Belgian Grand Prix 2010

 Belgian Grand Prix 2010

Racing data
13th of 19 races in the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship
Surname:	LXVI Belgian Grand Prix
Date:	August 29, 2010
Place:	spa
Course:	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Length:	308.052 km in 44 laps of 7.004 km
Weather:	rainy
Spectator:	~ 60,000
Pole position
Driver:	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault
Time:	1: 45.778 min
Fastest lap
Driver:	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
Time:	1: 49.069 min (lap 32)
Podium
First:	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes
Second:	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault
Third:	Robert Kubica	Renault

The Belgian Grand Prix 2010 took place on August 29th at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa and was the 13th race of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship .

Reports

background

After the Hungarian Grand Prix , Mark Webber led the drivers' standings with four points ahead of Lewis Hamilton and ten points ahead of Sebastian Vettel . Red Bull-Renault led the constructors' championship with eight points ahead of McLaren-Mercedes and with 74 points ahead of Ferrari .

The Renault R30 was expanded to include an F-slot .

With Michael Schumacher (six times) and Felipe Massa (once) two former winners competed for this Grand Prix.

training

Fernando Alonso posted the fastest lap in the first free practice session, which took place on a wet track . Hamilton took second place ahead of Robert Kubica . In the second free practice session, which was held under drying conditions, Alonso kept the top position ahead of Adrian Sutil and Hamilton. The third free practice session initially took place under dry conditions. However, towards the end of the training session it started to rain. Webber achieved the fastest time on the dry track. Hamilton and Vettel took second and third place.

Qualifying

The first qualifying segment was interrupted after just two minutes, as Vitaly Petrov came out of the eleventh corner onto the curb, which was still wet in contrast to the track, and spun off the track. For the restart, all pilots immediately went back to the track, as rain had been announced for the next few minutes. After a lap in which some pilots spun because of the beginning rain, the track got so wet that everyone had to pit to switch to intermediates . It wasn't raining any more, but the track was still wet in some places, so the drivers only switched to slicks again at the end . Nico Rosberg coped best with the conditions and set the fastest lap. In addition to Petrow, Lucas di Grassi and Jarno Trulli as well as the HRT and Sauber pilots, who both flew off the track in the same corner, were eliminated.

In the second part of the qualification it stopped raining and only a few parts of the track were damp. Hamilton set the fastest time under these conditions. Timo Glock , Heikki Kovalainen and Vitantonio Liuzzi as well as the Toro Rosso and Mercedes drivers were eliminated. In the third segment, Webber posted the fastest lap and secured pole position ahead of Hamilton and Kubica. As it started to rain again at the end, no pilot could drive Webber's time.

Rubens Barrichello qualified seventh in Belgium for the 300th time for a Grand Prix. Since he stopped at the start of the introductory lap in two races, he has to wait two more races for his 300th start.

run

Bruno Senna dropped out again

The start of the Belgian Grand Prix took place under dry conditions. Webber, who was on pole position, didn't get away well and dropped to fifth. Hamilton started better and took the lead in front of Kubica and Button. During the first lap it had started to rain slightly in the last corners. The route was therefore damp in the bus stop chicane and several drivers missed the braking point. Barrichello drove Alonso into the rear and turned the Ferrari driver. While Alonso drove on after a pit stop, the race for Barrichello, who had caused the accident, was over.

After Button had taken second place past Kubica, the safety car came out to recover the Williams from Barrichello. During the safety car phase, the rain stopped again in this section of the track and the track dried up again quickly. Alonso, who switched to intermediates after the collision, pitted again after the restart to switch back to slicks. At the restart, Hamilton kept the lead. However, Kubica lost his third place to Vettel. After five laps the race was over for Bruno Senna , who gave up after a spin with a damaged suspension in the pits.

