2008 Belgian GP - Race 13/18

rpstewart · 1 Sep 2008 at 22:21

Spa, is there anything better? The plunge down to Eau Rouge, the charge into the Ardennes forest to Les Combes and the new circuit, the challenge of Stabelot and Blanchemont. All too soon it's hard on the brakes for La Source and time to start all over again.

44 laps of perfection.

Friday practice : 0900 - 1030 & 1300 - 1430
Saturday practice : 1000 - 1100
Saturday Qualifying : 1300 - 1400, ITV 1215 - 1435
Sunday Race : 1300 - 1500, ITV from 1200. Highlights, 2215 (ITV) & Monday 1800 (ITV4)

Drivers

Code:

Pos Driver           Nationality   Team              Points 
1  Lewis Hamilton       British    McLaren-Mercedes   70
2  Felipe Massa		Brazilian  Ferrari	      64
3  Kimi Raikkonen       Finnish    Ferrari            57
4  Robert Kubica	Polish     BMW                55      
5  Heikki Kovelainen    Finnish    McLaren-Mercedes   43
6  Nick Heidfeld        German     BMW                41
7  Jarno Trulli         Italian    Toyota             26
8  Fernando Alonso      Spanish    Renault            18
9  Mark Webber          Australian RBR-Renault        18
10 Timo Glock           German     Toyota             15	
11 Nelsinho Piquet	Brazilian  Renault	      13
12 Rubens Barrichello   Brazilian  Honda              11
13 Nico Rosberg         German     Williams-Toyota    9
14 Sebastian Vettel	German	   STR-Ferrari	      9
15 Kazuki Nakajima   	Japanese   Williams-Toyota    8
16 David Coulthard	British	   RBR-Renault        6
17 Jenson Button	British	   Honda              3
18 Sebastien Bourdais   Italian    STR-Ferrari        2

Constructors

Code:

Pos Team              Points    
1  Ferrari            121        
2  McLaren-Mercedes   113       
3  BMW                96       
4  Toyota             41
6  Renault            31
5  RBR-Renault        24        
7  Williams-Toyota    17        
8  Honda	      14
9  STR-Ferrari        11

Calendar

Code:

01 2008 FORMULA 1 ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (Melbourne) 		14 - 16 Mar 
02 2008 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX (Kuala Lumpur) 		21 - 23 Mar 
03 2008 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (Bahrain) 		04 - 06 Apr 
04 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFONICA 2008 (Catalunya) 		25 - 27 Apr 
05 2008 FORMULA 1 PETROL OFISI TURKISH GRAND PRIX (Istanbul) 		09 - 11 May 
06 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2008 (Monte Carlo) 			22 - 25 May 
07 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DU CANADA 2008 (Montreal) 			06 - 08 Jun 
08 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE 2008 (Magny-Cours) 			20 - 22 Jun 
09 2008 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX (Silverstone) 		04 - 06 Jul 
10 FORMULA 1 GROSSER PREIS SANTANDER VON DEUTSCHLAND 2008 (Hockenheim) 	18 - 20 Jul 
11 FORMULA 1 ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2008 (Budapest) 			01 - 03 Aug 
12 2008 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE (Valencia) 			22 - 24 Aug 
13 2008 FORMULA 1 ING BELGIAN GRAND PRIX (Spa-Francorchamps) 		05 - 07 Sep 
14 FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2008 (Monza) 		12 - 14 Sep 
15 2008 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX (Singapore) 		26 - 28 Sep 
16 2008 FORMULA 1 FUJI TELEVISION JAPANESE GRAND PRIX (Fuji Speedway) 	10 - 12 Oct 
17 2008 FORMULA 1 SINOPEC CHINESE GRAND PRIX (Shanghai) 		17 - 19 Oct 
18 FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2008 (Sao Paulo) 			31 Oct - 02 Nov

If you're interested in seeing what the tracks look like I've updated my Google Earth links and flyovers. Unfortunately it's still not perfect, although Fuji is now high res thanks to the April update but the imagery for Valencia is a fair age so the purpose built bridge isn't visible. To play the flyovers select the flyover folder and press the play button at the bottom of the Places pane.

Some links for Spa-Francorchamps

Official GP Site
Wikipedia
Circuit details on the official F1 page

rpstewart · 1 Sep 2008 at 23:28

<(Multi)> said:
Please god dont let them touch the Spa circuit.

