Jenson Button drove a faultless lights-to-flag win in the Belgian Grand Prix, avoiding the huge startline accident in which title contenders Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated.
With Sebastian Vettel coming through from tenth on the grid to second position, it means the defending world champion is now only 24 points behind Alonso.
The accident started when Lotus driver Romain Grosjean moved across the track on the approach to the La Source hairpin and squeezed Hamilton’s McLaren.
The two made contact and ploughed into the cars ahead in dramatic fashion. Alonso and Sergio Perez were also eliminated, while slow-starting front-row man Kamui Kobayashi and Pastor Maldonado – who jumped the start – both picked up damage.
The onboard footage from Fernando’s car was scary and thankfully all four drivers escaped without serious injury.
Kobayashi and Maldonado were able to continue but the latter was soon out following a safety car restart clash with the Marussia of Timo Glock.
The chaos on the opening lap reshuffled the race order, with Button leading Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus, the Force India duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta, followed by Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes and the Toro Rosso pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne.
The Red Bulls were delayed in the incident on the opening lap, leaving Mark Webber in P8 and Vettel P12.
Button charged away from the outset, making a one-stop strategy work to perfection as he followed up his maiden McLaren pole with his first win since the season-opener in Melbourne.
Raikkonen lacked speed early on and was overtaken by Hulkenberg and Schumacher.
An early first pit-stop helped the Lotus regain lost ground, but the best strategy appeared to be to pit once. A combination of this tactic and several early passing moves helped Vettel emerge in second position.
Schumacher also tried to pit once, but found himself under big pressure from two-stoppers Raikkonen and Hulkenberg.
This led to some spectacular racing, including Raikkonen overtaking Schumacher around the outside into Eau Rouge, as the seven-time champion twice managed to fight back past his rivals using DRS. Eventually he had to admit defeat and pit again.
By then Raikkonen was long gone and heading for the final podium spot, ahead of Hulkenberg, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, and Webber.
Schumacher eventually finished in seventh, as the Toro Rossos and di Resta fell back to the tail of the top ten.
Nico Rosberg and Bruno Senna also had to make late tyre stops, leaving them outside the points.
Caterham briefly looked like it might achieve an upset as Heikki Kovalainen emerged in tenth on lap one. But he soon fell back and would later have two spins and a pitlane clash with Narain Karthikeyan.
So a dramatic race at the Belgian Grand Prix with a frightening accident at the start, and yet in the end Jenson Button drove a brilliant race to take his second win of the season.
The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is next and it will be fascinating to see if Alonso’s lead in the championship is reduced further.
Race results from Spa-Francorchamps, after 44 laps:
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h29:08.530
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault +13.624
3. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault +25.334
4. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes +27.843
5. Massa Ferrari +29.845
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault +31.244
7. Schumacher Mercedes +53.374
8. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari +58.865
9. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1:02.982
10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1:03.783
11. Rosberg Mercedes +1:05.111
12. Senna Williams-Renault +1:11.529
13. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +1:56.119
14. Petrov Caterham-Renault +1 lap
15. Glock Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
16. Pic Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
17. Kovalainen Caterham-Renault +1 lap
18. De la Rosa HRT-Cosworth +1 lap
19. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth +30 laps
Fastest lap: Senna, 1:52.822
Not classified/retirements:
Maldonado Williams-Renault 5 laps
Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1 lap
Alonso Ferrari 1 lap
Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1 lap
Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 12:
Drivers:
1. Alonso 164
2. Vettel 140
3. Webber 132
4. Raikkonen 131
5. Hamilton 117
6. Button 101
7. Rosberg 77
8. Grosjean 76
9. Perez 47
10. Schumacher 35
11. Massa 35
12. Kobayashi 33
13. Hulkenberg 31
14. Maldonado 29
15. Di Resta 28
16. Senna 24
17. Vergne 8
18. Ricciardo 4
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 272
2. McLaren-Mercedes 218
3. Lotus-Renault 207
4. Ferrari 199
5. Mercedes 112
6. Sauber-Ferrari 80
7. Force India-Mercedes 59
8. Williams-Renault 53
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 12
Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Monza. September 7-9.
