F1 2010 Belgian Grand Prix

[Centurion]

Spa-Francorchamps

Circuit information

Length: 7.004km
Race distances: 44 laps / 308.176km

Full throttle: 70%
Top speed: 310kph
Longest flat-out section: 24s / 1.865km
Right/left-hand corners: 9/10

Tyre wear: Medium/low
Brake wear: Medium
Downforce level: Medium


Strategy

Fuel use per lap: 3.151kg
Pit lane time loss: 19.8s

 

[Centurion]

This is it people. Spa marks the start of the real 2010 season. Red Bull are favorites for the title and I'm think Alonso is in a great contention for WDC. In hind sight Ferrari made the right decision to use team orders a few races ago. Winning constructors will be hard given how nearly untouchable the Bulls are. Ferrari and Mclaren's best shot is at WDC. Mclaren are the most disadvantaged team of the top runners, not only technically but internally-wise.

The MP25 is currently not the best car and is rather uncompetative against the RB6 and even the F10. If both Mclaren drivers don't stand on the podium on Sunday, then the team must decide in what basket to lay all the eggs or else they'll risk not winning anything at all this year. They must restort to team orders if they don't want to look like hamters running in a wheel with no goal. I suggest they should support Lewis as he's more capable than Button to win from positions behind P1 and win days when the setup is bollocks. Which ever driver who doesn't want to be sh*tting in his racing suit in Abu Dhabi calculating his chances of winning, must be at least 2 of the coming 7 races.

I can't wait to see photos from tomorrow's practice session. There's will be a carneval or crazy exhaust blown diffusers, F-Ducts and flexing front wings. Spa is one hell of a car circuit so this will be the manufacturers' opportunity to flex their muscles.

 

[Bartek S.]

FP1

Pos Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2m00.797s 17
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 2m01.567s + 0.770s 7
3. Robert Kubica Renault 2m02.081s + 1.284s 14
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2m02.450s + 1.653s 11
5. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2m02.646s + 1.849s 14
6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m02.913s + 2.116s 6
7. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 2m02.926s + 2.129s 11
8. Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 2m03.401s + 2.604s 17
9. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 2m03.424s + 2.627s 7
10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 2m03.489s + 2.692s 9
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 2m03.601s + 2.804s 17
12. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 2m03.649s + 2.852s 17
13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2m03.654s + 2.857s 6
14. Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 2m03.851s + 3.054s 17
15. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 2m04.145s + 3.348s 12
16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m04.250s + 3.453s 16
17. Vitaly Petrov Renault 2m04.690s + 3.893s 15
18. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2m05.680s + 4.883s 6
19. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2m05.697s + 4.900s 18
20. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2m06.695s + 5.898s 14
21. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 2m07.189s + 6.392s 15
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 2m07.737s + 6.940s 13
23. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 2m07.955s + 7.158s 15
24. Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 2m10.507s + 9.710s 18

 

[Bartek S.]

Kubica: Progress the goal, not winning

Robert Kubica says Renault's priority over the remainder of the season is not to try and sneak a victory but to close the gap to the front-running teams. Although Renault has made good progress this year, and got itself back in the hunt for podium finishes, the outfit has not yet delivered enough to grab a victory.
Kubica thinks such a feat is unlikely this year - and reckons it is more vital for Renault's long0term ambitions that it simply gets faster rather than produces a victory just now.
"To be honest, I don't see the situation for now how we can win a race, this is not our goal realistically," said Kubica ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. "The goal is to close the gap to the top cars.
"If in one race, the top five cars go off and we are sixth then we win. But this is difficult to predict."
Kubica does not share the view either that Renault's chances of it grabbing a win in 2010 will rest on there being some wet races.
"I don't think we are much more competitive in the wet," he said. "It is not that suddenly we are running one second slower in the dry and we are half a second quicker than anyone else in the wet.
"It will depend a lot on the conditions, but nobody is thinking about winning a race this year. Of course if this will come, it will be good, but realistically speaking it is not the target for now."
Kubica says he is also happy with the amount of progress that Renault has made throughout this season - even though its climb up the grid order has slowed down.
"It is normal when you are a bit more behind, it is easier to catch up," said the Pole. "Once you are starting to get closer then it is more difficult.
"We have had periods of the year where we were closing very quickly the gap, and then the next two or three weeks we were losing the gap. That is normal and depends on the period of development, it depends on the teams.
"I think to sum it up, with the development, you have to wait until now for example. For 10/11 races after this period, you can say how was our development, and I think we did since the beginning of the year a very good job. Lately we spent a lot of effort and energy on the F-duct so we hope this will pay off from here onwards."

autosport

 

[Bartek S.]

