The FIA is to launch an investigation into the events at last year's Singapore Grand Prix, where Renault's Fernando Alonso claimed victory on the back of a crash by his team-mate Nelson Piquet.
Alonso's success was sealed by the timing of a safety car in the early stages of the inaugural event - which had been called out when Piquet crashed into the wall shortly after his team-mate stopped for fuel.
The timing of Piquet's crash prompted wild conspiracy theories that the Brazilian had been ordered to deliberately spin to help Renault take its first victory of the year. Piquet himself insisted at the time that the accident had been caused by him simply trying too hard.
"It was my mistake," said Piquet. "We tried two extreme strategies with Fernando quite short and me quite long in the hope of getting a safety car. If I hadn't crashed I would have been lucky with the safety car later in the race because I was very happy.
"We're always scraping the walls, and once you've touched the wall a little too much and lose control that's it."
It is understood, however, that fresh evidence about the events that took place in the race have now come to light - which has prompted the FIA to step in.
Piquet was dropped by Renault after this year's Hungarian Grand Prix, and has been outspoken in his criticisms of the outfit - and in particular team principal Flavio Briatore. It is not clear if the Brazilian himself has been a catalyst for the investigation, or if the evidence has come from elsewhere.
The FIA has not elaborated on the details of its inquiry, but a spokesperson confirmed to AUTOSPORT that an investigation was under way.
"The FIA can confirm that an investigation is underway regarding alleged events at a previous world championship race," said the spokesperson.
Should the FIA investigation suggest there is any evidence of foul play involved, then the governing body could call a hearing of the World Motor Sport Council to discuss the matter.
News from Formula One in the Formation Lap.
Monday 31 August 2009
Belgium race analysis - Kimi and KERS foil Force India
Kimi Raikkonen scored Ferrari’s first win of 2009 at Spa, his fourth at the famous circuit and his first F1 triumph since Spain last year. The real story was how hard he had to fight for it, pushed all the way by the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella, with his F60’s KERS arguably the only thing that got him ahead of the Italian’s near perfect VJM02. And as Force India took their first-ever points in style, championship leader Jenson Button scored none after his first DNF of the season, the Brawn driver crashing out after opening-lap contact with the Renault of Romain Grosjean. Miraculously, his rivals managed to cut his standings advantage by just two points, to 16, with only five races now remaining. We take a team-by-team look at Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix…
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, P1
Luca Badoer, P14
Raikkonen said that he didn’t have the fastest car out there, but it had KERS and that won him all the opening lap battles he needed to fight, then saw him jump Fisichella after the lap five restart. Thereafter it was just a matter of keeping himself out of trouble as he scored a welcome victory for Ferrari. Badoer never got to grips with Spa, flat-spotted his soft tyres early on, then never found the same pace on the harder compound. He likely said goodbye to F1 racing with 14th and last place, with a best lap 2.2s off Raikkonen’s.
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, P2
Adrian Sutil, P11
Fisichella made a solid start and led the first four laps, all of them under the safety car, before Raikkonen bullied his way past with KERS on the fifth lap. But the Italian felt that his Force India was faster overall than the red car, and was saddened that he couldn’t push it all the way to victory. The secret to the VJM02’s pace this weekend seems to have been the new aero package, and the fact that Spa was the first medium downforce track of the year. Sutil’s chances were ruined when he got clobbered by Alonso at La Source, the Spaniard then running over his car’s front wing.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel P3
Mark Webber, P9
Vettel admitted that he lost the race through being a little too cautious in the opening stint. After that he said his RB5 was perfect, and in the final stint hauled in Raikkonen and Fisichella, setting fastest lap and jumping up to third place in the championship. Webber’s race looked good when he was running fifth by the sixth lap having started ninth, but then he squeezed Heidfeld too much in their pit stop on lap 14, got a drive-through penalty, then spent the rest of his afternoon fruitlessly chasing Rosberg for the final point. He lost third place in the title chase as a result of his second consecutive ninth place finish.
BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, P4
Nick Heidfeld, P5
BMW Sauber scored their best haul of points all season, with nine from Kubica’s fourth and Heidfeld’s fifth place. They also set the third and second fastest race laps, respectively. Kubica and Raikkonen brushed wheels briefly in the melee in the first few corners, but thereafter the Pole stayed third until Vettel jumped him in his second stop on lap 35. Heidfeld made a strong start, but ran wide on colder-than-expected harder tyres at La Source and lost places, admitting that he lost the race there and then. Then he had his near-miss in the pit lane with Webber, who later received a drive-through penalty.
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, P6
Lewis Hamilton, Retired lap 1, accident
Kovalainen had a text-book single-stop run from 15th on the grid to sixth, starting on the softer Bridgestone and then switching to the harder compound. He fended off Buemi for a long time, then similarly contained Barrichello’s challenge later on. Hamilton was the innocent victim, of the Button/Grosjean incident at Les Combes, having already damaged his McLaren’s front wing when he got squeezed between Nakajima and Buemi on the run to La Source after a less than brilliant start.
Brawn
Rubens Barrichello, P7
Jenson Button, Retired lap 1, accident
Yet again Barrichello’s BGP001 bogged down at a start due to a clutch problem, losing him many places. At the end of the lap the team brought him in under the safety car to refuel, and that helped to balance the setback a little. Later he pulled a sweet move on Webber round the outside of Blanchimont, but had to back off his challenge to Kovalainen for sixth when his Mercedes engine developed a worrying oil leak. Two points was yet more damage limitation for a team whose tyre temperature issues still haven’t gone away. Button was encouraged to make up places off the grid, after all the first-corner dramas, but then got caught up in one of his own when Grosjean hit the back of his car and spun him out at Les Combes. He was lucky to leave Spa having just lost a further two points to Barrichello, though Vettel took six off him which could prove crucial.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, P8
Kazuki Nakajima, P13
Rosberg believed that eighth was the best Williams could reasonably expect on a circuit on which they had struggled for the first time this season. He reported that the FW31 was difficult to drive, believing it had much to do with the tyres. Nakajima simply struggled for pace all weekend.
Toyota
Timo Glock, P10
Jarno Trulli, Retired lap 22, brake problem
Tenth place was poor reward for a race that Toyota began with such high hopes. Trulli’s race was soon ruined. He lost places after Heidfeld’s lunge at La Source at the start, then clobbered the back of the BMW Sauber, damaging his nose. After a stop on the first lap for a replacement, he got trapped behind Badoer, and ultimately retired with a brake wear problem. Glock was going well in fourth until a glitch in the refuelling equipment on lap 12 delayed him and dropped him back to a 10th place finish.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, Retired lap 27, wheel problem
Romain Grosjean, Retired lap 1, accident
Alonso ran a strong race with a heavy fuel load and was running a challenging third prior to his stop on lap 24. Unfortunately he had damaged the left front wheel in a brush with Sutil at La Source on the opening lap, and that caused problems with the wheel in the stop and afterwards, prompting Renault to retire the R29 on safety grounds. Grosjean was caught up with Button at Les Combes on the opening lap.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P12
Jaime Alguersuari, Retired lap 1, accident
Buemi got stuck behind Kovalainen’s KERS car and that compromised his race and necessitated a change in strategy which proved fruitless. Alguersuari got caught up in the aftermath of the Button/Grosjean incident at Les Combes on the opening lap.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, P1
Luca Badoer, P14
Raikkonen said that he didn’t have the fastest car out there, but it had KERS and that won him all the opening lap battles he needed to fight, then saw him jump Fisichella after the lap five restart. Thereafter it was just a matter of keeping himself out of trouble as he scored a welcome victory for Ferrari. Badoer never got to grips with Spa, flat-spotted his soft tyres early on, then never found the same pace on the harder compound. He likely said goodbye to F1 racing with 14th and last place, with a best lap 2.2s off Raikkonen’s.
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, P2
Adrian Sutil, P11
Fisichella made a solid start and led the first four laps, all of them under the safety car, before Raikkonen bullied his way past with KERS on the fifth lap. But the Italian felt that his Force India was faster overall than the red car, and was saddened that he couldn’t push it all the way to victory. The secret to the VJM02’s pace this weekend seems to have been the new aero package, and the fact that Spa was the first medium downforce track of the year. Sutil’s chances were ruined when he got clobbered by Alonso at La Source, the Spaniard then running over his car’s front wing.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel P3
Mark Webber, P9
Vettel admitted that he lost the race through being a little too cautious in the opening stint. After that he said his RB5 was perfect, and in the final stint hauled in Raikkonen and Fisichella, setting fastest lap and jumping up to third place in the championship. Webber’s race looked good when he was running fifth by the sixth lap having started ninth, but then he squeezed Heidfeld too much in their pit stop on lap 14, got a drive-through penalty, then spent the rest of his afternoon fruitlessly chasing Rosberg for the final point. He lost third place in the title chase as a result of his second consecutive ninth place finish.
BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, P4
Nick Heidfeld, P5
BMW Sauber scored their best haul of points all season, with nine from Kubica’s fourth and Heidfeld’s fifth place. They also set the third and second fastest race laps, respectively. Kubica and Raikkonen brushed wheels briefly in the melee in the first few corners, but thereafter the Pole stayed third until Vettel jumped him in his second stop on lap 35. Heidfeld made a strong start, but ran wide on colder-than-expected harder tyres at La Source and lost places, admitting that he lost the race there and then. Then he had his near-miss in the pit lane with Webber, who later received a drive-through penalty.
McLaren
Heikki Kovalainen, P6
Lewis Hamilton, Retired lap 1, accident
Kovalainen had a text-book single-stop run from 15th on the grid to sixth, starting on the softer Bridgestone and then switching to the harder compound. He fended off Buemi for a long time, then similarly contained Barrichello’s challenge later on. Hamilton was the innocent victim, of the Button/Grosjean incident at Les Combes, having already damaged his McLaren’s front wing when he got squeezed between Nakajima and Buemi on the run to La Source after a less than brilliant start.
Brawn
Rubens Barrichello, P7
Jenson Button, Retired lap 1, accident
Yet again Barrichello’s BGP001 bogged down at a start due to a clutch problem, losing him many places. At the end of the lap the team brought him in under the safety car to refuel, and that helped to balance the setback a little. Later he pulled a sweet move on Webber round the outside of Blanchimont, but had to back off his challenge to Kovalainen for sixth when his Mercedes engine developed a worrying oil leak. Two points was yet more damage limitation for a team whose tyre temperature issues still haven’t gone away. Button was encouraged to make up places off the grid, after all the first-corner dramas, but then got caught up in one of his own when Grosjean hit the back of his car and spun him out at Les Combes. He was lucky to leave Spa having just lost a further two points to Barrichello, though Vettel took six off him which could prove crucial.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, P8
Kazuki Nakajima, P13
Rosberg believed that eighth was the best Williams could reasonably expect on a circuit on which they had struggled for the first time this season. He reported that the FW31 was difficult to drive, believing it had much to do with the tyres. Nakajima simply struggled for pace all weekend.
Toyota
Timo Glock, P10
Jarno Trulli, Retired lap 22, brake problem
Tenth place was poor reward for a race that Toyota began with such high hopes. Trulli’s race was soon ruined. He lost places after Heidfeld’s lunge at La Source at the start, then clobbered the back of the BMW Sauber, damaging his nose. After a stop on the first lap for a replacement, he got trapped behind Badoer, and ultimately retired with a brake wear problem. Glock was going well in fourth until a glitch in the refuelling equipment on lap 12 delayed him and dropped him back to a 10th place finish.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, Retired lap 27, wheel problem
Romain Grosjean, Retired lap 1, accident
Alonso ran a strong race with a heavy fuel load and was running a challenging third prior to his stop on lap 24. Unfortunately he had damaged the left front wheel in a brush with Sutil at La Source on the opening lap, and that caused problems with the wheel in the stop and afterwards, prompting Renault to retire the R29 on safety grounds. Grosjean was caught up with Button at Les Combes on the opening lap.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P12
Jaime Alguersuari, Retired lap 1, accident
Buemi got stuck behind Kovalainen’s KERS car and that compromised his race and necessitated a change in strategy which proved fruitless. Alguersuari got caught up in the aftermath of the Button/Grosjean incident at Les Combes on the opening lap.
Mallya insists Fisi is going nowhere
Force India boss Vijay Mallya has rubbished comments by the team's commercial director Ian Phillips suggesting that Giancarlo Fisichella is likely to race for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix.
Phillips told the BBC on Monday morning that he expected Ferrari to ask Force India to release Fisichella from his contract “within the next 24 hours or so” so that the Italian could replace struggling compatriot Luca Badoer as stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa.
“Nobody’s asked us yet, but I think it’s pretty likely that somebody will make a telephone call to Vijay Mallya over the next 24 hours or so asking if we would release him to go to Ferrari,” Phillips said.
Badoer has struggled to get anywhere near the pace on his return to F1 after 10 years as a test driver, and Phillips believes Ferrari cannot afford to have one of its cars running at the back of the field in front of the tifosi at Monza.
Instead he expects the Maranello squad to turn to Fisichella, who underlined his credentials with his heroic pole position and runner-up finish at the Belgian Grand Prix.
“I don’t think they've really got any options,” said Phillips.
“Ferrari being Ferrari, they are going to their home race at Monza, which is a place with a cauldron-like atmosphere, particularly for the Italian team.
“Seats will be thrown on the track if Ferrari aren’t doing well, so they’re going to have to put somebody in there who can basically run around with [Kimi] Raikkonen at the front of the field.
“So we do expect that a move will probably be made over the next 24 hours or so.”
Mallya quickly moved to rebut Phillips, noting curtly that the team stalwart is not “authorised to speak to the media” and that his comments “should therefore be ignored”.
Mallya maintains there is no substance to the rumours that Fisichella will take Badoer’s place, and insists that he fully expects the Roman to race for Force India at Monza.
“During a press conference via telephone shortly after the team’s podium finish, in response to specific and repeated questions on the subject, Fisichella has himself clarified that he has ‘not received any invitation from Ferrari’ and went on to add that he was ‘looking forward to driving the Force India car at the Monza GP’,” Mallya said in a statement.
“There has been absolutely no change whatsoever on this front since yesterday and we look forward to Fisichella scorching the tracks at Monza.
“Ian Phillips’ comments do not reflect the views of the Force India team management since he is not the designated spokesperson for the team nor is he authorised to speak to the media.
“His comments should therefore be ignored.
“We completely deny as baseless, whatever is reportedly attributed to him in reports that have appeared in a section of the press a short while ago.”
Fisichella has admitted that racing for Ferrari would be the realisation of a dream and that “anything could happen” were he to receive a call from the Scuderia.
But both he and his manager Enrico Zanarini have emphasised that as yet there has been no approach
Phillips told the BBC on Monday morning that he expected Ferrari to ask Force India to release Fisichella from his contract “within the next 24 hours or so” so that the Italian could replace struggling compatriot Luca Badoer as stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa.
“Nobody’s asked us yet, but I think it’s pretty likely that somebody will make a telephone call to Vijay Mallya over the next 24 hours or so asking if we would release him to go to Ferrari,” Phillips said.
Badoer has struggled to get anywhere near the pace on his return to F1 after 10 years as a test driver, and Phillips believes Ferrari cannot afford to have one of its cars running at the back of the field in front of the tifosi at Monza.
Instead he expects the Maranello squad to turn to Fisichella, who underlined his credentials with his heroic pole position and runner-up finish at the Belgian Grand Prix.
“I don’t think they've really got any options,” said Phillips.
“Ferrari being Ferrari, they are going to their home race at Monza, which is a place with a cauldron-like atmosphere, particularly for the Italian team.
“Seats will be thrown on the track if Ferrari aren’t doing well, so they’re going to have to put somebody in there who can basically run around with [Kimi] Raikkonen at the front of the field.
“So we do expect that a move will probably be made over the next 24 hours or so.”
Mallya quickly moved to rebut Phillips, noting curtly that the team stalwart is not “authorised to speak to the media” and that his comments “should therefore be ignored”.
Mallya maintains there is no substance to the rumours that Fisichella will take Badoer’s place, and insists that he fully expects the Roman to race for Force India at Monza.
“During a press conference via telephone shortly after the team’s podium finish, in response to specific and repeated questions on the subject, Fisichella has himself clarified that he has ‘not received any invitation from Ferrari’ and went on to add that he was ‘looking forward to driving the Force India car at the Monza GP’,” Mallya said in a statement.
“There has been absolutely no change whatsoever on this front since yesterday and we look forward to Fisichella scorching the tracks at Monza.
“Ian Phillips’ comments do not reflect the views of the Force India team management since he is not the designated spokesperson for the team nor is he authorised to speak to the media.
“His comments should therefore be ignored.
“We completely deny as baseless, whatever is reportedly attributed to him in reports that have appeared in a section of the press a short while ago.”
Fisichella has admitted that racing for Ferrari would be the realisation of a dream and that “anything could happen” were he to receive a call from the Scuderia.
But both he and his manager Enrico Zanarini have emphasised that as yet there has been no approach
Sunday 30 August 2009
Kimi holds off charging Fisi for Spa win
Spa master Kimi Raikkonen withstood an astonishingly strong race-long challenge from Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella to claim his first win in 26 races, and Ferrari’s first of the 2009 season, in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen had to rely on his KERS system and slick Ferrari pit work to deny Fisichella a fairytale first victory for Force India after the Italian veteran showed the team’s pole position was no fluke and its VJM02 was a force to be reckoned with around high-speed Spa.
In fact Fisichella’s Force India was quicker than the winning Ferrari, and but for a three-lap safety car period — triggered by a first-lap shunt that eliminated points later Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton — might have won.
Instead, the restart allowed Raikkonen to use his KERS power boost button to get a run on Fisichella and breeze past on the uphill Kemmel straight.
Thereafter Fisichella gave spirited chase, shadowed both of Raikkonen’s pit stops, but was unable to break through the wall of turbulent air emanating from the F2009.
He ultimately missed out on what would have been one of the most unlikely wins in F1's history by a mere 0.9s, but second place was still a remarkable result for a team which had never even scored points before in its two seasons on the grid.
