# Belgian GP * SPOILER *



## tim330i (Dec 18, 2001)

*Belgian GP - Preview* 
08/20/2004

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team will head to Spa next weekend for the 14th round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. One of the most favoured tracks amongst the teams and drivers alike, Spa is making a welcome return to the calendar following last year's absence. 
Situated in the Ardennes forest, Spa-Francorchamps presents the drivers with an open and fast circuit and one of the most exciting corners faced all season in the Eau Rouge. Combined with the venue's notoriously unpredictable weather conditions, which can play havoc with the teams' strategies, the Belgian Grand Prix should produce a thrilling spectacle.

Juan Pablo Montoya:
It's great to have the Belgian Grand Prix back on the calendar. I regard it as one of my favourite tracks, fast, challenging and very demanding on the drivers, so it will be good to race again there. I have heard the last chicane is not as good as it was before, but we'll wait and see what it's like when we get there. With respect to our performance, our package has always worked pretty well at Spa and generally we have qualified near the front and had a couple of podium finishes.

We haven't had much wet running during Grand Prix weekends this season, but if there's a circuit where this could turn around, it's definitely Spa and rain will be little help to us. Our new aero package proved successful in Hungary, so we are now looking forward to going well in Belgium.

Antonio Pizzonia:
I have good memories of Spa, where I've raced four times in different formulae, including Formula Renault, F3 and F3000. The best was definitely in 2000, when I became British F3 Champion, having finished the race in second place. I spent the week after the Hungarian Grand Prix at home in Monaco, training hard in preparation for this race. Spa is a very special place, so I can't wait to drive a Formula One car around it.

I don't think Eau Rouge is as challenging as it used to be, though, because Formula One cars have so changed much. We have such a huge amount of downforce now, and the tyres have improved so much, I think everyone pretty much goes flat out around it.

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):
Spa is one of the great circuits of Formula One racing and it's fantastic to have the Grand Prix back on the calendar again. With the aero and tyre developments made since we last raced there, watching the cars going through Eau Rouge and Blanchimont will be impressive. There has also been a change to the circuit at the last "Bus Stop" corner which will slow the cars down slightly. The set-up is not geared towards high downforce, but it's important to have stability through the medium speed flowing corners as the car makes its way back from the far part of the circuit. Changing weather conditions can play havoc as it can sometimes rain on one part of the circuit, but not the other.

We will have some more aerodynamic developments on the FW26's bodywork, particularly around the winglet and cooling chimney area, a result of the on-going wind tunnel programme. We have also been working hard to improve our starts for the Belgium Grand Prix, Antonio Pizzonia recently completed another shakedown at Silverstone to this end. Ralf has not been cleared to drive yet, so Antonio will once again be driving for us at Spa. Our strong partnership with Michelin has enabled us to precisely calculate the tyre compound and casing requirements for Spa. This is particularly impressive given the changes to the surface, and indeed to the car, since we were last at the track.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
We are very much looking forward to the race at Spa. The slightly austere track, set in such a natural location, is a tremendous challenge for the drivers. The roller-coaster circuit, which measures nearly seven kilometres, offers plenty of scope for a variety of racing lines and consequently wheel-to-wheel action. From that point of view, it boasts many of the pre-requisites for a great Formula One event, which should create a more exciting show for the spectators than the last Grand Prix in Hungary.

In Belgium, we are aiming to further increase our competitiveness. Although the on-going testing ban is not exactly helping us with the continued development of the car, the race in Hungary demonstrated that the new nose and improved start performance have met our expectations. Both are foundations upon which we can build. The forthcoming Grands Prix in Belgium and Italy pose particular challenges for the BMW P84 engine. At Spa, this is primarily due to the gradients, while in Monza it will be the long straight, which invokes the highest, full-throttle percentage on the Grand Prix calendar.

Stats and Facts:

- Spa-Francorchamps has hosted 37 out of 49 Belgian Grands Prix. Zolder has hosted the race ten times, while Nivelles has hosted the event twice.

- In 1920, the idea of taking advantage of the triangle formed by the roads connecting Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps to make a racing track was born. By August 1921, track preparations had been completed. However, the circuit's inaugural event was not a car race but a motorcycle event due to lack of interest. Cars eventually made their debut at Spa in 1922.

- The first 24 hour race made its debut at Spa in 1924, while the first major single-seater event, the European Grand Prix, followed in 1925. Seven cars entered, and victory was taken by Antonio Ascari in an Alfa Romeo.

- Racing at Spa was interrupted for a seven year period due to the Second World War, with cars only returning to the track in 1947. Racing continued on the 14 kilometre circuit up until 1970 but, by that time, cars had become too fast for the track and drivers refused to race. Consequently, necessary changes were made and the present race track was opened in 1979.

