|
After the
disappointment of seeing their cars qualify in fifteenth and nineteenth the
AT&T Williams would again be facing the prospect of having another race
where they would not take away any points. The weather would again see some
rain falling but most of the circuit was dry prior to the race start. The
start/finish straight was wet so this would pose a problem for the start of
the race.
Only Piquet would start on intermediate tyres. At the corner leading on the
start/finish straight it was also wet. The start of the race would see
Hamilton leading from Massa. There was chaos at Le Source as drivers ran
wide. Raikkonen would pass Massa while Bourdais was up to fifth. Alonso was
in fourth while Kovalainen was down in eleventh. Raikkonen was right behind
Hamilton through Eau Rouge. He would pass Hamilton and take the lead in the
run up to Le Combes. Nico was down in thirteenth and Kazuki nineteenth.
Replays show that Hamilton would spin at Le Source as they started lap two
allowing Kimi to close. Lap two and Alonso was fastest with a 1m:55.915.
Bourdais was till in fifth followed by Webber, Kubica, and Piquet.
Lap three and Raikkonen was fastest with a 1m:52.772. Kovalainen had passed
Heidfeld for ninth. Raikkonen was leading Hamilton by 1.4 seconds as they
started lap five. Kimi was again fastest on lap four with a 1m:51.439. Lap
five and Hamilton was also pushing with a new fastest lap of 1m:50.364.
Kovalainen would pass Piquet for eighth. Lap six and Hamilton was again
fastest with a 1m:49.895. He was right behind Raikkonen but the Ferrari
driver would respond and set a new fastest lap on lap seven, 1m:49.710.
Massa was still in third followed by Alonso, Bourdais, Webber, Kubica, and
Kovalainen.
Kovalainen was looking to pass Kubica as Raikkonen went faster with a
1m:49.108. Kovalainen would pass Kubica after exiting Eau Rouge faster than
the BMW. Hamilton was again fastest with a 1m:48.892 on lap nine. Nico was
still in thirteenth and Kazuki had improved one place to be eighteenth after
Sutil ran wide at Fanges. Lap ten and Raikkonen went quickest with a
1m:48.510. It was really turning out to be a very close fight at the front.
Massa was over five seconds behind Hamilton. Kovalainen and would make
contact with Webber as he pulled alongside at what was the Bus Stop chicane.
Lap twelve and Hamilton would pit staying on the softer tyre. he would
rejoin behind team-mate Kovalainen. Kovalainen was given a drive through
penalty for his accident with Webber. Webber was in ninth. The next lap and
Raikkonen would also pit, joined by Webber. Raikkonen was now third behind
Massa and Alonso. Lap fourteen and Massa would pit. He was joined by Alonso
and Kovalainen. Raikkonen was again leading from Bourdais, Kubica, Hamilton,
and Massa. Sixth placed Heidfeld had pitted. Kovalainen would take his drive
through penalty as Piquet would crash at Fanges. He would hit front end
first ending his race.
Lap sixteen and Bourdais and Kubica would pit. Raikkonen was leading by 5.6
seconds over Hamilton. Massa was now third followed by Vettel, Alonso,
Bourdais, Kubica, and Glock. Nico was up to tenth and Kazuki sixteenth.
Massa was just 3.3 seconds behind Hamilton as Raikkonen went fastest on lap
seventeen with a 1m:48.229. Vettel would pit on lap eighteen. After his
penalty Kovalainen was down in thirteenth. Heidfeld would pas Glock for
eighth. Lap nineteen and Raikkonen was again fastest with a 1m:47.932. He
was now leading by 6.0 seconds and Hamilton had opened out the gap to third
placed Massa, 4.1 seconds. Alonso was in fourth followed by Bourdais,
Kubica, Vettel, and in eighth Heidfeld.
Nico was sill in tenth and on what was most likely a one stop strategy. Lap
twenty two and Barrichello would retire in his garage. Coulthard and Button
would from thirteenth and fourteenth pit on lap twenty three as the circuit
had dried out. Kazuki was now in thirteenth as Raikkonen went fastest with a
1m:47.930 on lap twenty four. lap twenty six and both Raikkonen and Hamilton
would pit. They would both take on the harder tyre and would come out in the
same order. Nico would also pit for what should be his only stop. Massa was
now leading as Glock also made his only stop. Alonso would pit from fourth
on lap twenty eight. Hamilton had close the gap to Raikkonen down to 3.0
seconds. Kazuki would pit on lap twenty eight.
Massa would make his second stop the following lap as Hamilton was now just
2.4 seconds behind Raikkonen. Nico was now in twelfth and Kazuki fourteenth
after their stops. Lap twenty nine and Kimi's lead was down to 1.9 seconds
as Massa returned to third followed by Bourdais, Kubica, Vettel, Heidfeld,
and
Alonso. Eighth placed Heidfeld would pit on lap thirty two. Bourdais would
pit from fourth on the next lap. Tenth placed Webber would also come in.
Bourdais would come back out in eighth. Lap thirty four and Kubica, Vettel,
and Kovalainen would pit. Hamilton had taken a few tenths off Raikkonen with
the Ferrari leading by 1.7 seconds. But Kimi was able to extend his lead out to
2.2 seconds.
The order was Raikkonen from Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Bourdais, Vettel,
Heidfeld, and Kubica in eighth. Nico was in twelfth and Kazuki fourteenth.
With eight laps remaining Hamilton had closed the gap to 1.6 seconds and
Massa was 4.2 seconds behind Hamilton. Kazuki would be lapped and would hold
up Hamilton slightly. There was concern as to whether it would start to rain
with just six laps remaining. Raikkonen was 1.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton as
the first spots of rain would start to fall. Lap forty and Raikkonen's lead
was just 0.9 seconds. It was a real fight between the two drivers. But
Hamilton would make a small mistake at the Bus Stop chicane that would see
Raikkonen's lead extend to 2.0 seconds. The rain was getting heavier in
places.
Massa was still in third followed by Alonso, Bourdais, Vettel, Heidfeld, and
Kubica. But Hamilton would try to pass Raikkonen at the Bus Stop. Hamilton
would run wide and would come back out in front of Raikkonen. He would pass
at Le Source but the next lap would see both Hamilton and Raikkonen spinning
and running wide as they ran through traffic. Eventually Raikkonen would
spin and crash into the wall ending his race. At one stage Nico had found
himself involved in the fight between Hamilton and Raikkonen as the pair
tried to pass the Williams.
With the rain many drivers would pit
including both Williams drivers. Hamilton would lead from Massa and
Bourdais. Kovalainen would stop out on the track as on the last lap Heidfeld
would pass a series of drivers to come home an amazing third after having pitted for a third time
late in the race. The drivers in front of rain ran so slowly that Heidfeld
was able to close to gap running on wet weather tyres.
Hamilton would take the chequered flag to win the Belgian Grand Prix from Massa and
Heidfeld. Alonso was fourth followed by Vettel, Kubica, Bourdais, and in
eighth Glock. For the Williams team it would be a race that would see both
cars lapped and out of the points. There is not a lot that can be said about
their race performances apart from saying let's hope we see an improvement
in a weeks time at Monza. |