Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, 11th September 2005 - Summary - Gamble pays off as Webber finishes fourth in Spa.

Spa-Francorchamps (BEL). Mark Webber emerged from a rough and tumble
Belgian Grand Prix on a slowly drying track with a five-point haul for
the BMW WilliamsF1 Team. The Australian driver finished fourth in
Sunday's race as the curtain came down on the European season in
Formula One amid testing conditions in Spa. Webber's Brazilian
team-mate Antonio Pizzonia, standing in once again for Germany's Nick
Heidfeld, was forced to retire on lap 40 of the 306.972-km race
following a collision. Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen took victory in
his McLaren-Mercedes after 44 laps of the 6.974-km undulating circuit,
keeping his title hopes alive in the process. Second was Renault's
championship leader Fernando Alonso (Spain), ahead of Jenson Button in
a BAR-Honda. World Champion Michael Schumacher's race ended prematurely
after an incident involving Japan's Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda). Alonso
continues to head the drivers' standings after round 16 of the 19-race
season. The Spaniard increased his total to 111 points in Spa to keep
him 25 points ahead of Raikkonen (86). Michael Schumacher remains third
on 55. BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers Webber and Heidfeld are tenth and
eleventh in the table, on 29 and 28 points respectively. Pizzonia, who
celebrated his 25th birthday on Sunday, has two points after his
seventh place the previous weekend in Monza. In the Constructors'
Championship, Renault goes into the remaining races of 2005 in Sao
Paulo (25th September), Suzuka (9th October) and Shanghai (16th
October) with 152 points, ahead of McLaren-Mercedes on 146 and Ferrari
(90). The BMW WilliamsF1 Team is fifth on 59 points, behind Toyota
(80). "This was a really eventful race. As the entire weekend, it
was influenced by the weather. Difficult conditions resulted in several
accidents," said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen, and
added: "Today the right strategy was crucial, especially to find
the right moment for the change from intermediates to slicks. Many
drivers tried this too early. Dry tyres were only the best choice for
the last laps. This decision enabled Mark to improve to fourth
position. Having started ninth, this is a very good result." Sam
Michael, Technical Director at WilliamsF1, was also happy: "It was
good to go on dry tyres for the last laps. We tried earlier in the race
to put both cars on dry tyres, as did a lot of other teams. But it
didn't work and both needed to pick up intermediates again." As
Webber summed up: "We obviously took a gamble, as everyone did
today. It was a shame that we lost a lot of time when the Safety Car
came out at the start of the race and we switched to dry tyres and then
back to intermediates. We could have scored an even better result, but
it was also very easy to be in the wall today." Webber praised the
team on a good performance: "It's been a tough season so far and
they have put in a great effort. It was also a good job by BMW, to get
through two tough races with the same engine." Birthday boy
Pizzonia, on the other hand, cut a dejected figure after his collision
with Montoya: "I was on dry tyres and lapping quicker than him. He
was quite slow, maybe because his tyres were not good anymore or maybe
he was just cruising to the end of the race. I thought he saw me and
when he braked really early I thought he was trying to let me by. I put
my car next to him, but obviously he hadn't seen me because he turned
into his normal line and I couldn't avoid the crash. I am sorry for him
because I am not here to destroy anyone's race. I destroyed my race
too." Practice and qualifying. Glorious sunshine and temperatures
of 30 degrees in the shade greeted the teams as the Formula One circus
arrived in Belgium on Thursday. However, gathering clouds as evening
approached brought the promise that normal service would be resumed in
a corner of the Ardennes renowned as a haven for adverse weather
conditions. The inevitable downpour on Friday morning soon dispelled
the late-summer heat, bringing the air temperature down to 19 degrees
and leaving plenty of moisture on the track for the first practice
session. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team completed four installation laps in
the latter stages of the session, which left Webber fifth fastest on
the timing sheets. Pizzonia slid off the track on turn 13 after losing
grip over a wet kerb and hitting the barriers. The team duly replaced
two suspension elements and gave the FW27 new front and rear wings in
time for the second practice session. For the first time since the start
of the season, new did not mean different, with development work for
the 2005 season having come to an end and all eyes now focussed on
2006. The same applies to the engines. As in previous years, BMW's
final update of this season's powerplant was unveiled in Monza. As it
turned out, the mechanics could have taken their time repairing
Pizzonia's car, with the second free practice session left to literally
tread water. Vitantonio Liuzzi was one of the few drivers to venture
out onto the circuit in the torrential rain and the Red Bull test pilot
duly spun off on the treacherous surface. The resultant red flag
brought the session to an end after just four minutes. The circuit was
cleared for action again at 2.13 that afternoon, but there were to be
no further timed laps. The rain was simply too heavy, the water flowing
in streams up and down the track. And as none of the Friday practice
sessions had been dry, tyre compound selection was officially moved
back to midday on Saturday. Before the race at Spa, the 2005 Formula
One season had been largely untroubled by rain. Indeed, the last time
the cars had lapped in the wet had been in the early stages of the
Brazilian Grand Prix in 2004, the final race of last season. The
only previous experience of rain in 2005 had been in qualifying for the
opening race of this year's championship in Australia, where wet-weather
tyres were on the menu. The track was still damp ahead of the third
practice session in the Ardennes on Saturday morning and, with humidity
standing at 95 percent and the temperature not getting above 16
degrees, there was little chance of it drying out in a hurry. The race
director once again declared the track wet, giving the drivers a free
choice between wet-weather tyres, intermediates and slicks. However,
only by the fourth practice session had the moisture evaporated
sufficiently for the teams to make a reasonably confident decision on
tyre compounds. By qualifying at 1.00 p.m., it was clear that the
racing line was dry. Webber went out seventh, with grip visibly
improving as the session progressed. Nine of the 13 drivers who
followed Webber bettered his lap time of 1:48.071, leaving the
Australian in tenth on the grid ahead of his team-mate in 15th.
Pizzonia set a time of 1:48.898 for his flying lap from 14th in the
running order. With five drivers still to post a qualifying time, it
looked like further rain was on the way. However, this time there were
no more than a few drops around the start-finish area to inconvenience
the late runners. The two McLaren-Mercedes of Montoya and Raikkonen
eventually qualified alongside each other on the front row of the grid,
with Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella and Toyota driver Jarno Trulli
setting the third and fourth-quickest times. Alonso's Renault was fifth
in the timings, ahead of Ralf Schumacher in the second Toyota. Row 4
was filled by Spa enthusiast Michael Schumacher and his Ferrari
team-mate for next year Felipe Massa in a Sauber. Settling on the right
set-up for race day became something of a risky business. What was
clear was that driving a car with a wet-weather set up on a dry track
would be harder than vice-versa. The 2005 Formula One rule-book
prohibits mid-race tyre changes, but different rules apply in the event
of changing weather conditions. As soon as it starts to rain, the
drivers can switch to wet-weather tyres at any time. If it then stops
raining and the track dries out, the tread of a grooved wet-weather
tyre experiences rapid wear. For safety reasons, the teams may
therefore change over from wet-weather to dry tyres. In both cases,
refuelling is permitted at the same time as the tyres are changed. This
is not permitted if a tyre has to be changed in constant weather
conditions due to tyre damage. Sunday morning saw a stream of accidents
as the circuit was engulfed by prolonged heavy rain, with the MINI
Challenge and GP2 series races suffering multiple interruptions as a
result. Start and finish. The track was still damp as the cars lined up
for the Belgian GP and there was the threat of further showers. In this
type of situation, the regulations give scope for late modifications to
car set-up, with ground clearance and wing settings first on the list.
In order to keep all their options open, the teams waited as long as
possible on the grid before putting on the tyres. Eight minutes before
the warm-up lap, intermediates were fitted on the FW27 racers, a
decision repeated by the team's rivals. Webber started from ninth on
the grid, with Fisichella's Renault dropping back to 13th after the
Italian driver incurred a ten-place penalty for an illegal engine
change. Webber lost a place to Sato off the start line, slipping to
tenth, and two laps later he was down to twelfth after Fisichella and
David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing) found their way past. Pizzonia,
meanwhile, was determined to recover from a bad start of his own.
