in Bahrain, but alas, the race ended in an utter whimper.

      2. I agree.
        Vettel seemed not able to close the gap enough even to get DRS.

  5. For the most part a bit boring-ish race, but thanks to the FI-drivers it got a bit more exciting towards the end.

  6. GtisBetter (@)
    27th August 2017, 14:17

    apart from perez trying to kill ocon twice and some good action after the safety car restart, a pretty straight forward affair.

    1. Obviously you mean thanks to Ocon running into his team mate twice, there is something to get excited about.

      1. I’d say one and one.

      2. GtisBetter (@)
        27th August 2017, 14:30

        I thought the first time was an accident, cause Perez was in a sandwich, but he did the same the second time. Ocon just drove straight and there was room until Perez decided not to give him any. I’d say Perez is losing it.

        1. Yes, I was just getting the conversation started. The 1st collision looked like a race accident as Perez had a car on the outside. The 2nd time Perez was also in a straight line, it’s the track limit that’s curved. I wouldn’t say Perez is losing it, as he was consistently faster than Ocon and overtook him, despite a time penalty.

          1. GtisBetter (@)
            27th August 2017, 14:53

            But you have to consider. Firstly they are team mates. Secondly, Perez has a 5 sec penalty, so he know he is losing the place anyway, cause Ocon had fresh tyres and third, he knew that Ocon was there and could move over, but decided not too. All this makes me wonder if the internal team battle is taking over (for both obviously, cause with DRS Ocon could have him more easily later)

          2. Ocon’s car had the advantage on the straight with the higher top speed. Perez did right to protect his position. Ocon should know better than to stick his car there. If Ocon had some brains he should have overtaken him on the straight with his top speed.

            So stupid move by Ocon. In contrast Hulk would do a better job in these type of situations with Perez.

          3. Did Perez serve the 5 second penalty before the incident?

          4. Classic Male Dominance battle. One says, ‘I am the team leader
            and I will show you how to do it, boy ‘…….etcetera….
            Two says, ‘I’m better than you, faster than you, just watch me
            and move over fast, boy ! ‘ etcetera…….

            We’ve had quite a lot of these in the past. One remembers a vertically
            airborne Mark Webber after he and Vettel decided the other driver was in
            his way, and Hamilton and Rosberg deciding that they each owned the
            piece of tarmac the other guy was on. And thousands of other similar
            incidents down the years. Wish I was a carbon fibre manufacturer.

            You can imagine the scenes in the locked back office in the pits.
            Oh wow…..! ‘Rule one, don’t under any circumstances, take out
            or damage your team mate…..’ ‘But it was ALL his fault’
            ‘No, it was all your fault’ and so on and on and on……

            Merely aspects of F1 in 2017, guys.

        2. Too bad we weren’t shown the whole pass, re-pass, entanglement to have a full picture

        3. As much as I would like to see Ocon do well, I was amazed that he did not opt to drop back behind Perez on the second occasion. Because by doing so you get the perfect draft to pass him on the Kemmel straight.
          Yes, you may choose to go through Eau Rouge side by side. But you have to be on the level with the other car or it would end in tears. So bad judgment by Ocon in my book.

          Then, Perez should have known his teammate was there. He could easily have left him enough space, but no more than that, going into Eau Rouge. Ocon would not have been able to negotiate Eau Rouge at full speed being blocked off by more than a cars width of the racing line, and Perez would have all the right in the world to hold that line. Instead he chose to squeeze the gap to less than a cars width, got his rear tire slashed and his choice on a points finish evaporated.

          The stewards did wise to stay away from this one. But both drivers have slashed their market value considerably today.

  7. DRS utterly ruined that race for me.

    There was some fantastic slipstreaming, overtaking & wheel to wheel racing on the laps before DRS was enabled but sadly as soon as DRS was turned on we lost that & it turned into a boringly simple DRS-fest.

    The fight at the front was fun but the ease of the passing DRS created just took me out of the race a lot.

    6/10.

