Buzzin F1 – Formula One Blog

Felipe Massa

After an action packed Belgian Grand Prix race the drama continued well after the chequered flag as McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was demoted of his win which was then handed to second place ma,n Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari got a fantastic start from fourth place on the grid and by the end of the second lap was in the lead while Hamilton span his McLaren at La Source.

Raikkonen had control of the lead but was unable to shake off Hamilton but with only three laps of the forty-four lap race to go the rain started to fall again.

Raikkonen had to back off the pace as the grip lessened on circuit allowing Hamilton to close the gap and compete for the lead.

The Finn kept his racing line as Hamilton tried to pass him at the ‘Bus-Stop’, but Hamilton was forced to go off track as the gap was not enough to let him through, however, he squeezed past Raikkonen at ‘La Source’ to take the lead.

Hamilton’s challenge at the ‘Bus-Stop’ would later prove to cost him his win after it was considered that Hamilton had gained an advantage going into the first turn.

As the rain got heavier and the track more slippery, Hamilton and Raikkonen continued to push with only one-and-a-half laps to go.

The Williams car of Nico Rosberg had span and he was rejoining the track as the Hamilton and Raikkonen battle approached, forcing both drivers to take avoiding action to miss Rosberg.

Hamilton took to the grass while Raikkonen span but managed to control the Ferrari and rejoined right behind Hamilton, he then again span but this time hit the retaining wall and he was out of the race while Hamilton managed to get his car home and take the chequered flag.

Nick Heidfeld was amazing in the BMW Sauber when in the penultimate lap he pitted to change to intermediate tyres.

He sliced his way through the pack to take third place as the drivers who had opted to remain on their tyres for the rest of the race struggled for grip.  He now moves up to second position after Hamilton’s penalty.

Fernando Alonso finished in fourth place, for the Renault team, as he battled with the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel at the finishing line.

Robert Kubica in the second BMW Sauber finished in sixth place followed by Sebastien Bourdais in the Toro Rosso in seventh.

Timo Glock finished in eighth place in the Toyota but he was also handed a 25-second penalty for overtaking under a waved yellow flag.

Glock’s team-mate, Jarno Trulli had a fantastic start from eleventh place on the grid up to fifth but was hit from behind by Bourdais and the Toyota suffered handling problems for the rest of the race.

Mark Webber was moved up to eighth place after Glock’s penalty for the Red Bull Racing team ahead of the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen.

Earlier in the race, Kovalainen had tried a pass on Webber, forcing the Red Bull driver to spin, Kovalainen was penalised with a drive-through penalty and then on the final lap crashed out at turn eight.

The second Red Bull driver, David Coulthard, finished in eleventh ahead of the leading Williams driver Nico Rosberg.

The Force India driver, Adrian Sutil took thirteenth place followed by the second Williams driver, Kazuki Nakajima.

Jenson Button in the Honda was in fifteenth place ahead of Jarno Trulli and second Force India driver, Giancarlo Fisichella.

Rubens Barrichello retired from the race after his Honda suffered a gearbox failure while young Nelson PIquet span off in the early part of the race.

Hamilton losing this race now brings his championship lead down to only two points between him and Massa.

Here are the results;

Pos  Driver        Team
 1.  Massa         Ferrari
 2.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes
 4.  Alonso        Renault
 5.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari
 6.  Kubica        BMW Sauber
 7.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari
 8.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault
 9.  Glock         Toyota
10.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes
11.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault
12.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota
13.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari
14.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota
15.  Button        Honda
16.  Trulli        Toyota
17.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari
18.  Raikkonen     Ferrari

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:47.930

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Barrichello   Honda                 (B)    21
Piquet        Renault               (B)    14