- Formula One bypassed Spa in 2003, and has undergone certain modifications since. The area around the old Bus Stop Chicane has been altered and the track now measures 6.973 kilometres following a 10 metre extension. As a result, Spa-Francorchamps is the longest track on the Formula One calendar.

- Eau Rouge, a left-right sweep through a dip, is arguably the track's most celebrated feature. A car's set-up has to be perfect to allow the corner to be taken flat.

- Other well known corners include the fast Blanchimont section and La Source, the hairpin following the start line, and the location of the biggest pile-up in Formula One history in 1998.

- To date, WilliamsF1 has claimed four victories at Spa (1981, 1986, 1993 and 1994) and nine pole positions. The team?s last pole was secured by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001. Ralf Schumacher completed a perfect qualifying line up for the team that year by taking second place. Neither driver was as fortunate in the race, however. Several starts were required, during one of which Montoya's engine stalled and Ralf Schumacher was forced to drop to the back of the field after repair work to his car was not completed in time. Since the start of the Anglo-German partnership in 2000, the team's best race results have been third places (Ralf Schumacher 2000, Montoya 2002).

- Michael Schumacher won the last Belgian Grand Prix in 2002. He also secured pole position with a time of 1:43.726m and set the race, and current, lap record of 1:47.176m.

- The 2004 Belgian Grand Prix will start at 14:00, local time, on Sunday 29th August.


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

> From that point of view, it boasts many of the pre-requisites for a great Formula One event, which should create a more exciting show for the spectators than the last Grand Prix in Hungary.


Boy, I sure hope so! :yawn: :tsk:



> The forthcoming Grands Prix in Belgium and Italy pose particular challenges for the BMW P84 engine. At Spa, this is primarily due to the gradients, while in Monza it will be the long straight, which invokes the highest, full-throttle percentage on the Grand Prix calendar.


I thought the U.S. Grand Prix had the longest full-throttle blast in F1? Or is this full throttle as a percentage of the total track length?


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## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

Mr. E said:


> Boy, I sure hope so! :yawn: :tsk:
> 
> I thought the U.S. Grand Prix had the longest full-throttle blast in F1? Or is this full throttle as a percentage of the total track length?


The USGP does have the longest single full throttle segment in F1. Monza is really nothing but a series of high speed straights connected by chicanes or curves. Monza probably has the highest percentage of lap a full throttle, but not as long a time as at Indy. Two really neat tracks coming up.


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

Mr. E said:


> Boy, I sure hope so! :yawn: :tsk:


I'll second that.


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

This is cute...

From Planet F1 comes an exerpt from MS's diary:

"...I am astonishing that Jenson Button has signed for Williams in the 100% sure knowledge that Mark Webber is going there also. Quite honestly and quite obviously this is a bad move. I told Jenson, always go for a team that gives you a slow and grateful team-mate. It makes you look good and your team-mate doesn't care, he's just happy to be on the grid...."

Read it all here:

http://www.planetf1.com/features/off_on_f1/story_17012.shtml

Too funny.


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## Jayhox (Jan 16, 2002)

:asshole:


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

Jayhox said:


> :asshole:


Who or what was that for?


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## Clarke (Oct 21, 2002)

Aimed at Spoonface I would imagine.:dunno:


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

Clarke said:


> Aimed at Spoonface I would imagine.:dunno:


But he didn't really write the piece, of course...it's just a big joke.


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## richard (Apr 3, 2002)

This is one of the races I'm actually looking forward to. Even if the racing is dull(if?) the scenery is so spectacular it doesn't matter. On a related note...I noticed the Olympic committee is thinking of dropping women's softball because it so uncompetitve. The American girls I think gave up one run total. This is a something that only comes around every 4 years. Can you imagine what the IOC would do with F1...it's uncompetitve every 2 weeks.


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## Jayhox (Jan 16, 2002)

berford said:


> But he didn't really write the piece, of course...it's just a big joke.


I didn't catch that. Sorry.  It was aimed at Spoonface. The thing was so believable that I didn't check to see if it was real.


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

Jayhox said:


> I didn't catch that. Sorry.  It was aimed at Spoonface. The thing was so believable that I didn't check to see if it was real.


They do that from time to time on Planet-F1. It can be pretty entertaining. It's sort of like their answer to The Onion.