Romain Grosjean wants to wait until he has seen television footage of the start of the Belgian Grand Prix before he judges who was to blame for the first corner crash.
The Lotus driver appeared to move over on Lewis Hamilton on the run to La Source and their collision resulted in a multi-car pile-up that also eliminated world championship leader Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez.
Speaking to Sky about what happened at the first corner, Grosjean said: “[I had] a very good start and then boom – it was the end of the race. I haven’t seen the images and I need to see them to have any point of view.
“But the main thing is that everybody is OK. That is the most important for me.”
Hamilton stormed over to Grosjean immediately after the accident and gestured at him in a manner that suggested he believed the Lotus driver was to blame.
Alonso’s retirement was his first of the season, but whatever the result of the Belgian GP he will still leave the race as the points leader.
Perez said he was an innocent victim of the accident, which also left his front-row-starting team-mate Kamui Kobayashi with damage.
“It was on the braking for Turn 1 and then suddenly I had a big hit from other drivers and there was nothing I could do,” said the Mexican. “We basically paid for a mistake from one driver.”
Source: Autosport.com
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton keen to move on following his Spa-Francorchamps clash on the opening lap. Autosport.com has the story.
Lewis Hamilton declined to discuss the Belgian Grand Prix startline crash that began with contact between his McLaren and Romain Grosjean’s Lotus.
Grosjean appeared to move across on Hamilton on the run towards La Source, putting the McLaren on the grass.
They then crashed into Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and the two Saubers going into the hairpin.
Hamilton said he just wanted to move on and celebrate team-mate Jenson Button’s victory.
“I don’t want to talk about the start crash,” he said.
“Just congratulations to Jenson, he did a fantastic race. It looked like a walk in the park for him.”
While Button took a commanding pole position and race win, Hamilton only qualified eighth following a controversial decision to stick with an older-specification rear wing.
“It’s great to see that the team had the pace and I’ve got to try to pull that out of my car in the next race,” said Hamilton.
The start incident saw Hamilton, Alonso and Grosjean’s cars all slightly airborne at times, but the Briton played down the severity of the crash.
“I’ve had a lot worse than that,” he said.
After taking his second victory of the season following his brilliant drive in Spa-Francorchamps, Jenson Button plays down his world championship prospects. Autosport.com has the details.
Jenson Button says he is not thinking about mounting a late challenge for the Formula 1 world championship, despite taking a dominant win at the Belgian Grand Prix.
After qualifying fastest on Saturday, the McLaren driver said a win was crucial if he was to stay in the fight for the title. But having won the race, he admitted that he would not be thinking about bridging the 63-point gap to leader Fernando Alonso in the lead-up to next week’s Italian GP.
“This is a great weekend for the team, and for me as well,” Button said.
“It is a good 25 points, and if we can keep fighting for victories like this there is still a small chance I can fight for that championship.
“But going to Monza, I don’t think about the championship. We go there to do best job we can and bring back home most points we can.
“As I said before the race, it is a massive long shot to win the title, but today proves you can claw back 25 points very, very quickly.”
Button also said he was encouraged by just how dominant his Spa win was, particularly as he and McLaren opted for a risky one-stop strategy on a day where there was a big question over tyre degradation.
“We were not sure what to do with strategy, whether it would be one or two, or if some thought it was three [stops],” he said.
“When Nico [Hulkenberg] got into second it did help a little bit. I could feel the car and not push too hard, but at that point I still didn’t think it would be one stop.
“And then on lap 12 the tyres started working. The car was really consistent and I could drive and I could control degradation of tyres. [It’s a] great feeling to go so much further than everyone except for Sebastian [Vettel].”
Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel has commented that the Spa-Francorchamps start carnage proves Formula 1 title battle wide open. Autosport.com has the news story.
Sebastian Vettel says the Belgian Grand Prix result shows that the 2012 Formula 1 title fight is still wide open.
As points leader Fernando Alonso and title contender Lewis Hamilton were eliminated in a frightening first-lap tangle with Romain Grosjean, Vettel came through from 10th on the grid to finish second and reduce Alonso’s points lead to 24.
“It’s better than before!” said Vettel. “I had a look when I went on holiday, and right now I don’t care about scoring and points, but I care about the championship.
