All drivers like the Spa track. And who would not like, if you love driving, to go wild along the circuit of the Ardennes: 6976 meters of sleighing in the middle of the forests, at crazy speeds, with breathtaking climbs and descents, braking at the limit, great chances to overtake, the legendary sharp bend of the Source and the compression of the Eau Rouge, where the courage of those who are behind the wheel is measured. Here Michael Schumacher had his first race in 1991, he won six times, and on three occasions he finished second. The German driver was first also in 1994 when he drove for Benetton, but he was disqualified because the floor of his car was irregularly consumed. A different story for the title contenders. Fernando Alonso had raced with Minardi in 2001 and was forced to retire, as he did last season. Kimi Räikkönen’s palmares at the Belgian Grand Prix is better: two retirements and the beautiful success of 2004. On the eve of the Belgian Grand Prix, the participants repeat what they had already said at Monza. The Finnish driver says:
"I must attack. Victory is all that matters to me. I realise that the chances of extending the challenge are reduced to a minimum, but I won’t give up until I am condemned by mathematics".
The Spanish driver plays defence:
"McLaren for now is always the best car and remains the favourite. In Formula 1, however, anything can happen. I am confident even if for the moment I don’t want to think about the World Championship because to win it on Sunday I think I would have to hope for Kimi’s retirement. The season is still long. And, starting from the Brazilian Grand Prix, I will have an even more competitive Renault".
Michael Schumacher too seems to want to postpone any dreams of success:
"It’s been less than a week since Monza, things can’t be changed. It’s a difficult situation for us. I don’t care too much about the title which has been out of the question for some time now. Instead, I would like us drivers and the team to end this championship well, so as to better prepare for 2006. We hope to be strong in the last three races. My priority is to see Ferrari where it should be, at the top".
Michael Schumacher rejects the hypothesis that the team is in decline:
"The team is the same as in 1998 and 1999 when we lost the title. Actually, from the negative moments, we have always been able to find the strength to react. The problems lie elsewhere. I have already apologised to our fans".
The German driver does not go into details but admits:
"This year, in several races, we and our suppliers failed to understand why we were so far from the best".
Michael Schumacher does not add anything, but a certain discomfort is in the air, probably the relations with Bridgestone are a bit tense. In Belgium too, the Japanese company failed to bring more competitive tyres, there is a new compound but the construction is always the same. Thunderstorms are expected this weekend, but Michael Schumacher has no illusions:
"It’s true that the wet balances out the performance. However, it has been too long since we have raced in the rain to know what the values on track are in a downpour".
The fact of having left the world title in the hands of Fernando Alonso or Kimi Räikkönen does not worry the German driver:
"I never felt like a champion at all costs, nothing is ever taken for granted. To win you have to work hard all the time. Kimi and Fernando are good, very fast. I don’t think the title will change their lives. They too will have to sweat to retake the World Championship. One thing makes me suffer: the track is so beautiful that I would like to...".
Friday, September 9, 2005, Michael Schumacher prayed so much that it rained.
"You can’t race with this rain".
Says the German driver in a repentant tone, almost apologising for the weather. A downpour hit the Spa-Francorchamps circuit forcing the brave protagonists of Formula 1 to stay inside the warm garages for the entirety of the second free practice session. Fernando Alonso ventured out and completed a lap. Vitantonio Liuzzi who is a test driver, had more courage but he returned to the pits in a service car, while his Red Bull Racing was picked up by the tow truck at the Radillon corner. As far as performance is concerned, in the first session - on a damp track- nothing new happened: the fastest was Kimi Räikkönen ahead of Alexander Wurz, then the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella who has to check the proper functioning of the engine, consumed after the Monza weekend. Michael Schumacher set the eighth fastest time, Rubens Barrichello the twelfth. The World Champion explained:
"I just had time to get an idea and it’s not a good idea: in the dry, we have no chance to win. In the wet though...".
The sentence is left unfinished. According to weather forecasts, the weather will get worse.
"It would take a boat to run smoothly. Our fans have gone too far with the rain dance. Please stop it".
The Belgian Grand Prix, the sixteenth round of the World Championship, once again decisive - here in 2004 the title was mathematically awarded to Michael Schumacher. This year Fernando Alonso could become World Champion with four points more than Kimi Räikkönen - is at risk of not being held. Or of becoming a lottery. A start behind the safety car is likely, waiting for a glimmer of visibility allowing them to race for a few laps. In such a situation, qualifying becomes decisive because overtaking is prohibited when the safety car is on track. The organisers are desperate. On Friday they managed to bring 40.000 people to the circuit by giving away 40.000 tickets. Hosting the event costs $14.000.000 and it takes 67.000 paying spectators to cover expenses. The Germans have no intention of crossing the border to witness a melancholy performance by Michael Schumacher, while in the eyes of Belgians, Formula 1 is a minor sport. On the contrary, for Scuderia Ferrari, rain is an opportunity to become competitive again: in the past, Bridgestone tyres with sculpted treads have proven superior to Michelins. It is not certain that the advantage has remained unchanged over time, but a worse result than in the dry is difficult to imagine.
