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#851 2011 Belgian Grand Prix

2023-01-15 00:00

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#2011, Fulvio Conti,

#851 2011 Belgian Grand Prix

The cocktail of caution and superstition invites one to remain calm. At the same time, however, at Ferrari one is also almost obliged to believe and g

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The cocktail of caution and superstition invites one to remain calm. At the same time, however, at Ferrari one is also almost obliged to believe and galvanise the troop. And by troop we mean drivers and fans. So Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's team principal, cautiously tries to talk about the current situation

 

"If I had to give a grade to our season up to this point I would say a 6+, which represents the average between the bad start and a good reaction that was seen in the second half".

 

Ferrari arrived at the break with high morale but also with the awareness that there is still work to be done to undermine the leadership of Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel. Wrooom Summer 2011, the event hosted in Madonna di Campiglio, is the occasion to draw a first balance of the season and talk about the future. 

 

"I expect to continue on the path that has seen Fernando Alonso be the driver who has scored more points than anyone in the last four races from the restart to the end of the season. Our goal is to win as much as possible and to have a car that is competitive at the highest level. Let's not forget that last year, although we fought to the very end, we were still behind Red Bull in terms of performance: we want to close the gap which, in the last few races, has already been considerably reduced, if not almost cancelled".

 

Ferrari is also working on the car for 2012: 

 

"At the beginning of September we will focus exclusively on next year also because we have already defined all the updates of the 150th Italy at least until mid-October. Of course, if something should change then we will react accordingly. After all, apart from the exhaust area, the Technical Working Group will meet next 23 August and should clarify any grey areas, the regulations are practically unchanged, so developing today's car will also help next year's".

 

He adds: 

 

"Mathematics will decide who will win the World Championship. We remain focused on our work by living for the day. We reacted well to the bad start by significantly improving our car, so much so that Alonso managed to score a lot of useful points. Felipe had a difficult start to the championship, but in the last few races I have seen him do well and I am sure he will have an all-out season finale".

 

The Maranello team's summer meeting in the Dolomites closes on Friday 6 August 2011 with the arrival of Fernando Alonso at the wheel of a Ferrari FF. Even twenty-four hours later, the Spaniard is well disposed towards the media and comments on the rumours that Lewis Hamilton, his teammate at McLaren in the troubled 2007 season, may be joining Ferrari: 

 

"Hamilton is a very good driver, I respect him a lot. My 2007 was not good but I can't blame Lewis for that. Does he want to come to Ferrari? It's every driver's wish, he's no different. The two of us together? Never say never".

 

The summer meeting is a good time to take stock of the season and his Ferrari adventure: 

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"This is an important moment in my life and in my career. I am in the best possible place and I have five years of racing ahead of me in which I hope to win many more titles. The World Championship? We will try, also hoping for some mistakes from Vettel. The next races are interesting: at Spa I haven't managed to win yet, while at Monza I hope to repeat the feeling of last season and then throw myself into the suggestive night race in Singapore. Winning on these circuits makes you happier than in other places. At Abu Dhabi everything has always gone a bit wrong, but if we do a good race there, we can put the cross on". 

 

If on Thursday Ferrari's main team had given a 6+, the Spanish driver raises it to a 7. 

 

"The 9 or 10 is up to whoever is leading the world championship and we are not there, but it was not such a bad season. Of course, the start was very difficult: we hoped to start better but we didn't manage it. In China we experienced perhaps the worst moment because not only were we not fighting for the win with McLaren and Red Bull but we were also behind Mercedes and, perhaps, Renault, who had already made two podium finishes. But then we reacted well. We still lack something, in all respects, including the drivers, to be up to the best. However, I feel much more integrated into the team than I did a year ago. From a driving point of view, I think I have never been so strong".

 

As for the summer gathering, this is an idea that Fernando Alonso fully espouses: 

 

"These are unique events, which allow us to be together away from the hustle and bustle of the track and factory work. We also come to Madonna di Campiglio in January, then there have been other more private occasions to be together with engineers and mechanics. It's a good way to improve the fellowship and mutual knowledge, and things like that make Ferrari a special team, different from all the others. Then, I really love the mountains, in Asturias there are more places like this than beaches, and my neighbour is a cow, just like the ones we met walking in the Dolomites".