“I don’t know what happened in the first corner but [Alonso] didn’t finish the race.
“I am not bothered by gaps and points. You saw the first corner and you see how quickly things can change – that is racing.
“Next week we go to Monza, and it would be nice to qualify on pole and be first into the chicane. Behind there it can be a bit more of a risk.”
The first-lap crash had not initially worked to Vettel’s benefit, as he was delayed behind the tangled cars and came out in 12th. A series of passes and a one-stop strategy then brought him through to second behind runaway winner Jenson Button.
“I think after the first corner I was probably only one not improving,” Vettel said.
“A lot of cars crashed in front of us. I had a poor initial launch and lost positions.
“I started around the Force Indias and they were with Jenson at the first corner, and I was with Caterham.
“The pace was there but it was not easy up the straight when everyone has DRS available.
“You’re still on the limiter and it’s difficult to benefit from that.
“But we made reasonable progress through the field and then were able to have a couple of good laps in clean air.
“That allowed us to come back through strategy, which enabled us to finish second.
“We didn’t expect the tyres to last that well. Most people were thinking of two or three stops and one stop seemed out of reach, but after a couple of laps it was clear the tyres were lasting pretty well and the pace was not too bad.
“Saturday morning went quite well, qualifying was shit and Sunday was OK. I’m happy with second.”
Mark Webber does not expect any penalty for his pitlane near-miss with Felipe Massa in the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Spa stewards are investigating whether Red Bull released Webber in an unsafe fashion after he emerged just in front of Massa’s Ferrari when they made their final stops on lap 27.
But Webber is confident nothing dangerous occurred.
“It was OK. I knew I had Felipe there,” said Webber.
“I rolled out of it a little bit to let him merge back in, and then took the fast lane.”
After a gearbox-change penalty dropped him to 12th on the grid, Webber was only able to take sixth place in the race.
“Obviously the start was pretty wild, which can happen at La Source,” said the Australian.
“Then we settled into a race where it became very, very obvious that it was difficult for us to overtake on track. Obviously Seb [Vettel] and I had a little fight, which was fine.
“After that you could see after Eau Rouge it was just not possible for us to fight other people in a straight line. That made it tough.
“Then we tried to under-cut some people and then you start to roll the dice.
“I had Vitaly [Petrov] on the out-lap, and fair play to him, he’s doing his thing, but obviously you lose some time there.
“It just didn’t line up. We had a bit of luck on the first lap but after that we didn’t make the most of the situation.”
The result drops Webber from second to third in the drivers’ championship. He closed the gap on leader Fernando Alonso – who was taken out at the start – from 40 to 32 points, but fell behind Red Bull team-mate Vettel, whose runner-up finish brought him up to second in the standings.
Source: Autosport.com
After giving chase all race, Kimi Raikkonen says Lotus are still not fast enough at Spa. The Iceman still managed to finish in third position. Autosport.com has the details.
Kimi Raikkonen said he was happy with third place considering how difficult his Lotus was to drive in the Belgian Grand Prix.
Raikkonen moved ahead of Lewis Hamilton into fourth in the championship with his third straight podium finish and his sixth of the season, but could not challenge a dominant Jenson Button.
The Finn struggled for straightline speed in the race. He faced a tough battle getting past the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, which had high tyre wear but was faster on the straights.
“We did not have much speed. Considering how difficult the handling was and how tricky the car was to drive I am very happy to finish third,” Raikkonen said.
“I wasn’t expecting a very easy race and it turned out to be very difficult.
“The first few laps on new tyres were good and then I started sliding. We had a bit more high downforce to get more grip which meant we struggled in a straight line.”
Raikkonen ultimately overtook Schumacher with a very bold outside-line pass into Eau Rouge.
“Michael passed me once and then he got me back,” said Raikkonen.
“Even with DRS I could not pass him, so I had to take a chance to overtake him with KERS into Eau Rouge and he still almost got me back.”
He regarded his third place as damage limitation.
“It is better to finish third than not to finish,” Raikkonen said.
“We didn’t win but we didn’t have the speed to win so we didn’t deserve to win.
“The last two races we had the speed but in races that you could not overtake. Here we did not have the speed.”