The last Grand Prix like this was held in Brazil in 2003. Giancarlo Fisichella won with Jordan and Bridgestone tyres, and in the last valid laps - the race ended in advance due to an accident - even overtook Kimi Räikkönen, while the two Ferraris stopped. The 1998 Belgian Grand Prix also comes to mind, when a wild Michael Schumacher, thrown towards a comfortable victory, crashed into David Coulthard’s McLaren during an overtake and then tried to attack his rival in the pits, accusing him of having slowed down on purpose. Fernando Alonso hopes for a good result. The only thing he wants to avoid is retirement. It is Kimi Räikkönen, who has 27 points to recover, who has to give his all. Thunderstorms permitting. Saturday, September 10, 2005, the McLaren-Mercedes blended in with the Belgian sky. Grey on grey and no one saw them. Too fast for the competition, including Renault. Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, the first of the season and the twelfth of his career. Kimi Räikkönen will start alongside him to play his last chances of a comeback. Fernando Alonso, who will start from the fourth place on the grid, is restless. He is not reassured by the four match points available to win the title. Before qualifying he wanted to change the engine.
"It works really well".
The engineer who follows him explained.
"Then why are you replacing Fisichella’s one?"
The Spaniard asks.
"Because it could break".
The engineer tries to reassure him.
"I can’t afford a retirement: wouldn’t it be better to change mine as well? I lose ten positions, but at least I can race quietly and score some points anyway".
Eventually, they manage to convince him. He will use the same engine used on the straights of the Monza circuit. Maybe Renault will take away some of the horsepower, limiting the number of revs, but with Alonso starting close to McLaren. He had the fifth fastest time but gained a position because Giancarlo Fisichella was relegated ten places. He will start alongside Jarno Trulli. The goal of the Spaniard is the same as always, putting pressure on the two McLaren drivers to force their pace, so maybe they break some pieces or make mistakes, as has happened throughout all of the season. Fernando Alonso has a 27-point advantage over Kimi Räikkönen: if it goes down to 24 points he will not make a big deal out of it, if he increases the advantage to 31 points the World Championship will be his.
"If they don’t make mistakes, they are first and second".
Says the Spanish driver, nodding his head in the direction of the nearby McLaren motorhome.
"Not a surprise, because now they are the strongest. But I would have expected Kimi to be on pole".
Do you feel pressure?
"Nothing special. When I lower the visor of the helmet I don’t care where the others are. I just think about scoring points, maybe a podium".
Does Michael Schumacher’s legacy not excite you either?
"I didn’t beat him before because my car was inferior".
Flavio Briatore pampers his driver:
"Fernando must score 14 points in the four remaining races. Nothing more. We have already scored the goal; now the ball is in the middle and it is up to McLaren".
On the other hand, Kimi Räikkönen experiences the tranquillity of those who have nothing to lose. His McLaren is going strong, despite the car being loaded with fuel that will allow him to make a single pit stop.
"What do I expect? Well, I will try to win, what else can I do?"
The Finnish driver also thinks about the Constructors' Championship; the gap to the French is eight points. In case of rain, the race will become a lottery. Renault bet on the dry: aerodynamic set-up with less load to go fast in the straights and overtake. Giancarlo Fisichella admits:
"In the wet, there would be big problems. But Fernando doesn’t have to worry: the World Championship is his anyway".
Not even on Michael Schumacher’s favourite track can Scuderia Ferrari get out of the bad situation it has found itself in this year. There is no reason to smile. So the German driver is a bit dejected, and not inclined to make predictions. Even the relegation of Giancarlo Fisichella to thirteenth place is not evaluated positively.
"I’m sixth on the grid, maybe seventh was better because I’ll have to start from the dirty side of the track. But we knew we didn’t have many chances, there wasn’t time, after Monza, to try to improve something".
In qualifying, without the penalty inflicted on the Italian driver for changing the engine, ahead of the #1 Ferrari there are two McLarens, two cars of the French team and also the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher. Not to mention Rubens Barrichello, who, with the thirteenth time was also overtaken by two BAR-Hondas, a Sauber-Petronas and a Red Bull Racing.