 

He has never fully entered the hearts of the Maranello team's fans. Not even when he came within a hair's breadth of the world title with Ferrari, lost in 2008 at the last corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa is the eternal second for Ferrari fans. Not even Schumacher's retirement could move the waters. First Raikkonen then Alonso stole his thunder, and yet another disappointing season is certainly not helping the Brazilian, who has long been rumoured to be leaving. 

 

"Do you remember my first year in Ferrari? It's always been like that, every year there are rumours that I'm leaving, nothing has changed but these are rumours that don't worry me".

 

Fuelling these rumours is the non-renewal. 

 

"We haven't talked yet, we have a season and a half ahead of us and now I just need to concentrate and try to do my best." 

 

Sixth in the rainbow ranking but never on the podium this season, the Brazilian admits: 

 

"We are not where we would like to be, especially in terms of the classification. But our race pace is good and I think we will have more favourable circuits between now and the end of the season".

 

For the title Massa is now out of the running but teammate Alonso can still get back into the race. 

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"We cannot give up. No rider wants to lose this battle and we have a chance". 

 

The circus starts again with the Belgian Grand Prix and, after the summer break, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are preparing for the second part of the season by dreaming big, perhaps already on the asphalt of Spa. 

 

"It will not be an easy two months but we are not going to give up. I want the first win of the year".

 

The Brazilian debuts. And Alonso adds: 

 

"These two weeks off have served me well to recharge my batteries after a really busy month of July. It was nice to spend some time at home, with family and friends. But now I can't wait to get back on track to continue the series of positive results that started in Valencia. We will have a few new features on the 150th Italia which, hopefully, will allow us to improve our performance even more". 

 

The Spaniard continues: 

 

"I know that the situation in the championship is what it is, but that does not mean that we have thrown in the towel. We will always start to try to win every race and, as I've been saying for a while now, we'll reckon at the end. In recent weeks I have spoken a few times with Stefano (Domenicali, ed) and I have heard him very motivated: I like to feel this spirit, it is like mine".

 

Alonso recognises that it would be important to achieve good results: 

 

"Because the team has worked so hard to get back on track after the difficult start: all the guys and all our fans deserve it".

 

But the Belgian Grand Prix will take place in Spa on Sunday 28 August 2011: 

 

"It will be special for a driver who has made the history of Formula 1 and Ferrari in particular: Michael Schumacher".

 

And here are Felipe Massa's words again: 

 

"We are approaching the last eight races of the season, which means there are still a lot of races ahead of us and I agree with Domenicali (the team principal, ed) that, like the team, we want to try to win as many races as possible and score as many points as possible, without looking too closely at the championship situation. Of course, from a personal point of view, my main goal is to try and get my first win of the year. It won't be an easy two months, but we have no intention of giving up".

 

During the summer break, the teams closed their factories for a fortnight. 

 

"Of course, even though no work has been allowed in the last two weeks due to the agreement between the FOTA teams, work has already been done before the break to prepare for the next two races in Belgium and Italy. At Spa we will bring some aerodynamic updates, including new wings to test. Everything seems to be going in the direction we expect, so I hope we can have a good weekend". 

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And adds:

 

"Like most of the drivers, I like it at Spa and I have good memories at this circuit, thanks to the win in 2008, the second place the year before, and last year I was just off the podium, in fourth place. The aim will be to repeat 2008".

 

He adds:

 

"I have been following the discussion about the use of the DRS (the mobile rear wing, ed) at Eau Rouge corner and I think that banning its use there for the whole weekend is the right choice. Drivers in the race would always try to use the DRS there and this could cause accidents, due to the particular nature of that corner. So, just like what happened with the tunnel at Monaco, I think this is the best solution".

 

Then the Brazilian dwells on the subject of testing: 

 

"I see that there has also been talk of reintroducing some testing during the F1 season and I have to say that I would be in favour. All drivers and teams want to prepare as well as possible for each race and, for the highest level of motorsport, some testing during the year should be allowed".

 

There is always a special atmosphere in Belgium. 

 

"Spa is one of the tracks where you get a sense of history and this weekend one of my former teammates will experience his historic moment: Michael Schumacher will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his first Formula 1 race, which took place in Belgium in 1991. In addition to all his other achievements, this is another great event and I am sure he is proud of it".

 

It is impossible to match the German's longevity record: 

 

"I really like the idea of being able to spend 20 years in F1, but I am not sure I will be able to do it".

 

Friday, August 26, 2011, the first Friday session was declared wet following a shower shortly before the pit lane opened. The Mercedes cars of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg set the early pace, with lap times well under two minutes. They remained unthreatened at the top of the time sheets for the remainder of the session; Jenson Button was third-fastest with a time some nine seconds adrift of the Mercedes cars in the wet conditions. Bruno Senna's return to Formula One ended abruptly when the Brazilian driver spun at turn 9, damaging his Renault R31 enough to end his session early. Paul di Resta had a similar episode at the same corner several minutes later, forcing the session to be red-flagged while his Force India VJM04 was craned away. The second session was similarly rain-affected, with only limited running taking place before the rain returned; however, the gaps between drivers were not as extreme as those witnessed during the morning session. Mark Webber set the fastest time of the session, four seconds faster than Schumacher's time in the morning session. Fernando Alonso was second ahead of Button and Lewis Hamilton. The session was free of incidents, though Renault's Vitaly Petrov suffered a steering problem that saw him finish the 90-minute session in 24th and last place having done no dry running in the session. A king regains his crown, if only for a few hours. 

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It may be luck, it may be the rain that arrives violently after he and Rosberg, his team-mate in Mercedes, have already achieved a decent time, but the fact is that Michael Schumacher, on the weekend that marks his twentieth anniversary in Formula 1, finds himself leading a free practice session after time immemorial. The German is the best, and off with the poetry, because Belgium feels like celebrating him, if only because it has admired him since far-off 1991, if only because he has won seven world titles and six times, four of them with Ferrari, he has left his mark on this track that everyone considers the driver's university. He wants to commemorate the people of the Ardennes in a big way, as do his colleagues at the wheel and Ferrari, who will present him with a surprise in the pits, a gift still kept strictly secret on Friday evening, with an idea, a piece of one of the single-seaters with which he won the many rainbow titles with the signature of many mechanics and engineers of his former family dressed in red, unconfirmed by the world of Maranello. Golden career. As golden (noblesse oblige) is his helmet with which he initially took to the track, red in colour and a hundred gold lacquered sheets of 5 centimetres in surface, Michael Schumacher once again comes to the fore, a character, but also a fast driver, ahead of everyone at lunchtime. Then comes the second session, more heavy rain mixed with sunshine (we start in the dry, we set times, then stop because the asphalt becomes a lake), and the story changes, the German with his less than perfect Mercedes drops back to the middle of the pack, eleventh. In first position Red Bull Racing returns, though not with Sebastian Vettel (tenth in a Friday full of problems), but with the Australian Mark Webber, who speaks of killer kerbs:

 

"When it rains and you step on it, you risk a lot, and the white line is a real soapbox".

 

But he manages to be the fastest. He changes the picture, and another king emerges, one who is now racing in Ferrari and pushing it not to surrender the 89-point gap to Vettel, and who has never won at Spa, despite having raced there seven times, with only two podium finishes (a second and a third), a fourth place finish that he himself describes as barely satisfactory, and no fewer than four Sundays closed in the dry. Alonso, the other king, does not want to hear of a curse, but certainly this race has often been indigestible to him. Yet he likes the track: 

 

"The Eau Rouge with its compressions gives indescribable emotions, this is not the classic circuit all brakes and accelerator, like almost all the current ones, here you shift gears, you put your mark, you have to drive for real and you have fun like crazy".

 

In him dominates the conviction that soon the spell must end. 

 

"Who's to say that on Sunday my first triumph can't come?" 

 

The Spaniard, with the second fastest time behind Webber, did everything to support this optimism. Alonso has the certainty that his Ferrari can now play with Red Bull Racing and McLaren (in the second session, Button was third and Hamilton fourth). For the impossible comeback, however, there is only one hope, Alonso triumphing at Spa and Vettel making a mistake. 

 

"If you give us a hand, I'm certainly not going to cry".

 

The final session on Saturday morning was once again declared wet; so wet that most drivers did not venture out until the final few minutes of the session. Mark Webber was once again fastest, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Jaime Alguersuari. Ferrari completed very little running and finished the session 23rd and 24th, with Felipe Massa recording just seven laps and Fernando Alonso failing to set a lap time despite doing an installation lap. 

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A few hours later, the first qualifying period began badly for Michael Schumacher, who lost a wheel on the approach to Rivage and crashed out on his warm-up lap, demoting him to 24th place on the grid, his worst starting position in his career. The circuit steadily began to dry out, and at the end of the session, Mark Webber was the fastest man on the circuit. Heikki Kovalainen edged into 17th place at the last minute and was safe from elimination at the expense of Paul di Resta. Because of the rapidly improving lap times, the Virgin of local driver Jérôme d'Ambrosio and the Hispanias of Daniel Ricciardo and Vitantonio Liuzzi all set times outside 107% of Webber's lap time, but all four of them were allowed to start the race. The rain began falling again ahead of the second qualifying period, leading to a dramatic drop in lap times. Adrian Sutil crashed at the top of Eau Rouge, scattering pieces of debris across the circuit. Race control was forced to red-flag the session with seven minutes remaining in order to clear the circuit. Fernando Alonso went on to set the fastest lap time of the session, while Jenson Button moved over for Lewis Hamilton to allow the 2008 World Champion a clear lap to qualify for the third and final period. Button ultimately qualified 13th, behind Sébastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi, and ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Sutil - whose time was fast enough for 15th position despite causing the session to be stopped - Pastor Maldonado and Heikki Kovalainen. In the final few seconds of Q2, four cars attempted to clear the Bus Stop chicane, including Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado. None of the cars was able to cross the start/finish line in time to be allowed to complete another timed lap, Hamilton passed Maldonado with an aggressive move, forcing Maldonado wide on the exit of the chicane. 

 

Replays then showed Maldonado's Williams swiping across Hamilton's McLaren on the approach to Eau Rouge after the session had ended, damaging Hamilton's car enough to force McLaren to make impromptu repairs to the front wing, and the sidepod was repaired by tape in the short break before Q3. Maldonado was later penalised five grid slots because of the incident. Hamilton received a reprimand and a warning from the stewards for being partly to blame for the incident as he turned right slightly on the approach to Eau Rouge, before Maldonado moved left, striking the McLaren's front wing and sidepod. McLaren was able to repair Hamilton's car in time for the final qualifying period, for which a queue of cars formed in the pitlane as a dry line formed around the circuit, allowing the drivers to use the dry slick tyres for the first time during the weekend. Lap times fell rapidly during the session, with several drivers claiming provisional pole before the flag fell. Sebastian Vettel prevailed, achieving his ninth pole of the season, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber. Felipe Massa out-qualified Alonso in fourth, whilst Nico Rosberg took fifth place ahead of Jaime Alguersuari and Bruno Senna. Fernando Alonso finished the session eighth, with Sergio Pérez in ninth and Vitaly Petrov in tenth. He refuses to call it a spell, but the Spa track doesn't exactly bring Fernando Alonso luck. He has never won here and is in danger of being disappointed this time as well, after having disputed the worst qualifying session of the season, having failed to beat Sebastian Vettel (on his ninth pole of the season, five away from Mansell's record), having finished eighth, fourth row, he who had not dropped below fifth in this 2011. Alonso disappointed, and in the end he is a fury. He has it in for the Mexican Sergio Perez, a Sauber driver, but above all a young upstart from the Ferrari academy, a home-grown driver who should not bother Maranello at all. Instead Perez slows down, goes off the track, runs 50 metres on the grass, ruins his tyres and re-enters right in front of Alonso. 

 

"I thought he would let me pass and instead nothing, he kept me behind for a whole lap and also at the beginning of the next one. I don't understand why, he should know that sometimes you have to look in the mirrors too. Incidentally, to complete the work, I had to slow down and back off, to give Webber, who was looking for pole, the pace and avoid being penalised in turn, so the disaster was complete. I think the race officials know what is right and will take action".

 

He would like justice, but Perez is given no penalty. Completely ignored by the stewards, in contrast to the Venezuelan Maldonado, who, for colliding with Hamilton, moved back five places on the grid, down to 21st. 

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With no mercy on Maldonado, the usual caress to Hamilton himself, who was not immaculate and took a simple caution (the umpteenth), but a completely clean record for Perez as well. All that remains for Alonso is recrimination. This time, however, there is more, not only an indictment of his colleague, but also of the short-sighted team. He lets Ferrari know, Alonso: 

 

"That if we start eighth, it is also our fault. We have to learn to choose well the right moment to enter the track, without drivers in front. We must not make mistakes like that".