Having fallen back a place from the off, the Brazilian eased past
Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber) and Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) on lap 2
to move into 14th position. Fisichella's progress was brought to an
unceremonious end on lap 11 after the Renault pilot crashed heavily on
the exit from Eau Rouge. As the Safety Car made its way out onto the
track, Sam Michael called the two FW27 cars into the pits. Webber was
first in, with Pizzonia waiting temporarily in the wings. The team
decided to change both cars onto slicks. BAR Honda followed suit with
Button and Sato, while Michel Schumacher was another to gamble on
dry-weather rubber. However, as they all quickly discovered, the track
was still too damp to reward their boldness. While the five were
preparing to come back in to swap back onto intermediates, Trulli and
Christian Klien (Red Bull) were changing onto dry tyres. And they too
were soon back in the pits to correct their mistake. After this
additional tyre stop, Webber and Pizzonia lay in twelfth and 15th
positions when the race restarted. Both made up two positions on lap 14,
when Michael Schumacher and Sato collided in La Source. Webber and
Pizzonia continued to move up through the field on their intermediates,
Ralf Schumacher offering proof on lap 25 that this was still the right
decision. Having plumped for a set of slicks, it wasn't long before
Schumacher junior had spun on the greasy surface. Another five laps
later Massa also took on dry tyres - and also paid the penalty in lost
pace. This made it an easy decision for the team to send both Webber
and Pizzonia back out with intermediates after their stops on lap
32/33. Webber rejoined in sixth position, Pizzonia eighth. Up front,
meanwhile, Raikkonen was using his pit stop to take over the race lead
from team-mate Montoya. As the race entered its latter stages,
discussions between the drivers and engineers over the BMW WilliamsF1
Team pit radio centred on the possible gains of switching to dry tyres
for the final few laps. Webber duly chanced his arm after 38 laps, and
was soon the fastest man on the circuit. The new rubber allowed him to
moved up to fourth place in the final race standings. Pizzonia came in
for slicks a lap later, but he was only able to enjoy the extra grip
until lap 40, when he collided with Montoya. History and background:
Spa-Francorchamps has been host to 39 out of 51 Belgian Grands Prix.
Formula One was held in Zolder ten times and in Nivelles twice. The
idea of building a race track at the famous health resort of Spa goes
back to the year 1920. The aim was to use the triangle formed by the
roads connecting Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps. By August 1921
preparations had been completed, but the first car race fell through
because a solitary entrant had signed up. In the end, the race track
was inaugurated by motorcycles before it went on to hold its first car
event in 1922. 1924 saw the first 24-hour race held here. That was
followed by the first significant single-seater event in 1925, namely
the European Grand Prix. Of the seven cars that took part, Antonio
Ascari won on Alfa Romeo. The Second World War brought an end to racing
events for seven years up until 1947. 1970 witnessed the last race on
the old course, which up to then had been 14 kilometres long. Cars had
become too fast for the track and drivers refused to accept the risks
involved. The current circuit opened in 1979. In 2003, Formula One
bypassed Spa. In the interim, modifications were carried out around the
Bus Stop chicane and the track was extended by ten metres. Other
well-known features of the circuit apart from Eau Rouge are the fast
Blanchimont section and La Source, the hairpin soon after the start
which saw the biggest pile-up in Formula One history in 1998 -
fortunately without any injury to the drivers involved. Results and
points. 1. Kimi Raikkonen (Team McLaren Mercedes), 44 laps in 1 hr
30:01.295 min 2. Fernando Alonso (Mild Seven Renault F1 Team), + 28.394
sec 3. Jenson Button (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), + 32.077 sec 4. Mark
Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team), + 69.167 sec 5. Rubens Barrichello
(Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro), + 78.136 sec 6. Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber
Petronas), + 87.435 sec 7. Ralf Schumacher (Panasonic Toyota Racing), +
87.574 sec 8. Tiago Monteiro (Jordan Grand Prix), 1 lap behind Drivers'
points. 1. Alonso (111) 2. Raikkonen (86) 3. M. Schumacher (55) 4.
Montoya (50) 5. Trulli (43) 6. Fisichella (41) 7. R. Schumacher (37)
8. Barrichello (35) 9. Button (30) 10. Webber (29) 11. Heidfeld (28)
12. Coulthard (21) 13. Villeneuve (9) 14. Massa (8) 15. Monteiro (7) 16.
Wurz (6) 17. Karthikeyan (5) Klien (5) 19. Albers (4)
de la Rosa (4) 21. Friesacher (3) 22. Pizzonia (2) 23. Liuzzi (1)
Sato (1) Team points: 1. Mild Seven Renault F1 Team (152) 2. Team
McLaren Mercedes (146) 3. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (90) 4. Panasonic
Toyota Racing (80) 5. BMW WilliamsF1 Team (59) 6. Lucky Strike BAR Honda
(31) 7. Red Bull Racing (27) 8. Sauber Petronas (17) 9. Jordan Grand
Prix (12) 10. Minardi F1 Team (7)