2005 Belgian Grand Prix - Spa (discussion)

**^^v** · 09-09-2005 12:27 PM

last round of the european leg for this season! (home of Eau Rouge!)...
it should be an awsome race (going by what happened last year) we should see plenty of action (n prolly rain)

will be interesting to see if Alonso can take the championship this round (thought it looks unlikely... but neva know with kimis luck)

Mclaren 1 - 2 for me... n BAR 3 n 4

Alonso : DNF

**Hondavirgin** · 09-09-2005 12:45 PM

haha, yeah, my money is on a McLaren win, but 50/50 as to whether it will be Montoya or Kimi, Montoya seems to be better at looking after his car....and there's a lot of full throttle work at Spa.....

Alonso for 2nd....Fisi 4th or 5th, BAR and Toyota fighting it out for the rest.

**strider** · 10-09-2005 12:03 AM

will it rain? and if it does, will we see a ferrari taking the checkered flag?

**^^v** · 10-09-2005 02:37 AM

2nd practice was a 'washout'...
n more rain to come apprently...

**Vivski** · 10-09-2005 11:19 AM

Wow, must have been heavy rain. That's good for the race, it'll make the track nice and clean for the race. Spa is a great track, one of the my favourites. Not much passing, but goot for the driver. Again it'll test the reliability of the cars, so we'll see what happens.

**^^v** · 10-09-2005 11:56 AM

Originally Posted by Vivski

Wow, must have been heavy rain. That's good for the race, it'll make the track nice and clean for the race...

hmmm not really =/
more rains expected on Sunday.. n theres even doubt that it'll go ahead ><"

[09/09/05 - 17:28]

Doubts develop over Belgian Grand Prix
'A normal race in these conditions is not possible'

No surprise as it rains at Spa!
Leading drivers cast doubt over Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after revealing Friday that the race cannot run if atrocious weather conditions persist here this weekend.

Friday's second practice session around the forested Spa Francorchamps circuit was a wash-out when heavy rain made the track completely undriveable and none of the 25 drivers set a time.

Only a handful of laps were run in the first session and with the weather predicted to worsen rather than improve even world champion Michael Schumacher was left wondering whether the race will go ahead.

"A normal race in these conditions is not possible," said Schumacher. "Maybe it can get better, but if conditions are like this then it is not possible to race apart from behind the safety car."

"I think this is the best (conditions) it will be this weekend. As far as we know now it is predicted to get worse and at the moment they are predicting heavy rain on Sunday. Today was supposed to be the best in terms of rain, so we still have to find out what that means for the weekend. It is difficult to explain how difficult it is driving in these conditions."

"It is too much rain. We probably needed a propeller to make it through this amount of water! You could see when the drivers that went out were on track that they couldn't really drive. In these conditions nobody can drive except maybe the safety car. In the end, you can only do things that are possible. If it is impossible to drive we will have to find another way."

The two one-hour practice sessions were the first run in rain since qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix in March and there has not yet been a wet race this season.

World championship leader Fernando Alonso revealed here Friday that he has not even driven his Renault car in the wet because the team does not run if it is raining to maximise their limited amount of available test days.

Rivers run across the Spa Francorchamps circuit
Italian test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, of Red Bull, lost control of his car in the practice session and crashed into the barrier after his car aquaplaned off the circuit at Les Combes. The accident displayed how dangerous heavy rain can be, particularly at this long traditional circuit where crash barriers are closer to the track than normal.

Drivers can use wet weather tyres in the rain and there are specially designed extreme weather' tyres, but Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier said even those were not good enough to tackle the amount of water on track here Friday.

Jenson Button backed Schumacher's claims that the race cannot go ahead if conditions persist and explained: "It is disappointing for the fans but we can't really help with that situation. We can't stop it raining here. It's been a pretty boring day for all of us, not being able to do any running, but there was no chance and if it is raining like that we can't race on Sunday. It would be too wet. It is dangerous."

"You are not in control of the car in any way. If you hit a big puddle like Liuzzi did that's it, it could be a massive accident. You are not in control and that's not what we're here to do. And the forecast is for rain on Sunday."

E.A.
Source AFP

**LUD02C** · 10-09-2005 08:42 PM

What about Luizzi crash?

Last practice and Alonso just topped Kimi for time, they reckon rain for first half of race, then slowly dry up!
Who knows with the weather these days!

Bridgestone should be good in the rain, especially when you have a lot of fuel and spray from other cars that can end our draught.

I hope Alonso DNF, I saw on Sports Tonight the track in the wet my god it was raining. Imagine doing Eau Rouge in the wet following another car?

**LUD02C** · 11-09-2005 11:12 AM

Jenson Button is hoping Michael Schumacher's forecast of rain in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix proves false.

Outgoing world champion Schumacher believes it is "pretty certain" Formula One will see its first wet race for two years at Spa-Francorchamps, but Button and his BAR-Honda team have pinned their hopes on a dry grand prix.

The Englishman qualified a disappointed eighth on Saturday but believes several of his rivals have compromised their strategies in planning for a wet race.

He said: "We are a long way off of the front guys but it is difficult to tell here what people are doing with their strategy.

"The weather has been very up and down over the last couple of days, we don't know what is going to happen. It might rain it might dry up, you don't know. I am hoping for a dry race and I think all the drivers will be.

"I'm sure people have set their car up because they think it will rain. I don't think you can plan everything on it being wet. I'm sure some people have run on Saturday thinking it's going to rain on Sunday but we haven't thought like that.

"Even so, starting eighth is not fantastic but we have a better race car here than a qualifying car and we will be challenging the cars in front more so than in Monza by far."

Button has his eyes on the cars immediately in front of him, particularly the Toyota pair of Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher, who qualified third and fifth respectively and are suspected to be running low on fuel.

Michael Schumacher and Sauber's Felipe Massa are immediately in front of Button, in sixth and seventh respectively, but Button is confident of quickly dispatching them.

He added: "The Toyotas seem to be very quick in qualifying but it will be interesting to see how quick they are in the race.

"I think we will be challenging them - people might be surprised by that but I think we will. I think Toyota think it will rain on Sunday.

"There's a Sauber in front of us which shouldn't be a problem and then there's Michael."

Schumacher is desperate to see a wet race, confessing only rain can give Ferrari a chance to win their first genuine race of the season.

The German, whose only win so far came in the six-car United States Grand Prix, is convinced the Ardennes weather will help him.

"We have to hope for rain on Sunday," he said. "If there is rain there is a big question mark on what we can do. If it stays dry we will again be fighting to get points."

David Coulthard, who famously clashed with Schumacher in the rain at Spa in 1998, starts 11th and was left to rue yesterday's lost second practice session.

Torrential rain robbed him of the chance to perfect the set-up on his Red Bull and he said: "The car was capable of going quicker in qualifying than it did.

"But following yesterday's lack of track time we didn't have the confident to push."

**Vivski** · 11-09-2005 02:37 PM

We haven't had one wet race yet this season. I hope it is wet, but not dangerously wet. Wet spa will really test out the drivers, make 'em earn it, I say.

**^^v** · 11-09-2005 05:37 PM

i think a few of the teams r on a short first stint...hoping for rain n pitting straight away...
oh well.. i hope it dusnt rain.. for BAR's sake...

also interesting to note the Renaults seem to be running quite low downforce... their top speed was almost 5-10km's higher than most of the other teams...