"That is more or less what we expected. It’s clear that the result of the qualifying lap is conditioned by the strategies adopted for the race by the different teams, so something could change today. In any case, our goal remains to get into the points".
Among the thousand uncertainties of the Belgian Grand Prix the most talked about is the weather forecast. During the GP2 race it rained. But also in this respect, the teams are divided; Ferrari which turns to Meteo France has indications for a high probability of racing in the wet; while Weather Eye, Renault supplier, excludes this possibility. So the Maranello cars took to the track with a fair amount of aerodynamic load, and the cars of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso less so.
"With the rain, the result becomes very open, in the dry it will be difficult for us. I’ve been told that the fans dream of the podium. So do we".
Barrichello justifies his performance with the choices made:
"Michael and I have opted for different strategies. We and the team, given the arrival of possible thunderstorms, tried to have at least one car in the best conditions to face the race. We always have doubts because it’s been too long since we raced in the rain and we don’t know if we have kept the advantage we had. It’s fun, all in all. Fans dream of the podium? I dream of winning the next Grand Prix in Brazil".
Nobody talks about tyres. From the outside, there is the impression that Ferrari and Bridgestone are groping in the dark. Once you take the wrong path, it is hard to find the right one. The Maranello team will have to struggle against the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli, third, and Ralf Schumacher, fifth, to keep the third place in the standings of the Constructors' World Championship. But it is a minor challenge. Apart from Renault and McLaren-Mercedes, the teams are thinking about the future. Saturday is a day of announcements: Dietrich Mateschitz bought Minardi to make it a junior team, that is a nursery of young drivers. Michelin will remain with five customers in 2006, as Williams officially announces that it will switch to Bridgestone, while Toyota will do so shortly. Not only that: the French manufacturer will leave Formula 1 at the end of 2007 if the Federation insists on asking for a single tyre supplier. Sunday, September 11, 2005, before the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, it rained on the Spa circuit. However, when drivers start lining up on the grid, much of the circuit starts to dry out. Almost all drivers opt for the start with intermediate tyres or slicks, except the two Minardi drivers, Christijan Albers and Robert Doornbos who prefer to start from the pit lane after changing the set-up of the cars. Incredibly, there are no accidents at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix. Juan Pablo Montoya maintained the first position, while Kimi Räikkönen held off Jarno Trulli’s attack. Further down, Takuma Satō climbed up the field and took seventh place, behind Michael Schumacher. Later, while Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Räikkönen continued undisturbed, Jarno Trulli held off Fernando Alonso’s attacks. Meanwhile, a mistake made by Ralf Schumacher at the bus stop dropped the German Toyota driver to eighth position and allowed Jenson Button to attack his teammate, Takuma Satō.
During the first stages of the race, Giancarlo Fisichella made up ground to reach eighth place with a series of clean manoeuvres and overtakings. However, after passing Jenson Button, the Italian driver climbed the kerbs of the Eau Rouge corner and went into the barriers of the Radilion corner at high speed. The Italian driver exited his wrecked Renault without injury, while the Safety Car entered the track to allow the marshals to remove the debris. In this phase, many drivers returned to the pits. Before making his stop, Kimi Räikkönen slowed down the group, to avoid being stuck behind the teammate during refueling. Only Jacques Villeneuve remained on track, moving up to second position behind Juan Pablo Montoya, ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who had stopped one lap before the SC. Juan Pablo Montoya continued to lead the race, while Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso attempted to overtake the Toyota of the German driver and the Canadian Sauber-Petronas driver. Meanwhile, Takuma Satō missed the braking point at La Source, hitting Michael Schumacher’s car and eliminating him from the race. Jacques Villeneuve lost several positions in a short time, but Ralf Schumacher, Kimi Räikkönen and Fernando Alonso, while gaining a position, could not get close to Juan Pablo Montoya. At the end of the second series of pit stops only Ralf Schumacher lost other positions, while in the final stages Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber and Antônio Pizzonia decided to use dry tires and quickly made up ground.
As a result, Jenson Button quickly managed to close in on Fernando Alonso. With three laps to go in the race, Antônio Pizzonia, who was lapped, hit the McLaren of Juan Pablo Montoya at the Fagnes corner. Both were forced to retire. Kimi Räikkönen, who led the race, slowed the pace and won the Belgian Grand Prix, followed by Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Rubens Barrichello, Jacques Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher and Tiago Monteiro.
"McLaren always helps me…".
