Monday, September 8, 2008

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX CLOCKWATCH

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX CLOCKWATCH

Hamilton can celebrate again.

FINISH: Please join us again next weekend for the Italian GP

FINISH: What a race and victory for Hamilton, who extends his lead in the championship to eight points

Lap 44: Hamilton narrowly avoids a Red Bull to win the Belgian GP! What a win. Massa is second with Heidfeld coming from 7th place at the start of the final lap to finish third

Lap 44: That has to be the moment of the season! Awesome racing!

Lap 43: Some drivers have pitted for wet tyres but Hamilton and Massa both stay out

Lap 43: And Raikkonen crashes! He's out of the race! He's in the barrier and it's over for him

Lap 43: Now Hamilton leads as Raikkonen spins it handing the place back to the McLaren driver

Lap 43: Raikkonen fights back moments later and is up to the lead as Hamilton runs wide and onto the grass. Raikkonen leads!

Lap 43: And Hamilton has taken the lead of the grand prix. the McLaren driver is much quicker in these wet conditions and he takes Raikkonen only to have to take to the tarmac which means he gives the place back to Raikkonen. However, the following corner he takes the place and is leading

Lap 43: The rain is coming down harder and it starting to bother the drivers

Lap 42: Hamilton locks up, putting his McLaren into a mini-slide which costs him over a second

Lap 41: With only a few laps to go Hamilton has cut Raikkonen's lead to less than a second!

Lap 40: The final five drivers in the race, Nakajima, Button, Sutil, Trulli and Fisi, have all been lapped

Lap 39: Should the results stay as is Hamilton will extend his lead in the Championship by a further two points over Massa while Raikkonen will be 11 points off the pace

Lap 38: Drops of rain are falling in the pit lane. This could be an awesome wet end to the grand prix

Lap 37: Hamilton is again closing the gap to Raikkonen. It's down to 1.6s

Lap 36: Alonso is warned not to make any mistakes as Renault expect the rain to come down in the next few minutes

Lap 35: Only five seconds separate the top three with Raikkonen leading Hamilton and Massa

Lap 34: Kovalainen pits and rejoins in eighth place behind the BMWs

Lap 34: Kubica pits hoping to make up a position on Bourdais in his final stop of the afternoon. His stop is over 12s and he comes out behind both Toro Rossos

Lap 33: Bourdais pits from fourth place. Great afternoon for the Toro Rosso driver. Webber pits

Lap 32: Heidfeld pits from seventh place

Lap 31: Ferrari have denied that Massa's engine is misfiring although concede he may have turn down the revs in the closing stage of the race

Lap 30: Hamilton is closing in on Raikkonen with the gap less than two seconds

Lap 29: Kovalainen takes ninth place off Webber and manages to avoid hitting the Red Bull driver this time around

Lap 29: Ferrari mechanics are out for Massa who pits from the lead. The Brazilian stops for 7.9s and comes out in third place

Lap 28: Alonso pits from fourth place for 7.5s

Lap 28: Hamilton appears to have the advantage over Raikkonen on the harder Bridgestone rubber, which both drivers are using. He takes 0.8s out of Raikkonen that lap

Lap 27: Glock pits from ninth place. He is one-stopping here this afternoon

Lap 27: Rain expected in 20 minutes

Lap 27: Reports drifting in suggest that Massa could have an engine problem

Lap 26: Rosberg pits from 12th place

Lap 26: Raikkonen pits from the lead and Hamilton pits as well. Kimi is in for 9.1s and Hamilton is in for 8.7s

Lap 25: Fisichella and the man in front of him, Trulli, have both been lapped

Lap 24: Fisichella, who is the last driver in the race, pits

Lap 23: Heidfeld is trying to get closer to Vettel. The gap is less than a second but has been holding steady for a while

Lap 22: Despite the cloud cover the rain is staying away at the moment

Lap 21: BMW have informed Kubica that Bourdais will have to pit a lap before him so he must just stay on the Toro Rosso's tail and he'll have fifth place

Lap 20: Barrichello is taking his helmet off in the Honda garage. He reported lost sixth gear on his Honda

Lap 20: Kubica has closed up on Bourdais and is looking for a way to take fifth place off the Toro Rosso man

Lap 19: Raikkonen's lead is up to 5.7s over Hamilton

Lap 18: Barrichello and Sutil both pit. They are running at the back of the pack, in 16th and 17th place respectively

Lap 17: Vettel pits from fourth place. He comes out in seventh place

Lap 17: Raikkonen sets a new fastest lap, it's a 1:48.229

Lap 16: So after the first round of stops it is Raikkonen, Hamilton, Massa, Vettel (who has yet to stop), Alonso, Bourdais, Kubica and Glock (who has yet to stop)

Lap 15: Kovalainen has fulfilled his drive-through penalty and is now down in 14th place