FP2
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m49.032s 25
2. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m49.157s +0.125 17
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m49.248s +0.216 14
4. Robert Kubica Renault 1m49.282s +0.250 20
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m49.588s +0.556 23
6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m49.689s +0.657 19
7. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m49.755s +0.723 20
8. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m50.081s +1.049 27
9. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m50.128s +1.096 22
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m50.200s +1.168 24
11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m50.251s +1.219 24
12. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m50.341s +1.309 23
13. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m50.382s +1.350 21
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m50.682s +1.650 25
15. Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m50.831s +1.799 20
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m51.520s +2.488 17
17. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m51.523s +2.491 25
18. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m51.636s +2.604 19
19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m53.480s +4.448 15
20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m53.639s +4.607 21
21. Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m54.325s +5.293 17
22. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m55.751s +6.719 24
23. Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1m56.039s +7.007 21
24. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2m03.179s +14.147 3

 

[Bartek S.]

Weekend Forecast

Saturday is expected to start dry and mainly sunny. But towards afternoon, there is a strong chance that we will see the clouds rolling back in from the north. A slight chance of showers is the current forecast, with the risk greatest towards the end of the qualifying session and the GP2 feature race afterwards. Temperatures will remain on the cool side with a maximum again reaching 18 degrees Celsius.

Sunday's prospects continue on a knife-edge theme. Conditions will be dry but cloudy in the morning. However, a band of rain coming in from the Netherlands will continue to creep south in the afternoon, meaning a possibility of light showers remains for the race. Temperatures will struggle thanks to the northerly airflow change and may only reach 13 or 14 Celsius during the race itself.

 

[Bartek S.]

FP3

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m46.106s 10
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m46.223s +0.117 17
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m46.396s +0.290 12
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m46.397s +0.291 17
5. Robert Kubica Renault 1m46.492s +0.386 17
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m46.627s +0.521 11
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m46.962s +0.856 10
8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m47.064s +0.958 15
9. Nico Hülkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1m47.160s +1.054 16
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.296s +1.190 17
11. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m47.388s +1.282 15
12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m47.406s +1.300 15
13. R.Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m47.512s +1.406 14
14. M.Schumacher Mercedes 1m47.695s +1.589 16
15. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m47.837s +1.731 9
16. Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m47.905s +1.799 20
17. J.Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m47.981s +1.875 18
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1m48.692s +2.586 8
19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1m50.600s +4.494 14
20. Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 1m51.133s +5.027 9
21. H.Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m51.384s +5.278 14
22. Lucas Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1m51.517s +5.411 13
23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m51.669s +5.563 10
24. Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 1m52.001s +5.895 13

 

[Centurion]

What a shift in weather during quali. If the mood of the weather presists until tomorrow then we might see one very interesting race that will benefit none other than the number one tyre gambler Jenson Button. So the top runners need to keep an eye on what tyres he will opt for. During a shift in weather and sudden change of tyres he can easily jump from P5 to P1.

Great to see Hamilton back on front row and I believe he'll overtake Webber after Au Rouge. Despite his excellent showing, Lewis is still disadvantaged by the car. The straight line speed curtsey of the F-Duct is a great strenght at Spa but in Monza and the successive races, Red Bull dominiation will be restored -- they are the Brawns of 2010. WDC and Constructors cahmpionshipa re theirs to lose.

 

[Bartek S.]

Qualifying live standing
P. Driver Team Time
1 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:45.778
2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +00.085
3 Robert Kubica Renault +00.322
4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +00.349
5 Jenson Button McLaren +00.428
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari +00.536
7 Rubens Barrichello Williams +00.824
8 Adrian Sutil Force India +00.881
9 Nico Hülkenberg Williams +01.275
10 Fernando Alonso Ferrari +01.663
11 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP +01.653
12 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP +01.664
13 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso +02.046
14 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India +02.459
15 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso +02.988
16 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus +04.759
17 Timo Glock Virgin +05.828
18 Jarno Trulli Lotus +06.665
19 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber +07.458
20 Bruno Senna Hispania +08.786
21 Sakon Yamamoto Hispania +09.115
22 Pedro de la Rosa Sauber +10.468
23 Lucas Di Grassi Virgin +23.928
24 Vitaly Petrov Renault

 

[RikfromBelgium]

I'll be there tomorrow. I'll post some pictures

 

[siko]

Oooooooo Kubica 3rd.. I'll make an effort to watch it tomorrow then.

 

[chonkoa]

Glad Alonso is not on pole.

 

[Remy Zero]

It's gonna be an awesome race

 

[Gullwing]

Glad Alonso is not on pole.

Glad he is not in the top 9

 

[Centurion]

It's gonna be an awesome race

No kidding. Australia and Canada have been the most thrilling races this season I think Spa will provide the same level of entertainment. The race will be epic! Kubica has amazing pace this weekend and I'm praying that the car won't let him down. He deserves to contend for vicstory today.

 

[Zonda]

Yay, this will be the first entire race that I watch this season!

Forza Kubica!

 

[SKY]

Glad Alonso is not on pole.

Why is that?.

 

[VroomVroom]

Been interesting so far!

 

[bmwownage]

what a f---ing freak Vettel
seriously red bull doesn't deserve to win any titles, maybe constructors because it's their car that did the job, both drivers are flawed big time

 

[VroomVroom]

what a f---ing freak Vettel

Could have been a Mclaren 1-2..