Posted on 26th August 2013
Formula 1 is back thank goodness, Spa was the venue of round 11 in this fascinating 2013 season. With so much talk in the paddock about the driver market, it was good to actually focus on the racing. The weather was an unpredictable force as always in the Ardennes forest, it certainly spiced up qualifying on Saturday.
Qualifying report.
It was a dramatic qualifying to start the second half of the season. Q1 was wet meaning everyone was on the intimidate tyre. But as the track began to dry, Marussia and Caterham saw an opportunity to gamble on slicks. It worked out tremendously as Bianchi, Chilton and Van Der Garde all made it into Q2. That meant surprisingly that both Toro Rosso’s and Williams were out already. Q2 was relatively uneventful with all the usual suspects making the top 10. Q3 began dry, everyone headed out on slick tyres with Paul DiResta being the only exception. Just moments into the session the rain returned, all 9 cars that did go out headed back into the pits. Paul DiResta headed out on intermediates and with clear track, set a time that proved hard to beat. It looked like he would take his first ever pole position, but the rain eased off in the last few moments allowing Nico Rosberg to better his time. Pole position was changing hands between Webber, Vettel and finally to Lewis Hamilton. It was Hamilton’s 4th pole position in a row much to his and the teams delight. It was a dramatic conclusion to Qualifying, here is how the grid looked for the start of the race.
1 Hamilton
2 Vettel
3 Webber
4 Rosberg
5 DiResta
6 Button
7 Grosjean
8 Raikkonen
9 Alonso
10 Massa
11 Hulkenberg, 12, Sutil, 13 Perez, 14 Van Der Garde, 15 Bianchi, 16 Chilton, 17 Maldonado, 18 Vergne, 19 Ricciardo, 20 Bottas, 21 Gutierrez, 22 Pic.
It was a great session for Marussia getting their cars into Q2 for the first time in 3 years. Toro Rosso were bitterly disappointed as were Williams, being knocked out in Q1 was unexpected. Jenson Button achieved his highest grid start this season in the McLaren.
2013 Formula 1 Shell Belgium Grand Prix
Heading into the race the weather improved, the threat of rain was receding and the excitement was building. As the lights went out Hamilton and Vettel got away together, Alonso had an excellent start from 9th, Button also made up positions in the first corner. Hamilton was under pressure from Vettel, down the Kammel straight Vettel passed the Mercedes with ease and was leading the race. Hamilton tried to fight back but just didn’t have the pace. Button was trying a move for 3rd on the outside of Rosberg but the German had the racing line. It was a tremendous first lap full of excitement and no major dramas. Mark Webber lost out on the start he was beginning to fall back by the end of the first lap. Vettel was pulling out an ever increasing lead up front to surprise of many, the Red Bull hadn’t shown this level of straight line speed for some time.
The Caterham of Van Der Garde had a good start only dropping a single place, he was holding onto 15th nicely. Max Chilton however soon fell to the very back which to some is not surprising. Fernando Alonso was flying and overtook Rosberg for 3rd place, the Ferrari had great speed this weekend and the Spaniard was putting it to good use. Alonso was looking at the championship too, he is well in the fight with Vettel and needed as many points as possible. Kimi Raikkonen was in the title fight also, but his fight in the race took a hit when his brakes started to overheat. Thick black brake dust was seen from the Lotus of the flying Finn, the team were discussing on the pit wall what action to take. Meanwhile teammate Grosjean was passed by Perez in the McLaren at Les Combes. The Frenchman cut across the run off and was passed also by Massa. The stewards looked into the move and penalised Perez for forcing the Lotus off track. It was a harsh decision in my view, I saw it as a racing incident myself.
The pit stops were well underway, Alonso was right behind Hamilton who made a mistake at La Source allowing the Ferrari past. The pair were having a tremendous scrap on the run down to Eau Rouge, the Mercedes looked bolted to the back of the Ferrari. Hamilton had the DRS available down towards Les Combes but just couldn’t get the move done, despite a moment under breaking from Alonso. The pace of the Ferrari was impressive. Adrian Sutil made a brave move on the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez at the foot of Eau Rouge. The two made light contact on the run down the hill, the Force India passed the Sauber with relative ease. It was a move that moved the German up to P10.
Kimi Raikkonen was on a tremendous run finishing 38 consecutive races, 27 consecutive points finishes, but unfortunately the brake problems from earlier in the race made a return. On the way into the Bus Stop chicane battling with Massa under braking, the brakes failed leaving Lotus no choice but to retire him. The Finn was unfortunately no longer flying. It may have been brake fade for Kimi but it was brain fade for Pastor Maldonado as he crashed with Paul DiResta at the Bus Stop chicane. It was a 5 way battle with Maldonado, both Force India’s and both Sauber’s. Maldonado ran slightly wide, when coming back onto the racing line almost collided with Sutil, avoided that and smashed into DiResta. The Scott was most certainly out of the race with severe damage to the rear of the car, Maldonado headed into the pits for repairs. The Safety Car was standing by and the stewards were looking into the incident. The pit lane became rather busy but the Safety Car wasn’t required. The stewards handed Maldonado a 10 second stop and go penalty for causing an avoidable collision.
It proved to be a somewhat sedate Belgian Grand Prix with good overtaking at times, but there was quite clear from the start who would be the victor. Sebastian Vettel dominated the race from the first lap, he took victory with ease around Spa-Francorchamps. Fernando Alonso drove a superb race to finish second and Lewis Hamilton came third. It was certainly not a classic race at Spa, we have seen much more action here over the years. My driver of the day had to be Fernando Alonso who drove a determined race to keep the title as close as possible. Lewis Hamilton had a good race too, but the Mercedes race pace just wasn’t quick enough on the day. As for Kimi Raikkonen, well I was disappointed for him after such a great run of finishes.
I enjoyed the whole Spa-Francorchamps weekend, the Formula 1 circus now moves to Italy in 2 weeks time. Join us right here at Driving For Pleasure for full coverage once again.
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