Lap 15: Bourdais and Heidfeld both pit with the Toro Rosso just managing to get out ahead of the BMW driver

Lap 14: Alonso pits from the lead moments before his team-mate Piquet Jr goes off and hits the tyre wall. The nose of his Renault is damaged and although he seems to want to get going but has to park his badly damaged car. His race is over

Lap 13: Massa's turn to pit from the lead. The Brazilian stops for 7.6s and he comes out behind Heidfeld. Kovalainen pits for fuel. He still has to fulfil his drive-through penalty

Lap 12: Webber pits for fuel. Button overtakes Trulli for 16th place

Lap 12: Raikkonen pits from the lead. He stops for 7.1s and comes out ahead of Bourdais

Lap 11: Kovalainen is under investigation and has been given a drive-through penalty for his avoidable accident with Webber

Lap 11: Hamilton pits from second place. He stops for 6.8s and comes out just behind Kovalainen

Lap 10: Kovalainen tries to take Webber, but runs in too deep and collects the Red Bull driver. Webber heads to the pits for repairs

Lap 9: Kovalainen easily powers by Kubica on the run to Les Combes while Sutil takes a trip across the grass at Fagnes and then hits the gravel. He is down in 19th place

Lap 8: Raikkonen fastest with a 1:49.109

Lap 8: Vettel takes 10th place off Piquet Jr who is fast falling down the order having initially made his way up to sixth place on the opening lap

Lap 7: Kovalainen has closed up on Kubica, less than half a second separate the two drivers

Lap 7: Heidfeld passes Piquet Jr for ninth position at Les Combes

Lap 6: With no rain falling the track is definitely drying out with the lap times falling. Fisichella is lapped by Raikkonen and Hamilton

Lap 5: Raikkonen leads Hamilton by 1.4s with Massa a further 2 adrift. Alonso is holding tight to fourth place ahead of Bourdais and Webber

Lap 4: Kovalainen dives down the outside of Piquet Jr and is up into the points. Raikkonen sets a fastest lap, a 1:51.439

Lap 3: Kovalainen pushes by Heidfeld and is up to ninth. Kubica has taken seventh place off Piquet Jr

Lap 3: Kovalainen overtakes Glock for 10th place while Hamilton takes up a look up the inside of Raikkonen. The McLaren man, though, is that bit too far behind to pull off a move

Lap 2: Webber has taken sixth place off Piquet Jr. Kovalainen is having to make up for his horrid start and is now up to 11th place

Lap 2: A spin from Hamilton forces Raikkonen wide and off the track while Massa almost collects the McLaren. The results is that Raikkonen closes right up on Hamilton's tail. The Finn easily passes the Brit to take the lead

Lap 1: Trulli spins allow Piquet Jr to move up to sixth place

Lap 1: Raikkonen has overtaken Massa for second place

Lap 1: Hamilton flies off the grid with Massa right up behind him. Bad start from Kovalainen who falls behind while Raikkonen runs wide by still manages to take third place ahead of Alonso and Bourdais

START: And it's go in Belgium!

13h04: The grid reforms as the drivers gear up for the race

13h00: The formation lap is underway with all the drivers leaving the grid without any problems

12h55: The grid girls make their way off the track as race control reveals that no rain is expected in the next 30 minutes

12h50: It is overcast here today with the air temperature sitting at 15'C and the track temp at 16'C. The cold temperatures should suit the McLarens while Ferrari have admitted they struggle to get their tyres up to temperature in the cold

12h45: Pit lane is closed

12h45: Jenson Button, who is lining up P17, is off the track at the Bus Stop chicane on his way to the grid. Rather embarrassing for the Brit.

12h40: Given the length of this track, which is 7kms, there is always the possibility that it could rain in one part and stay dry in others, making it a rather difficult circuit to navigate

12h35: Light showers are expected later today however, it is believed that the bulk of the rain has already passed over the circuit, leaving it damp ahead of the start of the race

12h30: The pit lane is open for the next 15 minutes, allowing the drivers to make their way to their grid slots

12h25: However, as a three-time winner of this race Raikkonen is hoping to come from fourth place to bag the win here this afternoon and put himself back in the Championship race. The Finn is 13 points off the pace

12h20: Their team-mates Heikki Kovalainen and Kimi Raikkonen will make up the second row of the grid and could play a role in deciding both the outcome of this race and the eventual outcome of the Championship battle

12h10: Title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa are set a battle royale this afternoon as the two drivers are starting first and second on the grid. Hamilton is leading Massa in the title race by six points

12h00: Welcome to coverage of the Belgian GP, round 13 of the 2008 Championship, which takes place at the drivers' favourite Spa-Francorchamps circuit



  • BRITISH GP: LAP-BY-LAP REPORT
  • MONACO GP - LAP-BY-LAP REPORT
  • No comments: