Paul Henman formula1 Belgian Grand Prix – Race

Belgian Grand Prix – Race

The provisional grid from yesterday’s qualifying has changed a bit:

  • Schumacher had a 10 grid spot penalty from his dangerous move on Barrichello in the previous race
  • Rosberg for a gearbox change
  • De la Rosa for an engine change
  • Glock and Buemi for blocking other drivers in qualifying


Pit-car radio for RK says heavy rain for about 5 minutes starting in about 8mins

MW leads everyone around on the formation lap
A few spots of rain on the on-board camera lenses

FM well forward of his grid spot – penalty coming?

01/44: Terrible start for MW – LH leads in to Turn 1
RK takes a look at LH
MW down to P7 but seems to be running OK now
JB dives down the inside of RK into the final chicane
Everyone runs wide on the wet corner
RB and FM collide
Pit stops for PdlR, HK…

02: LH, RK, SV, JB,
JB re-takes P3 … and then P2
Safety Car deployed – presumably to recover RB’s car

03[SC]: The leaders don’t pit but a couple of others do
BMW Sauber not ready for KK – waits for new wheels … and they’re another set of slicks
FA switches to intermediates but there’s blue sky over most of the circuit
SC in at the end of this lap

04: SV gets the jump on RK for P3
HK, BS, SB & PdlR all back in the pits

05/44: LH fastest lap 1:58.665
LH, JB, SV, RK, MW, FM, AS, NH
FA pits for dry tyres

06: LH f/lap 1:53.065
McLaren tell BBC there’s no rain forecast for 30mins
BS spins then pits and is pushed into the garage

07: LH f/lap 1:51.789
JB is 1sec off LH’s pace despite being told his front wing has a little damage

09: Replay of some easy overtakes for FA passing TG & SY – FA now P17
Then PdlR for P16
Pit-car for JB says rain in about 20mins so no pitting until then; also sounds like JB struggling with balanace

10/44: LH, JB, SV, RK, MW, FM, AS, NH; retirements: BS, RB
PdlR takes P15 from JT

11: LH has a 5.5sec lead over his teammate
VL pits from P12
VP makes a nice move on NR for P9 but when MS passes his teammate he clips NR’s front wing
Stewards will investigate the RB/FA incident (on lap 1) after the race

13: SV closing on JB
FA tries to take P13 from VL but VL holds on
NR dropping back from MS because of the damage to his front wing
McLaren’s weather forecast says light, short shower in about 10mins

15/44: LH, JB, SV, RK, MW, FM, AS, NH

16: LH has a 10sec lead but JB has SV breathing down his neck
SV hits JB in the final turn
SV dives into the pits

17: New nose for SV
JB makes it round for a couple more corners before having to park the McLaren
Replay shows SV tries to change side behind JB and fishtails on the damp corner

18: Incident between 1 and 5 (JB & SV) to be investigated
SV now in P12 and trying to pass VL

19: Pit-car for LH tell him JB is out of the race

20/44: LH, RK, MW, FM, AS, MS, NR, KK
Drive-through penalty for SV for causing a collision
VL doing well to hold off SV, who’s just been told about his penalty

21: LH lead over RK 11.2secs
SV serves his drive-through penalty; rejoins in P14, behind JA

22: AS pits from P5

23: LH f/lap 1:51.243
MW pits from P3 – 3.6s stop – rejoins in P4
SV f/lap 1:50.868

24: RK pits from P2 – 3.7s stop – rejoins just feet ahead of MW
FM pits from P3 – 3.8s stop

25/44: LH pits – 4.2s stop – rejoins still in P1
LH, RK, MW, FM, MS, AS, NR, KK (MS & NR yet to pit)
AS f/lap 1:50.800
AS takes P5 from MS in Les Combes

26: RK f/lap 1:50.403
SV passes VL in the final turn but cuts across and damages VL’s front wing
VL dives into the pits

27: SV punctured his rear left on VL’s wing – struggling to get round to the pits
LH f/lap 1:50.245
FM f/lap 1:50.111
Pit-car for FM tells him next threat of rain is 10 laps / 20 mins away

28: SV finally makes it back to the pits – rejoins in P20

30/44: LH f/lap 1:49.591 – first to break 1:50

31: LH f/lap 1:49.422 – he’s now over 11sec ahead of RK
FA pushing KK for P8
Some big black clouds hanging over the track

32: LH f/lap 1:49.218
Pit-car for LH says light rain soon; only pit when it’s definitely ready for inters

33: LH f/lap 1:49.069
NH attacking PdlR for P12

34: BBC report drizzle in the pit lane
Pit-car for MW say light rain will last about 20mins
TG pits – full wet tyres!

35/44: LH doesn’t pit but it’s looking slippery out there
Pit-car from LH says rain is getting heavier but told not to pit yet
LH runs off into the gravel – kisses the wall with his front left wheel
Back markers are diving into the pits
LH’s lead down to 3.5sec because of that off

36: LH pits, as do RK, MW & FM
RK overshot the pit box, forcing the pit crew to move and giving P2 to MW
Leaders all take inters but some further down the field went with full wets

37: Pit lane incident involving cars 5 & 8 (FA & SV) under investigation

38: LH has a 4sec lead over MW, who is 4sec ahead of RK
SV pits and replaces full wets with …. full wets
FA has dropped the Ferrari – spins and bounces off the tyre wall twice, breaking the front right suspension and stopping in the middle of the track
FA jumps out the car quickly – he knows it in a dangerous position but can’t move it
Safety Car deployed

39[SC]: Pit-car for SV warn him to be careful; sounds like they might put him onto full wets
Pit-car for LH says pace car needs to pick up the pace; slippery for sure

40/44[SC]: LH, MW, RK, FM, AS, MS, KK, NR, VP, JA; retirements: JB, BS, RB
McLaren say light rain will continue until end of race, then get heavier
Unfortunately LH has lost his 4sec lead – he’ll have to be careful on the restart
SC in at the end of this lap
LH slows and backs everyone up

41: Green flag for the restart as everyone squirms over the line
NR passes KK then MS without incident
JT spins the Lotus but rejoins now in P19

42: NH runs wide in Turn 1
VL all over the tail of JA
PdlR runs wide across the gravel in Stavelot

43: LH has a 1.6sec lead over MW, who in turn has a 1.6sec lead over RK

44/44 = final lap: still quite slippery

LH slithers over the line to take the chequered flag
MW and RK home for P2 & P3 respectively
P4=FM, 5=AS, 6=NR, 7=MS, 8=KK, 9=VP, 10=JA
P11=VL, 12=PDLR, 13=SB, 14=NH (+1 lap), 15=SV, 16=HK, 17=LDG, 18=TG, 19=JT, 20=SY (+2 laps)
DNF: FA, JB, BS, RB.

Lewis very happy to take the top step of the podium
LH: very tough race; nursing the car home (after the final SC)
MW: made clutch adjustment on the formation lap; pretty mixed up race; happy with 2nd
RK: making setting changes on the wheel (in the pit lane) and braked too late to hit his mark

This (provisional) result means LH is back on top of the Drivers’ Championship, 3 points ahead of MW, and McLaren just 1 point behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship.

One thought on “Belgian Grand Prix – Race”

  1. This is why is always say provisional … the FIA site reports:

    Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi has moved up from 11th to 10th place in the Belgian Grand Prix results after Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari had 20 seconds added to his race time by the Spa stewards.

    Alguersuari was penalised for cutting the final chicane on lap 42, whilst defending from Liuzzi during their late-race battle. The Spaniard failed to surrender his position following his mistake and was deemed to have gained an advantage. He drops to 13th as a result of the penalty.

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