While Fisichella and Force India’s amazing performance was the major story from a fascinating race, the title fight took another intriguing twist.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel claimed the final podium position after using a long first stint, and strong pace over the remainder of the race, to pick off rivals during the pit stops and move up from ninth.
Button, meanwhile, was left breathing a sigh of relief as his team-mate and chief title rival Rubens Barrichello trailed home seventh after his Brawn almost stalled at the start and tumbled down the order, consigning him to an afternoon playing catch-up.
Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber missed out on points altogether for the second straight weekend after being handed a drive-through penalty for an unsafe pit release at his first stop, which dropped him out of fifth.
The upshot was that Barrichello trimmed Button’s title lead by two to 16 points, while Vettel kept his title hopes alive, now back ahead of Webber in the standings and 19 points adrift.
Fisichella made a textbook start to lead into La Source hairpin. Behind him, however, there was the predictable chaos.
In what appeared to be a premeditated move, Raikkonen wisely ran out onto the wide Tarmac apron to avoid it.
Front-row starter Jarno Trulli was not so lucky. Pinched on either side, his Toyota’s front wing was tweaked against Nick Heidfeld’s BMW and he was forced to pit.
Fernando Alonso was another to suffer. His Renault’s left-front wheel crunched the front wing of the sideways Force India of Adrian Sutil.
He appeared to have got away with it, only for it came back to haunt the Spaniard at his only pit stop.
Alonso had been running strongly in third, albeit out of sequence with Raikkonen and Fisichella, but the damage to his wheel shroud caused him a long stop and his eventual retirement when the team, mindful of what happened in Hungary, called him in to retire.
Raikkonen, third after his diversion, charged around the outside of the fast-starting Robert Kubica to take second on the climb to Les Combes.
He ran wide again, however, and the Pole nudged him up the rear, thankfully without damage, while Heidfeld locked up and slid across the grass.
The ensuing concertina effect caused mayhem in the midfield.
Button had made a good start and gained four places when Renault rookie Romain Grosjean, running heavy, outbraked himself at Les Combes and tagged the Brawn’s right-rear wheel.
Both men spun out, Hamilton backed off to avoid them and his McLaren was punted hard from behind by Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso.
All four cars were out on the spot.
“I don’t think he [Grosjean] was trying to overtake,” lamented Button. “It’s frustrating, but that’s what happens when you start from 14th on the grid.”
Fisichella’s good work was undone by the safety car’s arrival, and there was an air of inevitability — something that has stalked Fisi’s career — as he accelerated out of the chicane at the restart.
Sure enough, Raikkonen almost ran into the back of the Force India on the main straight before jinking out to pass at Kemmel.
And that, many people thought, was that.
Not so. Fisichella refused to be shaken off, and despite being fuelled lighter than Raikkonen, pitted at the same time as the Ferrari, on lap 14, when both men switched from soft to medium Bridgestones.
The pair stopped again on lap 31. Both fitted mediums. Both were stationary for 7.1 seconds. It was nip-and-tuck – until Kimi pressed his button and increased his gap on the out-lap.
The ease with which Fisichella got the margin back below one second again underlined his potentially superior pace, but barring a mistake, victory was Raikkonen’s.
None came. And it was.
Vettel was the heaviest of the front-runners going into the race and lost some time behind Nico Rosberg in the first-lap shenanigans.
He made short work of repassing the Williams after the restart but lost too much time in the first stint to challenge for victory.
He moved past Heidfeld’s BMW during the first pit stop cycle and Kubica in the second, but that was as far as he would progress.
In the final stint he closed on the leaders at a rate of half a second per lap, but ran out of laps.
Heidfeld was catching team-mate Kubica, too, as the latter struggled with front wing damage from his first-lap contact with Raikkonen, but the Pole held on by just over a second to head up BMW’s best result in months.
Heikki Kovalainen drove a strong one-stop race to take sixth for McLaren, soaking up pressure from Barrichello in the closing stages until the Brazilian was ordered by his team to back off when his Brawn sprang an oil leak.
Oil vapour trailed the Brawn to the end, but Rubens was able to nurse it home in seventh place ahead of Rosberg, who finished in the points for the eighth consecutive race.
Toyota’s Timo Glock might have scored some points but for a slow first pit stop caused by a malfunctioning fuel rig, which restricted him to 10th behind Webber.
Team-mate Trulli also suffered a slow stop — his new left-rear tyre was still snoozing its blanket — but damage discovered at this stop persuaded his team to call him in after 21 laps.
Sutil, another man forced to pit because of first-lap damage, was 11th, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Buemi, who for a while delayed the charging Vettel, the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima and, of course, Luca Badoer.
Ferraris first and last: a weird symmetry for a strange day.
Belgian Grand Prix result (44 laps)
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
2. FISICHELLA Force India +0.9s
3. VETTEL Red Bull +3.8s
4. KUBICA BMW +9.9s
5. HEIDFELD BMW +11.2s
6. KOVALAINEN McLaren +32.7s
7. BARRICHELLO Brawn +35.4s
8. ROSBERG Williams +36.2s
9. WEBBER Red Bull +36.9s
10. GLOCK Toyota +41.4s
11. SUTIL Force India +42.6s
12. BUEMI Toro Rosso +46.1s
13. NAKAJIMA Williams +54.2s
14. BADOER Ferrari +1m42.1s
15. ALONSO Renault +18 laps
16. TRULLI Toyota +23 laps
17. BUTTON Brawn +44 laps
18. GROSJEAN Renault +44 laps
19. HAMILTON McLaren +44 laps
20. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +44 laps
Fastest lap: VETTEL 1m47.263s (lap 38)
Raikkonen had to rely on his KERS system and slick Ferrari pit work to deny Fisichella a fairytale first victory for Force India after the Italian veteran showed the team’s pole position was no fluke and its VJM02 was a force to be reckoned with around high-speed Spa.
In fact Fisichella’s Force India was quicker than the winning Ferrari, and but for a three-lap safety car period — triggered by a first-lap shunt that eliminated points later Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton — might have won.
Instead, the restart allowed Raikkonen to use his KERS power boost button to get a run on Fisichella and breeze past on the uphill Kemmel straight.
Thereafter Fisichella gave spirited chase, shadowed both of Raikkonen’s pit stops, but was unable to break through the wall of turbulent air emanating from the F2009.
He ultimately missed out on what would have been one of the most unlikely wins in F1's history by a mere 0.9s, but second place was still a remarkable result for a team which had never even scored points before in its two seasons on the grid.
While Fisichella and Force India’s amazing performance was the major story from a fascinating race, the title fight took another intriguing twist.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel claimed the final podium position after using a long first stint, and strong pace over the remainder of the race, to pick off rivals during the pit stops and move up from ninth.
Button, meanwhile, was left breathing a sigh of relief as his team-mate and chief title rival Rubens Barrichello trailed home seventh after his Brawn almost stalled at the start and tumbled down the order, consigning him to an afternoon playing catch-up.
Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber missed out on points altogether for the second straight weekend after being handed a drive-through penalty for an unsafe pit release at his first stop, which dropped him out of fifth.
The upshot was that Barrichello trimmed Button’s title lead by two to 16 points, while Vettel kept his title hopes alive, now back ahead of Webber in the standings and 19 points adrift.
Fisichella made a textbook start to lead into La Source hairpin. Behind him, however, there was the predictable chaos.
In what appeared to be a premeditated move, Raikkonen wisely ran out onto the wide Tarmac apron to avoid it.
Front-row starter Jarno Trulli was not so lucky. Pinched on either side, his Toyota’s front wing was tweaked against Nick Heidfeld’s BMW and he was forced to pit.
Fernando Alonso was another to suffer. His Renault’s left-front wheel crunched the front wing of the sideways Force India of Adrian Sutil.
He appeared to have got away with it, only for it came back to haunt the Spaniard at his only pit stop.
Alonso had been running strongly in third, albeit out of sequence with Raikkonen and Fisichella, but the damage to his wheel shroud caused him a long stop and his eventual retirement when the team, mindful of what happened in Hungary, called him in to retire.
Raikkonen, third after his diversion, charged around the outside of the fast-starting Robert Kubica to take second on the climb to Les Combes.
He ran wide again, however, and the Pole nudged him up the rear, thankfully without damage, while Heidfeld locked up and slid across the grass.
The ensuing concertina effect caused mayhem in the midfield.
Button had made a good start and gained four places when Renault rookie Romain Grosjean, running heavy, outbraked himself at Les Combes and tagged the Brawn’s right-rear wheel.
Both men spun out, Hamilton backed off to avoid them and his McLaren was punted hard from behind by Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso.
All four cars were out on the spot.
“I don’t think he [Grosjean] was trying to overtake,” lamented Button. “It’s frustrating, but that’s what happens when you start from 14th on the grid.”
Fisichella’s good work was undone by the safety car’s arrival, and there was an air of inevitability — something that has stalked Fisi’s career — as he accelerated out of the chicane at the restart.
Sure enough, Raikkonen almost ran into the back of the Force India on the main straight before jinking out to pass at Kemmel.
And that, many people thought, was that.
Not so. Fisichella refused to be shaken off, and despite being fuelled lighter than Raikkonen, pitted at the same time as the Ferrari, on lap 14, when both men switched from soft to medium Bridgestones.
The pair stopped again on lap 31. Both fitted mediums. Both were stationary for 7.1 seconds. It was nip-and-tuck – until Kimi pressed his button and increased his gap on the out-lap.
The ease with which Fisichella got the margin back below one second again underlined his potentially superior pace, but barring a mistake, victory was Raikkonen’s.
None came. And it was.
Vettel was the heaviest of the front-runners going into the race and lost some time behind Nico Rosberg in the first-lap shenanigans.
He made short work of repassing the Williams after the restart but lost too much time in the first stint to challenge for victory.
He moved past Heidfeld’s BMW during the first pit stop cycle and Kubica in the second, but that was as far as he would progress.
In the final stint he closed on the leaders at a rate of half a second per lap, but ran out of laps.
Heidfeld was catching team-mate Kubica, too, as the latter struggled with front wing damage from his first-lap contact with Raikkonen, but the Pole held on by just over a second to head up BMW’s best result in months.
Heikki Kovalainen drove a strong one-stop race to take sixth for McLaren, soaking up pressure from Barrichello in the closing stages until the Brazilian was ordered by his team to back off when his Brawn sprang an oil leak.
Oil vapour trailed the Brawn to the end, but Rubens was able to nurse it home in seventh place ahead of Rosberg, who finished in the points for the eighth consecutive race.
Toyota’s Timo Glock might have scored some points but for a slow first pit stop caused by a malfunctioning fuel rig, which restricted him to 10th behind Webber.
Team-mate Trulli also suffered a slow stop — his new left-rear tyre was still snoozing its blanket — but damage discovered at this stop persuaded his team to call him in after 21 laps.
Sutil, another man forced to pit because of first-lap damage, was 11th, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Buemi, who for a while delayed the charging Vettel, the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima and, of course, Luca Badoer.
Ferraris first and last: a weird symmetry for a strange day.
Belgian Grand Prix result (44 laps)
1. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
2. FISICHELLA Force India +0.9s
3. VETTEL Red Bull +3.8s
4. KUBICA BMW +9.9s
5. HEIDFELD BMW +11.2s
6. KOVALAINEN McLaren +32.7s
7. BARRICHELLO Brawn +35.4s
8. ROSBERG Williams +36.2s
9. WEBBER Red Bull +36.9s
10. GLOCK Toyota +41.4s
11. SUTIL Force India +42.6s
12. BUEMI Toro Rosso +46.1s
13. NAKAJIMA Williams +54.2s
14. BADOER Ferrari +1m42.1s
15. ALONSO Renault +18 laps
16. TRULLI Toyota +23 laps
17. BUTTON Brawn +44 laps
18. GROSJEAN Renault +44 laps
19. HAMILTON McLaren +44 laps
20. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +44 laps
Fastest lap: VETTEL 1m47.263s (lap 38)
Post-race press conference - Belgium
Q. Kimi, your fourth victory here in Spa. It has been a difficult season for the team but today you proved a point.
Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yes, I mean it hasn't been an easy year for us. We were behind straight away in the first race compared to the top teams and we made a big step in Barcelona but it still has not been enough and for sure we have not brought new parts to the car for a few races as we are really putting an effort into next year. I mean getting the win now, it's quite a long time since the last one, so it was perfect. My aim was to win at least one race and try to keep third place in the championship, so this is going to help us a lot but I needed a bit of effort today to get the win. We probably were not the fastest in the lap times but overall we were fastest and we managed to keep everybody behind, so that's enough. It is great for the team and hopefully we can get some good results after this race. I always do well here; we will see what we can do in the last part of the season.
Q. Giancarlo, eight points and Force India's best ever result. But do you feel this is a race you could have won?
Giancarlo FISICHELLA: 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.
Q. Sebastian, you set the fastest lap and I guess the same question to you: do you feel this is a missed opportunity or do you feel good for having bitten a bit more out of Jenson Button's points lead?
Sebastian VETTEL: We got more points than all the rest but if you look at the championship it was a very good result. Obviously it was not an easy position to start from, right in the middle, so I think I had a very good start and then unfortunately in the first lap I was bit too conservative when I saw Nick (Heidfeld) going off the track. Usually the cars very easily tend to come back spinning, so I lost a position to Nico (Rosberg) and had to catch up after the restart. I succeeded and after that, because of how things went, we just lost too much ground in the first stint to the guys ahead and then in the second and third stint I think the car was fantastic. I had no single mistake in the race. I was pushing every single lap like qualifying. It was really in the end, after the chequered flag, a pleasure to drive the car. We had very, very strong pace, quicker than the guys at the front, and also throughout the second stint even though we had more fuel on board. We lost the ground in the beginning but, nevertheless, I think, as I said, a very good result. We took points out of the Brawns for the team and, for me, I scored more points than Jenson (Button) and Rubens (Barrichello) and overall a big thank you for the team. Also compliments to Renault. With all the sh** that we have gone through the last couple of races it is good to finish again and good to prove the engine is strong enough to manage a race. I think with the failures we had we were a little bit unlucky, so we have proven that we are back and it is good to have finished the race again after quite a long time now.
Q. Kimi, the key really was that pass on Giancarlo after the restart on lap five. Talk us through how you lined up Giancarlo and passed him.
KR: I knew that we needed to get past him as more or less we were on the same lap coming in and if I hadn't done after the safety car they had too much speed to get it after that. I just made sure I was close enough after the first corner and then went behind him as close as I could through Eau Rouge. I got quite a lot of understeer and ran a bit wide on top of the hill but then once I used the KERS I was able to get next to him and just in front of him, so it was pretty easy in that way to get in front of him. I knew then as long as we don't make silly mistakes, we should be ok for the race.
Q. Giancarlo, you are sitting alongside Kimi now on the podium. Do you think you will be sitting alongside him as team-mate in Monza after this result?
GF: That's just a rumour. As I told you yesterday I was just concentrated on doing this race which has been a fantastic weekend for me and tomorrow I will start concentrating on Monza. Obviously, with the Force India overall. That's all I can say.
Q. Sebastian, tell us about the championship. How do you see it now? What can you do in the remaining races?
SV:: Well, I think it is still open. This championship is a bit crazy to be honest. When I was a little boy and followed the championships in Formula One it was always pretty boring. You knew at the first race more or less who was competitive. As we see now Force India were quick this weekend. Most likely they are going to be quick in Monza. It is a low downforce track, so it is up and down and it shows how important it is to be consistent which was not our strength but nevertheless we are still in reach. I think we took six points out of Jenson, the championship leader, which is a good thing. I don't know what happened to him. I just saw his car in turn five, so I think he had an accident. But this is how we have to do it. It would have been nice to finish first today but after the result yesterday I think it was the best we could do. Everything is possible. We are here to fight.
Q. Kimi, sum up this love affair you have with this magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Four times a winner here. What is it about this place and you?
KR: I don't think there has been any special thing. Unfortunately last year we lost it in the last lap more or less. I think many drivers like it. It is a proper circuit. An old style circuit, very flowing and up and down hills, and it is good fun to drive. It is in the forest and it is just everything what you want. Usually I have always been pretty very good here since I was here the first time many, many years ago. It just seems to be good for me somehow. I don't mind. It is a nice place to win. Also we get very good races here. It is good for spectators, for teams, for drivers. It has been a pretty good weekend. Of course yesterday we could have done better to make out life a bit easier but anyhow we managed to win which is the main thing. It is good right now and we try to keep it up for the next races.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. Kimi, what does this win mean to you personally after quite a difficult season?
KR: We have been trying to get it. Of course we need to be realistic as we know that our car is not as fast as the teams ahead of us in the championship, but in some places, like the last couple of circuits, it has been pretty okay. In Hungary we were closer to winning that ever before this year. Here we managed to do it. It really depends on the circuit. This is important for the team, they will enjoy it,
especially after the hard time this year. But we can't expect to win races after races, so we are going to give 100 per cent every weekend but it really depends if we get it 100 per cent right or not and if something funny happens, like here in qualifying. It gives us a much better chance but it was a good result for the team and we are very happy.
Q. How much pressure did you feel with Giancarlo right up behind you?
KR: I knew that he was faster. Probably we did a little mistake to put on the harder tyres at the first pit stop and they just did not warm up and maybe like three laps before the stop they suddenly started to work much better. I was able to push harder. I knew that if I could keep him behind at the pit stop it is pretty difficult for him to get past. They were very fast in the middle sector, coming back to the last chicane. Sometimes they got very close but I just started to use the KERS in a slightly different way to make sure he was not going to get a run on me and it was not so difficult. I mean it is hard to overtake anyhow, so it was very easy.
Q. At the first corner you were the only driver that went wide. Was that something that you had discussed with the team?
KR: No, first I tried to go the normal way but I think it was Nick or somebody who came a bit too fast inside and pushed Jarno Trulli very wide, so I had nowhere to go. I just needed to turn straight and go all the way around. It worked out but it wasn't the plan in the first place but there was no space.
Q. Were you able to use the KERS perhaps earlier?
KR: No, I mean it is very bumpy there. I ended up there also last year. It doesn't make much difference. It is a much longer way. If I could go on the circuit I would but if it would be fast I'd try to do it every lap but that was not the case.
