One year on and Spa is a different place. Very different. Twelve months ago, when you arrived on Friday morning, it was best to avoid visiting the Ferrari and McLaren compounds. Do either and you were being seen to take sides.
It was the morning after the FIA delivered their verdict in a Paris courtroom. Remember that one? A fine of 100 million dollars and all of McLaren’s constructors points removed.
Talk about a poisoned atmosphere. McLaren were wounded in every sense and
Ferrari felt the verdict was not severe enough. Best place to go for breakfast was somewhere like Spyker or Toro Rosso in order to avoid causing offence.
I posted a blog on this website expressing surprise about the outcome and came under verbal assault from a Ferrari representative a couple of hours later. At least he had been reading a decent web site.
Lewis Hamilton was caught in the middle. All he wanted to do was get stuck into Spa rather than, as the media hoped, Ferrari and the FIA. Hamilton had been to the court to offer support and he came away giving the bemused impression of a kid who had been forced to go to the police station for riding his bike without lights. All he wanted to do was get on with his job and have fun and this, clearly, was not fun.
This morning he was all smiles as he strode through the paddock. The air high in the Ardennes is misty and cool but free of the suspicion and hatred that pervaded the atmosphere 12 months ago. Hamilton clearly loves this place. It’s a proper race track which, as Fernando Alonso says, gives the impression that you are actually going somewhere. And going very quickly.
At 4.35 miles, Spa is the longest track on the F1 calendar. It is also the best by a million miles. After the acrimony of last year and the constrictions of the Hungaroring and the limitations of Valencia a couple
of weeks ago, the inescapable feeling is one of getting on with what we’re here for. Let proper battle commence.
“verbally attacked by a Ferrari Rep”? methinks the rep does protest too much.
But that’s past now. Let’s cut all the political crap and may the best racer win.
Which will be Hamilton, clearly.
nice little peice, i hope ferrari dont walk away with it to easily and that we have a good race. hopefully with action up and down the field, unlike the “european” gp.
Try to remember the last poor race you saw at Spa – you can’t. It’s a proper circuit and will be a breath of fresh air after the last 2 races.
“All he wanted to do was get on with his job and have fun and this, clearly, was not fun.”
Of course… you would spite on secret informations if it could help him to win the championship…
Don’t make a fool of yourself, they knew they were using ferrari’s files and the only thing they cared about was winning the championship by any ways possible…
There’s to much money in F1, that’s the problem…
After the over-sanitized European GP ; I am very much looking forward to seeing the drivers tackle Eau Rouge with no traction control — and in the wet if early weather reports are accurate. PS It IS a nicer season without all the political hoohah eh?
Oh yeah, we still can find problems at FIA judgment about this and that. But what we’ve being looking at this season is that McLaren is miles in front of Ferrari, which doesn’t mean that Hamilton is in front one anyone.
I’m looking forward to see the how big is going to be the gap in spa. Hope Ferrari don’t let Massa down again and we will see a good race.
Probably ITV will find something to say when Hamilton loses that again
itv talk utter rubbish and if anything hinder hamilton.and i am irish
Don’t you just love anything associated with the red cars, pure passion. It’s Ferrari’s race to lose Sunday.
To Graham, I know what you mean, but you wouldnt remember a boring race would you. Because it was boring.
Never the less, I do think it will be a great race, particularly if it rains, which, judging by the European summer, it will…
Go Hamilton!!!
I really hope Kimi wins, if only to give us the prospect of a Kimi, Lewis, Massa battle right till the end of the season, (and i hopr Kimis encounter with the wall during practise isn’t a sign of things to come)
You people disgust me. Its always about what Ferrari and The FIA did to poor little Mclaren. Ever hard the expression about letting things go. As far as the season is concerned Ferrari has this one in the bag fair & square. & I really hope Hamilton does not win any more races. He is by far the most over rated driver I’ve seen. Honestly, give him a less powerful machine like the Torro Rosso & then see how many races he wins.
no,the best f1 track will be definately the singapore night race.(fazle sattar you cruel person,never abuse drivers,especially hamilton).
“Try to remember the last poor race you saw at Spa”
Erm… last years! Wasn’t that the one that Ted Kravitz actually said was boring!
But despite last years race, it is a great track, and the location and wet weather make for some classics, think 95 (Schumi 16th>1st) 96 (Schumi taking great win in crap Ferrari) 97 (another Schumi masterclass in the wet) 98 (Jordan 1-2 in wet, almost a Schumi masterclass until he hit DC) and 00 (Hakkinen passing Schumi)
Schumi is undoubtedly the king of Spa, but of the current crop it is Raikkonen. I predict a Ferrari win in dry conditions, but a wet race it is anyones. Literally anyones.
I really wish that people on these blogs would get off the subject of Hamilton ‘fanboyism’. I keep up with all the blogs and comments, and honestly rarely see someone displaying a huge bias towards McLaren, or Hamilton, yet there always seems to be some Ferrari fanboy who has a different opinion on the matter. And really Fazle Sattar, why did you think that anyone would gain anything from reading what you wrote?
For the record, i’m a Toyota fan through and through, but i think that Hamilton is probably the most naturally talented driver out there – just look to his performances in Silverstone or Fuji last year.
to Silly
If you’re hoping for rain you might be a Rubens Barrichelo supporter. Lol
Rain = very complex driving skills, which Hamilton is fair to have in his young and pop star race career.
As James said, wet race involves much more then a good looking career or being part of a good team.
It’s quite english way to think that rain would be good for the driver because you barely see the sun here but that would be for Damon Hill which was good driving against Ayrton Senna, not L. Hammilton competing against Kubica and Massa.
Unfortunately you cannot expect a brilliant race if it does rain.
God bless your memory James, thats the reason why we love it tho.
I’ve been looking at the stats and based on last years results with 6 rounds to go, Louis took 29 points; Massa 35; and Kimi a rather good 50. That brings the suggested standing to Kimi on 107 points and Louis and Massa tied on 99.
But…
The calander is different with Spa, Monza Fuji, Shanghai and Interlagos to go. So if you add the points from those races to the current standings we get Kimi on 99 points Louis on 95 and Massa on 89. Very tight, statistically.
And then we have the complete unknown of Singapore! I’m reckoning Louis will go well purely because he does well at new tracks (last year was all new tracks for him), but the stats do point towards Kimi. What do ya’ll think (Kimi crashed today btw)
To Fazle:
Give ANY driver a Torro Rosso and see how many races they win! Let’s compare the drivers shall we?
1. First person’s obvious – Hamilton. car lets him down sometimes and occasionally makes mistakes. But name me one driver who hasn’t? otherwise, he’s one of the best out there. He’s in the lead points-wise for a reason
2. Massa. He’s one of the strongest competitors – potentially the best – when he has a good day. But he makes too many mistakes. It wasn’t that long ago that even Ferrari raised a few eyebrows about his ability.
3. Raikonnen – should have been Hamilton’s biggest rival this year, but is not the case. Last race his biggest competitor was Kovaleinen, and before that he was doing battle with Alonso of all people. What’s going on?!
4. Nick Heidfeld – Even I have to concede that he’s a better driver than Hamilton. Give him either a McLaren or a Ferrari next year and watch Schumacher eat his heart out.
5. Kubica – Started out very strong, but seems to be weakening points-wise. Kinda like Raikonnen, only without the best car and without all the expectation of world domination.
6. Sutil – If there was ever an underrated driver in F1, it’d be him. I’d like to see him in a BMW next year, or at least a Torro Rosso or Toyota. Anything but Force India.
7. Trulli – has given pretty much every championship contender a run for their money at some point in this season so far. Even Hamilton has trouble losing him.
All things considered, i think it’s pretty clear that Hamilton really IS as good as the hype. So sit down, shut up, and enjoy the race on Sunday.
Hamilton supposed to be the best last season also
if it rains lewis hamilton will win, if it is dry kimi raikkonen will win.If kimi does it will be his 4th win in a row. And the ferrari looks really competitive so raikkonen would be my best bet. Also watch out for another Coulthard crash.
Kimi’s Going to Dominate the race pace so cut ur crap about how good Lewis Hamilton is already.
He’s a good driver for sure , But hes to cocky.
He just got all the right brakes , Thats the only thing seperating him and Kovalinen.
Hamiltons been in the team since he was 11.
Of course hes settled and ready to fight.
Except at the beginning of the year he didnt have any setup’s to steal, like last year.
ferrRI suck balls…the fia’s balls.
hamilton ftw, but raikkonen shud win it
as long as massa doesnt win though i’ll be happy
It will be Ferrari against Ferrari. Maclaren youngsters cant match Ferrari duo on long, challenging track. But Massa or Raikkonen?
If Kimi takes 3rd or better position after 1st corner, and massa hads lead i’d say Kimi will take the position that equals hes racing number (for ignorants, that number is 1) – No matter who is between him and Massa. But if Kimi is 4th or something towards it, it will be either Massa or Kimi with 20% change.
