Belgian Grand Prix: 7 Sept '08

Kuali Baba SG

Track: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium
Length: 7.004 km
Laps: 44
Start time: 2000 HRS SIN

F1 drivers constantly rave about this circuit, and for good reason too. It is one of the few remaining old-school circuits where almost every turn is a challenge. It is fast, twisty and undulating as it winds through the Ardennes, and corners such as Eau Rouge, Pouhon and Blanchimont are know to separate the men from the boys.

The circuit's length also means that it can be bone dry at one end of the track and soaking at the other and this can pose a tyre strategy headache. And rain has been forecast for this weekend!

Kimi Raikkonen has won the last 3 editions of this race (2004, 2005, 2007) and he goes into this weekend needing another masterclass performance to keep his championship hopes alive. Look out too for the title protagonists, Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton - the Brazilian is the current in-form driver, while the Briton is looking to improve on his 4th placing last year.

566117 SG

Belgian Grand Prix free practice session 1 times

1.  MASSA         Ferrari       1m47.284s
2.  RAIKKONEN     Ferrari       1m47.623s
3.  HAMILTON      McLaren       1m47.878s
4.  KOVALAINEN    McLaren       1m47.932s
5.  ALONSO        Renault       1m48.104s
6.  WEBBER        Red Bull      1m48.428s
7.  BOURDAIS      Toro Rosso    1m48.557s
8.  VETTEL        Toro Rosso    1m48.958s
9.  GLOCK         Toyota        1m48.997s
10. PIQUET        Renault       1m49.068s
11. KUBICA        BMW           1m49.139s
12. HEIDFELD      BMW           1m49.185s
13. ROSBERG       Williams      1m49.611s
14. TRULLI        Toyota        1m49.625s
15. COULTHARD     Red Bull      1m49.849s
16. FISICHELLA    Force India   1m49.986s
17. SUTIL         Force India   1m50.117s
18. NAKAJIMA      Williams      1m50.125s
19. BUTTON        Honda         1m50.464s
20. BARRICHELLO   Honda         1m50.905s

566117 SG

Belgian Grand Prix free practice session 2 times

1. ALONSO Renault 1m48.454s

2. MASSA Ferrari 1m48.504s

3. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m48.740s

4. HAMILTON McLaren 1m48.805s

5. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m49.328s

6. ROSBERG Williams 1m49.405s

7. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m49.427s

8. SUTIL Force India 1m49.585s

9. TRULLI Toyota 1m49.715s

10. HEIDFELD BMW 1m49.725s

11. KUBICA BMW 1m49.875s

12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m49.922s

13. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m49.948s

14. GLOCK Toyota 1m50.281s

15. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m50.364s

16. FISICHELLA Force India 1m50.740s

17. BUTTON Honda 1m50.925s

18. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m51.238s

19. PIQUET Renault 1m51.334s

20. WEBBER Red Bull 1m51.640s

566117 SG

Belgian Grand Prix free practice session 3 times

1. HEIDFELD BMW 1m47.876s

2. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m48.165s

3. ALONSO Renault 1m48.307s

4. HAMILTON McLaren 1m48.356s

5. MASSA Ferrari 1m48.692s

6. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1m48.768s

7. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m48.815s

8. ROSBERG Williams 1m48.836s

9. PIQUET Renault 1m48.946s

10. WEBBER Red Bull 1m49.054s

11. TRULLI Toyota 1m49.057s

12. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m49.125s

13. KUBICA BMW 1m49.250s

14. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m49.256s

15. GLOCK Toyota 1m49.535s

16. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m49.830s

17. FISICHELLA Force India 1m49.949s

18. SUTIL Force India 1m50.034s

19. BARRICHELLO Honda 1m50.061s

20. BUTTON Honda No time

Kuali Baba SG

Tomorrow's starting grid will look like this:

1. HAMILTON McLaren
2. MASSA Ferrari
3. KOVALAINEN McLaren
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
5. HEIDFELD BMW
6. ALONSO Renault
7. WEBBER Red Bull
8. KUBICA BMW
9. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
10. VETTEL Toro Rosso
11. TRULLI Toyota
12. PIQUET Renault
13. GLOCK Toyota
14. COULTHARD Red Bull
15. ROSBERG Williams
16. BARRICHELLO Honda
17. BUTTON Honda
18. SUTIL Force India
19. NAKAJIMA Williams
20. FISICHELLA Force India

Kuali Baba SG

Belgian Grand Prix provisional result (44 laps)

1. HAMILTON McLaren
2. MASSA Ferrari +14.4s
3. HEIDFELD BMW +23.8s
4. ALONSO Renault +28.9s
5. VETTEL Toro Rosso +29.0s
6. KUBICA BMW +29.4s
7. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +31.1s
8. GLOCK Toyota +56.5s
9. WEBBER Red Bull +57.2s
10. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1 lap
11. COULTHARD Red Bull +1 lap
12. ROSBERG Williams +1 lap
13. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
14. NAKAJIMA Williams +1 lap
15. BUTTON Honda +1 lap
16. TRULLI Toyota +1 lap
17. FISICHELLA Force India +1 lap
R. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +1 lap
R. BARRICHELLO Honda +25 laps
R. PIQUET Renault +31 laps

Hamilton and Raikkonen are currently under investigation.

Kuali Baba SG

Hamilton and Glock are now 3rd and 9th after they were handed 25 second penalties.

dragg SG

hamilton deserved to be penalised. he immediately accelerated after braking slightly to let raikkonen past. it was obviously unfair. then in a desperate bid to retake the lead raikkonen rear ended hamilton and damaged his car. he eventually lost control and went out of the race later.

raikkonen was unlucky. massa was very lucky to get the win.

lamo SG

IMO, hamilton's disqualification was unfair. the replay clearly shows that hamilton slowed to let kimi pass and then overtook him fair and square again. there wasn't any momentum gained in hamilton's place. hopefully mclaren's appeal bid will succeed.

Kuali Baba SG

Let's see what the telemetry says when they examine it.

kajagugu SG

depending on which camp you belong to, there will be different responses...

TNP's reporter speculate that Hamilton got punished cos he made his second move to overtake Raikkonen too soon after he gave back Raikkonen his 1st place.

Seasoned viewers should know that stewards always favor Ferrari, albeit slightly....look at last season's 100m fine.

But Ferrari only have themselves to blame, their drivers not consistent enough. And Massa's Hungary shunt was cos of his engine...

dragg SG

hamilton has himself to blame. he should and could have just finished the race in 2nd place. he took the risk and now gave massa a chance to cut his lead.

kajagugu SG

well you can't blame Hamilton totally. Who doesn't want to win man?

It would be great if Hamilton can win this Championship, at least he can vindicate all the critics that slammed him and McLaren.

At least for me, i think FIA's biased towards Ferrari...

Anyway, Monza this week and is getting closer to Singapore, yeah!!

dragg SG

well you can't blame Hamilton totally. Who doesn't want to win man?

It would be great if Hamilton can win this Championship, at least he can vindicate all the critics that slammed him and McLaren.

At least for me, i think FIA's biased towards Ferrari...

Anyway, Monza this week and is getting closer to Singapore, yeah!!

he didnt really need to win that race. raikkonen is still many points behind him in the championship. he could and should have just finished the race safely in second place and extend his lead over everyone.