Q. What about your chances at Monza?
KR: It will be difficult. Our car is not as strong as some others over the kerbs and that is really the key to go fast there. To be able to drive the kerbs as much as you want, that is not our strongest point, so it will be difficult I think but we will see how our car will handle there and what we can do.
Q. Giancarlo, you seem to have mixed emotions. One, I could have won it. Two, it is great to be second. Happy and unhappy.
GF: Yes, you know before we came here if you asked all the team and myself to finish eight would have been fantastic. We are second. It is a great weekend for us. Pole position but considering our pace in the race, I was quicker than Kimi, it was possible to win the race. I have been unlucky with the safety car. Just after the start up to turn eight I was two-and-half or three seconds ahead of him and it was perfect. We had the same fuel load. I was a little bit lighter but maybe the consumption was less and I did a very good job behind the safety car. It was about the same strategy and I could win the race easily as I was quicker than him. But anyway, second is fantastic. I am really happy for the team, for myself. The car was really good. It was very consistent all the way through with the soft tyres and with the medium tyres. I am really impressed with our pace and I hope to keep going like that.
Q. Was one tyre better than the other?
GF: I started with the soft, then soft, then medium. For me, the best compound was probably at the end with the medium tyre but I was a little bit lighter than in the middle sector, so it's difficult to say because I was always behind Kimi, quite close and could never be alone to see the real pace but sometimes I lost a bit behind him and I caught him quite quickly again, so I was much quicker than him.
Q. What are the chances at Monza? How do you think the car will perform there?
GF: You know our speed on the straight is usually very good. Monza is a very high-speed circuit. The package here in Spa looks very good. Obviously we will have a proper package for Monza and it looks very promising, it looks very good. I'm not saying that we will repeat a result like today's - which Page 4 of 6 would be fantastic – but obviously getting into the top ten and scoring points would be another fantastic result.
Q. So even though you've had a good look at a Ferrari for about 90 minutes, you'll stick with the Force India for the next race?
GF: As I told you yesterday, I was concentrating today on the race with Force India. So far, I'm just concentrating for the next race with Force India unless they are going to call me, but even if they do call me, there are many things to think about, so we will see.
Q. Sebastian, it all really came together on the middle stint when you jumped Robert Kubica up into third place.
SV:: Yeah, but the race started a bit earlier for us than the middle stint. Obviously the first stint was very difficult, starting eighth. I think I had a fantastic start. Then I had nowhere to go, really. Unfortunately, I lost the train in front a little bit up the hill through Eau Rouge. Mark was able to get in my tow, passed me around the outside and then I was probably a bit too cautious when I saw people going off. I think it was Heidfeld running wide. Yeah, I lost a place to Rosberg, because very likely the car could come spinning back, like I experienced in qualifying yesterday. It can happen. So it wasn't easy. But nevertheless, after the restart I was able to pass him, which was important because he was heavier and then, just because of the action, the first couple of laps after the restart again we lost too much ground to the guys in front. You know it's quite different, the cars have their gaps in between. And then onwards it was difficult to catch up. I think we did a very good job. We had an extremely good race after that, very, very good pace. I think we were one of the longest in the second stint and still catching up the leaders as well as Robert, which then brought us to third place, and then catching up again in the last stint. I think the car was behaving very well, I had an awful lot of fun driving. This circuit is fantastic, it's a pleasure, but taking three, four, five tenths per lap out of the guys in front is probably the maximum you can do, so I think pace-wise we definitely had the car to win, but it didn't come together yesterday. I'm still very happy with third place, especially after the things we've gone through at the last two races. I also have to pay compliments to Renault. I know there are obviously a lot of discussions going on in the press about our future and so on, but I can say that they are doing a really good job, the people are really behind us and pushing a lot. Obviously we were in a little bit of a bad situation with the two engine failures, especially in Valencia, for sure it didn't help, but I think we can still manage, we can see that the car is working, the engine is working, so it was a good day for us. Six points, more than all the others in the championship, so a very good day after all.
Q. Which was the best set of tyres for you? You set fastest lap quite early in the last stint.
SV:: Yeah, it's true. Obviously the Friday running, especially for me, was limited because of saving mileage also. On Friday, the circuit is not in the same shape that you will find in the race, so it was quite difficult to pick the right tyre. I always struggled a bit on primes to start the stint. I think that's also why we lost out at the beginning of the first stint to the cars in front when they went away from us – they were gone very quickly. Then later on, I think the pace was fine, the car was getting better and better on the hard tyres. On the second stint, on the hard tyres, it was quite difficult to restart, so the warm-up wasn't easy. And then in the last stint, I set the time quite early, obviously the new tyre effect, and the circuit was in the proper shape and then in the last couple of laps I was trying to catch up, but the gap was too big, so I was just trying to manage the gap to Robert in which I succeeded, and took a bit of pace out... we reduced the revs and drove the car to the finish.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q. (Marco Evangelisti – Corriere dello Sport) Giancarlo, there has been such an impressive improvement in your car, in today's race. How could it be possible, and how much is this result linked to your driving skill on this particularly circuit?
GF: In the last race in Valencia we introduced the new aero package, which was about 0.6s better than the previous one, so it was already a big step forward. We nearly had the possibility to get into Page 5 of 6 the top ten and the pace in the race was not too bad, not as good as today. Here, we have more or less the same package, but obviously with a wing for Spa and as soon as we put the car on the ground we felt a good feeling, good behaviour. The balance was not good, but in terms of lap time we were quite quick anyway. On Saturday morning, with the right balance, the car was really good. And this is one of my best circuits, one of my favourite circuits, I have a very good feeling here. I'm usually able to find the limit of the circuit and I was so comfortable and that's the reason. But sometimes you never know why a car like McLaren was slow at the beginning, then it was winning. Even Trulli said the same thing yesterday. At the last race he was nowhere and yesterday he was second, and today he could even win the race, so you never know. But obviously we made a big step forward, that's very important.
Q. (Alberto Antonini – Autosprint) Kimi, well done. You said Ferrari hasn't brought many new parts to the last races but you've still taken two podium finishes and a win. Could that be you and not the car?
KR: I guess everybody can decide for themselves. We found a bit of a different way for the car. We started going a bit of a different way at the start of the year and then came back in the previous races. For sure, the car is not as quick as we want, as maybe it should be, but it's handling well, and that sometimes gives much more than you can drive – when you can drive it as you want, it sometimes gets you in a better position. I'm happy with the way it works, but with more downforce I'm pretty sure it could be a very fast car, but we know that we're not really getting any new parts, so we are where we are and as long as we get everything working well and the car feels good, I think we can still manage to get good results. It's difficult to expect more wins but hopefully (we can expect) podiums and good points and maybe in some circumstances a win.
Q. (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, could you have won without KERS and where was it the most important, when you took the lead or when you were defending?
KR: There's no point in wondering if we could have won (without KERS) or not. We won and we have KERS at every race and that's a fact. It helped at the start. I actually got a very good start, but then there was Barrichello – I don't know what happened to him at the start, so it already helped there and then passing Robert, I think, and then of course, it helped to pass Fisichella. It worked well for us, but it's a normal thing for us to use it at every race, so it's not like it's going to disappear suddenly.
Q. (Ottavio Daviddi – Tuttosport) Kimi, there are a lot of rumours about Giancarlo as your next team-mate, as you know. May I have your opinion about him?
KR: For me, it doesn't matter who is in the second car, it's not my decision. For sure the team will decide on whatever happens for the next race. But if I purely look at this race, they probably had a faster car than us, so it's probably a bit of a difficult decision in that way.
Q. (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Kimi, you said that you changed the way how you use KERS to defend. Can you explain what you did exactly?
KR: I was using more in the last part than before, just to make sure I got good speed on the back straight. That was the only difference.
Q. (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, it looks like you are somehow giving Ferrari a hard time, considering all the rumours about next year, because it was said that you might leave Ferrari because you're not performing as well now. Lately, you've been doing pretty well. Is there something inside of you that is bringing you to this, showing that the real Räikkönen is still there?
KR: No. Nothing has changed, as I said. We found a pretty good way to work with the car. We did well in Monaco. The last race was very similar, Hungary was similar. This place is a bit different than many others. It's purely that where the car has been strong we've been doing quite well every time. There's nothing that I've done differently. We've just achieved a good result now and hopefully we can keep it up. I think there will be races where it's not going to be easy for us but we can always try. There have been rumours almost every year since I've been in Formula One, so I don't really care
about them. I'm not worried about next year. I have a contract, so it's nothing that I should be worried about. I don't make the decisions in the end but we will see what happens. Maybe Ferrari have some other plans, but as far as I know nothing has changed.
Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Kimi, according to the fuel weights, you should have been able to go at least two laps longer than Giancarlo. Giancarlo mentioned before that he was saving fuel behind the safety car but I guess you did the same, so why did you come in on the same lap?
KR: I don't know. It's difficult to say. Some engines use a bit more fuel than others. I think our engine probably uses a bit more fuel than the Renaults or McLarens. Maybe that's the one difference. I tried to get my tyres warmed up quite heavily behind the safety car, so I definitely didn't try to save as much as we could. But it paid off, we got first place after the safety car and that counts much more than one lap on a pit stop.
Q. (Joonas Partanen – Iltalehti) Kimi, it has been almost a year and a half since you last won, so did the champagne taste better on the podium compared to those times you were second and third, and then another question: some people have suggested that you won't cut your hair until you have won again, so are you going to cut it now?
KR: No, it's nothing to do with that. There's always speculation in Formula One and b****t as we know. It doesn't change anything. It's the same stuff. When you're first or second or third, it makes no difference what is in the bottle, but of course the feeling is nicer overall. It's good for the team and good for me, so in that way it's nice
Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yes, I mean it hasn't been an easy year for us. We were behind straight away in the first race compared to the top teams and we made a big step in Barcelona but it still has not been enough and for sure we have not brought new parts to the car for a few races as we are really putting an effort into next year. I mean getting the win now, it's quite a long time since the last one, so it was perfect. My aim was to win at least one race and try to keep third place in the championship, so this is going to help us a lot but I needed a bit of effort today to get the win. We probably were not the fastest in the lap times but overall we were fastest and we managed to keep everybody behind, so that's enough. It is great for the team and hopefully we can get some good results after this race. I always do well here; we will see what we can do in the last part of the season.
Q. Giancarlo, eight points and Force India's best ever result. But do you feel this is a race you could have won?
Giancarlo FISICHELLA: 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.
Q. Sebastian, you set the fastest lap and I guess the same question to you: do you feel this is a missed opportunity or do you feel good for having bitten a bit more out of Jenson Button's points lead?
Sebastian VETTEL: We got more points than all the rest but if you look at the championship it was a very good result. Obviously it was not an easy position to start from, right in the middle, so I think I had a very good start and then unfortunately in the first lap I was bit too conservative when I saw Nick (Heidfeld) going off the track. Usually the cars very easily tend to come back spinning, so I lost a position to Nico (Rosberg) and had to catch up after the restart. I succeeded and after that, because of how things went, we just lost too much ground in the first stint to the guys ahead and then in the second and third stint I think the car was fantastic. I had no single mistake in the race. I was pushing every single lap like qualifying. It was really in the end, after the chequered flag, a pleasure to drive the car. We had very, very strong pace, quicker than the guys at the front, and also throughout the second stint even though we had more fuel on board. We lost the ground in the beginning but, nevertheless, I think, as I said, a very good result. We took points out of the Brawns for the team and, for me, I scored more points than Jenson (Button) and Rubens (Barrichello) and overall a big thank you for the team. Also compliments to Renault. With all the sh** that we have gone through the last couple of races it is good to finish again and good to prove the engine is strong enough to manage a race. I think with the failures we had we were a little bit unlucky, so we have proven that we are back and it is good to have finished the race again after quite a long time now.
Q. Kimi, the key really was that pass on Giancarlo after the restart on lap five. Talk us through how you lined up Giancarlo and passed him.
KR: I knew that we needed to get past him as more or less we were on the same lap coming in and if I hadn't done after the safety car they had too much speed to get it after that. I just made sure I was close enough after the first corner and then went behind him as close as I could through Eau Rouge. I got quite a lot of understeer and ran a bit wide on top of the hill but then once I used the KERS I was able to get next to him and just in front of him, so it was pretty easy in that way to get in front of him. I knew then as long as we don't make silly mistakes, we should be ok for the race.
Q. Giancarlo, you are sitting alongside Kimi now on the podium. Do you think you will be sitting alongside him as team-mate in Monza after this result?
GF: That's just a rumour. As I told you yesterday I was just concentrated on doing this race which has been a fantastic weekend for me and tomorrow I will start concentrating on Monza. Obviously, with the Force India overall. That's all I can say.
Q. Sebastian, tell us about the championship. How do you see it now? What can you do in the remaining races?
SV:: Well, I think it is still open. This championship is a bit crazy to be honest. When I was a little boy and followed the championships in Formula One it was always pretty boring. You knew at the first race more or less who was competitive. As we see now Force India were quick this weekend. Most likely they are going to be quick in Monza. It is a low downforce track, so it is up and down and it shows how important it is to be consistent which was not our strength but nevertheless we are still in reach. I think we took six points out of Jenson, the championship leader, which is a good thing. I don't know what happened to him. I just saw his car in turn five, so I think he had an accident. But this is how we have to do it. It would have been nice to finish first today but after the result yesterday I think it was the best we could do. Everything is possible. We are here to fight.
Q. Kimi, sum up this love affair you have with this magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Four times a winner here. What is it about this place and you?
KR: I don't think there has been any special thing. Unfortunately last year we lost it in the last lap more or less. I think many drivers like it. It is a proper circuit. An old style circuit, very flowing and up and down hills, and it is good fun to drive. It is in the forest and it is just everything what you want. Usually I have always been pretty very good here since I was here the first time many, many years ago. It just seems to be good for me somehow. I don't mind. It is a nice place to win. Also we get very good races here. It is good for spectators, for teams, for drivers. It has been a pretty good weekend. Of course yesterday we could have done better to make out life a bit easier but anyhow we managed to win which is the main thing. It is good right now and we try to keep it up for the next races.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. Kimi, what does this win mean to you personally after quite a difficult season?
KR: We have been trying to get it. Of course we need to be realistic as we know that our car is not as fast as the teams ahead of us in the championship, but in some places, like the last couple of circuits, it has been pretty okay. In Hungary we were closer to winning that ever before this year. Here we managed to do it. It really depends on the circuit. This is important for the team, they will enjoy it,
especially after the hard time this year. But we can't expect to win races after races, so we are going to give 100 per cent every weekend but it really depends if we get it 100 per cent right or not and if something funny happens, like here in qualifying. It gives us a much better chance but it was a good result for the team and we are very happy.
Q. How much pressure did you feel with Giancarlo right up behind you?
KR: I knew that he was faster. Probably we did a little mistake to put on the harder tyres at the first pit stop and they just did not warm up and maybe like three laps before the stop they suddenly started to work much better. I was able to push harder. I knew that if I could keep him behind at the pit stop it is pretty difficult for him to get past. They were very fast in the middle sector, coming back to the last chicane. Sometimes they got very close but I just started to use the KERS in a slightly different way to make sure he was not going to get a run on me and it was not so difficult. I mean it is hard to overtake anyhow, so it was very easy.
Q. At the first corner you were the only driver that went wide. Was that something that you had discussed with the team?
KR: No, first I tried to go the normal way but I think it was Nick or somebody who came a bit too fast inside and pushed Jarno Trulli very wide, so I had nowhere to go. I just needed to turn straight and go all the way around. It worked out but it wasn't the plan in the first place but there was no space.
Q. Were you able to use the KERS perhaps earlier?
KR: No, I mean it is very bumpy there. I ended up there also last year. It doesn't make much difference. It is a much longer way. If I could go on the circuit I would but if it would be fast I'd try to do it every lap but that was not the case.
Q. What about your chances at Monza?
KR: It will be difficult. Our car is not as strong as some others over the kerbs and that is really the key to go fast there. To be able to drive the kerbs as much as you want, that is not our strongest point, so it will be difficult I think but we will see how our car will handle there and what we can do.
Q. Giancarlo, you seem to have mixed emotions. One, I could have won it. Two, it is great to be second. Happy and unhappy.
GF: Yes, you know before we came here if you asked all the team and myself to finish eight would have been fantastic. We are second. It is a great weekend for us. Pole position but considering our pace in the race, I was quicker than Kimi, it was possible to win the race. I have been unlucky with the safety car. Just after the start up to turn eight I was two-and-half or three seconds ahead of him and it was perfect. We had the same fuel load. I was a little bit lighter but maybe the consumption was less and I did a very good job behind the safety car. It was about the same strategy and I could win the race easily as I was quicker than him. But anyway, second is fantastic. I am really happy for the team, for myself. The car was really good. It was very consistent all the way through with the soft tyres and with the medium tyres. I am really impressed with our pace and I hope to keep going like that.
Q. Was one tyre better than the other?
GF: I started with the soft, then soft, then medium. For me, the best compound was probably at the end with the medium tyre but I was a little bit lighter than in the middle sector, so it's difficult to say because I was always behind Kimi, quite close and could never be alone to see the real pace but sometimes I lost a bit behind him and I caught him quite quickly again, so I was much quicker than him.
Q. What are the chances at Monza? How do you think the car will perform there?
GF: You know our speed on the straight is usually very good. Monza is a very high-speed circuit. The package here in Spa looks very good. Obviously we will have a proper package for Monza and it looks very promising, it looks very good. I'm not saying that we will repeat a result like today's - which Page 4 of 6 would be fantastic – but obviously getting into the top ten and scoring points would be another fantastic result.
Q. So even though you've had a good look at a Ferrari for about 90 minutes, you'll stick with the Force India for the next race?
GF: As I told you yesterday, I was concentrating today on the race with Force India. So far, I'm just concentrating for the next race with Force India unless they are going to call me, but even if they do call me, there are many things to think about, so we will see.
Q. Sebastian, it all really came together on the middle stint when you jumped Robert Kubica up into third place.
SV:: Yeah, but the race started a bit earlier for us than the middle stint. Obviously the first stint was very difficult, starting eighth. I think I had a fantastic start. Then I had nowhere to go, really. Unfortunately, I lost the train in front a little bit up the hill through Eau Rouge. Mark was able to get in my tow, passed me around the outside and then I was probably a bit too cautious when I saw people going off. I think it was Heidfeld running wide. Yeah, I lost a place to Rosberg, because very likely the car could come spinning back, like I experienced in qualifying yesterday. It can happen. So it wasn't easy. But nevertheless, after the restart I was able to pass him, which was important because he was heavier and then, just because of the action, the first couple of laps after the restart again we lost too much ground to the guys in front. You know it's quite different, the cars have their gaps in between. And then onwards it was difficult to catch up. I think we did a very good job. We had an extremely good race after that, very, very good pace. I think we were one of the longest in the second stint and still catching up the leaders as well as Robert, which then brought us to third place, and then catching up again in the last stint. I think the car was behaving very well, I had an awful lot of fun driving. This circuit is fantastic, it's a pleasure, but taking three, four, five tenths per lap out of the guys in front is probably the maximum you can do, so I think pace-wise we definitely had the car to win, but it didn't come together yesterday. I'm still very happy with third place, especially after the things we've gone through at the last two races. I also have to pay compliments to Renault. I know there are obviously a lot of discussions going on in the press about our future and so on, but I can say that they are doing a really good job, the people are really behind us and pushing a lot. Obviously we were in a little bit of a bad situation with the two engine failures, especially in Valencia, for sure it didn't help, but I think we can still manage, we can see that the car is working, the engine is working, so it was a good day for us. Six points, more than all the others in the championship, so a very good day after all.
Q. Which was the best set of tyres for you? You set fastest lap quite early in the last stint.
SV:: Yeah, it's true. Obviously the Friday running, especially for me, was limited because of saving mileage also. On Friday, the circuit is not in the same shape that you will find in the race, so it was quite difficult to pick the right tyre. I always struggled a bit on primes to start the stint. I think that's also why we lost out at the beginning of the first stint to the cars in front when they went away from us – they were gone very quickly. Then later on, I think the pace was fine, the car was getting better and better on the hard tyres. On the second stint, on the hard tyres, it was quite difficult to restart, so the warm-up wasn't easy. And then in the last stint, I set the time quite early, obviously the new tyre effect, and the circuit was in the proper shape and then in the last couple of laps I was trying to catch up, but the gap was too big, so I was just trying to manage the gap to Robert in which I succeeded, and took a bit of pace out... we reduced the revs and drove the car to the finish.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q. (Marco Evangelisti – Corriere dello Sport) Giancarlo, there has been such an impressive improvement in your car, in today's race. How could it be possible, and how much is this result linked to your driving skill on this particularly circuit?
GF: In the last race in Valencia we introduced the new aero package, which was about 0.6s better than the previous one, so it was already a big step forward. We nearly had the possibility to get into Page 5 of 6 the top ten and the pace in the race was not too bad, not as good as today. Here, we have more or less the same package, but obviously with a wing for Spa and as soon as we put the car on the ground we felt a good feeling, good behaviour. The balance was not good, but in terms of lap time we were quite quick anyway. On Saturday morning, with the right balance, the car was really good. And this is one of my best circuits, one of my favourite circuits, I have a very good feeling here. I'm usually able to find the limit of the circuit and I was so comfortable and that's the reason. But sometimes you never know why a car like McLaren was slow at the beginning, then it was winning. Even Trulli said the same thing yesterday. At the last race he was nowhere and yesterday he was second, and today he could even win the race, so you never know. But obviously we made a big step forward, that's very important.
Q. (Alberto Antonini – Autosprint) Kimi, well done. You said Ferrari hasn't brought many new parts to the last races but you've still taken two podium finishes and a win. Could that be you and not the car?
KR: I guess everybody can decide for themselves. We found a bit of a different way for the car. We started going a bit of a different way at the start of the year and then came back in the previous races. For sure, the car is not as quick as we want, as maybe it should be, but it's handling well, and that sometimes gives much more than you can drive – when you can drive it as you want, it sometimes gets you in a better position. I'm happy with the way it works, but with more downforce I'm pretty sure it could be a very fast car, but we know that we're not really getting any new parts, so we are where we are and as long as we get everything working well and the car feels good, I think we can still manage to get good results. It's difficult to expect more wins but hopefully (we can expect) podiums and good points and maybe in some circumstances a win.
Q. (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, could you have won without KERS and where was it the most important, when you took the lead or when you were defending?
KR: There's no point in wondering if we could have won (without KERS) or not. We won and we have KERS at every race and that's a fact. It helped at the start. I actually got a very good start, but then there was Barrichello – I don't know what happened to him at the start, so it already helped there and then passing Robert, I think, and then of course, it helped to pass Fisichella. It worked well for us, but it's a normal thing for us to use it at every race, so it's not like it's going to disappear suddenly.
Q. (Ottavio Daviddi – Tuttosport) Kimi, there are a lot of rumours about Giancarlo as your next team-mate, as you know. May I have your opinion about him?
KR: For me, it doesn't matter who is in the second car, it's not my decision. For sure the team will decide on whatever happens for the next race. But if I purely look at this race, they probably had a faster car than us, so it's probably a bit of a difficult decision in that way.
Q. (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Kimi, you said that you changed the way how you use KERS to defend. Can you explain what you did exactly?
KR: I was using more in the last part than before, just to make sure I got good speed on the back straight. That was the only difference.
Q. (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, it looks like you are somehow giving Ferrari a hard time, considering all the rumours about next year, because it was said that you might leave Ferrari because you're not performing as well now. Lately, you've been doing pretty well. Is there something inside of you that is bringing you to this, showing that the real Räikkönen is still there?
KR: No. Nothing has changed, as I said. We found a pretty good way to work with the car. We did well in Monaco. The last race was very similar, Hungary was similar. This place is a bit different than many others. It's purely that where the car has been strong we've been doing quite well every time. There's nothing that I've done differently. We've just achieved a good result now and hopefully we can keep it up. I think there will be races where it's not going to be easy for us but we can always try. There have been rumours almost every year since I've been in Formula One, so I don't really care
about them. I'm not worried about next year. I have a contract, so it's nothing that I should be worried about. I don't make the decisions in the end but we will see what happens. Maybe Ferrari have some other plans, but as far as I know nothing has changed.
Q. (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Kimi, according to the fuel weights, you should have been able to go at least two laps longer than Giancarlo. Giancarlo mentioned before that he was saving fuel behind the safety car but I guess you did the same, so why did you come in on the same lap?
KR: I don't know. It's difficult to say. Some engines use a bit more fuel than others. I think our engine probably uses a bit more fuel than the Renaults or McLarens. Maybe that's the one difference. I tried to get my tyres warmed up quite heavily behind the safety car, so I definitely didn't try to save as much as we could. But it paid off, we got first place after the safety car and that counts much more than one lap on a pit stop.
Q. (Joonas Partanen – Iltalehti) Kimi, it has been almost a year and a half since you last won, so did the champagne taste better on the podium compared to those times you were second and third, and then another question: some people have suggested that you won't cut your hair until you have won again, so are you going to cut it now?
KR: No, it's nothing to do with that. There's always speculation in Formula One and b****t as we know. It doesn't change anything. It's the same stuff. When you're first or second or third, it makes no difference what is in the bottle, but of course the feeling is nicer overall. It's good for the team and good for me, so in that way it's nice
Belgian Grand Prix - Race Round-Up
Panasonic Toyota Racing's bid for a return to the podium in the Belgium Grand Prix came unstuck at the first corner of the race at Spa-Francorchamps today. After a brilliant qualifying, Jarno Trulli lined up second with Timo Glock seventh and the team was a genuine contender for honours. But as Jarno exited the first corner, his front wing was damaged in contact with the rear of Nick Heidfeld's car, forcing him to pit for a replacement. Timo, who also started on the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tyre, made up places and ended the first lap fourth, with the safety car on track following a midfield accident. The safety car closed up the field and meant Jarno rejoined at the back while Timo kept up the fight in the top six. He changed to soft tyres at his first pit stop but lost time when the team had to switch to the back-up fuel rig and rejoined facing a battle for points. Jarno made his second stop to also take on soft tyres but a lap later his race ended early due to a brake problem. After his final pit stop, for more soft rubber, Timo rejoined in a battle for points but ultimately missed out.
Timo Glock - Car 10, Chassis TF109-05
Grid: 7th
Race Classification: 10th (+41.490s)
Pit Stop Laps: 12, 32
"I made a pretty strong start and was running fourth when the safety car came out so we had a good chance of points. But at my first pit stop we had trouble with the fuel rig which cost me time and positions. The crew did well to quickly change to the back-up rig but nevertheless we lost time. Clearly there was a problem with the fuel rig and we have to analyse what happened and prevent any similar problems in the future. I did my best and the car was quite quick but it wasn't to be."
Jarno Trulli - Car 9, Chassis TF109-06
Grid: 2nd
Race Classification: DNF
Pit Stop Laps: 1, 20
"I can't say how disappointed I am with that race. I was really expecting a strong result because we were in great shape after qualifying. But at the first corner I was right behind Heidfeld and at the exit I expected him to pull away faster than he did. I'm not sure if he had a problem but I just touched him slightly and that broke the front wing. It was vibrating a lot so I had no choice but to make a pit stop. There was nothing I could do after that and in the end the team saw a problem with brake wear and decided it was safer to stop."
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal
"Unfortunately we couldn't make the most of the car today, despite having such a promising grid position. I am sorry for our supporters because everyone was expecting a much better result. Jarno's race was decided on the first lap and Timo had a problem with the fuel rig which prevented him scoring points. So it was a very frustrating day for us, particularly because the car is competitive and we achieved our target of a significant improvement in qualifying. We will work at the factory to solve the fuel rig issue and get more out of the car for the Italian Grand Prix."
Timo Glock - Car 10, Chassis TF109-05
Grid: 7th
Race Classification: 10th (+41.490s)
Pit Stop Laps: 12, 32
"I made a pretty strong start and was running fourth when the safety car came out so we had a good chance of points. But at my first pit stop we had trouble with the fuel rig which cost me time and positions. The crew did well to quickly change to the back-up rig but nevertheless we lost time. Clearly there was a problem with the fuel rig and we have to analyse what happened and prevent any similar problems in the future. I did my best and the car was quite quick but it wasn't to be."
Jarno Trulli - Car 9, Chassis TF109-06
Grid: 2nd
Race Classification: DNF
Pit Stop Laps: 1, 20
"I can't say how disappointed I am with that race. I was really expecting a strong result because we were in great shape after qualifying. But at the first corner I was right behind Heidfeld and at the exit I expected him to pull away faster than he did. I'm not sure if he had a problem but I just touched him slightly and that broke the front wing. It was vibrating a lot so I had no choice but to make a pit stop. There was nothing I could do after that and in the end the team saw a problem with brake wear and decided it was safer to stop."
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal
"Unfortunately we couldn't make the most of the car today, despite having such a promising grid position. I am sorry for our supporters because everyone was expecting a much better result. Jarno's race was decided on the first lap and Timo had a problem with the fuel rig which prevented him scoring points. So it was a very frustrating day for us, particularly because the car is competitive and we achieved our target of a significant improvement in qualifying. We will work at the factory to solve the fuel rig issue and get more out of the car for the Italian Grand Prix."
Raikkonen: grid makes win possible
Kimi Raikkonen believes the unexpected grid for the Belgian Grand Prix could present him with the opportunity to take Ferrari's first win of 2009.
The former world champion starts sixth for today's race behind pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello and Robert Kubica. Of those drivers only Barrichello has been a consistent front-runner and won the last race at Valencia.
In addition to this, Raikkonen's is the only car in the top ten equipped with KERS, which could prove a distinct advantage on the run out of La Source on lap one.
"It would be stupid to say that I don't believe [we can win]," he said after qualifying on Saturday. "We are here to win races, so it is not a big surprise. Yeah, probably we have a better chance with this kind of grid than one with Red Bulls and Brawns and other teams at the front.
"So I think there will be quite a lot of changes at the front tomorrow."
Raikkonen added that sixth on the grid was all that was possible from the F60 at Spa, but that he expected the car to perform better on a heavy fuel load.
"I don't think we could go much faster," he said. "This is probably the maximum that we can get, you can easily see the lap times in low fuel - we are always a bit behind - but it helps us when we put a bit more fuel in the car.
"For tomorrow's race it is definitely looking different to normal, so I think it looks like a more open race situation than usual. So we will see what we can do."
The former world champion starts sixth for today's race behind pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello and Robert Kubica. Of those drivers only Barrichello has been a consistent front-runner and won the last race at Valencia.
In addition to this, Raikkonen's is the only car in the top ten equipped with KERS, which could prove a distinct advantage on the run out of La Source on lap one.
"It would be stupid to say that I don't believe [we can win]," he said after qualifying on Saturday. "We are here to win races, so it is not a big surprise. Yeah, probably we have a better chance with this kind of grid than one with Red Bulls and Brawns and other teams at the front.
"So I think there will be quite a lot of changes at the front tomorrow."
Raikkonen added that sixth on the grid was all that was possible from the F60 at Spa, but that he expected the car to perform better on a heavy fuel load.
"I don't think we could go much faster," he said. "This is probably the maximum that we can get, you can easily see the lap times in low fuel - we are always a bit behind - but it helps us when we put a bit more fuel in the car.
"For tomorrow's race it is definitely looking different to normal, so I think it looks like a more open race situation than usual. So we will see what we can do."
Mercedes to sort engine plans by Monza
Mercedes-Benz is hoping to reveal its customer engine plans for 2010 at the Italian Grand Prix, amid mounting speculation that a deal to supply Red Bull Racing has now been agreed.
AUTOSPORT revealed in April that Red Bull Racing was chasing a supply of Mercedes-Benz engines for next year, once its current contract with Renault comes to an end later this season.
It is understood that Red Bull Racing's recent engine problems have accelerated the moves towards Mercedes-Benz, with an announcement on the outcome of those negotiations expected imminently.
A Mercedes-Benz deal with Red Bull Racing would mean McLaren's engine partner supplying four teams in total next year - as Brawn GP and Force India will also receive customer units.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug told AUTOSPORT that he could not reveal the details of any discussions that his car manufacturer was having, but said news would come at the Italian GP in a fortnight's time.
"I definitely will not mention any team names," he explained. "These are confidential negotiations, and I hope by Monza we know everything - so that is a fortnight away. Everything should be finalised by then.
"We have talked to various teams, more than one team, and I would like some understanding that these are confidential discussions so I cannot talk about it any more."
F1's regulations stipulate that any manufacturer supplying more than two teams in F1 needs special dispensation from the FIA. Haug confirmed that his company had received such approval to supply four teams.
"We have that in writing, and I think the FIA is very interested in a manufacturer who helps in this situation," he explained. "There are not so many who would jump in and volunteer and would want more than one customer team, but you have to have the logistics, you have to have the capacity and you need to build it up.
"We could not have done it two years ago, but all in all we build half the engines for four teams including rebuilding that we did for our own team two years ago. This is a big, big efficiency programme. It also helps refinancing, but you need to be absolutely very lean. I am not sure whether everyone could do that."
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said earlier in the Belgian GP weekend that his team was close to making a final decision about its plans - and that recent engine problems would not be the only factor in what his team did.
"We're obviously in a position where, as an independent team, we have a choice of engine," he said. "We've been very, very happy with the supply that we've had from Renault for the last three years.
"Any decision that will be made, will be made not on the outcome of a single weekend but based on what we believe offers us the best opportunity of performance and relationship for the future.
"We haven't made any firm decisions yet, but we're obviously nearing a time when we need to make a commitment for next year."
AUTOSPORT revealed in April that Red Bull Racing was chasing a supply of Mercedes-Benz engines for next year, once its current contract with Renault comes to an end later this season.
It is understood that Red Bull Racing's recent engine problems have accelerated the moves towards Mercedes-Benz, with an announcement on the outcome of those negotiations expected imminently.
A Mercedes-Benz deal with Red Bull Racing would mean McLaren's engine partner supplying four teams in total next year - as Brawn GP and Force India will also receive customer units.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug told AUTOSPORT that he could not reveal the details of any discussions that his car manufacturer was having, but said news would come at the Italian GP in a fortnight's time.
"I definitely will not mention any team names," he explained. "These are confidential negotiations, and I hope by Monza we know everything - so that is a fortnight away. Everything should be finalised by then.
"We have talked to various teams, more than one team, and I would like some understanding that these are confidential discussions so I cannot talk about it any more."
F1's regulations stipulate that any manufacturer supplying more than two teams in F1 needs special dispensation from the FIA. Haug confirmed that his company had received such approval to supply four teams.
"We have that in writing, and I think the FIA is very interested in a manufacturer who helps in this situation," he explained. "There are not so many who would jump in and volunteer and would want more than one customer team, but you have to have the logistics, you have to have the capacity and you need to build it up.
"We could not have done it two years ago, but all in all we build half the engines for four teams including rebuilding that we did for our own team two years ago. This is a big, big efficiency programme. It also helps refinancing, but you need to be absolutely very lean. I am not sure whether everyone could do that."
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said earlier in the Belgian GP weekend that his team was close to making a final decision about its plans - and that recent engine problems would not be the only factor in what his team did.
"We're obviously in a position where, as an independent team, we have a choice of engine," he said. "We've been very, very happy with the supply that we've had from Renault for the last three years.
"Any decision that will be made, will be made not on the outcome of a single weekend but based on what we believe offers us the best opportunity of performance and relationship for the future.
"We haven't made any firm decisions yet, but we're obviously nearing a time when we need to make a commitment for next year."
Belgian GP analysis of fuel loads
The FIA has revealed the fuel loads with which all 20 cars will start the Belgian Grand Prix. We analyse the data here.
After an extraordinary qualifying session at Spa on Saturday served up the most improbable grid for a grand prix in recent memory, the publication of the car weights was eagerly awaited.
Was Giancarlo Fisichella’s sensational pole position for the unheralded Force India team quite the giant-killing feat it appeared?
Well, the answer to that is largely yes. Granted, the Italian veteran was light on fuel, but even taking that into account he was the fourth fastest driver on outright pace – in a car that hasn’t even made the top-10 shootout before, with the exception of the rain-affected Nurburgring qualifying session.