    1. its not just DRS, its the over reliance on aero. Those two things, combined with the conservative approach to the tires by Pirelli caused an epic race to end in an utterly bland fart. Personally, I was so excited to see that safety car, I knew we had the recipe for an epic battle between two of the finest drivers in F1. In the end, we saw how big of an impact dirty air has on cars, so much so not a single top 5 car was able to mount a charge on the car in front.

    2. Battle between Massa and Vandorne is not something you should focus mate.

  8. Also enjoyed Verstappen’s DNF one year after we witnessed what a bad sportsman is. The final thing is that Bottas cemented his no 2 status. He came fifth in a trouble free race in the fastest car.

    1. Did you cry of happiness?

      1. No but I was close.

        1. Kimi proved that he is number 3.

    2. Guess you also enjoyed the punishment for Raikkonen, a year after he proved what a bad sportsman he is, right?

      1. Kimi has had his share of bad luck and is by far a better sportsman than Verstappen.

        1. Without Verstappen F1 will be 50% more boring. So, with Kimi retiring and giving his place to younger ones will make F1 25% more interesting.

          1. Max hasn’t been involved in half the races and I think we’re doing just fine.

            Don’t mean to hate on him but come on, 50%?

    3. I enjoyed that it very much myself. That’s what you get for using your car as a weapon.

  9. 8/10. Very gripping affair. LH is deservedly the driver of the day. Can’t believe this is the 1st time he has won the official vote this year

  10. Usual dry SPA GP, not bad not great, particular of the hybrid era that SPA is not as good for the show as it usually is, it used to be a track back in 08 where the whole grid was within 1.5 s but today it’s very power dependant. Racing wise, as fuel burns, cars go much quicker generate lots more downforce and also dirty air.
    7

    On Raikkonen, he was probably the only unlucky car to get the double yellow, obviously Ham and Vet were well ahead meaning they only went past the incident a lap after and Daniel had already passed Max whilst this was slowing down.

    1. @peartree The double yellow’s were there the next lap after Max had slowed/stopped so everyone went through them at least once.

      According to Paul Di Resta who looked over the OnBoard footage on Sky the other front runners all noticeably lifted for the yellow’s, Kimi stayed flat.

      1. no one to blame but Kimi himself. He didn’t lift, and pretty much admitted so on the radio.

      2. @stefmeister Didn’t know that. I agree with the penalty, you can’t ignore the meaning of a double yellow though the double yellow period should have terminated sooner, Kimi and Massa did know that and thus why they took the risk Max’s car was safe, anyway rules are rules and this is what the stewards should do, but they can’t they can’t do anything right, enforce the rules consistently, don’t know why Massa didn’t get the penalty in-race

  11. We got a tight race. Not a lot of wheel to wheel action but still plenty for a fan to enjoy. A game of cat and mouse between the top two and a few special moments that genuinely had me on the edge of my seat 7/10

    1. cat and mouse when the mouse carries a wall of dirty air behind it that the cat can’t or won’t go through to cat said mouse.

      1. That’s F1 and next to most tracks on the calendar the tow effect nicely balances out the dirty air. Hamilton was just timing the lap to have the gap where he needed it and being brave under braking at the end of the Kemmel straight.

      2. So Vettel couldn’t overtake even with a faster tyre and you are crying on every post about aero.

  12. 5/10. Belgian GP used to be the highlight of the season, but it looks like it doesn’t suit the modern F1. Such a shame.

  13. Really torn on this one as while I really enjoyed the scrap for the win between Hamilton/Vettel, the fact many of the passes during the race were made really easy due to DRS took a big chunk of my enjoyment away as I just don’t enjoy watching that sort of ‘racing’.

    The fact that after the initial start & again after the safety car when DRS was disabled we saw some really great racing with cars side-by-side down to Les Combes doesn’t help because it reminds me of just how much DRS isn’t needed at Spa.

    Think i’ll give it 7/10 all things considered.