It was a scary crash at La Source and it was a relief to hear Fernando Alonso escape without any serious injury. Autosport.com has the story.
Fernando Alonso said he felt fortunate to escape serious injury in the Belgian Grand Prix startline crash.
The world championship leader’s Ferrari was hit by Romain Grosjean’s Lotus and Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren as they tangled on the approach to La Source.
The Lotus flew over the top of the Ferrari, which also briefly got off the ground as it was pushed into Sergio Perez’s Sauber.
“I’m disappointed because of the points lost,” said Alonso, whose championship lead is now down to 24 points over Sebastian Vettel.
“But I’m also lucky that I can be in the car in five days at Monza because looking at the image, we were turning in so you could have a problem with your hands or even your head because [Grosjean’s] car was so close.
“I think we broke everything on top of the car. It was lucky in that aspect.”
Alonso said he could not understand how the accident unfolded until he saw the replays.
“I didn’t know what happened until I saw on TV because it was difficult to imagine how the hit could be so big or how a car could be on you so quickly,” he said.
“After seeing it on TV, I saw Grosjean and Lewis touch each other. They lost control and then it was in front of us.”
The Spaniard took a few moments to assess his condition before getting out of his wrecked Ferrari.
“I stayed in the car for a few seconds because I had back pain,” he explained.
“Then there was a little bit of fire so they came with extinguishers and I decided to jump out because I could not breathe with all the smoke there.”
Alonso added that the start had been eventful even before the accident.
“The first thing was [Pastor] Maldonado,” he said. “I was surprised because we still had the red lights and he was already P3 or P2. So it was a big jumped start.
“Then the start was good, I overtook the two Saubers and was in third position.
“Then I started turning in and then it felt like a train coming. It was a big, big hit.”
A slow getaway was crucial in Jean-Eric Vergne’s impressive run to eighth place at the Belgian Grand Prix, according to the Frenchman.
Both Vergne and his Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo benefited greatly from the first corner crash that marred the start of the race. They went on to finish eighth and ninth respectively, the first points-scoring outing for Toro Rosso since the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Vergne said it was a slow start that put him in a position to avoid the carnage.
“I did not get a very good start, as I just touched the anti-stall,” he admitted.
“That meant quite a few cars passed me and that’s when I saw there was a crash. I braked and took a line as near to the inside as possible and I came out of it without too much trouble.
“I enjoyed myself today and I think we are on the right track, although it’s hard to say exactly what was better about our car this weekend. We will analyse everything that happened this afternoon with the intention of being even stronger in Monza next weekend.”
Ricciardo, meanwhile, was ecstatic to score his first points since Melbourne, although he did acknowledge that his two stints on the hard tyre cost him a couple of positions.
“That was good fun!” said the Australian.
“We managed to benefit from the incident immediately after the start, when I had got a good run off the line. Then I managed to move right to the inside going through the hairpin and came out sixth.
“My first stint was on the medium tyre and I think I ran as high as fourth at one point. However, I was not quite as quick in my last two stints which were on the prime, so I dropped a couple of positions.
“You always want to do better, you always want more, but you can’t complain with ninth.”
Source: Autosport.com
Despite starting on the front row at Spa-Francorchamps, Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was left feeling devastated following the first corner mayhem. Autosport.com has the story.
Kamui Kobayashi said seeing his Spa front-row start wasted in the first-lap accident was a “terrible” feeling.
The Japanese driver had achieved the best qualifying result of his Formula 1 career with second behind Jenson Button, but made a slow start and was involved in the first corner clash that removed Romain Grosjean, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.
Kobayashi made it to the finish in 13th despite damage to his car from the incident.
“This is a terrible race result after doing so well in qualifying. There was nothing I could do when a car came flying into mine at the start,” he said.
“I had to pit once for some repairs and then again after seven laps because of a slow puncture.
“During the race I didn’t really know how bad the damage to the car was, but I could see a tyre print on the cockpit all the time.
“Later in parc ferme I understood why the car was so slow.”
His Sauber team-mate Sergio Perez, who started fourth, was taken out in the crash.
“I am very disappointed for myself and the team because this was a great opportunity for us to fight for a victory,” he said.
“Cars came from behind and hit me, it was a big mess.”
Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn promised the team would bounce back.
“It is very disappointing that once again factors beyond our control have ruined the race,” she said.
“We have to take the positive out of the weekend and if we don’t make any mistakes and get qualifying right we can be at the front. That is the target for the next race.”
Romain Grosjean has been given a one-race ban and €50,000 fine for triggering the Belgian Grand Prix start crash.
The Lotus driver moved across on Lewis Hamilton on the run towards the first corner of the Spa race, causing the McLaren to take to the grass.
The two cars then made contact and ploughed into Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and the two Saubers.
Grosjean said he could not be sure who had caused the crash.
“[I had] a very good start and then boom – it was the end of the race. I haven’t seen the images and I need to see them to have any point of view,” he said.
“But the main thing is that everybody is OK. That is the most important for me.”
But the stewards held Grosjean responsible and bestowed a one-race ban for next week’s Italian GP.
“The stewards regard this incident as an extremely serious breach of the regulations which had the potential to cause injury to others,” said a statement from the officials.
“It eliminated leading championship contenders from the race.”
It added that Lotus and Grosjean had not tried to contest the stewards’ verdict. Lotus confirmed it would not appeal.
“The stewards note the team conceded the action of the driver was an extremely serious mistake and an error of judgement,” it said.
“Neither the team nor the driver made any submission in mitigation of penalty.”
Lotus has former Virgin racer Jerome D’Ambrosio as a reserve driver.
Source: Autosport.com
As for Pastor Maldonado, the Williams driver has been handed a ten-place grid penalty at Monza. Autosport.com has the details.
Pastor Maldonado will be demoted 10 places on the Italian Grand Prix grid as a punishment for both jumping the start in Belgium and colliding with Timo Glock.
The Williams driver had already been given a three-place grid penalty at Spa for blocking Nico Hulkenberg in qualifying.
He then made a premature getaway in the race, before being tagged into a spin as the crash involving Romain Grosjean, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and the Saubers unfolded.
Maldonado rejoined, only to collide with Timo Glock’s Marussia at the restart, ending his race.
Although Glock was able to continue, the stewards ruled that Maldonado’s actions in the clash deserved a five-place penalty.
They also bestowed an additional five-place drop as he had been unable to take the usual drivethrough penalty for a jump-start in the race due to his early retirement.
“The driver failed to finish the race so the usual penalty for a false start could not be imposed,” said an official statement.
Maldonado accepted the blame for the start error.
“I made a slight mistake at the start because the clutch slipped out of my hands before the red light switched off,” he said.
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali believes the Belgian Grand Prix start accident should spur action on driving standards throughout the Formula 1 feeder series.
World championship contenders Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were taken out when reigning GP2 champion Romain Grosjean caused a dramatic crash on the run to La Source on lap one at Spa. The Saubers, which had been the sensations of qualifying, were also caught up in the incident.
The stewards subsequently gave Grosjean a one-race ban for causing the crash.
Domenicali believes further action should be taken to improve driving standards in F1’s feeder series.
“In my view, the most important thing is looking at the behaviour of drivers,” he said.
“It has to start in the championships before Formula 1.
“You see it too often in the other series that drivers are very aggressive and try to do something almost over what it is possible to do, so it is important to be very strict since they start racing and then they will arrive in F1 in a better condition for that.”
He said Grosjean had to shoulder full responsibility for the Spa accident.
Grosjean’s Lotus flew over the top of Alonso’s Ferrari as the crash unfolded.
“For sure it was not the fault of Fernando – that is the basic point!” said Domenicali.
“I have to say after what happened I am pleased and happy that nothing happened to him.
“Having a car flying almost over his head could be really dangerous.
“Specifically on that point, for sure I believe that all was caused by the move of Grosjean.”
Source: Autosport.com
Michael Schumacher has backed his Mercedes team in running the two-stop race strategy. Autosport.com has the news story.
Michael Schumacher reckoned his late second pitstop in the Belgian Grand Prix would have paid off if his Mercedes had not developed a gearbox problem.
The German driver, celebrating his 300th grand prix, finished in seventh position after pitting for a new set of tyres having been passed by Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus.
