Race: Räikkönen wins ahead of Fisichella!

Despite some threatening clouds over the Spa Francorchamps circuit, it’s sunny on the unprecedented grid of the Belgian Grand Prix. The front row is 100% Italian with Fisichella on pole ahead of Trulli, while the main contenders of this 2009 season are quite far back, with Vettel and Webber in 8th and 9th, Hamilton in 12th, and Button in 14th. Only Barrichello in 4th position has a good shot at the championship, although he is lighter. At the start of the formation lap, it’s 16°C in the air and the track is at 31°C, and it is expected that the first corner will be highly contested and could already prove crucial.

When the lights go out, Fisichella on soft tires makes a perfect start while Barrichello is stuck on the grid, causing panic behind. Räikkönen gets off to a great start with his KERS and is third at the exit of Raidillon behind Kubica and Fisichella. The Finn drafts his Ferrari behind the Pole and overtakes him at the Combes braking zone, while a big crash occurs in this turn mid-pack with Grosjean hitting Button and Alguersuari taking out Hamilton. The four drivers retire as the Safety Car is deployed. Trulli, Barrichello, and Sutil make pit stops. The order behind the safety car is 1-Fisichella, 2-Räikkönen, 3-Kubica, 4-Glock, 5-Webber, 6-Heidfeld, 7-Rosberg, 8-Vettel, 9-Alonso, 10-Kovalainen, 11-Buemi, 12-Nakajima, 13-Badoer, 14-Trulli, 15-Barrichello, 16-Sutil.

The car returns on the 4th lap and the race resumes. Unsurprisingly at the restart, Räikkönen is on the tail of Fisichella’s Force India and passes him on the straight after the Raidillon. At the back, Barrichello is already making his comeback, overtaking Trulli then Badoer on the 5th lap, and Nakajima on the 6th; the Brazilian in the sole surviving Brawn is 12th. Meanwhile, Räikkönen is still in the lead but doesn’t so easily distance the Force India; he has a 1.8-second lead on the 10th lap. Webber, who has a good chance in the race and the championship, is still 5th, 8 seconds behind Räikkönen.

Already by the 12th lap, Kubica and Glock stop to refuel – refueling problem for the German – while Fisichella, who was supposed to be on the same strategy, stays on course and maintains within 2 seconds of the leading Ferrari. Heidfeld is the fastest in the race when on the 14th lap, Räikkönen, Fisichella, Webber, and Heidfeld enter the pits. Upon rejoining, the latter two almost collided, Webber leaves the pit lane ahead but Heidfeld overtakes the Australian at the top of Raidillon. To everyone’s surprise, Barrichello also passes Webber on the outside at Pouhon; it seems the Red Bull is encountering technical problems.

After these first pit stops, it’s Vettel who leads ahead of Rosberg, Räikkönen, Fisichella, and Alonso. Red Bull is in the spotlight because when Vettel stops on lap 16, the track marshals give a ‘drive-through’ penalty to Mark Webber for his team’s dangerous maneuver in the pits. Rosberg takes the lead when he enters the pit on lap 18 to refuel, with Webber following to serve his penalty.

The top 10 at the 20th lap: Räikkönen ahead of Fisichella, Alonso, Kubica, Kovalainen, Buemi, Vettel, Heidfeld, Barrichello, and Sutil. The Renault, McLaren, and Toro Rosso drivers have not yet stopped. Fisichella is truly creating a sensation as he is only one second behind the Ferrari, it is really an exceptional performance considering both drivers are on the same strategy! On the Toyota side, after another failed pit stop for Trulli, the Italian returns to the pit at the 22nd lap to retire, a true hope dashed for Trulli who was one of the big favorites.

We are halfway through the race, and with Alonso still not having pitted, he might consider a one-stop strategy and aim for victory as he is only 2.8 seconds behind Räikkönen. Meanwhile, Kimi sees Fisichella growing larger in his mirrors as he’s now only 0.7 seconds from the Ferrari at the start of the 23rd lap! It’s a radio battle between Ferrari and Force India.

Alonso finally returns to the pits on the 24th lap, and there’s a problem fixing the front left wheel… The stop drags on, and the Spaniard eventually rejoins in 14th position. Replays show that Alonso took a hit at the start on this wheel, which likely explains a deformation of the brake disc cover. Alonso returns slowly to his pit and retires as a precaution to avoid losing the wheel. Another disappointing weekend for the French team.

Meanwhile, Kovalainen, who was the only one yet to refuel, enters the pits for the first time on lap 26 and comes out ahead of Buemi, while Barrichello also pits again. The standings on lap 29: 1-Räikkönen, 2-Fisichella, 3-Kubica, 4-Vettel, 5-Heidfeld, 6-Rosberg, 7-Glock, 8-Webber, 9-Kovalainen, 10-Buemi, 11-Barrichello, 12-Nakajima, 13-Sutil, 14-Badoer. While the positions among the top three are quite stable, Vettel is closing in strongly on Kubica.

The Pole and Buemi open the second round of pit stops on lap 30, while the much-anticipated pit battle for victory between Räikkönen and Fisichella is set to take place. Both drivers enter on lap 31 and exit in exactly the same order. However, they have different tire choices, with Räikkönen on softs and Fisichella on hards.

Vettel is temporarily in the lead with an 11-second advantage over Räikkönen, who continues to be harassed by Fisichella, only 0.7 seconds behind. Sebastian Vettel enters the 35th lap for his final pit stop, clearly aiming for Kubica’s third place, and he gets it! The German returns to the track one second ahead of the BMW.

With 8 laps remaining on the Spa Francorchamps circuit, the top 8 is as follows: 1-Räikkönen, 2-Fisichella, 3-Vettel, 4-Kubica, 5-Heidfeld, 6-Kovalainen, 7-Barrichello, 8-Rosberg. Vettel is the fastest on track and sets fastest lap after fastest lap, closing to within 4.5 seconds of Fisichella with 6 laps to go. There are also battles at the back, with Barrichello trying to pass Kovalainen for 6th place while Webber harasses Rosberg for the final point.

Great concern for Barrichello with 2 laps to go: the Brawn GP starts smoking. His team indicates it’s the engine and advises him to conserve it, as the Brazilian is 2 seconds ahead of Rosberg. Rubens continues to drive despite everything, his car smoking, while Räikkönen enters his final lap!

And seven kilometers later, Räikkönen wins again at Spa Francorchamps for the 4th time, he truly is the master of the venue! It’s also the first victory for Scuderia this season! But the sensation is the driver who finishes less than a second behind the winner, Fisichella proves that his pole position is not a bluff and gives Force India its first podium and first points! Vettel finishes third and makes a good move in the championship by surpassing his teammate in the standings. Just off the podium, BMW Sauber achieves its best result of the year with Kubica 4th and Heidfeld 5th. Kovalainen scores 3 points for McLaren ahead of Barrichello, whose engine holds up and who scores 2 points. Rosberg takes the last available point ahead of Webber, who makes a poor move in the battle for the title.

Results of the Belgian Grand Prix – August 30, 2009: