Spa Francorchamps

28-30 August 2009

Lap Distance 7.004 Km

Race 44 Laps 308.052 Km

Kimi Raikkonen won the Belgian Grand Prix for Ferrari at a rain free Spa Francorchamps today. Raikkonen was beaten off the line by pole sitter Giancarlo Fisichella who led the Finn through Eau Rouge and Les Combes. Behind them all hell broke loose as a dramatic series of collisions triggered by Romain Grosjean who hit Button from behind and Jaime Alguersuari who hit Hamilton spread debris across the circuit. It was the end of the road for all four drivers and another big disappointment for championship leader Button. The Safety Car was deployed to allow the debris to be cleared away from the track and when it pulled off at the end of the fourth lap Raikkonen's KERS powered Ferrari soon overpowered the Force India as they climbed the hill out of Eau Rouge towards Les Combes and held it despite a valiant fightback by Fisichella. The pair were close throughout the race and at the flag Fisichella was within one second of the Ferrari. It was an impressive and well deserved result for Fisichella and will be a big boost for the Force India Team. Sebastian Vettel drove a solid race to secure third place for Red Bull after starting from eighth on the grid. BMW team mates Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld enjoyed a welcome respite from the dismal performances by BMW of late, finishing the race fourth and fifth. Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the top six benefitting as others fell by the wayside and from a decision to run a one stop strategy. Rubens Barrichello stepped in to save the day for Brawn following Button's demise but a dreadful start dropped him way down the order and meant that he had to work hard for his seventh place and two points. Nico Rosberg was the remaining points scorer in eighth. Mark Webber's race was blighted by a drive through penalty awarded as a result of the team releasing him into the path of Nick Heidfeld in the first round of pitstops, almost causing a collision with the German's BMW and resulting in ninth place and no points on this occasion. Timo Glock rounded out the top ten after a refuelling rig issue prevented him from finishing further up the order after running as high as fourth position. Fernando Alonso ran well but eventually succumbed to damage caused to his Renault by a knock at the first corner.

Lewis Hamilton continued his impressive form in final Friday practice for the Belgian GP at Spa Franchorchamps just pipping the Toyota of Timo Glock for the fastest time. Hamilton had failed to set a time in the earlier session which was affected by heavy rain. Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest for Ferrari but team mate Luca Badoer again struggled to find pace ending the final session in last place, over two seconds adrift of Hamilton. Mark Webber was fourth fastest for Red Bull at the final count with Renault newcomer Romain Grosjean an impressive 5th fastest. Giancarlo Fisichella cheered Force India with sixth fastest time ahead of Jarno Trulli and Robert Kubica in seventh and eighth positions in the order. Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastian Vettel rounded out the top ten fastest. The final session was a very low profile affair for the two Brawn drivers with Button seventeenth and Barrichello eighteenth.

Giancarlo Fisichella secured a shock pole position for the Force India Team at Spa Franchorchamps today. Fisichella leapt to the top of the timesheets in the dying stages of the final shoot out and his time remained unbeatable. It was a topsy turvey session with the normal front runners nowhere to be seen. Jarno Trulli will start alongside Fisichella on the front row of the grid and Nick Heidfeld and Rubens Barrichello will start on the second row having qualified 3rd and fourth fastest. Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top six. Timo Glock was seventh ahead of the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Nico Rosberg closed out the top ten fastest. It was another disastrous session for championship leader Jenson Button as the Briton could only scrape fourteenth fastest and was at a loss to explain his poor form. Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen also struggled with Hamilton down in twelfth and Kovalainen fifteenth fastest. Luca Badoer again looked out of his depth in the Ferrari finishing last. Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean also disappointed with the pair low down in thirteenth and nineteenth places.

01 J Trulli
1m 49.675s
02 J Button
1m 50.283s
03 F Alonso
1m 50.368s
04 S Buemi
1m 51.045s
05 J Alguersuari
1m 51.529s
06 R Barrichello
1m 52.321s
07 K Raikkonen
1m 52.930s
08 H Kovalainen
1m 53.383s
09 R Kubica
1m 53.650s
10 L Badoer
1m 55.068s
11 G Fisichella
1m 3.972s
12 N Rosberg
1m 4.505s
13 R Grosjean
1m 5.513s
14 N Heidfeld
1m 5.614s
15 K Nakajima
1m 5.705s
16 A Sutil
1m 5.839s
17 M Webber
1m 6.181s
18 T Glock
1m 6.331s
19 S Vettel
No Time
20 L Hamilton
No Time
 

01 G Fisichella
1m 46.308s
02 J Trulli
1m 46.395s
03 N Heidfeld
1m 46.500s
04 R Barrichello
1m 46.513s
05 R Kubica
1m 46.586s
06 K Raikkonen
1m 46.633s
07 T Glock
1m 46.677s
08 S Vettel
1m 46.761s
09 M Webber
1m 46.788s
10 N Rosberg
1m 47.362s

Eliminated Q2
11 A Sutil
1m 45.119s
12 L Hamilton
1m 45.122s
13 F Alonso
1m 45.136s
14 J Button
1m 45.251s
15  H Kovalainen
1m 45.259s

Eliminated Q1
16 S Buemi
1m 45.705s
17 J Alguersuari
1m 45.951s
18 K Nakajima
1m 46.032s
19 R Grosjean
1m 46.307s
20 L Badoer
1m 46.359s

 

01 L Hamilton
1m 47.201s
02 T Glock
1m 47.217s
03 K Raikkonen
1m 47.285s
04 M Webber
1m 47.329s
05 R Grosjean
1m 47.333s
06 G Fisichella
1m 47.506s
07 J Trulli
1m 47.559s
08 R Kubica
1m 47.578s
09 J Alguersuari
1m 47.579s
10 S Vettel
1m 47.602s
11 S Buemi
1m 47.702s
12 H Kovalainen
1m 47.743s
13 A Sutil
1m 47.790s
14 F Alonso
1m 47.862s
15 K Nakajima
1m 47.961s
16 N Heidfeld
1m 48.017s
17 J Button
1m 48.125s
18 R Barrichello
1m 48.130s
19 N Rosberg
1m 48.360s
20 L Badoer
1m 49.211s
 

01 N Heidfeld
1m 45.388s
02 J Trulli
1m 45.462s
03 A Sutil
1m 45.677s
04 R Grosjean
1m 45.878s
05 T Glock
1m 45.908s
06 R Kubica
1m 45.987s
07 N Rosberg
1m 46.040s
08 G Fisichella
1m 46.114s
09 L Hamilton
1m 46.301s
10 J Button
1m 46.406s
11 K Raikkonen
1m 46.409s
12 S Buemi
1m 46.417s
13 H Kovalainen
1m 46.462s
14 S Vettel
1m 46.747s
15 J Alguersuari
1m 46.814s
16 R Barrichello
1m 46.815s
17 F Alonso
1m 46.926s
18 L Badoer
1m 47.055s
19 K Nakajima
1m 47.078s
20 M Webber
No Time
 

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01  K Raikkonen
02  G Fisichella
03  S Vettel
04  R Kubica
05  N Heidfeld
06  H Kovalainen
07  R Barrichello
08  N Rosberg
09  M Webber
10  T Glock
11  A Sutil
12  S Buemi
13  K Nakajima
14  L Badoer

Retired
L27 F Alonso
L22 J Trulli
L1 J Button
L1 R Grosjean
L1 L Hamilton
L1 J Alguersuari

Fastest Lap
S Vettel
1m 47.263s L38