  14. Nerves racking race, the way HAM resisted VET charges on US was mighty, it’s a real testimonial if needed of the driver’s calibre, I honestly taught he was going to lose the race after the SC, really a super drive.

    1. Clearly you have no idea how these cars work. Hamilton didn’t hold off Seb because Seb was never able to mount a proper charge. Why do you think every car in the top 5 was separated by 1 second or thereabout? It’s because these cars carry a wake that is quite literally a wall that a following car cannot or will not attempt to break because the front end washes away.

      Truly we were robbed of a real race and I promise you, if those cars didn’t carry the aero they do, Lewis would have had a proper fight. Whether or not he would have prevailed, I won’t comment on but being on Softs he shouldn’t have stood a chance. The tires are too conservative and the cars too aero dependent.

      1. @boombazookajd will have Plamer prevailed in such scenario ?

        1. @abdelilah What does Palmer have to do with this? I’m speaking about Lewis and Sebastian. Perhaps we should focus on the topic at hand, not randomly inserting drivers into this scenario. We are talking about a battle between two world champions, not a driver who barely deserves to have a drive.

          1. @boombazookajd well Palmer serves here as an example, I’m not off topic, the invisible dirty air wall was proven Beatles by Lewis, do you remember Spain where Lewis overtook Vettel on merit ? HAM’s drive was superior all the week end along, it wasn’t solely the engine but the driver did an amazing job, just be honest and accept it and don’t deny the guy his talent.

        2. Marian Gri (@)
          27th August 2017, 15:38

          Who’s Palmer?!

          1. @abdelilah I am not denying Hamilton his talent, so come off it. You don’t need to defend him at every turn. We were robbed of an epic duel, one we as a fan base have been yearning for all year long. This was set to be a firecracker that truly ended in a thud. Had Lewis fended off Seb at the end, fair play and I respect Lewis on track as much as any of the champs, he’s earned it.

            However, one must also admit that these cars are designed in the absolute worst way for tracks like Spa that feature these medium to high speed corners; the following car cannot pass. And Hamilton overtook Vettel with DRS, not “on merit”. It was a highway pass that Vettel could do nothing about.

            Again, you are only serving to make my point for me. Which, seeing your Hamilton fanhood is;

            Hamilton isn’t a bad driver, he’s a great one and two great drivers deserve to go head to head without having to deal with the wall of dirty air that prevents them from racing. Hamilton experienced it in Hungary, unable to get close enough to Raikkonen to mount a proper threat.

            Did you notice how every single driver in the top 5 was separated by the exact same margin? The same margin that kept them out of the dirty air and also out of DRS. If the cars can’t get close, they can’t race, nor pass, and all we are left with is a very, very over engineered parade.

      2. @boombazzokajd *yawn* still going on about this? So it’s impossible for Vettel to attempt an overtake, but Kimi and DR can manage it *at the same time*?

        With all your complaints about aero, you’ve not once suggested an actual fix. How do you get rid of turbulent air while still maintaining downforce?

    2. Marian Gri (@)
      27th August 2017, 15:45

      It has a great driver by HAM, no doubt, but the car is top notch too. He was on Softs after the SC, yeah, but he was lapping faster than VET on Ultras, setting some FL. BOT was lapping well too. Come on, it’s the driver too, but mostly it’s the car. I mean, after the SC retired, HAM was suddenly lapping 2sec faster on Softs than his best time on Ultras! Something’s unusual here, the Softs were faster than Ultras for Mercedes.

      1. Well, of course Hamilton was going faster on the softs after the SC than when he was on the ultras at the start. He had left fuel in his car, and therefore weighed a lot less (~40kg?).

    3. @abdelilah The last 10 laps taught us that on low fuel, the now much quicker cars produce so much downforce and dirty air that no one passed nobody.

  15. Pretty tense, some proper mistakes and some pretty hard (intra team) battles, once again a depressing affair for Max (thank you Renault for ruining race day for 80000 fans) and Fernando, Luckyardo on the podium; it all computes to a 7.