All you have to do is wait: Fernando Alonso understood this and built his fortunes on it. From the Belgian Grand Prix came no verdict, but only the confirmation that the title will be won by this Spaniard with a smart smile, fast and kissed by good luck, good and aware of being so, hot-head by nature and calculating by necessity. Kimi Räikkönen won the race. Fernando Alonso took second place (as in Istanbul and Monza) which shields him from any risk: 30 points remain up for grabs and the Spanish driver only needs six. That is a third place. Or three seventh places, or an infinity of combinations all within the comfort of Renault. After that, Fernando Alonso, 24, will be able to boast a record, that of being the youngest Formula 1 champion. Juan Pablo Montoya helped him again, he was in second position and had to get to the finish line. And in fact, the Colombian was so calm that he was hit by a lapped driver, Antônio Pizzonia. No one warned by radio the drivers about the danger, none of them saw the other one. In short, to hear the protagonists of the accident – with three laps to go – it is not clear how it is possible to run a Grand Prix with a wet track. The rain fell in the night and in the morning, but was disdainfully denied during the race, when it would have suited Ferrari. The men of the Maranello team had been dreaming for months about a bit of rain, because the dry tyres do not work, and above all they wished for a nice downpour in the middle of the party, hoping to be able to make the right decision at the right time. But this is a negative season: the only improvised decision turned out to be a flop. It happened during the first pit stop (round 12). The Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella had just crashed. Drivers took advantage of the safety car to anticipate the pit stop. Michael Schumacher, like others, asked for dry tyres. He got back on track, realised the error and went back to the pits. The race was lost, but to be on the safe side, the Japanese Takuma Satō with the best number in his repertoire, the harakiri, eliminated the #1 car from the race. The collision is textbook, Michael Schumacher’s anger too, with a fight on live broadcast. Satō was penalised and lost ten positions on the starting grid in Brazil on Sunday, September 25, 2005. Considering the salaries in Formula 1, the punishment for Antônio Pizzonia is lighter: $8.000 fine. After thanking his rivals, Fernando Alonso admits that a third place would have been great for him.
"Lucky me? Yes, of course. But I’m always there to take advantage of other people’s mistakes or problems, This is a merit".
Flavio Briatore scolds him:
"In the final part, he gave us a scare. Klien was trying to get past him and he resisted. On the radio I shouted: let him pass, he is lapped. He didn’t listen to me".
Christian Klien was on dry tyres in the final stages and was faster than the race leaders. Antônio Pizzonia had done the same. Except that the Brazilian driver collided with Juan Pablo Montoya’s car, while Klien avoided doing the same against Alonso’s car. Maybe it’s a matter of luck, maybe you have to know how to avoid trouble. On the podium and in the usual press conferences, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen stand side by side, without friendship or resentment. They fight when they are behind the wheel and ignore each other in their private lives. In the meantime, the Fin pretends to still believe in a possible comeback:
"I will push to the last kilometre. The Constructors' World Championship is also at stake. McLaren is six points behind Renault".
He also pretends to have passed his teammate by virtue of his speed. But actually Juan Pablo Montoya, in all his unreliability, realised that he had made too many mistakes this year and slowed down before refuelling. Since team orders that alter the order of arrival are prohibited, you have to be smart. Montoya did it. And he says:
"While Kimi is ahead, I can’t win".
Then he adds:
"I took pole position and had a good race. Sorry for the team, my points would have been very useful. Pizzonia tried to pass me to unlap himself using his dry tyres and hit me. It was the bad end to a perfect weekend".
In the Colombian driver’s entourage, there is disappointment and controversy emerged. It is argued that, in order to attempt an impossible chase in the standings of the Drivers' World Championship, there is a risk of losing the Constructors' World Championship. If Juan Pablo Montoya had stayed in the lead - the theory goes - he would not have been hit by Williams. Meanwhile, the person responsible for the accident, Antônio Pizzonia, apologises:
"Juan Pablo braked early. I thought he wanted to leave me room and I went by his side. He hadn’t actually seen me and he was widening the trajectory to prepare the corner. I’m sorry, I’m not here to harm anyone. Especially since I ruined my race as well".
In the evening Antônio Pizzonia receives bad news and good news: he will pay, as mentioned, a $8,000 fine, but he will probably also race the last three Grands Prix of the season, since Nick Heidfeld fractured his shoulder falling on his bike in Stafa, Switzerland. Anger after the race, speaks Italian. Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli have been the authors of two sensational off-tracks, despite the fact that both the Renault and Toyota drivers could also have celebrated on the podium. Giancarlo ended up against the barriers at the exit of the Eau Rouge, frightening his wife Luna and his sons Carlotta and Cristopher who were in the pits. Jarno finished his run in the third Les Combes corner, after a collision with Thiago Monteiro’s Jordan. After the accident, Giancarlo Fisichella had to undergo a medical examination: apart from the shock, the Italian driver also reported a disturbing headache. Then everything passes, except anger.