So there’s no question that Vijay Mallya’s squad can be justifiably proud of a superb accomplishment.
Jarno Trulli’s front row effort was less of a surprise given Toyota’s practice form (although that in itself was a complete turnaround from Valencia), and the man from Pescara was fastest on the fuel-adjusted times by 0.14s from…Sebastian Vettel.
The Red Bull driver may have qualified a disappointing eighth, but he was lugging around the second heaviest fuel load of anyone in the top 10, masking his true speed.
Whether that will prove to be a wise strategy is debatable, since it may have left the German too far down the grid to challenge for victory in a race that Red Bull really must win to keep its title hopes alive.
Vettel also admitted that he had made a mistake at Stavelot on his final qualifying lap, without which he wouldn’t have such a mountain to climb on race day.
BMW’s sudden return to the front was another of many surprises, but the Hinwil team’s pace appears to be genuine, at least here at Spa.
Nick Heidfeld’s third on the grid was mirrored in the fuel-adjusted order, which sees Fisichella fourth, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen fifth and Mark Webber sixth in the second Red Bull.
The man whose qualifying performance flattered to deceive was Rubens Barrichello.
The Valencia winner was carrying less fuel than anyone else, increasing his deficit to the pole time from 0.21s to 0.57s in real terms – underlining the fact that Brawn is not on the front-running pace here despite no recurrence of its tyre temperature problems.
If it’s a dry race we can expect Barrichello to initiate the first round of pit stops on lap 10, with Fisichella, Robert Kubica and Timo Glock following him in on the next lap.
Heidfeld can make it to lap 13 and Trulli to 13 or possibly 14, so whichever of these two is ahead at the end of the opening lap may well be in a position to control the race.
Raikkonen is similarly fuelled, so he could be a major factor too if he can use his KERS power to make up a couple of places on the first lap – particularly since Ferrari’s race pace has generally been stronger than its qualifying performances this year.
Add to that Raikkonen’s special affinity for Spa – he has won here three times since 2004 – and the Finn may be an outside bet to deliver Ferrari’s first victory of the season.
Vettel can go as far as lap 15, so the key for him will be to make some early headway and try to minimise the time loss to the leader, then pump in some ultra-fast laps on low fuel before his stop.
It’s much the same story for Webber, who is 4.5 points closer to championship leader Jenson Button and likewise needs to score big at Spa.
Nico Rosberg did well to make it into Q3 considering Williams’s uncompetitive showing in Friday practice, and the team opted to fuel him for a long first stint in a bid to make up ground through strategy.
Rosberg is fuelled to lap 17 and may come into play if the FW31 is quick enough to make the extra laps count.
Jenson Button finds himself starting outside the top 10 for the first time this season, after struggling with a general lack of grip and rear-end instability in qualifying.
He isn’t heading into the race with a great deal of confidence, but knows he needs to limit the points damage as effectively as possible and will be looking to Brawn’s pit strategy to help him do this.
Button is fuelled to lap 25, twice as far as most of the top 10, but will be looking to make a few cheap places up at the start to ease his task.
That may not be straightforward, however, for starting directly ahead of him are former world champion Fernando Alonso and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, neither of whom is known for being a soft touch when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing.
Hamilton will also have the benefit of KERS and will hope that helps to compensate for a disappointing grid position.
The big unknown is what the weather will do. The forecast is for a dry race, but in the Ardennes such predictions count for little, and rain can never be ruled out.
Wet or dry, though, it promises to be a fascinating race.
Car weights including fuel (in kg, by grid order)
1. FISICHELLA Force India 648
2. TRULLI Toyota 656.5
3. HEIDFELD BMW 655
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 644.5
5. KUBICA BMW 649
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 655
7. GLOCK Toyota 648.5
8. VETTEL Red Bull 662.5
9. WEBBER Red Bull 658
10. ROSBERG Williams 670
11. SUTIL Force India 678.5
12. HAMILTON McLaren 693.5
13. ALONSO Renault 684.4
14. BUTTON Brawn 694.2
15. KOVALAINEN McLaren 697
16. BUEMI Toro Rosso 685
17. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 704.5
18. NAKAJIMA Williams 706.1
19. GROSJEAN Renault 704.7
20. BADOER Ferrari 691.5
After an extraordinary qualifying session at Spa on Saturday served up the most improbable grid for a grand prix in recent memory, the publication of the car weights was eagerly awaited.
Was Giancarlo Fisichella’s sensational pole position for the unheralded Force India team quite the giant-killing feat it appeared?
Well, the answer to that is largely yes. Granted, the Italian veteran was light on fuel, but even taking that into account he was the fourth fastest driver on outright pace – in a car that hasn’t even made the top-10 shootout before, with the exception of the rain-affected Nurburgring qualifying session.
So there’s no question that Vijay Mallya’s squad can be justifiably proud of a superb accomplishment.
Jarno Trulli’s front row effort was less of a surprise given Toyota’s practice form (although that in itself was a complete turnaround from Valencia), and the man from Pescara was fastest on the fuel-adjusted times by 0.14s from…Sebastian Vettel.
The Red Bull driver may have qualified a disappointing eighth, but he was lugging around the second heaviest fuel load of anyone in the top 10, masking his true speed.
Whether that will prove to be a wise strategy is debatable, since it may have left the German too far down the grid to challenge for victory in a race that Red Bull really must win to keep its title hopes alive.
Vettel also admitted that he had made a mistake at Stavelot on his final qualifying lap, without which he wouldn’t have such a mountain to climb on race day.
BMW’s sudden return to the front was another of many surprises, but the Hinwil team’s pace appears to be genuine, at least here at Spa.
Nick Heidfeld’s third on the grid was mirrored in the fuel-adjusted order, which sees Fisichella fourth, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen fifth and Mark Webber sixth in the second Red Bull.
The man whose qualifying performance flattered to deceive was Rubens Barrichello.
The Valencia winner was carrying less fuel than anyone else, increasing his deficit to the pole time from 0.21s to 0.57s in real terms – underlining the fact that Brawn is not on the front-running pace here despite no recurrence of its tyre temperature problems.
If it’s a dry race we can expect Barrichello to initiate the first round of pit stops on lap 10, with Fisichella, Robert Kubica and Timo Glock following him in on the next lap.
Heidfeld can make it to lap 13 and Trulli to 13 or possibly 14, so whichever of these two is ahead at the end of the opening lap may well be in a position to control the race.
Raikkonen is similarly fuelled, so he could be a major factor too if he can use his KERS power to make up a couple of places on the first lap – particularly since Ferrari’s race pace has generally been stronger than its qualifying performances this year.
Add to that Raikkonen’s special affinity for Spa – he has won here three times since 2004 – and the Finn may be an outside bet to deliver Ferrari’s first victory of the season.
Vettel can go as far as lap 15, so the key for him will be to make some early headway and try to minimise the time loss to the leader, then pump in some ultra-fast laps on low fuel before his stop.
It’s much the same story for Webber, who is 4.5 points closer to championship leader Jenson Button and likewise needs to score big at Spa.
Nico Rosberg did well to make it into Q3 considering Williams’s uncompetitive showing in Friday practice, and the team opted to fuel him for a long first stint in a bid to make up ground through strategy.
Rosberg is fuelled to lap 17 and may come into play if the FW31 is quick enough to make the extra laps count.
Jenson Button finds himself starting outside the top 10 for the first time this season, after struggling with a general lack of grip and rear-end instability in qualifying.
He isn’t heading into the race with a great deal of confidence, but knows he needs to limit the points damage as effectively as possible and will be looking to Brawn’s pit strategy to help him do this.
Button is fuelled to lap 25, twice as far as most of the top 10, but will be looking to make a few cheap places up at the start to ease his task.
That may not be straightforward, however, for starting directly ahead of him are former world champion Fernando Alonso and reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, neither of whom is known for being a soft touch when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing.
Hamilton will also have the benefit of KERS and will hope that helps to compensate for a disappointing grid position.
The big unknown is what the weather will do. The forecast is for a dry race, but in the Ardennes such predictions count for little, and rain can never be ruled out.
Wet or dry, though, it promises to be a fascinating race.
Car weights including fuel (in kg, by grid order)
1. FISICHELLA Force India 648
2. TRULLI Toyota 656.5
3. HEIDFELD BMW 655
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 644.5
5. KUBICA BMW 649
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 655
7. GLOCK Toyota 648.5
8. VETTEL Red Bull 662.5
9. WEBBER Red Bull 658
10. ROSBERG Williams 670
11. SUTIL Force India 678.5
12. HAMILTON McLaren 693.5
13. ALONSO Renault 684.4
14. BUTTON Brawn 694.2
15. KOVALAINEN McLaren 697
16. BUEMI Toro Rosso 685
17. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso 704.5
18. NAKAJIMA Williams 706.1
19. GROSJEAN Renault 704.7
20. BADOER Ferrari 691.5
Hamilton still looking for points from 12th
Lewis Hamilton says he was not too disappointed with his result in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, and the Briton insists he is still aiming to score points on Sunday.
Hamilton, who had won and finished second in the last two races, had to settle for 12th position on the grid as his car showed its deficits on high-speed corners.
The McLaren driver said he extracted the maximum from his McLaren, and he is still eyeing a points finish tomorrow.
"We did the best job we could today," said Hamilton. "We'd always known the car would struggle in the mid-sector corners: being one second down in the mid-sector shows the true downforce level of our car.
"We expected that we wouldn't have as good an aero package as some of the others - we just didn't know to what extent. I guess today we found out.
"But I'm not too disappointed – this year has been a rollercoaster ride for everyone, but I'm enjoying it still and I love driving this track. My plan for tomorrow is a points finish."
Heikki Kovalainen, 15th toady, said his team was expecting a tough day, as it was the case.
"This morning, we started to become a little surprised by the pace of some of the other cars," he said. "We were struggling in the high-speed corners a little more than in either Hungary or Valencia, where the circuit configurations are slower.
"We expected today to be tough and our results show we are still lacking in high-speed efficiency, downforce and straight-line speed.
"Still, it was very close today; there was quite a bit of traffic in the session and, with just a couple more tenths, we could have made it into Q3. I'll be racing hard tomorrow and I feel confident we can go forwards from here.
"Nevertheless, we know where we are and we're not down because of this. We've shown progress compared with Silverstone and we'll keep pushing to improve on our issues."
Hamilton, who had won and finished second in the last two races, had to settle for 12th position on the grid as his car showed its deficits on high-speed corners.
The McLaren driver said he extracted the maximum from his McLaren, and he is still eyeing a points finish tomorrow.
"We did the best job we could today," said Hamilton. "We'd always known the car would struggle in the mid-sector corners: being one second down in the mid-sector shows the true downforce level of our car.
"We expected that we wouldn't have as good an aero package as some of the others - we just didn't know to what extent. I guess today we found out.
"But I'm not too disappointed – this year has been a rollercoaster ride for everyone, but I'm enjoying it still and I love driving this track. My plan for tomorrow is a points finish."
Heikki Kovalainen, 15th toady, said his team was expecting a tough day, as it was the case.
"This morning, we started to become a little surprised by the pace of some of the other cars," he said. "We were struggling in the high-speed corners a little more than in either Hungary or Valencia, where the circuit configurations are slower.
"We expected today to be tough and our results show we are still lacking in high-speed efficiency, downforce and straight-line speed.
"Still, it was very close today; there was quite a bit of traffic in the session and, with just a couple more tenths, we could have made it into Q3. I'll be racing hard tomorrow and I feel confident we can go forwards from here.
"Nevertheless, we know where we are and we're not down because of this. We've shown progress compared with Silverstone and we'll keep pushing to improve on our issues."
Saturday 29 August 2009
Qualifying analysis - Fisichella fastest, but not lightest
After one of the most extraordinary qualifying sessions of the season saw Giancarlo Fisichella take pole position for Force India from Jarno Trulli’s Toyota and Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber, the fuel figures made fascinating reading.
Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello, fourth overall, was the lightest at 644.5 kg, followed by Fisichella at 648, Toyota’s Timo Glock (seventh) 648.5s, BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica (fifth) at 649, Heidfeld and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (sixth) at 655, Trulli at 656.5, Red Bull’s Mark Webber (ninth) at 658, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (eighth) at 662.5 and Williams’ Nico Rosberg (10th) at 670…
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 46.308s, P1
Adrian Sutil, 1m 45.119s, P11
Fisichella was absolutely delighted with a very clean lap and that set-up changes had got rid of the understeer he complained of on Friday. He also put his speed down to hitting a rabbit in the morning, which he took to be a lucky signal after his engineers told him of the British superstition about rabbit’s feet! Sutil just missed out on Q3 as he couldn’t make best use of the soft Bridgestone tyre.
Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 46.395s, P2
Timo Glock, 1m 46.677s, P7
Trulli has been fast all weekend and on fuel-corrected lap time was the quickest man overall from Vettel, Heidfeld and Fisichella. He suggested that when everything is right the TF109 is a very competitive car, and this weekend everything was indeed right. Part of that was due to a small set-up change which enhanced both downforce and traction. Glock said his best lap was pretty tidy and that the team’s new aero package was working pretty well.
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 46.500s, P3
Robert Kubica, 1m 46.586s, P5
This was BMW Sauber’s best qualifying performance of the year, and Heidfeld was happy with his F1.09’s balance and made the most of what the car had to offer. Kubica, running a lighter fuel load, said he lost straight-line speed after a morning engine change.
Brawn GP
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 46.513s, P4
Jenson Button, 1m 45.251s, P14
Once again, Barrichello got a lot more out of his Brawn than Button did. The Brazilian ran a light fuel load and said he was extremely happy to make the second row. He also admitted that it was one of the surprises of his season, and that his lap was one of his best-ever round Spa. Button certainly didn’t expect 14th place, and admitted that he struggled on the softer Bridgestone and just could not find the grip he needed in sector two.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 46.633s, P6
Luca Badoer, 1m 46.957s, P20
Raikkonen felt he got the best out of his F60, having expected a tough time and got it. He reported that the car handled better with a decent fuel load than on light tanks, but was critical of its overall level of downforce. Badoer again failed to get out of Q1 after spinning on his final run after he went off the racing line to pass Vettel.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 46.761, P8
Mark Webber, 1m 46.788, P9
Vettel admitted that he made a mistake on his best lap going into Turn 14, but with a high fuel load he should have a strong chance come the race. A bemused Webber said that he had expected much more than ninth.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 47.362s, P10
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 46.307s, P18
Having struggled all weekend, Rosberg managed to get the best out of Q2, and believes that Williams’ high-fuel strategy will allow him to fight for points again in the race. Nakajima was all at sea as he suggested either Rosberg had driven very well or found a set-up direction that he hadn’t.
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 45.122s, P12
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 45.259s, P15
McLaren had hoped for much better than 12th and 15th after their performance yesterday and this morning, but the MP4-24 just wasn’t fast enough. Hamilton pointed to poor mid-sector performance as proof of the shortcomings of the aero package, while Kovalainen echoed his sentiments.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 45.136s, P13
Romain Grosjean, 1m 46.359s, P19
Alonso admitted that Renault were just not competitive when it mattered at Spa, after struggling In Q1 and Q2. Grosjean said he had difficulty with traffic and was blocked by a Toro Rosso on a couple of his laps, and then he had the yellow flag for Badoer’s spin at the end which prevented him bumping Button out of Q2.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 45.951s, P16
Jaime Alguersuari, 1m 46.032s, P17
Buemi said that he met traffic on his warm-up lap and failed to get his flying lap together, compounding that by locking the rear wheels at one stage. Alguersuari said his STR4 lacked straight-line speed, but was satisfied to improve from 19th place in Hungary on a circuit he knows well.
Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello, fourth overall, was the lightest at 644.5 kg, followed by Fisichella at 648, Toyota’s Timo Glock (seventh) 648.5s, BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica (fifth) at 649, Heidfeld and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen (sixth) at 655, Trulli at 656.5, Red Bull’s Mark Webber (ninth) at 658, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (eighth) at 662.5 and Williams’ Nico Rosberg (10th) at 670…
Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella, 1m 46.308s, P1
Adrian Sutil, 1m 45.119s, P11
Fisichella was absolutely delighted with a very clean lap and that set-up changes had got rid of the understeer he complained of on Friday. He also put his speed down to hitting a rabbit in the morning, which he took to be a lucky signal after his engineers told him of the British superstition about rabbit’s feet! Sutil just missed out on Q3 as he couldn’t make best use of the soft Bridgestone tyre.
Toyota
Jarno Trulli, 1m 46.395s, P2
Timo Glock, 1m 46.677s, P7
Trulli has been fast all weekend and on fuel-corrected lap time was the quickest man overall from Vettel, Heidfeld and Fisichella. He suggested that when everything is right the TF109 is a very competitive car, and this weekend everything was indeed right. Part of that was due to a small set-up change which enhanced both downforce and traction. Glock said his best lap was pretty tidy and that the team’s new aero package was working pretty well.
BMW Sauber
Nick Heidfeld, 1m 46.500s, P3
Robert Kubica, 1m 46.586s, P5
This was BMW Sauber’s best qualifying performance of the year, and Heidfeld was happy with his F1.09’s balance and made the most of what the car had to offer. Kubica, running a lighter fuel load, said he lost straight-line speed after a morning engine change.
Brawn GP
Rubens Barrichello, 1m 46.513s, P4
Jenson Button, 1m 45.251s, P14
Once again, Barrichello got a lot more out of his Brawn than Button did. The Brazilian ran a light fuel load and said he was extremely happy to make the second row. He also admitted that it was one of the surprises of his season, and that his lap was one of his best-ever round Spa. Button certainly didn’t expect 14th place, and admitted that he struggled on the softer Bridgestone and just could not find the grip he needed in sector two.
Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 46.633s, P6
Luca Badoer, 1m 46.957s, P20
Raikkonen felt he got the best out of his F60, having expected a tough time and got it. He reported that the car handled better with a decent fuel load than on light tanks, but was critical of its overall level of downforce. Badoer again failed to get out of Q1 after spinning on his final run after he went off the racing line to pass Vettel.
Red Bull
Sebastian Vettel, 1m 46.761, P8
Mark Webber, 1m 46.788, P9
Vettel admitted that he made a mistake on his best lap going into Turn 14, but with a high fuel load he should have a strong chance come the race. A bemused Webber said that he had expected much more than ninth.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, 1m 47.362s, P10
Kazuki Nakajima, 1m 46.307s, P18
Having struggled all weekend, Rosberg managed to get the best out of Q2, and believes that Williams’ high-fuel strategy will allow him to fight for points again in the race. Nakajima was all at sea as he suggested either Rosberg had driven very well or found a set-up direction that he hadn’t.
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, 1m 45.122s, P12
Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 45.259s, P15
McLaren had hoped for much better than 12th and 15th after their performance yesterday and this morning, but the MP4-24 just wasn’t fast enough. Hamilton pointed to poor mid-sector performance as proof of the shortcomings of the aero package, while Kovalainen echoed his sentiments.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, 1m 45.136s, P13
Romain Grosjean, 1m 46.359s, P19
Alonso admitted that Renault were just not competitive when it mattered at Spa, after struggling In Q1 and Q2. Grosjean said he had difficulty with traffic and was blocked by a Toro Rosso on a couple of his laps, and then he had the yellow flag for Badoer’s spin at the end which prevented him bumping Button out of Q2.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, 1m 45.951s, P16
Jaime Alguersuari, 1m 46.032s, P17
Buemi said that he met traffic on his warm-up lap and failed to get his flying lap together, compounding that by locking the rear wheels at one stage. Alguersuari said his STR4 lacked straight-line speed, but was satisfied to improve from 19th place in Hungary on a circuit he knows well.
Unprecedented pole for Force India
Giancarlo Fisichella has secured a spectacular first pole for the Force India Formula One Team, marking the first time that an Indian team has been on the front row of the starting grid for a Grand Prix. The 36-year-old Italian will start from pole for the fourth time in his career after an unbelievable qualifying session.
Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM02/01):
FP3: 3rd 1:45.677 (20 laps)
Q1: 4th 1:45.239 (10 laps)
Q2: 11th 1:45.119 (8 laps)
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM02/04):
FP3: 8th 1:46.114 (21 laps)
Q1: 1st 1:45.102 (11 laps)
Q2: 4th 1:44.667 (8 laps)
Q3: 1st 1:46.308 (4 laps)
POLE!!!
Giancarlo led the field throughout the hour, setting the fastest time in Q1 to ease into Q2. The fourth best time in Q2 then followed before a nail biting Q3 that saw him trade fastest times with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. His best lap of the session, a 1min 46.308, which came just seconds from the end of the hour, could not be bettered and he held on for his first pole since Malaysia 2006.
Adrian Sutil had also looked strong throughout the day and narrowly missed out on a Q3 slot for the second time this year by just one tenth of a second. The German will start the race from 11th position.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
This is an unbelievable day for the team. Congratulations to Giancarlo: it was an amazing result for him and such a good boost for the team. We’ve worked hard so the guys really deserve it. For me, it was quite a good session but I’m still a little bit disappointed as I couldn’t use the soft tyre set effectively. The hard set was much better on my car – we don’t know why but we will look into it for sure. Normally we should have been Q3 – as Giancarlo showed - but from 11th I still think points are possible. We are quite good on the long run pace, the car feels good and it was from this point of view I am quite happy.
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
This is one of my favourite circuits, I did well in the past and I was sure we would be competitive again this year. I didn’t expect to be on pole though! It feels just great, like a dream. I am so happy for myself, for the team, for the mechanics, the engineers, who have done a fantastic job. They did a great step forward for Valencia for the last race considering our budget and our resources. This morning we had a small accident when I hit a rabbit, but my engineer said it would be lucky and it was ! What a result. I am now not only looking for points, but for more. We’ve got this far we need to finish the job!
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
Simply an incredible result today and full credit to Giancarlo on a series of fantastic laps. We started today a little unsure of our performance, and knew we had to work on the understeer that was in the car yesterday. The engineers worked on it, tried a few things in FP3 and found the right direction. From there both drivers were much happier. For Adrian the two tyres seemed closer in performance in qualifying, and somehow he just missed out on Q3, Giancarlo concentrated on the soft tyre in Q2 and I think the track improvement came in that direction. I want to say thanks to the tunnel, the factory and to the team and hope that tomorrow we convert this qualifying result to solid points.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director
What an unbelievable result we have had here. I am so proud of Giancarlo, the team in the garage and the factory and also for the entire Indian nation. There is nothing more to say: we’ve done both ourselves and the country proud.
Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM02/01):
FP3: 3rd 1:45.677 (20 laps)
Q1: 4th 1:45.239 (10 laps)
Q2: 11th 1:45.119 (8 laps)
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM02/04):
FP3: 8th 1:46.114 (21 laps)
Q1: 1st 1:45.102 (11 laps)
Q2: 4th 1:44.667 (8 laps)
Q3: 1st 1:46.308 (4 laps)
POLE!!!
Giancarlo led the field throughout the hour, setting the fastest time in Q1 to ease into Q2. The fourth best time in Q2 then followed before a nail biting Q3 that saw him trade fastest times with the Toyota of Jarno Trulli. His best lap of the session, a 1min 46.308, which came just seconds from the end of the hour, could not be bettered and he held on for his first pole since Malaysia 2006.
Adrian Sutil had also looked strong throughout the day and narrowly missed out on a Q3 slot for the second time this year by just one tenth of a second. The German will start the race from 11th position.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
This is an unbelievable day for the team. Congratulations to Giancarlo: it was an amazing result for him and such a good boost for the team. We’ve worked hard so the guys really deserve it. For me, it was quite a good session but I’m still a little bit disappointed as I couldn’t use the soft tyre set effectively. The hard set was much better on my car – we don’t know why but we will look into it for sure. Normally we should have been Q3 – as Giancarlo showed - but from 11th I still think points are possible. We are quite good on the long run pace, the car feels good and it was from this point of view I am quite happy.
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
This is one of my favourite circuits, I did well in the past and I was sure we would be competitive again this year. I didn’t expect to be on pole though! It feels just great, like a dream. I am so happy for myself, for the team, for the mechanics, the engineers, who have done a fantastic job. They did a great step forward for Valencia for the last race considering our budget and our resources. This morning we had a small accident when I hit a rabbit, but my engineer said it would be lucky and it was ! What a result. I am now not only looking for points, but for more. We’ve got this far we need to finish the job!
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
Simply an incredible result today and full credit to Giancarlo on a series of fantastic laps. We started today a little unsure of our performance, and knew we had to work on the understeer that was in the car yesterday. The engineers worked on it, tried a few things in FP3 and found the right direction. From there both drivers were much happier. For Adrian the two tyres seemed closer in performance in qualifying, and somehow he just missed out on Q3, Giancarlo concentrated on the soft tyre in Q2 and I think the track improvement came in that direction. I want to say thanks to the tunnel, the factory and to the team and hope that tomorrow we convert this qualifying result to solid points.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director
What an unbelievable result we have had here. I am so proud of Giancarlo, the team in the garage and the factory and also for the entire Indian nation. There is nothing more to say: we’ve done both ourselves and the country proud.
Belgian Grand Prix - Qualifying Round-Up
29.08.2009
Panasonic Toyota Racing returned to the front row of the grid in an exciting qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps today. Following a promising final practice session, which saw Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock continue their impressive form from yesterday to record top-six lap times, the team was optimistic for qualifying. That optimism proved to be fully justified as both drivers established themselves as serious contenders from the opening laps in first qualifying. After an initial run on the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres, they switched to soft rubber to cruise into second qualifying, with Jarno already a clear pole position contender. That pattern continued in second qualifying when Jarno was fastest of all on soft tyres, with Timo also fighting for a top-six spot to set the scene for a remarkable final session. Jarno was in the hunt from the beginning, trading fastest times and both drivers, still using the soft tyres, improved on their final run. Jarno missed pole position by the narrowest of margins but nevertheless claimed his third front-row starting spot of the season while Timo was also on the pace, taking his best qualifying result since the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
Jarno Trulli - Car 9, Chassis TF109-06
3rd Practice: 2nd, 1m 45.462s (+0.074s), 18 laps
1st Qualifying: 2nd, 1m 45.140s (+0.038s), 10 laps
2nd Qualifying: 1st, 1m 44.503s, 5 laps
3rd Qualifying: 2nd, 1m 46.395s (+0.087s), 6 laps
"I am very happy to be on the front row again. We have always known that when things go right we have a very competitive car and all weekend we have looked extremely strong. In qualifying I was always in the top two, even though in first qualifying I took it a bit easy. I did a very quick lap in third qualifying and second place gives us a great chance tomorrow. We dropped the downforce a bit yesterday and spent most of the time balancing the car. Then we made a small change to the set-up this morning so I had better handling and traction for qualifying and it worked well. Also, I spent most of the weekend driving on race fuel so I am very happy with how things have turned out and it is looking pretty good for tomorrow. I have to thank the team who have worked really hard to improve and get a result like this; I dedicate it to all my mechanics."
Timo Glock - Car 10, Chassis TF109-05
3rd Practice: 5th, 1m 45.908s (+0.520s), 18 laps
1st Qualifying: 7th, 1m 45.450s (+0.348s), 9 laps
2nd Qualifying: 7th, 1m 44.877s (+0.374s), 5 laps
3rd Qualifying: 7th, 1m 46.677s, (+0.369s) 6 laps
"Today was a good result for the whole team and it is a nice feeling to be fighting at the front again. My lap was pretty tidy so overall I am happy with it; we have worked hard on improving the qualifying pace and we got our reward today. The team brought a new aero package to this race and it seems to be working well. From the start of the weekend we believed we could be strong here because the car felt quick throughout practice and it's great to carry that speed into qualifying. We had good race pace in Hungary and Valencia so I am optimistic for tomorrow. I hope to finish in the top five; it will not be easy but I'm really looking forward to the challenge."
Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis
"It has been a good weekend for us so far and we are happy to be back at the front. We saw from the start of the weekend that both cars were quick and consistent in all conditions and it is a good feeling. For the first time in three races we have qualified where our race pace has been so the weekend looks promising and we are ready for an exciting Sunday tomorrow. Congratulations to our drivers who have done a very impressive job this weekend; they both work extremely hard and it is very satisfying to see that rewarded. I would also like to say thanks to the people back at the factory, as well as those here at the track. They never give up and it is particularly pleasing to deliver a good performance at Spa, which is so close to the factory in Cologne. Now our clear target is to convert this strong qualifying into a result tomorrow."
Panasonic Toyota Racing returned to the front row of the grid in an exciting qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps today. Following a promising final practice session, which saw Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock continue their impressive form from yesterday to record top-six lap times, the team was optimistic for qualifying. That optimism proved to be fully justified as both drivers established themselves as serious contenders from the opening laps in first qualifying. After an initial run on the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres, they switched to soft rubber to cruise into second qualifying, with Jarno already a clear pole position contender. That pattern continued in second qualifying when Jarno was fastest of all on soft tyres, with Timo also fighting for a top-six spot to set the scene for a remarkable final session. Jarno was in the hunt from the beginning, trading fastest times and both drivers, still using the soft tyres, improved on their final run. Jarno missed pole position by the narrowest of margins but nevertheless claimed his third front-row starting spot of the season while Timo was also on the pace, taking his best qualifying result since the Spanish Grand Prix in May.
Jarno Trulli - Car 9, Chassis TF109-06
3rd Practice: 2nd, 1m 45.462s (+0.074s), 18 laps
1st Qualifying: 2nd, 1m 45.140s (+0.038s), 10 laps
2nd Qualifying: 1st, 1m 44.503s, 5 laps
3rd Qualifying: 2nd, 1m 46.395s (+0.087s), 6 laps
"I am very happy to be on the front row again. We have always known that when things go right we have a very competitive car and all weekend we have looked extremely strong. In qualifying I was always in the top two, even though in first qualifying I took it a bit easy. I did a very quick lap in third qualifying and second place gives us a great chance tomorrow. We dropped the downforce a bit yesterday and spent most of the time balancing the car. Then we made a small change to the set-up this morning so I had better handling and traction for qualifying and it worked well. Also, I spent most of the weekend driving on race fuel so I am very happy with how things have turned out and it is looking pretty good for tomorrow. I have to thank the team who have worked really hard to improve and get a result like this; I dedicate it to all my mechanics."
Timo Glock - Car 10, Chassis TF109-05
3rd Practice: 5th, 1m 45.908s (+0.520s), 18 laps
1st Qualifying: 7th, 1m 45.450s (+0.348s), 9 laps
2nd Qualifying: 7th, 1m 44.877s (+0.374s), 5 laps
3rd Qualifying: 7th, 1m 46.677s, (+0.369s) 6 laps
"Today was a good result for the whole team and it is a nice feeling to be fighting at the front again. My lap was pretty tidy so overall I am happy with it; we have worked hard on improving the qualifying pace and we got our reward today. The team brought a new aero package to this race and it seems to be working well. From the start of the weekend we believed we could be strong here because the car felt quick throughout practice and it's great to carry that speed into qualifying. We had good race pace in Hungary and Valencia so I am optimistic for tomorrow. I hope to finish in the top five; it will not be easy but I'm really looking forward to the challenge."
Pascal Vasselon - Senior General Manager Chassis
"It has been a good weekend for us so far and we are happy to be back at the front. We saw from the start of the weekend that both cars were quick and consistent in all conditions and it is a good feeling. For the first time in three races we have qualified where our race pace has been so the weekend looks promising and we are ready for an exciting Sunday tomorrow. Congratulations to our drivers who have done a very impressive job this weekend; they both work extremely hard and it is very satisfying to see that rewarded. I would also like to say thanks to the people back at the factory, as well as those here at the track. They never give up and it is particularly pleasing to deliver a good performance at Spa, which is so close to the factory in Cologne. Now our clear target is to convert this strong qualifying into a result tomorrow."
Fisichella makes Force India pole at Spa
Giancarlo Fisichella pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Formula 1 history by putting minnow Force India on pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.
In an extraordinary qualifying session which turned the normal F1 form book upside down, Fisichella signalled his intentions by topping Q1, advanced all the way to the pole shootout and then edged out Toyota’s Jarno Trulli by less than 0.1s.
Nick Heidfeld took third on the grid, with team-mate Robert Kubica fifth, as BMW Sauber found pace seemingly from nowhere, while Rubens Barrichello was fastest of the usual ‘big four’ in fourth.
His Brawn GP team-mate Jenson Button was knocked out of the second knockout session and will start a dismal 14th, while Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were surprisingly far down the order in eighth and ninth respectively.
Fisichella’s pole may have been aided by what he admitted was an “aggressive” fuel strategy, but it was no fluke. It didn’t rain, and the VJM 02 seemed to have a genuine raw pace.
The Roman was quick throughout and secured the fourth pole position of his career on his second flying lap on Bridgestone’s harder compound.
He might have gone even quicker on his third lap, but having set personal bests in the first and second sectors, he appeared slightly distracted by another car at the chicane.
Still, it was enough for Force India’s first pole. Remarkable.
Trulli was another man who was consistently quick. Second in Q1, fastest in Q2, he missed out on pole by less than a tenth.
It was a day for the drivers in the shop window – or, in Fisichella’s case, hopeful of landing a Ferrari seat at Monza.
Heidfeld, fastest in morning practice for BMW Sauber, is renowned for making canny strategy calls, and it was he who appeared to grasp first that a long run on the harder tyres was the way to go.
In contrast, the title challengers struggled. Barrichello was the best of them in fourth, while Vettel and Webber were compromised and unconvincing in eighth and ninth.
It was Button, however, who suffered the disaster.
Complaining of a lack of grip – even though the circuit temperature had cracked the 30C barrier – and rear-end instability on the entry to corners, the Englishman was four-tenths slower than his Brawn GP team-mate and missed Q3 for the first time this season.
Button wasn’t the only big-name casualty, for Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso both failed to make it through to Q3.
The world champion’s McLaren was again fast in the first and third sectors, but its aerodynamic deficiencies came home to roost in the second, and Alonso’s Renault followed exactly the same pattern. They will line up 12th and 13th respectively.
Spa specialist Kimi Räikkönen was the only KERS-equipped driver to make it through to Q3. He qualified sixth, but might have finished higher had he not begun the session as the only man on softs.
With less than four minutes remaining, the Finn’s Ferrari was the only car to have set a time.
His rivals were busy warming up their harder tyres, even aborting fast laps on softs to do so.
Räikkönen made the strategy switch late and missed out on an extra, potentially faster, lap by fractions.
Timo Glock and Adrian Sutil were seventh and 11th, but will be disappointed given the headline-grabbing performances of their Toyota and Force India team-mates.
Sutil was fourth-fastest in Q1, just over a tenth off Fisichella, but could manage only 11th in Q2, this time half a second slower than the Italian.
Sutil’s minor slump threw Nico Rosberg a lifeline.
Tenth-fastest in Q2, it appeared that Williams cranked on more downforce for Q3 because Nico set a stunning fastest time through the second sector yet still rounded out the top 10, more than a second slower than Fisichella.
Others impressively quick through that sector were the Toro Rossos of Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.
Neither man, however, was able to make it out of Q1, which also claimed Kazuki Nakajima, Romain Grosjean and, unsurprisingly, Luca Badoer.
The latter finished his day against the barriers at Les Combes after moving off-line to pass Vettel’s Red Bull and sailing off under braking.
The tifosi will have to console themselves with an all-Italian front row.
Belgian Grand Prix starting grid
1. FISICHELLA Force India
2. TRULLI Toyota
3. HEIDFELD BMW
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn
5. KUBICA BMW
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
7. GLOCK Toyota
8. VETTEL Red Bull
9. WEBBER Red Bull
10. ROSBERG Williams
11. SUTIL Force India
12. HAMILTON McLaren
13. ALONSO Renault
14. BUTTON Brawn
15. KOVALAINEN McLaren
16. BUEMI Toro Rosso
17. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso
18. NAKAJIMA Williams
19. GROSJEAN Renault
20. BADOER Ferrari
In an extraordinary qualifying session which turned the normal F1 form book upside down, Fisichella signalled his intentions by topping Q1, advanced all the way to the pole shootout and then edged out Toyota’s Jarno Trulli by less than 0.1s.
Nick Heidfeld took third on the grid, with team-mate Robert Kubica fifth, as BMW Sauber found pace seemingly from nowhere, while Rubens Barrichello was fastest of the usual ‘big four’ in fourth.
His Brawn GP team-mate Jenson Button was knocked out of the second knockout session and will start a dismal 14th, while Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were surprisingly far down the order in eighth and ninth respectively.
Fisichella’s pole may have been aided by what he admitted was an “aggressive” fuel strategy, but it was no fluke. It didn’t rain, and the VJM 02 seemed to have a genuine raw pace.
The Roman was quick throughout and secured the fourth pole position of his career on his second flying lap on Bridgestone’s harder compound.
He might have gone even quicker on his third lap, but having set personal bests in the first and second sectors, he appeared slightly distracted by another car at the chicane.
Still, it was enough for Force India’s first pole. Remarkable.
Trulli was another man who was consistently quick. Second in Q1, fastest in Q2, he missed out on pole by less than a tenth.
It was a day for the drivers in the shop window – or, in Fisichella’s case, hopeful of landing a Ferrari seat at Monza.
Heidfeld, fastest in morning practice for BMW Sauber, is renowned for making canny strategy calls, and it was he who appeared to grasp first that a long run on the harder tyres was the way to go.
In contrast, the title challengers struggled. Barrichello was the best of them in fourth, while Vettel and Webber were compromised and unconvincing in eighth and ninth.
It was Button, however, who suffered the disaster.
Complaining of a lack of grip – even though the circuit temperature had cracked the 30C barrier – and rear-end instability on the entry to corners, the Englishman was four-tenths slower than his Brawn GP team-mate and missed Q3 for the first time this season.
Button wasn’t the only big-name casualty, for Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso both failed to make it through to Q3.
The world champion’s McLaren was again fast in the first and third sectors, but its aerodynamic deficiencies came home to roost in the second, and Alonso’s Renault followed exactly the same pattern. They will line up 12th and 13th respectively.
Spa specialist Kimi Räikkönen was the only KERS-equipped driver to make it through to Q3. He qualified sixth, but might have finished higher had he not begun the session as the only man on softs.
With less than four minutes remaining, the Finn’s Ferrari was the only car to have set a time.
His rivals were busy warming up their harder tyres, even aborting fast laps on softs to do so.
Räikkönen made the strategy switch late and missed out on an extra, potentially faster, lap by fractions.
Timo Glock and Adrian Sutil were seventh and 11th, but will be disappointed given the headline-grabbing performances of their Toyota and Force India team-mates.
Sutil was fourth-fastest in Q1, just over a tenth off Fisichella, but could manage only 11th in Q2, this time half a second slower than the Italian.
Sutil’s minor slump threw Nico Rosberg a lifeline.
Tenth-fastest in Q2, it appeared that Williams cranked on more downforce for Q3 because Nico set a stunning fastest time through the second sector yet still rounded out the top 10, more than a second slower than Fisichella.
Others impressively quick through that sector were the Toro Rossos of Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.
Neither man, however, was able to make it out of Q1, which also claimed Kazuki Nakajima, Romain Grosjean and, unsurprisingly, Luca Badoer.
The latter finished his day against the barriers at Les Combes after moving off-line to pass Vettel’s Red Bull and sailing off under braking.
The tifosi will have to console themselves with an all-Italian front row.
Belgian Grand Prix starting grid
1. FISICHELLA Force India
2. TRULLI Toyota
3. HEIDFELD BMW
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn
5. KUBICA BMW
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
7. GLOCK Toyota
8. VETTEL Red Bull
9. WEBBER Red Bull
10. ROSBERG Williams
11. SUTIL Force India
12. HAMILTON McLaren
13. ALONSO Renault
14. BUTTON Brawn
15. KOVALAINEN McLaren
16. BUEMI Toro Rosso
17. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso
18. NAKAJIMA Williams
19. GROSJEAN Renault
20. BADOER Ferrari
2010 provisional race list
A total of 18 races appear on the provisional 2010 Formula One calendar, according to a list obtained by ESPN Racing-Live. The season should begin on March 14th and conclude on November 7th.
Australia has lost its traditional season-opening status in favour of Bahrain. It had been reported that daylight savings time in Melbourne, coupled with a 'twilight' race scenario, made it more convenient to schedule the first race at the Sakhir track.
The Canadian Grand Prix reappears on the calendar after a one-year hiatus, although official confirmation regarding a new contract has yet to be announced.
The British GP is listed as taking place in Donington, however there remain doubts concerning the venue's ability to secure financing. The Silverstone circuit is a possible back-up plan.
The Hockenheim circuit is planning to host the German round, but no agreement has yet been reached with respect to Formula One Management's asking price.
Until all details are worked out and all venues confirmed, the calendar indicated below remains provisional until the final list is established sometime during the next several weeks.
2010 Formula One provisional calendar:
March 14 – Bahrain (Sakhir)
March 28 – Australia (Melbourne)
April 4 – Malaysia (Sepang)
April 25 – Turkey (Istanbul)
May 9 – Spain (Barcelona)
May 23 – Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 6 – Canada (Montreal)
June 27 – Europe (Valencia)
July 11 – Great Britain (Donington)
July 25 – Germany (Hockenheim)
August 1 – Hungary (Budapest)
August 22 – Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
September 5 – Italy (Monza)
September 19 – China (Shanghai)
September 26 – Singapore (Singapore)
October 10 – Japan (Suzuka)
October 24 – Brazil (Interlagos)
November 7 – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
Australia has lost its traditional season-opening status in favour of Bahrain. It had been reported that daylight savings time in Melbourne, coupled with a 'twilight' race scenario, made it more convenient to schedule the first race at the Sakhir track.
The Canadian Grand Prix reappears on the calendar after a one-year hiatus, although official confirmation regarding a new contract has yet to be announced.
The British GP is listed as taking place in Donington, however there remain doubts concerning the venue's ability to secure financing. The Silverstone circuit is a possible back-up plan.
The Hockenheim circuit is planning to host the German round, but no agreement has yet been reached with respect to Formula One Management's asking price.
Until all details are worked out and all venues confirmed, the calendar indicated below remains provisional until the final list is established sometime during the next several weeks.
2010 Formula One provisional calendar:
March 14 – Bahrain (Sakhir)
March 28 – Australia (Melbourne)
April 4 – Malaysia (Sepang)
April 25 – Turkey (Istanbul)
May 9 – Spain (Barcelona)
May 23 – Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 6 – Canada (Montreal)
June 27 – Europe (Valencia)
July 11 – Great Britain (Donington)
July 25 – Germany (Hockenheim)
August 1 – Hungary (Budapest)
August 22 – Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
September 5 – Italy (Monza)
September 19 – China (Shanghai)
September 26 – Singapore (Singapore)
October 10 – Japan (Suzuka)
October 24 – Brazil (Interlagos)
November 7 – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)
Friday 28 August 2009
Practice Two - Hamilton leads dry second session at Spa
Things really got underway in Friday's second practice session at Spa, when Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time on a dry track. The Englishman lapped his McLaren in 1m 47.201s, to displace Timo Glock who had earlier taken over pacesetting from Mark Webber. The German posted 1m 47.217s for Toyota, the Australian 1m 47.329s for Red Bull. In between them was Kimi Raikkonen, third fastest for Ferrari on 1m 47.285s.
Yet again the times were incredibly close, the more so given the length of the circuit. The first 15 cars were separated by seven-tenths of a second - and the Brawns were not among them…
A flurry of late improvements saw Romain Grosjean vault up to fifth for Renault on 1m 47.333s, chased by Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella (1m 47.506s), Toyota's Jarno Trulli (1m 47.559s), BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica (1m 47.578s), Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari (1m 47.579s), Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel (1m 47.602s), Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi (1m 47.702s), McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen (1m 47.743s), Force India's Adrian Sutil (1m 47.790s), Renault's Fernando Alonso (1m 47.862s) and Williams' Kazuki Nakajima (1m 47.961s).
Nick Heidfeld was 16th for BMW Sauber on 1m 48.017s, then came Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in the Brawns, which were some 1.5s off the pace in sector two alone as they continued their back-to-back set-up experiments.
Nico Rosberg was another who never really got going in his Williams, taking 19th fastest time in 1m 48.360s. At the back, Luca Badoer’s trials at Ferrari continued as the best he could muster was 1m 49.211s.
After a brief hiatus to clear away debris - a loose wheel fairing from Badoer's F60 - at Blanchimont after six minutes of the session, the main dramas came at the end when Raikkonen went off at Stavelot, Vettel at Les Combes and Hamilton at Hautes Fagnes, none of them sustaining damage. Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso also rolled to a halt with mechanical problems.
Yet again the times were incredibly close, the more so given the length of the circuit. The first 15 cars were separated by seven-tenths of a second - and the Brawns were not among them…
A flurry of late improvements saw Romain Grosjean vault up to fifth for Renault on 1m 47.333s, chased by Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella (1m 47.506s), Toyota's Jarno Trulli (1m 47.559s), BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica (1m 47.578s), Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari (1m 47.579s), Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel (1m 47.602s), Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi (1m 47.702s), McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen (1m 47.743s), Force India's Adrian Sutil (1m 47.790s), Renault's Fernando Alonso (1m 47.862s) and Williams' Kazuki Nakajima (1m 47.961s).
Nick Heidfeld was 16th for BMW Sauber on 1m 48.017s, then came Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in the Brawns, which were some 1.5s off the pace in sector two alone as they continued their back-to-back set-up experiments.
Nico Rosberg was another who never really got going in his Williams, taking 19th fastest time in 1m 48.360s. At the back, Luca Badoer’s trials at Ferrari continued as the best he could muster was 1m 49.211s.
After a brief hiatus to clear away debris - a loose wheel fairing from Badoer's F60 - at Blanchimont after six minutes of the session, the main dramas came at the end when Raikkonen went off at Stavelot, Vettel at Les Combes and Hamilton at Hautes Fagnes, none of them sustaining damage. Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso also rolled to a halt with mechanical problems.
Toyota's Trulli sets pace in rain-hit practice
It's the Belgian Grand Prix, it's Spa Francorchamps, so no surprise then that the first free practice was coloured by heavy rain for much of the last hour of the session.
The weather, which began to soak the Ardennes circuit after just 28 minutes of the 90, meant that only ten drivers set competitive times in that dry period.
Jarno Trulli topped those times, having set his 1m49.675s lap, just moments prior to the downfall - which began at the bottom of the circuit around by Stavelot.
Jenson Button was second quickest for Brawn, having spent 10 minutes before the rain gradually working his times down. Fernando Alonso was third, as ever, bravely ignoring the elements to set fastest lap as the rain began to fall.
Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were fourth and fifth.
The two rookies were also the first out in the wet too as the team bolted on extreme wets and sent them out for education purposes.
The Swiss in particular did well and was the quickest wet runner for some time – working down to a 2m06.067s before spinning off at Pouhon and damaging his nosecone. He did return to the track later and improved on that to lap in 2m05.400s.
Giancarlo Fisichella reminded Ferrari of his skill-set by going fastest of all in the wet – 2m03.972s.
Several drivers, including Alonso, tried the intermediate tyres near the end of the session, but the circuit was still too wet. Nevertheless Nico Rosberg and Alonso did set the second and third fastest times on their final laps.
Luca Badoer was slowest of the dry runners. The Italian ran off the track a couple of times in the wet too, though he looked more at home in the wider confines of Spa.
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen also went off in the last ten minutes at Rivage, but rejoined the track without damage.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:49.675 13
2. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:50.283 + 0.608 18
3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:50.368 + 0.693 13
4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.045 + 1.370 20
5. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.529 + 1.854 24
6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:52.321 + 2.646 18
7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:52.930 + 3.255 16
8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:53.383 + 3.708 11
9. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:53.650 + 3.975 12
10. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:55.068 + 5.393 20
11. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:03.972 + 14.297 11
12. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 2:04.505 + 14.830 13
13. Grosjean Renault (B) 2:05.513 + 15.838 13
14. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 2:05.614 + 15.939 14
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 2:05.705 + 16.030 15
16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:05.839 + 16.164 10
17. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 2:06.181 + 16.506 6
18. Glock Toyota (B) 2:06.331 + 16.656 15
19. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1
20. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 4
The weather, which began to soak the Ardennes circuit after just 28 minutes of the 90, meant that only ten drivers set competitive times in that dry period.
Jarno Trulli topped those times, having set his 1m49.675s lap, just moments prior to the downfall - which began at the bottom of the circuit around by Stavelot.
Jenson Button was second quickest for Brawn, having spent 10 minutes before the rain gradually working his times down. Fernando Alonso was third, as ever, bravely ignoring the elements to set fastest lap as the rain began to fall.
Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari were fourth and fifth.
The two rookies were also the first out in the wet too as the team bolted on extreme wets and sent them out for education purposes.
The Swiss in particular did well and was the quickest wet runner for some time – working down to a 2m06.067s before spinning off at Pouhon and damaging his nosecone. He did return to the track later and improved on that to lap in 2m05.400s.
Giancarlo Fisichella reminded Ferrari of his skill-set by going fastest of all in the wet – 2m03.972s.
Several drivers, including Alonso, tried the intermediate tyres near the end of the session, but the circuit was still too wet. Nevertheless Nico Rosberg and Alonso did set the second and third fastest times on their final laps.
Luca Badoer was slowest of the dry runners. The Italian ran off the track a couple of times in the wet too, though he looked more at home in the wider confines of Spa.
McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen also went off in the last ten minutes at Rivage, but rejoined the track without damage.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:49.675 13
2. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:50.283 + 0.608 18
3. Alonso Renault (B) 1:50.368 + 0.693 13
4. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.045 + 1.370 20
5. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:51.529 + 1.854 24
6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:52.321 + 2.646 18
7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:52.930 + 3.255 16
8. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:53.383 + 3.708 11
9. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:53.650 + 3.975 12
10. Badoer Ferrari (B) 1:55.068 + 5.393 20
11. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:03.972 + 14.297 11
12. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 2:04.505 + 14.830 13
13. Grosjean Renault (B) 2:05.513 + 15.838 13
14. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 2:05.614 + 15.939 14
15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 2:05.705 + 16.030 15
16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 2:05.839 + 16.164 10
17. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 2:06.181 + 16.506 6
18. Glock Toyota (B) 2:06.331 + 16.656 15
19. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1
20. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 4
Alonso and Grosjean talk about Spa
Romain, you made your Grand Prix debut in Valencia – did you enjoy your first race?
Yes, it was very exciting for me; I enjoyed every second of my first race I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to the team for their support and help through the weekend. Everything was new and I had to learn quickly, but I managed to get comfortable with the car and gradually built my confidence over the weekend. Overall I was pleased with my performance and glad to finish the race and gain some experience. When I crossed the line all my mechanics were on the pit wall cheering me on, which made me really happy. My aim now is to continue in the same way this weekend, working well with my engineers and making progress.
How did you spend the days after your first Grand Prix?
I stayed in Valencia for a day to enjoy the city and get some rest before I went home to Geneva. Then on Tuesday I went back to work at the bank* to keep in touch with reality! I think it’s important to continue like this as I enjoy working there and this routine has always worked well for me in the past.
*Romain works part-time at a bank in Geneva
Is Spa-Francorchamps a circuit that you know well?
Yes, it’s one of my favourites and I know it very well as I won the GP2 feature race there last year. Spa is one of the classic circuits of the world and I can’t wait to experience corners like Eau Rouge in my F1 car. After a street circuit, it will be nice to go to a more traditional track with fast, flowing corners as I continue to learn about the R29.
What’s your target this weekend?
So far the team has been very helpful and not put any pressure on me, but I would like to be more competitive in Spa and closer to Fernando. I know that I still have a lot to learn and so I will take things one day at a time and see how I feel after free practice before I start setting myself objectives. You also have to remember that in Spa the weather can be unpredictable and there’s usually a chance of rain so we need to be ready to react quickly to any opportunities in the race.
Alonso
Fernando, you came away from Valencia with three points – do you feel you got the most from the weekend?
We were certainly disappointed after qualifying as we thought we had the pace to be higher up the grid, but we had an issue with the brakes and all the teams are so competitive this year that every tenth counts and qualifying is especially tight. We were happier with the performance of the car in the race and to come away with three points was not a bad result considering that we started eighth. I would have loved to reward my Spanish fans with a better result, but being totally honest I think we got the maximum that we could from the race.
Spa is one of your favourite tracks – what makes it so special?
It’s one of the traditional circuits that has a lot of history and a special atmosphere. All the drivers love to race there and it’s the greatest driving challenge of the year. The high-speed corners are amazing, especially Eau Rouge and Pouhon, and it’s always a pleasure to drive there in an F1 car.
What are you expectations for the weekend?
Spa is a circuit where you need a complete car because it’s a very long lap and you need to find a set-up to cope with a lot of different challenges. There are quick corners, slow corners and long straights where you need good top speed to overtake or defend position, especially on the approach to Les Combes. Our car has been strong in the last few races so I think we can be quick in Spa too where I will continue pushing hard.
Yes, it was very exciting for me; I enjoyed every second of my first race I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to the team for their support and help through the weekend. Everything was new and I had to learn quickly, but I managed to get comfortable with the car and gradually built my confidence over the weekend. Overall I was pleased with my performance and glad to finish the race and gain some experience. When I crossed the line all my mechanics were on the pit wall cheering me on, which made me really happy. My aim now is to continue in the same way this weekend, working well with my engineers and making progress.
How did you spend the days after your first Grand Prix?
I stayed in Valencia for a day to enjoy the city and get some rest before I went home to Geneva. Then on Tuesday I went back to work at the bank* to keep in touch with reality! I think it’s important to continue like this as I enjoy working there and this routine has always worked well for me in the past.
*Romain works part-time at a bank in Geneva
Is Spa-Francorchamps a circuit that you know well?
Yes, it’s one of my favourites and I know it very well as I won the GP2 feature race there last year. Spa is one of the classic circuits of the world and I can’t wait to experience corners like Eau Rouge in my F1 car. After a street circuit, it will be nice to go to a more traditional track with fast, flowing corners as I continue to learn about the R29.