At the front, Hamilton pulled away from his team-mate, whose front wing was slightly damaged. Button planned to change the front wing at the mandatory pit stop and fell by the wayside. Vettel caught up on Button and put him under pressure. Meanwhile, the Mercedes drivers and Alonso worked their way up again. While the Mercedes drivers had to start the race from behind, Alonso had fallen behind due to his two pit stops at the end of the field and had to overtake a few drivers. However, Rosberg did not consistently advance. Petrow, who also had to start from further behind, attacked him on the Kemmel straight and overtook him to Les Combes . Rosberg lost some momentum in the process and was overtaken by his team-mate Schumacher in the Malmedy , whereby there was a little contact between the team-mates.

Lucas di Grassi finished in 17th place

While a small group of vehicles formed behind Button, it began to rain again slightly in the back of the track. After Vettel was just behind Button at the exit of Blanchimont , he tried an overtaking maneuver. The Red Bull driver lost control of his vehicle and drove head-on into the radiator of Buttons McLaren. Vettel was able to continue after a pit stop, Button had to finish the race on the spot. Second place went to Kubica.

After Vettel's pit stop, he was behind Liuzzi and overtook him after the bus stop chicane. The Italian countered, however, and overtook the Red Bull driver on the Kemmel straight. However, there was initially no further position battles between the two, as Vettel received a drive-through penalty for his collision with Button.

After the leading drivers had completed their pit stop, the order did not change and Hamilton actually increased his lead. Vettel had already made up his deficit on Liuzzi after a few laps and there was another duel between the two. This time Vettel passed Liuzzi, but the Italian touched a rear wheel of Vettel and the tire suffered damage. Since the incident occurred in the last corner and he had to drive a full lap back to the pits with a defective tire, Vettel lost a lot of time.

Ten laps before the end of the race it started raining again. This time the rain was so heavy that all drivers had to switch to intermediates or rain tires. The four leading drivers stayed out the longest and Hamilton almost lost everything with this strategy as he slipped into the gravel. But he was able to leave it again and kept his lead thanks to the larger lead over Kubica. This time the pits were postponed as Red Bull made a quick pit stop and enabled Webber to overtake Kubica. The strategy of the Mercedes drivers, who combined their compulsory pit stop with the change to rain tires, worked and both drivers were in the front midfield even after the pit stop.

Partial view of the McLaren front wing

Shortly before the end of the race, there was another safety car phase because Alonso had spun and turned back onto the track after hitting the boundary. At the restart, however, Hamilton confidently defended his lead. There was another internal duel between the Mercedes drivers and Rosberg passed Schumacher. The maneuver took place at the same point as the first duel between the two racing drivers.

In the end, Hamilton won a Grand Prix for the third time of the season with a start-to-finish victory. Webber finished second. Massa, who drove an unspectacular but flawless race, finished the race in fourth place ahead of Sutil. Rosberg and Schumacher crossed the finish line in sixth and seventh place. While Rosberg had improved by eight places in the race, Schumacher even made up 14 positions. The other points went to Kamui Kobayashi , Petrow and Liuzzi, who benefited from a subsequent 20-second penalty imposed on Jaime Alguersuari , who had missed a chicane.

In the drivers' world championship, the lead changed back to Hamilton. Webber finished second overall. McLaren-Mercedes caught up with Red Bull-Renault among the designers, but the designer retained first position.