 

Better timing, as was the case with Massa, fourth behind Vettel, Hamilton and Webber (the Australian celebrated his 35th birthday yesterday by extending his contract with Red Bull Racing by a year). Ferrari with the Brazilian was perfect and Massa thanks them: 

 

"I didn't have any traffic problems. They kept me in until the last, we took a risk, because it could start raining again, but so I was able to finish fourth, the best we could achieve with our car".

 

On Fernando Alonso the team rejects the trials. Says Pat Fry, the technical director: 

 

“In this climate everything is random. How could we foresee Perez leaving the track and reentering right in front of Alonso? Choosing the best moment is almost impossible”.

 

One can console oneself by thinking that Jenson Button, thirteenth, fared worse, not to mention Michael Schumacher, who lost his right rear wheel in the middle of the straight. The German will start last, on the weekend of the big celebration for 20 years of Formula 1. Ferrari gives him the bonnet of the 2004 single-seater, the one that won the seventh and last world title. On the bodywork are the signatures of all his companions in adventure at the time, including Brawn, now with him at Mercedes, and Todt, now president of the FIA. And in the meantime Sebastian Vettel rejoices: 

 

"It was a difficult session. The first two sessions Q1 and Q2 were tricky, even though the track was drying out, but it was important to pass the individual heats. At the beginning I didn't feel comfortable but then from Q2 I was better, and I rediscovered Spa. In Q3 I was more confident and sure I was among the best. I am happy with the car, which was always faster in the dry. Tomorrow it should not rain and everything is possible".

 

Fernando Alonso is not satisfied: 

 

"Eighth place is not a good result, but we have to take it and make up positions tomorrow. The car is better than eighth place and if it goes well tomorrow we will be further ahead. It was a performance affected by traffic. The track was drying out, Perez didn't let me pass. I didn't have a clean lap but tomorrow we have to recover. I don't hope for rain, the car behaves well in the dry and the setup is based on the dry, let's hope it doesn't rain". 

 

Felipe Massa holds on to fourth position: 

 

"Maybe I would have signed for fourth place in these conditions. Tomorrow if it doesn't rain we will be more competitive". 

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On Sunday, August 28, 2011, in the build-up to the Belgian Grand Prix, several teams requested that the FIA make available several sets of additional tyres after discovering problem with blistering - a result of continued racing at excessively high temperatures, causing air bubbles to form under the topmost layer of rubber - immediately after qualifying. This would force several drivers to start the race on compromised tyres. However, the FIA denied the request as the damage to the tyres had been done as a result of extreme camber settings in the car set-up; under the rules set forth by the sporting regulations, teams may replace tyres if they have been damaged, but only if the damage is a result of an accident. If the tyres are damaged as a result of car set-up, the teams would not be permitted to change their tyres. The affected drivers would have the option of changing their camber settings, but this would be in breach of parc fermé regulations and would force any driver who chose to do so to start from the pit lane, effectively moving them to the back of the grid. The start was messy, with two separate incidents in the first corner. Sebastian Vettel started strongly, but it was Nico Rosberg who claimed the early lead while behind them, Mark Webber made a very poor start, his Red Bull RB7 dropping into anti-stall. Bruno Senna braked too late at La Source and made heavy contact with Jaime Alguersuari in the first corner, pushing the Toro Rosso into the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Alonso escaped unscathed, but Alguersuari was forced to retire with front suspension damage. Senna had to pit for repairs, and was subsequently given a drivethrough penalty for causing an avoidable accident. As the cars filtered through the first corner, Timo Glock made contact with Paul di Resta, earning a drive-through penalty of his own, while the Lotuses spun trying to avoid the Glock-di Resta incident. Jenson Button's car was damaged by debris from Senna's Lotus, forcing him to make an unscheduled stop to replace his front wing. He also lost his right mirror, but the advantage of his pit stop was that he was able to change onto the softer option tyres, having started the race on the slower primes. Nico Rosberg led the field though Eau Rouge for the first time, but was powerless to fend off Sebastian Vettel when the DRS zone was activated on lap three. Rosberg spent the rest of his first stint falling victim to several other drivers, slipping down the order, whilst Schumacher was doing the exact opposite, climbing to 15th on the first lap. 