What’s your target this weekend?
So far the team has been very helpful and not put any pressure on me, but I would like to be more competitive in Spa and closer to Fernando. I know that I still have a lot to learn and so I will take things one day at a time and see how I feel after free practice before I start setting myself objectives. You also have to remember that in Spa the weather can be unpredictable and there’s usually a chance of rain so we need to be ready to react quickly to any opportunities in the race.
Alonso
Fernando, you came away from Valencia with three points – do you feel you got the most from the weekend?
We were certainly disappointed after qualifying as we thought we had the pace to be higher up the grid, but we had an issue with the brakes and all the teams are so competitive this year that every tenth counts and qualifying is especially tight. We were happier with the performance of the car in the race and to come away with three points was not a bad result considering that we started eighth. I would have loved to reward my Spanish fans with a better result, but being totally honest I think we got the maximum that we could from the race.
Spa is one of your favourite tracks – what makes it so special?
It’s one of the traditional circuits that has a lot of history and a special atmosphere. All the drivers love to race there and it’s the greatest driving challenge of the year. The high-speed corners are amazing, especially Eau Rouge and Pouhon, and it’s always a pleasure to drive there in an F1 car.
What are you expectations for the weekend?
Spa is a circuit where you need a complete car because it’s a very long lap and you need to find a set-up to cope with a lot of different challenges. There are quick corners, slow corners and long straights where you need good top speed to overtake or defend position, especially on the approach to Les Combes. Our car has been strong in the last few races so I think we can be quick in Spa too where I will continue pushing hard.
Force India Preview - Belgian GP
The next round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, the Belgian Grand Prix, will take place just one week after last weekend’s European Grand Prix in Valencia. Held at the 7km Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the heart of the country’s Ardennes Forest, it is famed for its dramatic undulation changes and challenging corners that generally produce close, exciting racing.
The Force India Formula One Team looks forward to Belgium following a competitive weekend performance in Valencia where new upgrades saw the team secure a slot in Q2 yet again and a promising double top 12 finish in the race.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal
Were you pleased with the results of Valencia?
I was really delighted with the entire weekend performance from the team, right through from practice. Going into the weekend we anticipated a step forward of over half a second with the new aero package, but you never know what the other teams will be bringing with them and how our performance will translate. I think we can all be very proud of the progress we made. From the off we were quick and we really achieved the maximum we could do. Two top 12 finishes might seem frustrating as we’re still outside the points, but when you look at the people in front of us and then behind we can’t be disappointed at all. I don’t think I’ve looked forward to a race quite as much as I am looking forward to Spa!
Adrian Sutil - car 20, VJM02/01
How would you review the Valencia weekend?
I feel we did the maximum possible performance in Valencia. It was a tough race in very, very high temperatures but the whole team did a fantastic job. Our stops were great so we could jump Heidfeld in the pits and then in the final third of the race I was just behind Webber, which was very encouraging considering how well the Red Bulls have been performing this season. Getting P1 on Saturday in practice was a real bonus but top 12 is where we are at the moment. This is itself is a real boost for everyone after so long being at the back.
What are your thoughts looking forward to Spa?
Along with Monaco, Spa is one of favourite tracks. It’s a real nature track through the forest where you really get into the rhythm of the corners. It also gives very interesting racing - last year the race was dry until two laps from the end, then it all changed suddenly. This year I think we are looking good. Our new aero package gave a very good step forward and we’ve been quick at lower downforce tracks so far this year so I’m very confident of getting another good result. I hope top 10 or even better.
Giancarlo Fisichella - car 21, VJM02/04
Looking forward to Belgium, it’s a real drivers’ favourite. What makes it so special?
Every driver loves Spa and, for me, it’s the best circuit of the year. It’s 7km long so you get a lot of different corners, from hairpins to fast sections and then obviously the best corner of the year, Eau Rouge. Actually this corner is not as exciting as it was a few years ago when you only took it flat in qualifying. Now we have more downforce and a bit less power with the V8 so you are usually flat out every time you go through. Even though it’s not as challenging now, it’s still very exciting. There’s a lot of compression when you go down and then you have to jink left and right – it’s a complete corner. The weather in Spa is always unpredictable as well. You can have rain in sector one and then it could be sunny in sector three so anything could happen. We are going there at the end of August this year, but we could have any type of weather!
You’ve had some good results at the circuit – what have been your high points?
My first appearance at Spa was in 1997 with Jordan and I had a great result. I finished second, just behind Hakkinen – at the time it was my best career result. Then I went on to have some more good results and was third in 2001 with Renault. At the time the car was not too good but the team brought some new upgrades to Spa. I made a great start from eighth on the grid and going into the first corner I was fourth. For the rest of the race we were very competitive and I finished third, which was a fantastic result for the team.
What would the aims this year be?
Valencia was a great result for Force India. We could really race in the midfield and seemed to have an advantage over quite a few teams and drivers now. The upgrades made a big difference and the car was nice to drive. Spa is a bit different to Valencia but it’s still very quick so I hope we can transfer the performance this week. My aim will be to qualify well so we can start a bit further up the grid, have a strong race and finally score some points.
Force India Belgian Grand Prix points of note:
Force India will be using a new low downforce rear wing in Spa to cope with the lower drag levels needed as it’s the first true low downforce circuit of the year and something of a build up to Monza, which will be the lowest level the team runs. The new upgrades debuted in Valencia will be used yet again but there is a new front wing to match as the one used in Valencia will be too powerful to balance the reduced rear downforce.
Adrian was perhaps not surprisingly the most improved driver in Valencia compared to 2008. He managed to go eight tenths quicker than in ‘08, when the average performance was six tenths slower. He even bettered the improvement shown by Barrichello and Button who were in last year’s Honda. He is now the only driver to have improved in every qualifying session so far ‘08 compared to ‘09.
Post Spa the team will be conducting yet another aero test: its third of the year. Tonio Liuzzi will be driving at Kemble airfield, UK, on 3 September.
Both drivers returned to their respective homes (Adrian near Zurich in Switzerland and Fisi to Rome) between Europe and Belgium. The team’s mechanics and truckies travelled directly to Belgium to begin set-up for the race. At over 1,600km distance this is the longest European double header in recent memory.
Force India’s predecessors Jordan Grand Prix scored its first-ever win at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1998 with Damon Hill. Ralf Schumacher, also driving a Jordan, was second for a 1-2 result.
Giancarlo Fisichella scored his second-ever podium at Spa in 1997 (second, driving a Jordan) and has finished on the podium again in 2001 with Renault.
Adrian Sutil set the Euro F3 lap record round Spa in 2005 when he was team-mate to Lewis Hamilton. When the series visited the track that year he won one of the two races and finished second in the final round.
Dominic Harlow, chief engineer
Spa is a classic circuit and motorsport in its purest form. The Spa-Francorchamps track incorporates three of the most challenging high speed corners on the calendar and these combine with nearly 7km of flowing corners and elevation change starting at the first gear La Source hairpin and ending at the new Bus Stop chicane.
One thing we can be sure of is that it will almost certainly be wet at some stage, although the race is slightly earlier this year so not in the wetter conditions of autumn. The team has a good history at this event and it should suit the VJM02 technical package well. This race will see the introduction of a lower downforce rear wing that will allow speeds of up to 330km/h. With these long straights the engine is given its toughest work out of the year in terms of inertial loading in Spa and so we will carefully manage the use of our Mercedes Benz engines.
The Force India Formula One Team looks forward to Belgium following a competitive weekend performance in Valencia where new upgrades saw the team secure a slot in Q2 yet again and a promising double top 12 finish in the race.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal
Were you pleased with the results of Valencia?
I was really delighted with the entire weekend performance from the team, right through from practice. Going into the weekend we anticipated a step forward of over half a second with the new aero package, but you never know what the other teams will be bringing with them and how our performance will translate. I think we can all be very proud of the progress we made. From the off we were quick and we really achieved the maximum we could do. Two top 12 finishes might seem frustrating as we’re still outside the points, but when you look at the people in front of us and then behind we can’t be disappointed at all. I don’t think I’ve looked forward to a race quite as much as I am looking forward to Spa!
Adrian Sutil - car 20, VJM02/01
How would you review the Valencia weekend?
I feel we did the maximum possible performance in Valencia. It was a tough race in very, very high temperatures but the whole team did a fantastic job. Our stops were great so we could jump Heidfeld in the pits and then in the final third of the race I was just behind Webber, which was very encouraging considering how well the Red Bulls have been performing this season. Getting P1 on Saturday in practice was a real bonus but top 12 is where we are at the moment. This is itself is a real boost for everyone after so long being at the back.
What are your thoughts looking forward to Spa?
Along with Monaco, Spa is one of favourite tracks. It’s a real nature track through the forest where you really get into the rhythm of the corners. It also gives very interesting racing - last year the race was dry until two laps from the end, then it all changed suddenly. This year I think we are looking good. Our new aero package gave a very good step forward and we’ve been quick at lower downforce tracks so far this year so I’m very confident of getting another good result. I hope top 10 or even better.
Giancarlo Fisichella - car 21, VJM02/04
Looking forward to Belgium, it’s a real drivers’ favourite. What makes it so special?
Every driver loves Spa and, for me, it’s the best circuit of the year. It’s 7km long so you get a lot of different corners, from hairpins to fast sections and then obviously the best corner of the year, Eau Rouge. Actually this corner is not as exciting as it was a few years ago when you only took it flat in qualifying. Now we have more downforce and a bit less power with the V8 so you are usually flat out every time you go through. Even though it’s not as challenging now, it’s still very exciting. There’s a lot of compression when you go down and then you have to jink left and right – it’s a complete corner. The weather in Spa is always unpredictable as well. You can have rain in sector one and then it could be sunny in sector three so anything could happen. We are going there at the end of August this year, but we could have any type of weather!
You’ve had some good results at the circuit – what have been your high points?
My first appearance at Spa was in 1997 with Jordan and I had a great result. I finished second, just behind Hakkinen – at the time it was my best career result. Then I went on to have some more good results and was third in 2001 with Renault. At the time the car was not too good but the team brought some new upgrades to Spa. I made a great start from eighth on the grid and going into the first corner I was fourth. For the rest of the race we were very competitive and I finished third, which was a fantastic result for the team.
What would the aims this year be?
Valencia was a great result for Force India. We could really race in the midfield and seemed to have an advantage over quite a few teams and drivers now. The upgrades made a big difference and the car was nice to drive. Spa is a bit different to Valencia but it’s still very quick so I hope we can transfer the performance this week. My aim will be to qualify well so we can start a bit further up the grid, have a strong race and finally score some points.
Force India Belgian Grand Prix points of note:
Force India will be using a new low downforce rear wing in Spa to cope with the lower drag levels needed as it’s the first true low downforce circuit of the year and something of a build up to Monza, which will be the lowest level the team runs. The new upgrades debuted in Valencia will be used yet again but there is a new front wing to match as the one used in Valencia will be too powerful to balance the reduced rear downforce.
Adrian was perhaps not surprisingly the most improved driver in Valencia compared to 2008. He managed to go eight tenths quicker than in ‘08, when the average performance was six tenths slower. He even bettered the improvement shown by Barrichello and Button who were in last year’s Honda. He is now the only driver to have improved in every qualifying session so far ‘08 compared to ‘09.
Post Spa the team will be conducting yet another aero test: its third of the year. Tonio Liuzzi will be driving at Kemble airfield, UK, on 3 September.
Both drivers returned to their respective homes (Adrian near Zurich in Switzerland and Fisi to Rome) between Europe and Belgium. The team’s mechanics and truckies travelled directly to Belgium to begin set-up for the race. At over 1,600km distance this is the longest European double header in recent memory.
Force India’s predecessors Jordan Grand Prix scored its first-ever win at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1998 with Damon Hill. Ralf Schumacher, also driving a Jordan, was second for a 1-2 result.
Giancarlo Fisichella scored his second-ever podium at Spa in 1997 (second, driving a Jordan) and has finished on the podium again in 2001 with Renault.
Adrian Sutil set the Euro F3 lap record round Spa in 2005 when he was team-mate to Lewis Hamilton. When the series visited the track that year he won one of the two races and finished second in the final round.
Dominic Harlow, chief engineer
Spa is a classic circuit and motorsport in its purest form. The Spa-Francorchamps track incorporates three of the most challenging high speed corners on the calendar and these combine with nearly 7km of flowing corners and elevation change starting at the first gear La Source hairpin and ending at the new Bus Stop chicane.
One thing we can be sure of is that it will almost certainly be wet at some stage, although the race is slightly earlier this year so not in the wetter conditions of autumn. The team has a good history at this event and it should suit the VJM02 technical package well. This race will see the introduction of a lower downforce rear wing that will allow speeds of up to 330km/h. With these long straights the engine is given its toughest work out of the year in terms of inertial loading in Spa and so we will carefully manage the use of our Mercedes Benz engines.
Ferrari view of Spa
Spa-Francorchamps: legendary challenge always new
Spa-Francorchamps, 27th August 2009 – The famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit, one of the temples of motorsport, is the oldest and most fascinating track in the history of racing. The Belgian track, situated in the Ardennes, was inaugurated in the 1920s. Back then it was around 14 km long and surrounded the towns Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps. Already then it was a challenging circuit with long and very fast straights and the famous Eau Rouge, the uphill left-right-corner, which is still the most challenging corner of the whole championship.
After the Second World War the track started hosting Formula 1 races, but was extremely dangerous. Therefore at the end of the 1970s it was decided to build a new track with some part of the old circuit included, combined with new corners such as the Blanchimont or the Kemmel straight. In the year 1979 everything was ready for the Belgian GP after some years of its absence. In 1980 the double-chicane, the so-called Bus Stop, was introduced between the Blanchimont and La Source. In1983 the first Grand Prix after the modifications was held and after further smaller changes, the last ones in the year 2007, today the track is one of the most spectacular and exciting circuits on the race calendar. The most spectacular parts are the corners La Source, Eau Rouge, Malmedy, Rivage, Stavelot and Blanchimont.
Ferrari has won 15 times on this track - from Ascari in the year 1952 with the 500 F2 to last year with a victorious Massa with the F2008. Schumacher holds a personal best here on this track: he crossed the line first six times at Spa, four times with Ferrari.
Spa-Francorchamps, 27th August 2009 – The famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit, one of the temples of motorsport, is the oldest and most fascinating track in the history of racing. The Belgian track, situated in the Ardennes, was inaugurated in the 1920s. Back then it was around 14 km long and surrounded the towns Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps. Already then it was a challenging circuit with long and very fast straights and the famous Eau Rouge, the uphill left-right-corner, which is still the most challenging corner of the whole championship.
After the Second World War the track started hosting Formula 1 races, but was extremely dangerous. Therefore at the end of the 1970s it was decided to build a new track with some part of the old circuit included, combined with new corners such as the Blanchimont or the Kemmel straight. In the year 1979 everything was ready for the Belgian GP after some years of its absence. In 1980 the double-chicane, the so-called Bus Stop, was introduced between the Blanchimont and La Source. In1983 the first Grand Prix after the modifications was held and after further smaller changes, the last ones in the year 2007, today the track is one of the most spectacular and exciting circuits on the race calendar. The most spectacular parts are the corners La Source, Eau Rouge, Malmedy, Rivage, Stavelot and Blanchimont.
Ferrari has won 15 times on this track - from Ascari in the year 1952 with the 500 F2 to last year with a victorious Massa with the F2008. Schumacher holds a personal best here on this track: he crossed the line first six times at Spa, four times with Ferrari.
Theissen: BMW still evaluating offers
There have been no significant developments over the future of the BMW Sauber team since last week's European Grand Prix, according to team principal Mario Theissen.
But Theissen is hoping that a buyout will be completed as soon as possible, with a number of offers being evaluated.
"There's no more that I can tell you," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT whether there had been any developments. "We are one week advanced in the process, but it is still the same process.
"We are evaluating our offers and we are not as far as to have a decision or a clear direction. There's nothing that I can announce."
Theissen added that the FIA had accepted that the team is one of the contenders for the 13th slot on the grid in 2010 after opening up the place to applications earlier this month.
"We have got information that we are contender, which is not an agreement or binding. We just got a positive comment.
"They didn't say that we are preferred, but we are in the running. I don't know about the deadline - I don't even know how many other teams there are in the running."
He added that BMW is currently concentrating on its attempts to find new owners for the team, rather than evaluating a move into other motorsport categories.
BMW has been linked with a return to the DTM if the mooted new rules package is introduced in 2011 after Theissen ruled out joining the German-based V8 touring car series under the current regulations.
Drivers for the F1 team next year, he said, are also not a priority.
"We are focusing on what happens to the F1 team next year, then we will sort out the other issues," said Theissen.
"From my perspective, I'm mostly focusing on the team. Of course, the drivers are evaluating their own options. But if there is a chance to get together, then fine.
But Theissen is hoping that a buyout will be completed as soon as possible, with a number of offers being evaluated.
"There's no more that I can tell you," he said when asked by AUTOSPORT whether there had been any developments. "We are one week advanced in the process, but it is still the same process.
"We are evaluating our offers and we are not as far as to have a decision or a clear direction. There's nothing that I can announce."
Theissen added that the FIA had accepted that the team is one of the contenders for the 13th slot on the grid in 2010 after opening up the place to applications earlier this month.
"We have got information that we are contender, which is not an agreement or binding. We just got a positive comment.
"They didn't say that we are preferred, but we are in the running. I don't know about the deadline - I don't even know how many other teams there are in the running."
He added that BMW is currently concentrating on its attempts to find new owners for the team, rather than evaluating a move into other motorsport categories.
BMW has been linked with a return to the DTM if the mooted new rules package is introduced in 2011 after Theissen ruled out joining the German-based V8 touring car series under the current regulations.
Drivers for the F1 team next year, he said, are also not a priority.
"We are focusing on what happens to the F1 team next year, then we will sort out the other issues," said Theissen.
"From my perspective, I'm mostly focusing on the team. Of course, the drivers are evaluating their own options. But if there is a chance to get together, then fine.
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