2012 Belgian Grand Prix: Team-by-team analysis

Monday, September 3, 2012

McLaren’s Jenson Button admits he still only has a very long shot at the 2012 drivers’ crown, but at least he has a shot after his masterful drive at Spa. Romain Grosjean’s turn-one misdemeanour, which eliminated championship leader Fernando Alonso, really mixed up the title fight. If Alonso was the biggest loser, Sebastian Vettel was arguably the biggest winner. The lap-one accident helped lift

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Grosjean handed one-race ban and Maldonado gets ten place grid penalty

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Grosjean is catapulted into the air as he crashes at the first corner at the start of the Belgian Grand PrixLotus’s Romain Grosjean has been given a one-race ban after the stewards at Spa-Francorchamps judged him to be responsible for causing the first-corner accident at the start of Sunday’s 2012 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix.The ban means Grosjean will miss next weekend’s Italian event,

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The Lewis Hamilton 'Twittergate' affair deepened on Sunday

On Saturday (Sep 1st), 'Tweets' posted by the 2008 world champion and featuring the obscenity-acronym 'WTF' suggested Jenson Button had been given a better front wing in qualifying. The Tweets were deleted.Then, ahead of Sunday's Belgian grand prix, the 'Twittergate' affair shifted into a higher gear when Hamilton posted via his social media account an image of a confidential McLaren telemetry

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F1 2012 Championship Standings after Belgian GP

World Drivers' ChampionshipFernando Alonso continues to lead the championship. His lead of 40 points to Mark Webber after the Hungarian Grand Prix has now been reduced to 24 points by Sebastian Vettel - who in turn has jumped teammate Mark Webber to move into second place. Kimi Raikkonen has risen back ahead of Lewis Hamilton, whilst Jenson Button's victory takes him over the century to remain in

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Belgian GP: Button dominates Spa after a first corner carnage

Jenson Button claimed his second win this year and 14th of his career on Sunday when he drove to a comprehensive victory in an incident and accident-packed Belgian Grand Prix.Sebastian Vettel came through to take second from tenth on the grid as he and Button proved that a well-managed one-stop strategy was the fastest way to complete 44 laps of Spa-Francorchamps. Kimi Raikkonen for Lotus

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Belgian GP: Qualifying analysis - Button finally to the fore

Saturday, September 1, 2012

It’s been three long years since Jenson Button started a Grand Prix from pole position, but on Saturday in Belgium the McLaren driver secured his first P1 grid slot since Monaco 2009 in dominant style. With Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi joining Button on the front row and drivers from seven teams making up the top ten, we’re in for a thrilling race on Sunday. We take a team-by-team look at how all the

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Maldonado handed three place penalty in Belgium for impeding

Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado dropped from third to sixth place on the Belgian Grand Prix starting grid on Saturday after Formula One stewards ruled he had impeded Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying.Stewards said the Williams driver had been warned by his team not to hold up Hulkenberg but clearly did so in the first phase of the session. Despite the incident, the German made the cut

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Belgian GP: Button grabs his first pole for McLaren

Jenson Button took pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix by 0.3s in an unpredictable qualifying session at Spa.Button's pole is his first for McLaren in his 50th race for the team, and he looked imperious from Q2 onwards as he headed the field. Kamui Kobayashi joins him on the front row as Sauber continued its strong showing at Spa, with Pastor Maldonado third for Williams alongside Kimi

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Stewards fine Schumacher in Spa over pit-entry incident, Webber gets gearbox penalty

Friday, August 31, 2012

Michael Schumacher has been hit with a fine of €2500 for not using the pit-entry road correctly during Friday afternoon practice at Spa.The Mercedes driver was charged with breaching Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 4(b) of the FIA International Sporting Code, which covers a driver's conduct when he comes into the pits.The stewards, which includes ex-March, ATS and Ensign grand prix driver Eliseo

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Belgian GP: Rain turns Spa practice into a washout

Rain washed out Belgian Grand Prix practice on Friday with Formula One fans huddled under umbrellas in the forests while drivers took shelter in the garages.