 

The pre-race controversy surrounding tyre blistering came to a head on lap five, when the first round of pit stops began. Mark Webber pitted first, followed by Vettel, briefly handing the lead back to Rosberg as Alonso and Hamilton both pitted. Alonso emerged from the pits to find Webber right behind him, and the Australian and the Spaniard raced side-by-side through Eau Rouge, with Webber prevailing. Behind them, Sébastien Buemi in the second Toro Rosso was forced to retire when he was hit from behind by Sergio Pérez, destroying his rear wing. Throughout the first phase of the race, two drivers steadily began to make inroads on the field. Jenson Button, who had completed his first pit stop for a new front wing, and Michael Schumacher, who had started 24th and had managed to avoid the chaos at the first corner, both began to climb up through the midfield and were ideally placed when the safety car was deployed on lap 13. Hamilton, having just passed Kobayashi, moved to the left on the racing line leading into Les Combes. However, Kobayashi had not yet relinquished the position and was still on Hamilton's outside. The Sauber and the McLaren made contact, and Hamilton spun off and hit the barrier, and he retired from the race. Kobayashi was able to continue, but Daniel Ricciardo also stopped on the circuit after experiencing a vibration in his Hispania F111, and retired from 16th place. The safety car triggered a second round of stops among the leaders, with Alonso taking the lead from Vettel on lap 14, only to lose it when he made his own stop three laps later. With the wreckage from Hamilton's accident cleared, the safety car left the circuit and racing resumed. Vettel re-established his lead ahead of Alonso and Webber, with Button making his way through the field at a rate that suggested he had the potential to win the race. He inherited the lead on lap 31, but he had no answer to Vettel's out-lap and was forced to pit himself for the final time, emerging behind Alonso and Webber. Alonso was unable to defend against Webber, nor against Button several laps later. Button briefly attempted to catch Webber, but decided against it as it meant risking an extra pit stop. Further down the order, Michael Schumacher had recovered from 24th on the grid to sixth overall, before passing Nico Rosberg on the approach to Les Combes. Sergio Pérez became the fifth and final retirement of the race when his suspension failed, and he was able to limp back to the pits. Vettel went on to win the race, three seconds ahead of Webber in second and nine seconds ahead of Button in third. 

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Alonso, who had struggled all race with a lack of grip, finished fourth ahead of Schumacher and Rosberg. Adrian Sutil finished seventh, while Felipe Massa was eighth; the Brazilian driver had pitted on lap 30, but picked up a puncture on his out-lap, forcing him to re-pit immediately. Vitaly Petrov finished ninth after a brake failure cost him ten seconds and eighth place on the final lap. After the controversy in qualifying, Pastor Maldonado recovered from 21st on the grid to finish tenth, achieving his first World Championship point, the first for a Venezuelan driver since Johnny Cecotto at the 1983 United States Grand Prix West, as well as scoring Cosworth's last points. His teammate, Rubens Barrichello, finished 16th behind the Lotuses of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen after a collision with Kobayashi at the Bus Stop chicane forced him to pit for a new front wing. The Belgian Grand Prix, the university of driving: Vettel dominates again and brings the lead over Mark Webber to 92 points. An abysmal gap that corresponds to a total of 259 points, more than those that earned him the title last year at the end of the championship. Only today there are still seven races to go before the end of the World Championship. A championship that at this point Vettel has already mathematically won, given that to take it home the German could also limit himself to finishing only third for all the other races, leaving Webber, Alonso and the rest of the group the honour of going for the win. But it is clear that this will not be the case: Vettel is a kind of Schumacher replicant and his seventeen career victories are certainly not enough for him. In short, it will be a battle, also because both Webber, second, and Button, third, will certainly not give up, as well as Hamilton, miraculously recovered after a very bad accident, and Alonso. What happened to the Spanish Ferrari driver today? The classification does not give credit: today's was perhaps the best race in the history of the Spaniard. Having got off to a great start, the Spaniard took the lead almost immediately, engaging in a fine pit-stop duel with Vettel. Then in the end the usual evil performance of the Medium tyres on the Ferrari meant that Alonso had to give way first to Webber and then even to the daring Button. The problem is now obvious and Stefano Domenicali himself admits it: 

 

"Unfortunately this is the case, it is our biggest problem in these conditions. Button, with the Safety car, was able to use the soft tyres and was able to attack at the end. It was also a shame for Felipe (Massa, eighth across the line), who had a puncture and we had to call him back to the pits".

 

Now head for the Italian Grand Prix. 

 

"At Monza it will be a different race, in different conditions, and I am convinced that we can have an even stronger say. We have to try to work at our best for Monza, a unique and special race, especially on the issue of hard tyres at these temperatures, which, as I said before, is our weak point".

