Raikkonen gets a win for Ferrari in Belgium F1 grand prix
Another F1 race is done and dusted and we have yet another winner. That makes it six different drivers that have taken P1 in the 12 races so far in the 2009 F1 drivers championship. This time it was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen who took full points.
Raikkonen started from P6 on the grid but quickly moved up towards the lead. After some carnage on the first lap which saw Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton crash out, the safety car was brought into play. Shortly after the re-start Kimi hit the KERS and got past Giancarlo Fisichella and from that point he managed to stay in front.
“Today, the F60 was not the best car, but the team work and the talent of the driver produced the win and that’s what counts.” said Chris Dyer, Ferrari chief engineer after the race.
Fisichella took second place to collect points for Force India for the very first time. That in itself was a fantastic result for the team however Fisichella was unhappy to not grab the win. He said afterwards that he was faster than Kimi however the KERS made it hard to overtake and he seemed to suggest that it was unfair, but rules are rules and Ferrari choose to have KERS onboard.
Sebastian Vettel took third spot with a solid drive, it was especially good as Button was out of action and he ate into the Brits F1 driver’s championship lead. Vettel started from eighth on the grid and was just happy to make it to the end after having engine trouble recently. His teammate was not so fortunate.
Mark Webber started from ninth on the grid and had moved up to fifth thanks to some good driving. His race was then undone when he was released into the path of Nick Heidfeld after the first pit stop. He was awarded a drive through penalty and could only manage another ninth placed finish. As Ferrari’s Dyer said it is teamwork and talent that can get a win. Unfortunately Webber has been let down by the pit crew in the past two races.
Rubens Barrichello had a chance to make a big move on his teammate after Button qualified in 14th with Barrichello in fourth however the anti-stall system kicked in at the start and he sat on the start line for a few seconds as the field passed him by. A change of strategy under the safety car saw him at least fight his way back up to seventh to at least collect a few points.
After 12 of the 17 races for the 2009 Formula One drivers championship we see Jenson Button on 72 points, Barrichello 56, Vettel 53, Webber 51.5, Raikkonen 34, Rosberg 30.5 and Hamilton 27.
In the Formula One contructors championship Brawn GP are on 128, Red Bull Racing 104.5, Ferrari 56, McLaren 44 and Toyota 38.5.
The full results from the Belgium F1 grand prix are below.
1 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:23:50.995
2 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes +0.9 secs
3 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault +3.8 secs
4 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +9.9 secs
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +11.2 secs
6 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes +32.7 secs
7 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes +35.4 secs
8 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota +36.2 secs
9 Mark Webber RBR-Renault +36.9 secs
10 Timo Glock Toyota +41.4 secs
11 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +42.6 secs
12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari +46.1 secs
13 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota +54.2 secs
14 Luca Badoer Ferrari +102.1 secs
Ret Fernando Alonso Renault Retired
Ret Jarno Trulli Toyota Brakes
Ret Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes Accident
Ret Romain Grosjean Renault Accident
Ret Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes Accident
Ret Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari Accident
The next race in the Formula One drivers championship will be held on 11-13 September at the Monza track in Italy. Of most interest in the lead up to that race is will Ferrari dump Luca Badoer.
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