    1. Not sure we can blame Renault for that. We don’t know the official cause yet. It could have been a software issue caused by any number of reasons. It was however very sad to see Max pull over in front of the fans, he definitely deserves more than to retire from 6 of 12 races.

      1. I stand corrected if it’s not a Renault issue, but I’m gonna put my money on it. :D

    2. @murph @boombazookajd According to Christian Horner it was a failure in the 4th cylinder.

      1. @stefmeister Thank you. I was not informed yet.

        1. Lol, probably the easiest bet ever ;-)

  16. 7/10, boy the merc on soft vs ferrari on ultras sure looked exciting. Apart from that Perez really hates Ocon.

  17. Don’t blame DRS, or Hamiltons engine. That race was an utter let down. We were robbed of an epic battle because of these cars disgusting reliance on aero. Not a single car in the top five was within a second of the car in front nor mounted any serious push for an overtake. The finishing order was determined as soon as these cars fell in line.

    The tires are constructed entirely wrong. The Ultra’s are not near fast enough. Lewis should have never been able to hold off a car with Ultra’s strapped on. The difference should be night and day between the Soft and Ultra.

    Seb couldn’t get within a second and that became evident immediately after Seb took a slot behind Lewis and fell behind.

    As for the race, hats off to the Force India pair for giving us some action in this snooze fest. Thanks to Alonso for putting his pit wall in timeout.

    All in all, another Spa snooze fest that could have been so much more. Then again, how many times have we said that? F1 will never see proper racing again until they pull the dependence on nice clean air off the cars and force the teams to build racing machines, not upside down airplanes.

    1. @boombazookajd I don’t think the dirty/turbulent air was that big of an issue as I saw plenty of cars able to follow one another very closely from the various onboard camera i had access to on the sky app.
      yes vettel didn’t manage to get close to lewis but there were a lot of cars running very closely through the middle sector behind those 2.

      and if you get rid of the aero you end up with much slower cars and i personally dont want that, i really like the extra performance of the 2017 cars & the fact there pushing drivers again. the slower cars of the past 10-15 years have been boring to watch as there several seconds off the lap records from the 2004 era.

      if you can reduce aero while maintaining current levels of performance fine but if reducing aero means much slower cars then i don’t think it will be the right thing to do.

      1. exactly. They could follow…. they didn’t pass anywhere except for Kemmel and DRS or the entrance to Les Combes. Who cares if they follow?? It’s about overtaking, and other than the DRS passes, there was none of it. The turbulence and over-reliance on clean air is killing this sport.

    2. Stop the moaning. Vettel lost, live with it.

  18. 8 for me….Vettel and Hamilton in a different race to the others….the tension was there throughout…gripping stuff…Bottas did enough to make sure he would have to help his teammate for the rest of the season, for definite, and also possibly to lose that seat for next year….very poor drive and no backup for Lewis at all( and Verstappen might be available now) and even Toto said Bottas was poor today …
    Bring on next week

  19. DRS and dirty air. Sums up what’s wrong with F1. 6/10

    1. yes! thank you!

  20. Bit on the dull side. Vettel & Hamilton in a class of their own but the Mercedes clearly is a better car/engine. A matter of tenths better, but better nonetheless. The rules really need to address the wake created by these cars as watching them close up but being unable to do anything is a bit silly. But a bland race really nothing really happened.

    Feels bad for Verstappen, Raikkonen deserved a penalty but nowhere near that harsh and Perez has no place complaining about Magnussen’s driving anymore.

  21. I couldn’t enjoy the race very much after Max retirement.

    It’s just too much this season

    Normally I can enjoy the race without Max but now my inner fanboy is too strong

    1. Felt completely the same.

      But I would have been focused when there was some real tension, but without rain, Spa isn’t that exiting any more.

  22. I liked: Competition on track all the way through the field and the safety car resulting in an exciting ending. Force India team imploding again.

    I disliked: DRS on the long straight, Alonso still driving a piece of garbage.

  23. Sadly a bore-fest. As much as I love the track, there were only three entertaining moments: The DRS-free scrap between Alonso and Hülkenberg in the first two laps, the clash of the Force India drivers, and the short moment after the flying restart, where it looked like the final part of the race could be exciting. But the dust settled so quickly that it was easy to forget that it had been kicked up in the first place.
    Apart from that, mainly easy DRS passes and a bit of strategy. This race could easily fit in a one-minute highlights video.
    4/10

  24. 8/10
    A race for the lead lasting the entire length of a GP. Hamilton Vs Vettel at my favorite race track…I am happy. Ricciardo on the podium is an added bonus. But as always, the heart wanted more:
    1. A bit more pace from Ferrari on the ultrasoft
    2. MaxV and Alonso getting good results. Sad to see such talents not completing a GP.

  25. Sviatoslav (@)
    27th August 2017, 14:56

    Gave it 8. A classical fight for the championship between two drivers.

  26. 7. Exciting last few laps made it worthwhile because there was a distinct possibility of some wheel banging between Lewis and Seb.
    So much for the ‘party animal’ not being focused on the job…that was one heck of a drive.

  27. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    27th August 2017, 15:01

    6/10.

  28. I quite enjoyed it. I think Lewis and Seb both dug deep in the closing laps. It wasn’t wheel to wheel but, given that on paper Seb should have had the tire advantage, I think a good performance. Plus, nice to see the biggest smile in sports on the podium.

  29. Between 6 and 7. Gave seven because Spa.

  30. Spa is normally one of my favourites, but not this time. Aero is killing the sport, the tyres are an artificial limiting factor, and Honda are a disgrace to the engineering world. TV coverage is not helpful — here in Canada, too much advertising (always at the wrong time.) Steward’s decisions perhaps not flat out wrong, but unhelpful, too late, too high, too low. Ricciardo’s smile saved the day.

    1. @paul-a

      Finally, someone who sees my point. The tires aren’t helping either. Ultra’s should blow softs out of the water, no matter what car the softs are on, Hamilton should have never stood a chance. No one should have been able to make Ultra’s last 15 or so laps at the beginning either.

      1. totaly agree, Aero and tyres are killing the sport. Another total bore! Every top driver catches the man in front then drops back to 2 seconds behind in order to conserve thier tyres to the end of the race. How can anyone find this exiting?
        Why cant they just fix this its so simple? Give them durable tyres they can actually race on and get rid of a bunch of aero. FFS!

  31. petebaldwin (@)
    27th August 2017, 15:55

    Overall I gave it a 5. The first 3 laps were as good as I can remember – some amazing racing including 3 wide going into Les Combes. It was absolutely breath-taking.

    Then DRS happened.

    Hamilton was lucky the Mercedes engine is so much better than the others because Vettel would have overtaken him at the 2nd re-start. He was much quicker until he pulled out of the slipstream and then Hamilton drove off again.

    1. He was forced to pull out of the slipstream because Lewis lifted on purpose. Damned smart move . Forced Vettel from taking full advantage of the stream. Just enough to hold station

    2. Seems odd you would attribute that to the engine and not Vettel/Ferrari’s decision to run more downforce than Merc.

  32. 9/10 This entire weekend had it all and the race did not disappoint. Legendary drive by Lewis in a must win race for him. What we are witnessing from Hamilton should not be taken for granted.

  33. The race itself fell a bit flat, we’ve been stuck on replay with races like today’s, Spain 2016, etc. The two cars in front are similar in speed, but can’t follow and/or attack for all the reasons known.

    Given that, there was a bunch of intrigue in the midfield at the beginning and end of the race and I quite enjoyed seeing Kimi go through the cars ahead of him and some nice 3-wide moves. That being said, I’m being very generous with a 7/10.

    Because I’m getting really frustrated with the lack of new race winners, race winners driving for another team than Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes, or even a wildcard podium…

  34. Anyone giving this race more than a 5 can only be voting for the result, the race was hugely dull, 2/10

    1. I watched moto2 and 3 before the F1 race, and had the entire race the feeling that they where just on a warming up lap.
      It all just looked so smooth easy and emotionless.

      This race and last race just proved that even for the top teams getting up to and follow is one thing, getting close and pass is just not possible anymore.

    2. @scuderia29 I think the race was pretty good, even if it wasn’t very spectacular. In the end Hamilton won, but it was by no means a foregone conclusion. Vettel came close to beating him.

    3. It’s a good thing F1Fanatic has so many wonderful people telling me what my opinions and, even more important, motivations for that opinion, are. Thank you for freeing me from independent thought @scuderia29

      1. @npf1Perez’s force india with a rear puncture at eau rouge appears more stable than you, you ok mate?

  35. You had to have a delta of two seconds or more to overtake, and with no surprises in qualifying (the cars being in the “correct” order), the race was unsurprisingly pretty boring. 5/10 from me.

  36. 3… another meh race…….. if it was not for the current points situation everyone will be crying about the poor races and yankie like situations as today’s safety car……………

  37. 3… another meh race…….. if it was not for the current points situation everyone will be crying about the poor races and Yankee like situations as today’s safety car……………

  38. 7/10. It was getting a 6 until the final battle for the lead after the safety car. A few interesting battles and incidents in the mid-field but not really all that much action at the front. It was fairly average until the safety car.

    Good drives by all the podium finishers. Ham and Vet were both on the limit in the last 8 laps and Ric really made the most of his opportunity. Something he is very adept at. I am not Vers biggest fan but I felt very sorry for him with a 6th DNF of the season if front of what is, in effect, his home crowd.

  39. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    27th August 2017, 21:36

    Gave it an 8. Vettel staying within 2 seconds of Hamilton all race at Spa was in itself unbelievable. A real good fight between our two contenders.

  40. I gave it a 4 and I was generous on it. This race proved that as long as your name is not HAM or VET, you’ll get a harsh penalty.
    So, what RAI did was equally dangerous with what VET did in Baku.
    So, PER being in front and cutting the chicane gained advantage and HAM last year in Mexico being in front and cutting a much bigger chicane did not gain advantage. Oh I forgot, it was “a small mistake” according to Mr. Whiting.

    Alright then.

    1. Marian Gri (@)
      28th August 2017, 7:46

      +1. The stewards even reckoned they don’t want to interfere with the title battle.

  41. 6/10…Ocon vs Checo, at least better than Mayweather vs McGregor

  42. For me the most boring Belgian gp for years . Few real overtakes and only minor drama. Zzzzz

  43. 5 from me, not great, not awful, but a message for Liberty media and Ross Brawn, FIA really did look like it stood for Ferrari International Assistance with that safety car circulating endlessly around long after the debris had been cleaned up and the marshalls were off the track, I very nearly turned off the tv and went to bed vowing never to watch F1 again, only a desire to see if Dan Ric could hold his 4th place kept me watching. Now that Bernie has finally gone (hurrah) my tolerance for championship manipulation is re-set to zero.

  44. Mark in Florida
    28th August 2017, 1:26

    Boring,boring,boring. The car in front won the race again. No passes for the lead,nothing. Force India supplied the only excitement in the race. Nando out again. Ferrari with no answer to Merc. This is getting old. These new cars make Spa boring. This was like watching a qualifying session that wouldn’t end. These bewinged golf carts just aren’t doing it for me anymore, I’ve tried to like them but after watching Schumacher and Montoya scream through Eau Rouge on Youtube it makes these cars look to tame.

  45. Aero and tyres are killing the sport. Another total bore! Every top driver catches the man in front then drops back to 2 seconds behind in order to conserve thier tyres to the end of the race. How can anyone find this exiting?
    Why cant they just fix this its so simple? Give them durable tyres they can actually race on and get rid of a bunch of aero. FFS!

  46. 8/10 Pretty much one of those great races on a sensational track.

    You know… Just like the races from “the good old days pre DRS” that all the keyboards warriors keep bemoaning.