Registration list

team	No.	driver	chassis	engine	tires
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	01	Jenson Button	McLaren MP4-25	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	B.
	02	Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team	03	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes MGP W01	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	B.
	04th	Nico Rosberg
Red Bull Racing	05	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull RB6	Renault 2.4 V8	B.
	06th	Mark Webber
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	07th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari F10	Ferrari 2.4 V8	B.
	08th	Fernando Alonso
AT&T Williams	09	Rubens Barrichello	Williams FW32	Cosworth 2.4 V8	B.
	10	Nico Hulkenberg
Renault F1 Team	11	Robert Kubica	Renault R30	Renault 2.4 V8	B.
	12	Vitaly Petrov
Force India F1 Team	14th	Adrian Sutil	Force India VJM03	Mercedes-Benz 2.4 V8	B.
	15th	Vitantonio Liuzzi
Scuderia Toro Rosso	16	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso STR5	Ferrari 2.4 V8	B.
	17th	Jaime Alguersuari
Lotus Racing	18th	Jarno Trulli	Lotus T127	Cosworth 2.4 V8	B.
	19th	Heikki Kovalainen
HRT F1 team	20th	Sakon Yamamoto	HRT F110	Cosworth 2.4 V8	B.
	21st	Bruno Senna
BMW Sauber F1 Team	22nd	Pedro de la Rosa	Clean C29	Ferrari 2.4 V8	B.
	23	Kamui Kobayashi
Virgin Racing	24	Timo Glock	Virgin VR-01	Cosworth 2.4 V8	B.
	25th	Lucas di Grassi

Classifications

Qualifying

Item	driver	constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	begin
01	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1: 57.352	1: 47.253	1: 45.778	01
02	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 56.706	1: 46.211	1: 45.863	02
03	Robert Kubica	Renault	1: 56.041	1: 47.320	1: 46.100	03
04th	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1: 58.487	1: 47.245	1: 46.127	04th
05	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1: 57.981	1: 46.790	1: 46.206	05
06th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1: 58.323	1: 47.322	1: 46.314	06th
07th	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	1: 55.757	1: 47.797	1: 46.602	07th
08th	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1: 58.730	1: 47.292	1: 46.659	08th
09	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	1: 55.442	1: 47.821	1: 47.053	09
10	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1: 57.023	1: 47.544	1: 47.441	10
11	Michael Schumacher 1	Mercedes	1: 56.313	1: 47.874	-	21st
12	Nico Rosberg 2	Mercedes	1: 54.826	1: 47.885	-	14th
13	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1: 58.944	1: 48.267	-	11
14th	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	2: 01.102	1: 48.680	-	12
15th	Sébastien Buemi 4	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	2: 00.386	1: 49.209	-	16
16	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Cosworth	2: 01.343	1: 50.980	-	13
17th	Timo Glock 3	Virgin Cosworth	2: 01.316	1: 52.049	-	20th
18th	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Cosworth	2: 01.491	-	-	15th
19th	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	2: 02.284	-	-	17th
20th	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	2: 03.612	-	-	18th
21st	Sakon Yamamoto	HRT-Cosworth	2: 03.941	-	-	19th
22nd	Pedro de la Rosa 5	Clean Ferrari	2: 05.294	-	-	24
23	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Cosworth	2: 18.754	-	-	22nd
24	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	no time	-	-	23

¹ Michael Schumacher got a 10 place penalty in the last Grand Prix for pushing Rubens Barrichello off.

² Nico Rosberg has been moved five positions back after a gear change.

³ Timo Glock has been moved five positions down because of Sakon Yamamoto's handicap.

⁴ Sébastien Buemi has been moved three positions down because of Nico Rosberg's handicap.

⁵ Pedro de la Rosa was moved back to last place because he had the ninth engine of the season installed in his Sauber C29 before the race. Only eight engines per driver are allowed for the season.

