Belgian Grand Prix Review

Despite the end of the Ferrari domination of F1 this year, there hasn't been that much by way of unusual or interesting results. Generally it's been Renault and McLaren out front, Toyota, Ferrari, Williams and BAR fighting it out for the remaining points positions, with semi-regular incursions from Red Bull, and the occasional interlude from Sauber. All of which made the Spa result something to savour, with nine different teams in the first nine positions, quite amazing when there are only ten outfits in F1.

Most of those first nine had a story to tell. Raikkonen played second fiddle to Montoya for most of the race, thanks to a poor start and having to make their first stops under safety car conditions. Even then, he had the presence of mind to hold the field up whilst JPM stopped first, so as not to have to queue behind his team-mate and lose time in so doing, preserving his 2nd place in so doing. Such was the luxury McLaren could have by running 1-2 at the time.

It was clear that Kimi was not content to just follow Juan-Pablo. He was pushing hard on his Michelin intermediates, taking an extraordinary double-apex line at the Rivage and running wide on several occasions. The lap extra on low fuel that he had on his second stint, with which he leapfrogged Montoya who in turn was showing no sign of voluntarily giving up the lead for Kimi's good nor being asked to do so, was incredible - a lap only 2.4s shy of the eventual fastest lap of the race, on worn-out inters.

Either Alonso or his Renault team had erred on set-up. His low downforce setting had him blitzing sectors 1 and 3, but struggling in the sweeping sector 2. That was apparent in the opening laps, when conditions were at their most difficult and Fernando seemed easy prey for Michael Schumacher. But he simply did not put a foot wrong. He was unconcerned with whatever anyone else was doing, he drove his own consistent, solid race, a sign of the maturity that has increasingly infused his driving this season.

But still, towards the end of the event Fernando was being caught rapidly by a charging Jenson Button, who had earlier been one of eight drivers to bungle when they prematurely switched to dries during the safety car. The extra pit stop, and having to queue behind team-mate Takuma Sato in the process, had put him down as low as 16th, but from there the Englishman charged, utilising a longer second stint and half a dozen or more outright overtaking manoeuvres to climb up to 3rd.

Jenson tried something different at his second stop when he elected not to change his intermediates, allowing them to continue wearing to near-slick state as the track continued to dry. The proof was in the fact that he set his fastest lap of the race, and 5th fastest overall, half a second quicker than Raikkonen's even, on the last lap of the race, making it the fastest lap set on intermediates. His 3rd place put him above both Williams drivers on the points table, and enabled BAR to finally get ahead of Red Bull.

Mark Webber recorded the second best finish of his career, regained his position as the leading Williams points-scorer, and, no doubt satisfyingly, he put Antonio Pizzonia back in his place. It is perhaps becoming increasingly obvious that Mark is another one of those who's not always a great racer but certainly is a darn good driver. His qualifying speed is unrivalled by most, and for someone who gets edgy and does silly things when he's in close combat with others, his car control and speed in the wet is actually quite impressive.

The Australian was another one to have mistakenly gone to dries during the first stops, and the Williams wasn't generally at its most competitive on intermediates. But towards the end of the race, he was the first to correctly make the call to change to dries again, a brilliantly brave move when many others had gambled likewise and made fools of themselves, thus ensuring his 4th place finish. He can now go to Brazil confident, knowing that he has just driven his best race since the Monaco GP some ten races ago.

Despite his 5th place finish, it had been another quiet race for Rubens Barrichello, who hung around in the points all race, his Bridgestones less uncompetitive in the wet than they would have been in the dry. It was his first points score in 5 races, and only his fifth top-5 finish all year in 16 races so far, to show how low Ferrari have sunk. Presumably he's already looking to life at BAR next year, and presumably Ferrari have relieved him of testing duties. His own form has been similarly frozen as a result.

Ralf Schumacher will be cursing a missed opportunity. The second half of the season has been strong for the German, and pitting before the safety car came out put him on Montoya's tail in the middle stages of the race. He deserved to be there too; the Toyotas had been set up just right for the conditions and Ralf was flying. He probably wouldn't have won, given that he made his second pit stop much earlier than the McLarens, but the rash decision to change to dries at that second stop ruined any hopes he had.

The final team to be represented in the points was Jordan. Tiago Monteiro was rewarded for his stellar and reliable efforts all season with his first 'real' points, if we don't count the Indianapolis freak show, as he continued his amazing run now up to 16 out of 16 finishes. Plus Jordan were vindicated for sending their cars out to qualify with a wet set-up on a dry track and copping the embarrassment of being thrashed by the Minardis, although in the end the Midland mob got the last laugh.