    Lets be real here. How many races were as close fought as this one was in those good old days? Back then it was usually 1 or 2 drivers blasting off into the distance and the rest strung out just the same as it is today.

    The difference with yesterday’s race was that Vettel stayed close to Hamilton, a minor mistake from either and the result could have been different and Bottas and Kimi were also within range.

    Top race, add in a few intense squabbles further back and it made for an event worth watching.

    1. the top drivers were close but they never really challenged for position because they loose to much grip because of the aero disadvantage and the fact that challenging wrecks the tyres. There is no point because there is more to loose than gain. Vettel’s challenge on Hamilton was due to the organisers artificially trying to engineer some action with a ridiculously slow safety car. If that is the only way to make it interesting then something bad is wrong with the sport.

  47. 6/10

    The pre-race hype looks silly now.

  48. Thoroughly enjoyable for me. 9/10.

    There was real tension for the whole race as Hamilton and Vettel ran away from their team-mates. Hamiltons “trick” of lifting slightly to deny Vettel’s the full effect of the tow was a masterstroke – I thought that Vettel had done enough!

    Bottas was very disappointing. Slow in qualy. Slow in the race. Poor racecraft.

    Daniel was just cruising until the restart. Then he came alive. The way he overtook – and then sped away from – Bottas was seriously impressive. Max must be spitting chips!

    Kimi had a rare moment of genius (the overtake on Bottas). Perez and Occon made a great sub-plot to the race. Massa’s drive seems impressive. Pity I didn’t see any of it!

  49. I rated the race a 7.25

    While not a classic I thought it was a good race.

    On the face of it some may have thought there wasn’t much happening at the front with the first two on the grid finishing in the same order at the end of the race and the only change in lead due to when drivers made their pit stops.

    However unlike some races which pan out like that I thought the identity of the winner was never a certainty until the chequered flag.

    After Friday practice it seemed that Ferrari had the better long run pace and for most of the race Vettel was not more than 2 seconds behind Hamilton and was ready to pounce if Hamilton made even the slightest mistake.

    I thought that if Vettel could get past Hamilton he could probably manage to pull a gap, but that he wouldn’t try anything until at least the pit stops, Hamilton stopped first and managed to benefit from the undercut, briefly stretching his lead until Vettel closed back up.

    Then the question was would both of them manage to make their tyres last until the end of the race or would either of them need to make a second stop. Coulthard mentioned in commentary that he had noticed some graining on Hamilton’s rear tyre, so I thought that Hamilton would probably need a second stop which would hand the victory to Vettel if he could stay out, but given what happened to Ferrari in Silverstone this year and before that with Vettel at Spa a few years ago would they risk keeping Vettel out?

    Those questions didn’t need to be answered as when the safety car came out everyone took the opportunity to change tyres. When Vettel changed to a set of ultra softs and Hamilton went on to another set of softs I thought that the advantage Vettel would have meant he would be odds on to take the victory.

    On the restart the Hamilton managed to hold off Vettel in a drag race, even though behind them Bottas lost places to both Ricciardo and Raikkonen which surprised me.

    After that I still expected Vettel to make a move for the lead but it ended up like the first part of the race with Vettel only 1-2 seconds behind Hamilton but never getting in DRS range although any error by Hamilton would have seen Vettel take the lead and the win.

    But neither Hamilton nor Vettel seemed to put a wheel wrong during the race and Hamilton went on to take Victory and close the gap in the championship.

    Given the power deficit Red Bull have to Ferrari and Mercedes I didn’t think that Ricciardo would be able to keep third for long after getting the position after the race restarted, but I don’t recall seeing Raikkonen trying to get past Ricciardo or Bottas attempting a move on Raikkonen.

    Spa was supposed to be a Mercedes track but Ferrari were a lot more competitive than predicted and seemed to have the better race car. There is still plenty of opportunities for the development race to change in either teams favour, but even if Hamilton manages to win next time out at Monza, and so take the lead in in the title fight, I actually think that Vettel is now the slight favourite to be champion this season.

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