They shouldn't have shortened it the first time!

rpstewart · 4 Sep 2008 at 14:46

frakker said:
Still amazing to watch. TV coverage doesn't convey how steep the thing is!

In other news: Gone Fishing at McLaren. Uncle Ron is sponsoring a kid £50 per fish that he manages to catch from their lake. What's the betting he's employed scuba divers to ensure he doesn't have to pay out, the cheating... (just joking! )

The young lad did pretty well by all accounts, 25 fish in an hour isn't to be sniffed at.

rpstewart · 5 Sep 2008 at 10:49

Code:

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:47.284            26
 2.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:47.623  + 0.339   26
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:47.878  + 0.594   27
 4.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:47.932  + 0.648   24
 5.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:48.104  + 0.820   26
 6.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:48.428  + 1.144   29
 7.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:48.557  + 1.273   31
 8.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:48.958  + 1.674   24
 9.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:48.997  + 1.713   26
10.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:49.068  + 1.784   25
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:49.139  + 1.855   25
12.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:49.185  + 1.901   26
13.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:49.611  + 2.327   30
14.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:49.625  + 2.341   14
15.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:49.849  + 2.565   18
16.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:49.986  + 2.702   27
17.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:50.117  + 2.833   19
18.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:50.125  + 2.841   30
19.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:50.464  + 3.180   25
20.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:50.905  + 3.621   25

rpstewart · 5 Sep 2008 at 14:15

The wee bit of text commentary next to the live timing is laughable...

Session declared wet

Fisichella has spun off. There appears to be some fluid on the track

The fluid is water, the marshalls are sweeping it away

No **** sherlock!

rpstewart · 5 Sep 2008 at 14:47

Code:

Pos  Driver        Team                     Time              Laps
 1.  Alonso        Renault             (B)  1:48.454            21
 2.  Massa         Ferrari             (B)  1:48.504  + 0.050   15
 3.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:48.740  + 0.286   19
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes    (B)  1:48.805  + 0.351   17
 5.  Raikkonen     Ferrari             (B)  1:49.328  + 0.874   10
 6.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:49.405  + 0.951   17
 7.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:49.427  + 0.973   28
 8.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:49.585  + 1.131   22
 9.  Trulli        Toyota              (B)  1:49.715  + 1.261   22
10.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber          (B)  1:49.725  + 1.271   21
11.  Kubica        BMW Sauber          (B)  1:49.875  + 1.421   22
12.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:49.922  + 1.468   20
13.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari  (B)  1:49.948  + 1.494   20
14.  Glock         Toyota              (B)  1:50.281  + 1.827   23
15.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota     (B)  1:50.364  + 1.910   20
16.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari (B)  1:50.740  + 2.286   11
17.  Button        Honda               (B)  1:50.925  + 2.471   18
18.  Barrichello   Honda               (B)  1:51.238  + 2.784   22
19.  Piquet        Renault             (B)  1:51.334  + 2.880   18
20.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault    (B)  1:51.640  + 3.186    7

rpstewart · 5 Sep 2008 at 20:37

First look at the Donington upgrade plans

First off it's good to see that the changes are all concentrated around the south side of the circuit keeping the Craner Curves & the Old Hairpin intact. A lot of the infield spectator area will disappear as a result but I suppose that's in keeping with Bernie's unstated desire to keep the track between the paddock and the great unwashed.

There is a lot of work to be done, especially since the circuit is insistent that the 2009 programme of events will go ahead without disruption from the upgrade. Simply realigning Starkey's Straight is a huge undertaking since the new line is through the middle of the exhibition halls!

rpstewart · 6 Sep 2008 at 13:22

Brundle struggling to find Bourdais on the sheet there! Up the top Martin!

rpstewart · 6 Sep 2008 at 13:30

Zogger said:
Good that they're doing something for the environment anyway.

They do run about a dozen less laps than most on a Saturday afternoon too.

rpstewart · 10 Sep 2008 at 23:36

JUMPURS said:
Who will they release? Heidfield?

Neither Heidfeld or Kubica have been signed up for 2009 although there are strong rumours over the last fortnight or so that Kubica has signed a 1 year extension. BMW, however, have said they will announce the 2009 line-up only once both drivers are signed up.

If one of the current drivers is to leave then Heidfeld is the obvious choice given the comments which have been flying about regarding his performance this year. On the other hand Autosport have been speculating for weeks that Kubica could well go to Ferrari if Kimi leaves.