During the middle of the race Monteiro was holding his own against the likes of Webber, Button and Pizzonia, to demonstrate just what an equaliser rain can be. It was a genuinely competitive outing for the men in yellow, and fitting that Tiago took the last point in front of Christian Klien, whose late race spurt on dries including the 3rd fastest lap of the race belied the fact that Austrian Red Bull driver had been running only ahead of the Minardis for much of the event.

Late in the race, Alonso was in a similar situation when he had a quicker and racier Klien crawling around his diffuser, and it was somewhat strange that Fernando didn't simply let Christian go. Montoya's failure to finish, though, not only gifted another 2nd place to Alonso, it also meant that instead of overtaking Renault in the constructors' title, McLaren only closed the gap by Renault by another two points, and the French manufacturer's buffer has been cut to six points with three races remaining.

Should McLaren be able to finish both their cars in each of the races left, then it is hard to see how they won't overhaul Renault. The MP4/20 is clearly the faster car, and compared to Giancarlo Fisichella, his opposite number at Renault, JPM has been the more consistent points-scorer and more regularly competitive. Up to his clash with Pizzonia, it had been another dependable effort from the Colombian, who, finally, is starting to get near Raikkonen in terms of pace although the Finn is still ahead.

Fisi has also been getting quicker of late, in qualifying at least if not in the race, but for the first time this year Renault had to perform an engine change. His monumental shunt at Eau Rouge was clearly courtesy of the Italian putting his right wheels on the painted kerb in the uphill right hander section. Amazingly, Giancarlo claimed afterwards, "I don't really understand what happened at the moment, and I need to sit down with the engineers to look at the data in a bit more detail."

Michael Schumacher endured his third consecutive non-scoring race (his first three-race pointless streak since 2000) after being hit by a careless Sato. An angry Schumi leapt from his car and approached his assailant for a friendly chat, in much the same way he had approached Damon Hill at Monza in 1995. He then took a swipe at Taku's head, and for a moment it looked like there was going to be a bit of Nelson Piquet and Eliseo Salazar action. Alas, it was not to be.

Michael's frustration was understandable. The collision cost him a points finish, maybe even a podium in this season of underachievement. In addition, not only hasn't Sato been on Button's pace (Jenson has 30 points to his 1), but we have also seen too much of the errant Sato. On the strength of his current form, it is hard to justify him retaining a race seat with BAR or any other team for 2006. Our 'Reject of the Race' award then goes to Takuma Sato.

Jarno Trulli will be ruing a missed opportunity. Both he and Ralf showed that, on their set-up, there were segments of the race when no one, not even the McLarens, could match their pace. But his mistaken switch to dries during the safety car put him near the back, and a touch with Monteiro later left him in the wall. The second half of the season, though still commendable, have not matched the high-flying results of the first. Plus Toyota have now dropped two points on Ferrari in the battle for 3rd in the constructors.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Takuma Sato
Hello!? Is there anyone at home in there?

In a race where the conditions could give him a chance to shine, Narain Karthikeyan was cast into the shadows by Monteiro's excellent effort. After adjusting to F1 faster than Tiago, the Indian has lost his way. It wouldn't be a surprise if some of the mid-year interest he claims he had from other teams will now have dissipated. Meanwhile, David Coulthard suffered Red Bull's first race engine failure this season; minus points for dawdling around La Source dropping oil on the apex. DC should have known better.

Which just leaves Minardi. Both Robert Doornbos and Christijan Albers were impressive in qualifying, Doornbos more so, as they destroyed the Jordans and got relatively close to the Red Bull. In the end, the Jordans' wet set-up had the last laugh on race-day, whilst running on dries left the Minardis straggling, with neither able to break the 2 minute barrier. But of course, Minardi had been in the news for a totally different reason, after the sale of the team to Red Bull was confirmed.

How Red Bull will 'position' their new acquisition is still unclear. All we know is that they have pledged to keep the two teams separate, but what tyres they will use, and whether the Minardi name will remain is uncertain. We do know, though, that the long-term aim is to relocate the team to Britain by 2008. So, regardless of what happens next year, the Minardi name and the tradition of the Italian family team is reaching the end of a road which began in 1985. There is no one who wouldn't lament the loss of the Minardi name.

The Belgian round marked the end of the European rounds of the 2005 World Championship. The drivers championship is all but over - Alonso will get three goes to finish 3rd once. But the manufacturers' title is very much alive. Can Renault hold on as McLaren dwindle the gap? Can Toyota inflict more humiliation on Ferrari by relegating them to 4th? With three of the best circuits remaining in Brazil, Japan and China, the interest in this year's title is by no means over yet.