 

We shall see. In any case at Spa, tyres or strategies or not, Red Bull Racing was truly unbeatable. An overwhelming show of strength. Which if it were to be repeated at Monza would be a big disappointment for all Ferrari fans. But even Sebastian Vettel admits he had a few problems. Just imagine what he would be capable of if everything went well. 

 

"Was it easy? We were a bit worried. After qualifying, we weren't sure, we took some risks, but we had the hope that everything would go well, we were comfortable on the track. The goal was to see how it went after a few laps and go from there without thinking about the end result. At the beginning I couldn't find the right feeling then it got better and in the final part of the race I overtook Alonso and managed the race. The car was very good, very competitive and I am very happy with the result, the race and how we managed the tyres, I hope it will be a lesson for the future".

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Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing's team principal, commented on the one-two win at Spa with Vettel winning ahead of Webber, thus stretching the lead both in the Drivers' World Championship, with the German ever closer to a world championship encore, and in the Constructors' World Championship. 

 

"We had a bit of trouble with the tyres but we worked together with the Pirelli staff to understand what could have happened, but then everything went well. Excellent performance by the whole team".

 

Next engagement in Monza, at the Italian Grand Prix. 

 

"It would be nice to win there too".

 

Mark Webber, on the other hand, talks about his race, which saw him finish in second place. 

 

"The start was disappointing, but in the end it went well. The start was shocking, I had big problems, it was disappointing to start like that. But from that moment we did a quick tyre change, I went out quickly as there were crashes and we avoided them, then I did the tyre change, kept up with Fernando and then overtook him. At the end the tyres were gone, but that didn't allow me to lose positions. With the Safety car we had problems with the pit stop, Vettel and I wanted to go in together, but in the end it went well, thanks to the whole team. First and second place is a great result for all of us, it was a good race where we got a good result".

 

In the end, even Fernando Alonso was forced to surrender. The Spaniard had never said it so clearly: 

 

"In a little while, even mathematics will tell us that it's over. The gap has increased, the races have diminished, our chances of winning are reduced to a minimum. We are Ferrari, we cannot give up, we will try to win a few more races, starting with the next one at Monza; we need a super finale, worthy of us, of our prestige, but we have to be realistic, it would be foolish to think that the fight for the title is still open. The championship is no longer in our hands, only a barrage of mistakes from Vettel could put us back in the running".

 

The problem is that the German Red Bull Racing driver does not commit a single one. Even at Spa he was perfect, while Alonso, after a race spent chasing, aggressive and making a comeback on Soft tyres, struggling and forced to defend himself on Hard tyres, had to settle for fourth place. 

 

"The Safety car didn't help us, it didn't come at the right time. I had changed the tyres just four laps before, they were still perfect, I couldn't pit again. That's why I stayed on the track, I found myself in the lead, I hoped I could make the gap and that episode would be a turning point. Instead Vettel got lucky, he came in third, behind me, immediately passed Webber, lost very little time. At that point the race was decided, I realised that sooner or later both he and Webber would pass me, it was just a matter of time".

 

The trouble was that even Jenson Button, who had damaged the front end of his McLaren at the start of the race, was able to bring himself back under, changing the nose and finding his disadvantage effectively wiped out. The Englishman would surely have finished behind Alonso and instead stole the podium from him in the finale. Says the Spaniard: 

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"Our handicap is the hard tyres, we can't get them up to the right temperature quickly and their performance is penalising compared to our rivals. At the end I hoped to hold on, but on this track overtaking is easy, it was impossible to defend the position". 

 

Once again it was the tyres, in autumn temperatures, that played against them and this, as well as cursing the current season, opens disturbing questions about the next one. In fact, Ferrari has had its mind on 2012 for some time now and will now concentrate even more on the next world championship, even though Monza, the next race, is an important appointment and Stefano Domenicali insists that the team has no intention of giving up and wants to win more grands prix in 2011. But what matters now is the new car. Will at least that car have no problems warming up the tyres? Alonso hopes not: 

 

"I expect an innovative project, without structural defects".

 

Domenicali guarantees not. 

 

"We know our shortcoming, we have been working on it for some time, trying to find the right middle ground, tyres that are immediately up to temperature, but also that don't wear out too quickly”.

 

Also desirable will be a complete revival of Felipe Massa, who now marches too intermittently.


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