Belgium 2009 Qualifying Results		Q1 20 minutes	Q2 15 minutes	Q3 10 minutes
1.	Giancarlo Fisichella Force India	1m45.102s	1m44.667s	1m46.308s
2.	Jarno Trulli Toyota	1m45.140s	1m44.503s	1m46.395s
3.	Nick Heidfeld BMW	1m45.566s	1m44.709s	1m46.500s
4.	Rubens Barrichello Brawn	1m45.237s	1m44.834s	1m46.513s
5.	Robert Kubica BMW	1m45.655s	1m44.557s	1m46.586s
6.	Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari	1m45.579s	1m44.953s	1m46.633s
7.	Timo Glock Toyota	1m45.450s	1m44.877s	1m46.677s
8.	Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing	1m45.372s	1m44.592s	1m46.671s
9.	Mark Webber Red Bull Racing	1m45.350s	1m44.924s	1m46.788s
10.	Nico Rosberg Williams	1m45.486s	1m45.047s	1m47.362s
11.	Adrian Sutil Force India	1m45.239s	1m45.119s
12.	Lewis Hamilton McLaren	1m45.767s	1m45.122s
13.	Fernando Alonso Renault	1m45.707s	1m45.136s
14.	Jenson Button Brawn	1m45.761s	1m45.251s
15.	Heikki Kovalainen McLaren	1m45.705s	1m45.259s
16.	Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m45.951s
17.	Jaime Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso	1m46.032s
18.	Kazuki Nakajima Williams	1m46.307s
19.	Romain Grosjean Renault	1m46.359s
20.	Luca Badoer Ferrari	1m46.957s

Original article by BlogF1.

Belgium 2009: Qualifying Result

Q1

Despite complaining over the radio to the team about wheel balancing issues, Lewis Hamilton set the early pace and already Felipe Massa couldn’t respond with a faster time. Kovalainen too was enjoying the qualifying session and the Finn was hot on the tail his team mate. Also looking very handy were the Scuderia Toro Rossos, with Sebastien Bourdais finding a good groove with his car and setting a fastest time.

Typically though, the bottom six who failed to make it past the the first stint were both Force Indias, both Hondas and Kazuki Nakajima for Williams. In fact, the Williams driver hasn’t had a great weekend so far, only setting the eighteenth fastest lap in FP1, the fifteenth in FP2 and the sixteenth in FP3. The young Japanese driver’s only saving grace is that he wasn’t at the very bottom of the timing sheets, as Giancarlo Fisichella took that honour.

Q2

The second session saw an improvement in the times right from the word go as Kimi Raikkonen went out early at set the fastest lap of the weekend so far. Raikkonen went out early partly because the fear of rain was heightened for Q2, and partly because the Finnish driver has been suffering in qualifying recently. However, the lap time didn’t stand for too long though as the McLaren’s showed some improvement as well, Heikki going to the top and Hamilton having to stay just behind after a little wobble coming out of the final corner.

Perhaps a little surprising to see in the final dropzone are both Toyotas. While the Cologne-based team haven’t had a great race meeting so far, their recent results suggest a good development pace. Unfortuantely for them, Scuderia Toro Rosso have also improved and for the second race in a row, managed to get both cars in to the top ten. This left Jarno Trulli in eleventh and Timo Glock in thirteenth. Also failing to make the grade were Nelson Piquet Jr., David Coulthard and Nico Rosberg.

Q3

The final session was little surprise, with McLaren looking to be very strong – the conditions perfectly suited the cars and Ferrari had little to respond with. The only thing that may upset the running order tomorrow is the fuel loads of Raikkonen and Kovalainen. The Ferrari driver certainly appears to be heavier, although recent Scuderia strategy has shown that Kimi isn’t always as heavy as it seems on Saturday. And judging recent races, starting fourth may be enough to put Kimi out of contention already.

Fernando Alonso did well to haul his Renault into sixth and Nick Heidfeld showed promise by getting ahead of his team mate and finishing in fifth. In fact, Robert Kubica isn’t having a great weekend either, having only qualified in eighth and surrounded by Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Sebstien Bourdais. The only other surprise was Bourdais getting ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel. And judging by the difference in times, one has to wonder what strategy Vettel is on; the German was 1.4s slower than the Frenchman.

Original article by BlogF1.

Belgium 2008: Lewis Hamilton Takes Commanding Pole

The downpour lasted for about 35 minutes, the main victim being Mark Webber who didn’t make it back to the pits – his Red Bull ended up in the tyre barrier. Once the rain had ceased though, the drivers poured out on to the track to get some running in, but the surface was still very slippery. It wasn’t long before the red flag was waved though as Kimi Raikkonen caught a white line and spun around, nudging the tyre barrier with his rear wing. A slow traipse back the pitlane for repairs essentially ruined the Finn’s afternoon. To add to the calamity, Raikkonen’s incident allowed water from the tyre wall to leak out down the corner, and combined with some lost fluid from the Ferrari, meant that Turn 9 suddenly became very treacherous.

Giancarlo Fisichella discovered this added danger the hard way as spun around several times, clouting the armco as he went. Nelson Piquet Jr too had a similar off, almost repeating Kimi’s efforts identically. However, after a further wait and in the dying moments, Nico Rosberg ventured out and the times started to tumble. On hard dry tyres though, Alonso took control and popped in a surprise quick lap that would remain until the chequered flag. Felipe Massa couldn’t match Alonso and by the time the Ferrari had conceded defeat, the drizzle started to fall again.

Notable lap times came from the Scuderia Toro Rossos again, emphasising good pace from the Ferrari-powered car. Sebastian Vettel readdressed the morning order by going seventh, ahead of team mate Sebastien Bourdais who settled for thirteenth. Adrian Sutil manage to get up to eighth, giving Force India a consolation prize as they started to mend Fisichella’s battered car.

Belgium 2008: Friday Free Practice Two

Original article by BlogF1.

Belgium 2008: Friday Afternoon Practice