"It was hard because I was going 280 km/h. I don’t know what happened. I had passed the same spot ten times with the same trajectory. Suddenly I lost control of the car and there was nothing to do. In the confusion of the start I was also behind, but my Renault was flying and I was recovering. Given how things went I could have finished in the top three. Bad luck? Of course, but also luck in not getting hurt".
No damage also for Jarno Trulli who got angry with the Portuguese Thiago Monteiro, but also and above all with the men of his team, Toyota:
"I got off to a good start passing Alonso and kept up with the pace of the McLarens. I don’t know if I would have won, but I certainly would have celebrated with champagne on the podium. When I got behind the Jordan, I think Monteiro accidentally hit the speed limiter in the pits. It is as if he had braked and I couldn’t avoid the collision. But the race was already compromised: I had asked several times to the pits, via radio, to put on intermediate tyres, in the wet. The team wanted to try the dry ones and I had to stop a second time. These are mistakes that shouldn’t happen. And it has happened on other occasions".
For the record: Thiago Monteiro finished the race in eighth place. He is the only rookie driver to have finished all the races. And he had already been on the podium in the six-car race at Indianapolis. Good luck to who follow him. It’s Ferrari’s negative year. It needed rain to look for an important result: the sky drained water, but before and after the race. So the asphalt remained a little wet, perhaps the worst conditions for the Bridgestone tyres on the F2005. As if that wasn’t enough Michael Schumacher, after a pretty brilliant start, he made a mistake by fitting dry tyres too early, then he was literally eliminated by the unsuspecting Takuma Sato. With his BAR-Honda, the Japanese crashed into the German’s Ferrari at the Source corner and then, not satisfied, he finished the job by hitting it a second time a few meters later. Thus, during lap 14 the race of Michael Schumacher ended. Who, after going to scold personally Takuma Sato still in the cockpit of the car, didn’t see from the pits the victory of Kimi Raikkonen and the placement of Rubens Barrichello leaving the circuit. The only positive note of the day, the Brazilian who didn’t reach the points from the British Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher says before leaving the Belgian circuit:
"I can’t tell what I said to Sato. I wanted to tell him more anyway, unfortunately I don’t know enough Japanese. I held back, because there were children watching television. I didn’t even realize what had happened at first. I was focused as I passed a Jordan, I felt a big blow behind me. My Ferrari turned and someone hit me again. When I came down I saw the nose of the BAR and I realized: we were at the usual. We talked many times with this pilot, not only me, but everyone. It didn’t help, he made another harakiri of his".
The German doesn’t know how he could have arrived without the accident:
"The only thing I know for sure is that I would have to fight a lot to get back up. We had focused, in preparing the race, on possible weather variations. As the conditions were at the start, anyway, that wet track but not too much, we had no advantages. The Bridgestones that always made a difference when it rains a lot weren’t better than the competition. With McLaren there would be nothing to do, maybe the Alonso’s Renault could have been my rival. But these are unuseful discussion, unuseful incidents".
It isn’t even the case to undermine the negative period of the Ferrari.
"Things are like this, and without the rain at most you could aim for a few points. I also took the risk of fitting dry tyres when the asphalt seemed to dry out, but it was a wrong assessment. When I got back on the ice, I thought I was ice-skating, so I stopped again. We had agreed with Barrichello to try two different strategies, me with slick tires, him with the intermediates, to see how it worked: it didn’t go well".
It ended a little better for Rubens Barrichello, comforted with a sweaty fifth place, little gift for the birth of the second son Fernando. After the race, the Brazilian driver left for Brazil to watch his wife Silvana give birth.
"We hope this is the beginning of a better time. I would love to win on the home track in two weeks. We should have something new to try, even though I won’t be conducting the tests. That would be the best way to take my leave my fans, taking with me the red uniform, which will always be in my heart. In the race we had only one problem: we weren’t fast enough. My car at the beginning was heavy for the fuel load and the tires didn’t go in temperature. So I lost some position. Then I managed to recover and we collected some points, there were no mistakes in the choice of my tyres and in the pit-stops. All in all it went well, we brought something home for the team’s ranking".
Ferrari will be on track from Tuesday, September 13, 2005, for three days, in Jerez, Spain. At the wheel of the F2005 there will be Marc Gene. The program of these tests has only one goal of work: the tires. Looks like Bridgestone found something new to save the last three games of the season.