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

For what it's worth, Friday practice results:


2004 Belgian Grand Prix  







 







 
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints







































































































16Kimi Räikkönen







McLaren-Mercedes1:44.701







































































































29Jenson Button







BAR-Honda1:45.015







































































































31Michael Schumacher







Ferrari1:45.137







































































































435Anthony Davidson







BAR-Honda1:45.437







































































































510Takuma Sato







BAR-Honda1:45.451







































































































65David Coulthard







McLaren-Mercedes1:45.507







































































































74Antonio Pizzonia







Williams-BMW1:45.559







































































































82Rubens Barrichello







Ferrari1:45.625







































































































98Fernando Alonso







Renault1:45.658







































































































103Juan Pablo Montoya







Williams-BMW1:45.678







































































































1112Felipe Massa







Sauber-Petronas1:45.960







































































































1211Giancarlo Fisichella







Sauber-Petronas1:45.978







































































































1314Mark Webber







Jaguar-Cosworth1:46.471







































































































1417Olivier Panis







Toyota1:46.528







































































































1516Ricardo Zonta







Toyota1:46.902







































































































167Jarno Trulli







Renault1:46.912







































































































1737Bjorn Wirdheim







Jaguar-Cosworth1:47.265







































































































1815Christian Klien







Jaguar-Cosworth1:47.370







































































































1938Ryan Briscoe







Toyota1:47.634







































































































2021Zsolt Baumgartner







Minardi-Cosworth1:48.687







































































































2118Nick Heidfeld







Jordan-Ford1:48.803







































































































2239Timo Glock







Jordan-Ford1:48.817







































































































2319Giorgio Pantano







Jordan-Ford1:48.962







































































































2440Bas Leinders







Minardi-Cosworth1:49.480







































































































2520Gianmaria Bruni







Minardi-Cosworth1:49.742 
*******>
********> 
*******>
********>


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## tim330i (Dec 18, 2001)

*Belgian GP - Free Practice* 
08/27/2004

Weather: Overcast, dry. Temp: 17-18°C Air, 21-23°C Track, Humidity 66-68% 
Spa (BEL) After heavy rain yesterday, the bad weather cleared today allowing the first and second Free Practice sessions of the Belgian Grand Prix to run in dry conditions. Antonio Pizzonia set the 7th time while team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya was 10th fastest.

Antonio Pizzonia:
Chassis: FW26 07
First session: 9th 1.47,083 min
Second session: 7th 1.45,559 min
We had fairly good sessions today and for sure it's good it didn't rain so that we could complete our usual programme for a Friday, i.e. tyre evaluation and set-up preparation for the race. I drove an F1 car here for the first time today and it is quite different. With other cars, there were several corners where I would easily go flat out, but conditions are not the same now, since speed is much higher! I'll get used to it, I am sure, but I need some time. Also, going through Eau Rouge is good, it's quite exciting, as I was expecting. I am sure everyone is taking it flat out. Anyway, there's more to come from the car and a lot more to come from me as well.

Juan Pablo Montoya: 
Chassis: FW26 05 (Spare car FW26 06) 
First session: 12th 1.47,560 min
Second session: 10th 1.45,678 min
Not a satisfying day for me because I am not still happy with the balance of my car. It definitely improved a lot from this morning, as the car became much more predictable to drive and more stable at the end of the first session. I hope to have some more dry running tomorrow which will help us to get the car right for qualifying.

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):
We have had a reasonable day today. We had no mechanical problems and worked through all of our programme on tyres and brakes. The choice for the tyre compound is going to be difficult. That is what we will have to look at tonight. The rain held off today but it looks like it could be wet tomorrow morning. In any case, it is challenging to find the balance between high speed and low speed set-up here in Spa.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
It is really nice to see the Formula One cars back here on this beautiful circuit. We have had a proper first day of practice, with the usual focus on set-up and tyre evaluation. Both drivers achieved progress in both areas. Antonio has gave a good performance, given it is his first time running in an F1 car here. Engine power is especially required for the Raidillon and Blanchimont sections.


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

I think Pizzonia just said that he isn't ready for PRIME TIME.

Of course, he didn't mean to say it that way, but that's my impression.


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## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

Back in the country and back online at home with cable modem and airport wireless up and running. :clap: Glad to see the walrus is gone finally. Looking forward to watching the practice replay on Speed at 11:00. :thumbup:


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## Rich_Jenkins (Jul 12, 2003)

WILLIA///M said:


> Back in the country and back online at home with cable modem and airport wireless up and running. :clap: Glad to see the walrus is gone finally. Looking forward to watching the practice replay on Speed at 11:00. :thumbup:


Thanks! I'm on it...half hour to go!


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

Wow. Now I see what Coulthard was talking about WRT to changes made to the Bus Stop.

The drama has been removed from that corner. :thumbdwn: 


-


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

Or maybe not.

Both Barrichello and Räikkönen shagged it!

Rain is cool.


-


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## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

Looks like the rain added a bit of fun to the first part of the race tomorrow. Speed commentators said Montoya made his run on intermediates instead of full wets. Trulli was on them as well and he seems to have been the luckiest since he got his run in prior to the rain starting up again. 

Maybe the FIA can institute a regulation to wet down the track every weekend to add drama. :dunno:


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