The Belgian Grand Prix 2008 was first of the two back to back races in September. Spa Francorchamps being the premier racing venue and many driver’s favorite circuit, a lot of excitement and hardcore racing was guaranteed. The circuit didn’t disappoint on any count and with the unpredictable weather adding its own charm, it easily became one of the most watchable race this season so far.
The championship battle was heating up and it was almost a do or die situation for the world champion, Kimi Raikkonen. With Ferrari piling on the pressure, he had no where to go but to perform. Spa being his favorite circuit and he being the winner here for the past 3 grand prix events, it must have eased his nerves quite a bit. He knew all along that if there’s any circuit where luck favors him, this is it.
Come Saturday, he was struggling for pace once again. On the other hand, his team-mate Felipe Massa was enjoying the form of his life. He was having none of the troubles faced by Kimi and was easily able to qualify his Ferrari 2nd on the grid. For the rival camp McLaren, their lead driver Lewis Hamilton was able to claim pole position while Heikki Kovalainen settled for 3rd on the grid. Kimi ended the qualifying session in 4th.
Nick Heidfeld finished the session in 5th for BMW Sauber while Fernando Alonso was able to claim 6th for Renault. Mark Webber of Red Bull was able to qualify in 7th while Robert Kubica had a disappointing result by his standards and finished the session in 8th place. Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Torro Rosso rounded off the top 10 finishes for the session.
The race was expected to be outstanding and it didn’t fail the spectators. The track was damp but the weather had started to clear up. Kimi Raikkonen, for a change, was the man in charge as he overtook Heikki at the start and then easily picked off Massa and Lewis one by one to take the lead on the 2nd lap. From there on, he was a different driver altogether as Lewis continued to chase him throughout the race.
A few laps before the finish, rain decided to play spoilsport for Kimi as his Ferrari doesn’t handle anywhere near as good as Lewis’ McLaren. Lewis started to close in on a wet track and finally caught Kimi two laps from finish. He was visibly faster than any other car on track at that point while he decided to make a pass on Kimi. Kimi closed the door firmly, forcing Lewis to take the escape route.
He came out ahead of Kimi but knew he had gained an unfair advantage by cutting the track. He momentarily gave the position back to Kimi but stayed in his slipstream to overtake Kimi in the very next corner. Lewis had thought that he made an exceptional pass. Exceptional it was but only that it wasn’t fair enough in FIA’s book. Kimi tried his best to get back at Lewis but eventually ended his race in barriers.
As rain started to come down heavily, some runners opted for extreme wet weather tires and gained a few places. This strategical move came good for both Alonso and Heidfeld. Lewis crossed the line in 1st, followed by Felipe Massa who made sure he gets his Ferrari home in one piece. Heidfeld finished the race in 3rd. After the race, the stewards decided that Lewis’ move on Kimi was indeed illegal and he was penalized by adding 25-seconds to his final time.
The revised timings meant Lewis was now classified 3rd instead of first and Massa was the biggest gainer of it all. He was declared the race winner and Heidfeld got 8 points for his 2nd place finish. Alonso claimed a surprise 4th place for Renault and Vettel finished 5th for Torro Rosso. Robert Kubica finished 6th ahead of Sebastien Bourdais and Mark Webber. The full results from the race are as follows -
1 - Felipe Massa - Ferrari - 44 - 1:22:59.394
2 - Nick Heidfeld - BMW Sauber - 44 - +9.3 secs
3 - Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes - 44 - +10.5 secs
4 - Fernando Alonso - Renault - 44 - +14.4 secs
5 - Sebastian Vettel - STR-Ferrari - 44 - +14.5 secs
6 - Robert Kubica - BMW Sauber - 44 - +15.0 secs
7 - Sebastien Bourdais - STR-Ferrari - 44 - +16.7 secs
8 - Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault - 44 - +42.7 secs
9 - Timo Glock - Toyota - 44 - +67.0 secs
10 - Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes - 43 - Transmission
11 - David Coulthard - Red Bull-Renault - 43 - +1 Lap
12 - Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota - 43 - +1 Lap
13 - Adrian Sutil - Force India-Ferrari - 43 - +1 Lap
14 - Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota - 43 - +1 Lap
15 - Jenson Button - Honda - 43 - +1 Lap
16 - Jarno Trulli - Toyota - 43 - +1 Lap
17 - Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Ferrari - 43 - +1 Lap
18 - Kimi Räikkönen - Ferrari - 42 - Accident
Ret - Rubens Barrichello - Honda - 19 - Gearbox
Ret - Nelsinho Piquet - Renault - 13 - Accident