run

Item	driver	constructor	Round	Stops	time	begin	Fastest lap
01	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	44	2	1: 29: 04.268	02	1: 49.069 (32nd)
02	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	44	2	+ 1.571	01	1: 49.395 (32nd)
03	Robert Kubica	Renault	44	2	+ 3.493	03	1: 49.807 (29.)
04th	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	44	2	+ 8.264	06th	1: 50.111 (26.)
05	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	44	2	+ 9,094	08th	1: 50.477 (25.)
06th	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	44	1	+ 12.359	14th	1: 51.688 (31st)
07th	Michael sSchumacher	Mercedes	44	1	+ 15.548	21st	1: 51.914 (32nd)
08th	Kamui Kobayashi	Clean Ferrari	44	2	+ 16.678	17th	1: 51.749 (29.)
09	Vitaly Petrov	Renault	44	4th	+ 23.851	23	1: 51.175 (32nd)
10	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	44	2	+ 34.831	12	1: 52.267 (31st)
11	Pedro de la Rosa	Clean Ferrari	44	4th	+ 36.019	24	1: 52.537 (31st)
12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	44	4th	+ 39.895	16	1: 52.966 (30.)
13	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	44	3	+ 49.457	11	1: 51.576 (31st)
14th	Nico Hulkenberg	Williams-Cosworth	43	2	+ 1 lap	09	1: 51.864 (28th)
15th	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	43	5	+ 1 lap	04th	1: 50.868 (22.)
16	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Cosworth	43	3	+ 1 lap	13	1: 55.797 (23.)
17th	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Cosworth	43	1	+ 1 lap	22nd	1: 55,705 (25.)
18th	Timo Glock	Virgin Cosworth	43	3	+ 1 lap	20th	1: 55.268 (31st)
19th	Jarno Trulli	Lotus Cosworth	43	1	+ 1 lap	15th	1: 55.103 (24.)
20th	Sakon Yamamoto	HRT-Cosworth	42	2	+ 2 rounds	19th	1: 55.484 (31st)
-	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	37	3	DNF	10	1: 51.374 (29.)
-	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	15th	0	DNF	05	1: 52.879 ( 06.)
-	Bruno Senna	HRT-Cosworth	05	2	DNF	18th	2: 20,201 ( 05.)
-	Rubens Barrichello	Williams-Cosworth	00	0	DNF	07th	-

World Cup stands after the race

The first ten of the race got 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point (s) respectively.

Driver ranking

Item driver constructor Points 01  Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 182 02  Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 179 03  Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 151 04th  Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 147 05  Fernando Alonso Ferrari 141 06th  Felipe Massa Ferrari 109 07th  Robert Kubica Renault 104 08th  Nico Rosberg Mercedes 102 09  Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 45 10  Michael sSchumacher Mercedes 44 11  Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 30th 12  Kamui Kobayashi Clean Ferrari 21st 13  Vitaly Petrov Renault 19th

Item driver constructor Points 14th  Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 13 15th  Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 10 16  Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7th 17th  Pedro de la Rosa Clean Ferrari 6th 18th  Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 3 19th  Heikki Kovalainen Lotus Cosworth 0 20th  Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 0 21st  Lucas di Grassi Virgin Cosworth 0 22nd  Jarno Trulli Lotus Cosworth 0 23  Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 0 24  Timo Glock Virgin Cosworth 0 25th  Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 0

Constructors' championship

Item constructor Points 01  Red Bull-Renault 330 02  McLaren-Mercedes 329 03  Ferrari 250 04th  Mercedes 146 05  Renault 123 06th  Force India-Mercedes 58

Item constructor Points 07th  Williams-Cosworth 40 08th  Clean Ferrari 27 09  Toro Rosso-Ferrari 10 10  Lotus Cosworth 0 11  HRT-Cosworth 0 12  Virgin Cosworth 0

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "Successful F-shaft premiere at Renault" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 27, 2010)
2. ^ "GP Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps / 1st free practice" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 27, 2010)
3. ^ "GP Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps / 2nd free practice" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 27, 2010)
4. ^ "GP Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps / 3rd free practice" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 28, 2010)
5. ↑ "Not a pleasant race for HRT" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 29, 2010)
6. ↑ "Punished: Alguersuari loses his world championship point" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 29, 2010)
7. ↑ "Changing the gearbox at Nico Rosberg" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 28, 2010)
8. ↑ "Competition hindered: Glock transferred as a penalty" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 28, 2010)
9. ^ "Rosberg blocked: penalty for Buemi" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 28, 2010)
10. ↑ "Another penalty transfer: De la Rosa last" (Motorsport-Total.com on August 29, 2010)

Web links

Commons : Belgian Grand Prix 2010  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Weekend statistics at Motorsport-Total.com