Hamilton needs pole to even have a word in battle.
Rest of the season has more Ferrari suitable tracks.
Dont count out Massa. Hes in the form of his life at the moment and cannot be written off, and alonso looked good in practice.
Barrichello’s first pole position was at Spa in 1994.
on the grid only David Coulthard is the only other driver to win in Spa, in 1999 in front of Mika Hakkinen.
I hope it rains
kimi has been fighting off of the back foot for a while, and i can’t expect that to change now, despite the venue. i expect massa to get the edge on hamilton again, with toyota and bmw in contention with the finns for the last step on the podium. i can only hope coultard’s crash this week is both spectacular and harmless.
Surely Lewis will win. McLaren are extremely strong when it comes to high speed corners and long straights. But those two jumbo wings in front of lewis’s head will have to be taken off because they create massive drag and that eliminates any other aero advantage they give. F1 seems to have forgotten the basic principles. YOU DON’T FIGHT WITH THE WIND. LET IT GO WHERE IT WANTS TO GO AND DIVERT IT SLOWLY AND WITH CARE.
Why is it most of the hamilton so called fans have never even watched f1 before or taken an intrest buch of glory supporters and they think they can just rip alonso even though he had to work his way up unlike lewis “daddy ron i need £10000, well here you go”!
a true british racer is Button, watch out for him tommorow if it rains, at silverstone, he was 32 seconds a lap faster than Hamilton, and 2 seconds a lap faster than barichello…too bad he lost it, slipping off a curb, he was P4 when he stopped.
Hamilton gets all the brakes, as thats what F1 is about, some get lucky, some don’t, when t rains, every car in the paddock becomes equal, its down to driver skills.
Did anyone here that they are goin to cut Spa-Francorchamps down in length? God they better not mess it up. It is quite clearly the best race track. Ever! Should be a great race sunday.
I think Massa looks good for the title! I would like to see Hamilton win it but I think Massa has it.
Does anyone remember the chaos a few years ago when they started the race, in the rain with no safety car? It was spectacular to watch but thank God nobody got hurt.
i think that was Spa ‘98
What’s all this about Hamilton’s brakes? He’s got the same as Kovalainen…
ALL HAIL MCLAREN!!!!!
Ash,i think you should add Webber to that list, i believe that if u put him in a mclaren of ferrari he’ll destroy schumi’s times, just look what he did at silverstone split ferrari and mclaren at the grid.
Alas, politics again. Stewards to investigate Hamilton’s cut Bus Stop corner. He was forced into it!!! Kimi nearly killed a mechanic in Valencis after going at a red light and gets nothing!! FIA: take off the horse blinders..
orangemclaren i completely agree with you well said as Hamilton couldnt do anything else apart from smash both cars off the track but lewis isnt a schumacher and ferrari still dont get a penalty that doesnt look good for them says it all really…
I lost any sense of respect to Hamilton…he said that Kimi pushed him out of the track? That is a lie…and he had to leave clearly Kimi to retake his position…if Hamilton will not be punished by the stewards that means that the World Champion is already known and all has been already arranged for him…not such a great driver after ALL!!!
yet another obvious manipulation of the results, F1 has lost my respect, if the situation had been reversed would it have been th same outcome, NO WAY
the only reason they chose to do it was so the World Champion is not already known, it was simply to make the F1 title race closer so they could get more money as it would be more exciting.
im a ferrari man. but hamilton one fair and square
but politics again. make you want to switch off!!!!!!!!!!
All hail the death of racing in F1, well racing against RED cars
There’s nothing to watch in F1, only cat fights between drivers and teams. I think everyone knows that Ferrari is nothing but a 5 years old kid with a big daddy in FIA behind their back.
Lewis Hamilton clearly fought like a fighter in the last race but that 5 years old boy immediately cried and the big daddy came and let him win.
Honestly, I only enjoy the race when that 5 years old boy crashed or cannot continue the race.
as we ferrari fans already know england, mclaren and lewis hamilton have a long and illustrious history of cheating as they acknowledged in “spygate”. stop being a bunch of whinging poms and drive fair, YOU CANT CUT CORNERS IN FORMULA 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually Anderson all drivers cut corners in F1 and are rarely penalised. An F1 fan would know this. The crux of the matter is that did the driver gain an unfair advantage in doing so? In Hamilton’s case this would not appear so. After coming back on the track he clearly got on the brakes to let Kimi back through. To then suggest he had the momentum to retake Kimi as a result of this shows a demonstrable lack of understanding regarding the laws of physics by the stewards. The fact is that Lewis was much faster at this point of the GP than Kimi and would have made the pass in any case. I am neithetr Ferrari nor a McLaren fan, this result leaves me bewildered and disappointed in a sport I love.
Such whingers.. If Massa had been penalised for last race incident then the stewards decision for Hamilton should be taken.. But as such, we now can officially conclude that FIA = Full of Idiots Association.. Hope massa spins all over the Singapore circuit which is gonna be a wet one.. Absolute rubbish and don’t deserve the points at all..
It’s great to know that the FIA are completely unbiased. Massa was clearly the deserving winner of what was easily the best GP of recent years. Ya right…
I like Ferrari but the decisions made after the race were beyond comprehension, especially following their decision to only fine Felipe 10,000 euro after Valencia, rather than impose a similar penalty (which would have been completely unfair). I know controversial decisions like this are nothing new to the FIA, but following Mosleygate and now this ridiculous decision I believe the FIA have lost all credibility.
By the way, Mr. Mosley, I’d be happily whip you if you’re ever in the mood and don’t worry, I don’t charge nearly as much as hookers.
Anderson shut up you Ferrari fan boy. Since when is giving someone back the place after you have passed them punishable, oh wait I know if Ferrari end up loosing out then it is silly me, even your own fans agree this is stupid. The sooner Ferrari and the current FIA are gone from the sport the better.
This is what happens when one man controls a mega sport like F1. If Bernie says Hamilton has to race in his underwears from now on, he has no choice right? This is like Darwin’s natural selection. If you are not a Ferrari fan, you can’t survive in F1
In the GP2 race, Senna was given a drive through penalty. His crime? His team released him in a similar situation to the Massa incident.
As for Lewis’s punishment, do the FIA really think this is the right decision? Everybody thought he had done the right thing at the time & nobody complained. Even Ferrari seem to be a little sheepish about winning, which goes to show how stupid this is!
Let me admit at once that I’m a Ferrari fan, and a big one at that, ever since the mid 70’s in fact. Right now I’d like to show my support to McLaren and Lewis Hamilton though, as yesterday’s decision to penalize Lewis is frankly one of the FIA’s most stupid to date. And that, unfortunately, speaks volumes.
This is frankly turning our beloved sport into something of a farce, it seems to me the FIA has lost all bearing on fair play and has embarked on a crusade against McLaren. I don’t like this at all and I hope fans all over the world will join forces in telling the FIA that this just won’t fly.
Sorry Lewis, sorry McLaren, but please shoot at the FIA this time and not Ferrari.
Classic! Thanks for Kimi, Felipe didnt challenge Lewis, But Kimi came from behind and showed why he’s called “Iceman”. Ofcourse people are “whinning” about Hamiltons penalty, but it was quiet clear case, Hamilton did let Kimi pass him, like he should but didnt leave a clear cap between ‘em.
Rain though did once again Tricks on Kimi, but it was classic race anyway. Overtakes – Thanks Kovalainen – and drama. All crowned with batlle for 3 to 6 or 7th spot at last laps, last corner, how many cars Alonso took over at last corner?
My podium:
Kimi – King of Spa.
Lewis – It takes wo good drivers to make a show.
Heikki – Overtaking hard on modern day formulas? BS!
Heidfeld – Specially showd tactical eye if it was hes decision to change intermediate tyres.
Der Seb and Le Seb – STR Ferrari seems to be on good mood, Bourdais and Vettel had both strong race, in my oppinion.
I can’t belive hamiltion didn’t win! cmon he should but a 25 sec pen is RUBBISH!
Come on blokes, how can we as motor sport fans tolerate the travesty inflicted upon Hamilton at the belgian Grand Prix.
We demand as fans, craft, skill, honour and sportsmanship. If the FIA do not want to supply, us the fans with an equal and fair sport, then we collectively, the fans, should boycott it. So thats what I am going to do. Support Hamilton and stay away, with my small percentage of the FIA advertising budget.
I don’t see how the penalty (+25secs) imposed on Hamilton bears any relationship to the “crime”. The change in driver positions is unfairly disrupted and makes a mockery of the race. Other F1 rules are equally without a rational basis… eg Fixed drive through penalties, dropping 10 grid positions, Safety car rules…in fact the whole of F1 is a a debacle of a circus and a complete waste of everyones time, space and resources.
Go to this Petition sign it if you care about an even contest in F1;
http://www.petitiononline .com/belgp08/petition.htm l
And add your comments to, the F1 hierarchy can not be allowed to get away with this! Let them know precisely what is at stake here.
where did the 25 come from?