The afternoon session ended without a timed lap on the board, although some extremely slow times were registered on the screens after drivers went out to perform practice standing starts on the grid.
Marussia's French rookie Charles Pic was

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Belgian GP: Kobayashi heads wet Spa first practice session

Ferrari's Formula One championship leader Fernando Alonso lapped more than 29 seconds off the pace in a rain-lashed and meaningless first practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday.

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi ended up with his name on top of the timing screens after a fastest lap of two minutes 11.389 seconds but the Japanese was among a small minority to get into double figures with

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Whiting admits Schumacher penalty in Hungary was unfair

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Formula One Race Director and Safety Delegate, Charlie Whiting has admitted Michael Schumacher should not have been given a drive-through penalty in Hungary recently.After the Mercedes driver stopped his engine after lining up in the wrong grid spot, he then sped in the pitlane to await the re-start. Stewards gave Schumacher, a drive-through penalty for the speeding, but FIA race director Whiting

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Pirelli - Technical tyre notes for the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix

Following the month-long summer break, Pirelli returns to action with the P Zero Silver hard tyre and P Zero White medium: a combination that has not been raced since the second grand prix of the season in Malaysia.The conditions at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit will be somewhat different however. The 7.004-kilometre lap is the longest of the entire year by some margin, and this is just

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2012 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix preview

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

2012 event artwork © formula1.comAfter several painstaking weeks of no Formula 1 action, fans across the globe can rejoice this weekend as Formula 1 returns at unarguably the most spectacular and demanding circuit on the calendar, with the Belgian Grand Prix at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit.Situated deep within the Ardennes Forest, near the towns of Spa, Malmedy and Stavelot, the

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Belgian Grand Prix 2012: Engine facts and figures by Renault

The Belgian Grand Prix represents one of the hardest challenges of the year for engines. Over 70% of the 7.004km historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes forest is spent at full throttle, giving the track the second highest power factor of the season after Monza. Outright power and top speed are therefore rewarded significantly more than at other circuits on the

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Mclaren to use 'double DRS'- like system at Spa - Reports (Update)

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

McLaren may also be preparing a 'double DRS'- like system for this weekend's Belgian grand prix.Earlier this month, there were reports suggesting that the British team looked set to follow Mercedes and Lotus' lead in developing an iteration of the straightline speed-boosting concept."It's not like the Lotus one, but we are studying such a system," McLaren's sporting director Sam Michael was

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Historic feature: 2011 Belgian Grand Prix - A Flashback

The second-half of the 2012 F1 season begins this weekend - after a long August summer break - at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps. As the teams and drivers are gearing up for the grand prix, we take a look back at the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix.Sebastian Vettel’s victory in the 2011 Belgian GP was significant as it was the first for both the German driver and Red Bull Racing at Spa, one of the most

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Schumacher on his "number one race track in the world" at 300th GP

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Michael Schumacher Spa 1991 Jordan - FordMichael Schumacher is hoping for a strong result to mark his 300th grand prix at Spa-Francorchamps next weekend.DebutSchumacher made his Formula One debut with the Jordan-Ford team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, driving car number 32 as a replacement for the imprisoned Bertrand Gachot. Schumacher, still a contracted Mercedes driver, was signed by Eddie

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F1 on holiday, Pirelli "No" to tyre war and Lotus' ‘double DRS’ at Spa

Monday, August 6, 2012

Formula one is officially on holidayA gentleman’s agreement between the 12 competing teams means every factory has closed its doors and sent home its staff for a full 14 day period.“What can you do during this period? Nothing, absolutely nothing,” Autosprint’s Alberto Antonini wrote.McLaren was the first to shut down, closing its doors at Woking on midnight after the Hungarian grand prix. Red

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2012 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Details Race Date: 2-Sep-12 Circuit Name: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Number of Laps: 44 Circuit Length: 7.004 km Race Distance: 308.052 km Lap Record: 1:45.108 - K Raikkonen (2004) Drivers and fans alike love the Belgian Grand Prix. Since inception, Spa-Francorchamps has been famous for its unpredictable weather. At one stage in its

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