Schumacher had originally looked set to complete the race on one stop before having to pit again with nine laps to go. He believes he would have then charged back had he not lost seventh gear – but that the pitstop gamble was still worthwhile as he was likely to tumble backwards had he stayed on his worn Pirellis.
“We tried our luck, it actually looked pretty reasonable at the start,” said Schumacher.
“We were fighting in the early laps [of the second stint] with [Daniel] Ricciardo and some other guys, and I needed to push my tyres, and that decided the fact that we had to come in again.
“We could have finished on that set, but I’m pretty sure we would have finished in the same position.
“I think it was a good decision to come in and change tyres and fight again in the last laps for further positions.
“But then I had to stop thinking about that with seven laps to go because I lost seventh gear and I was just lucky to finish the race.”
Nico Rosberg also had to pit late in the race, on a tough weekend for the Mercedes team. He could only finish 11th, having started 23rd following a gearbox-change penalty and a poor qualifying session.
“It has been a disappointing weekend for us, without the gearbox problem and the penalty I could have probably scored some decent points this weekend,” said Rosberg.
“We were running with a one-stop strategy because I needed to take the risk and move up but it didn’t work and we had to come in again quite late on.”
Nico Hulkenberg said he was delighted with fourth place in the Belgian Grand Prix despite initially hoping he might manage a maiden Formula 1 podium.
The Force India driver stayed out of trouble in the first corner melee and ran as high as second, battling with Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen.
Hulkenberg was confident that his two-stop strategy was the correct decision as he raced to his best finish in F1.
The result took Hulkenberg ahead of team-mate Paul di Resta in the championship and elevated Force India to seventh in the constructors’ standings, above Williams, which failed to score.
“I’ve got a big smile on my face today because it’s just the result we needed for our fight for the championship,” Hulkenberg said.
“I was as high as second and for a while I was even thinking we could finish on the podium.
“But the race was tough. I had some great fights with Kimi and Michael, I was always on the limit.
“The start was eventful, but fortunately I was able to avoid the debris and take advantage of the situation.”
Di Resta ran behind Hulkenberg in fourth following the early-race restart, but was compromised by a KERS problem and could only finish 10th.
“[It was] a tough race for me, largely due to a KERS failure on the car just before the race, which really hurt my performance and speed on the straights,” said di Resta.
“I couldn’t really attack or defend, which is a shame because I ended up in fourth place after the start, but we couldn’t capitalise on it.”
Source: Autosport.com
Marussia rues Timo Glock’s tangle with Pastor Maldonado during the Belgian Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.
Marussia reckons Timo Glock would have had a shot at beating Caterham in the Belgian Grand Prix had he not been hit by Pastor Maldonado at the safety car restart.
Williams driver Maldonado was given a five-place grid penalty for the Italian GP as a punishment for the clash with Glock, which ended Maldonado’s race and put the German to the tail of the field.
Glock recovered to finish 15th, half a minute behind Caterham’s Vitaly Petrov, but he was adamant that the gap would have been smaller but for the incident with Maldonado.
“We knew we could be stronger in the race and we were; we could have been stronger still but for the problem with Maldonado which lost me time earlier in the race and created a bigger gap to Petrov at the end than might otherwise have been the case,” said Glock.
Team boss John Booth also rued the clash with the Williams.
“The incident between Maldonado and Timo left him right at the back of the field behind the HRTs, which was less than ideal in terms of our objective of taking the fight to Caterham after the safety car restart,” Booth said.
“We opted to switch Timo to a two-stop strategy to allow him the free air he needed to achieve our pace potential in the middle stint in order to close the gap. This worked well and Timo did a great job to respond to the switch.”
He added: “Despite his pace, the gap created as a consequence of earlier incidents meant there was no hope of him catching up to Petrov.”
Although frustrated with the collision, Booth was very satisfied with Marussia’s pace at Spa.
The team had introduced a major upgrade package for this weekend’s race.
“For large portions of the race, the substantial upgrade we introduced here allowed our drivers to match the pace of our immediate competitors, so we can be pleased overall that the margins are reducing and also we only saw a few blue flags and quite late on in the race,” said Booth.
“These incremental upgrades will bring the additional pace that will significantly aid our ability to race on the lead lap and minimise our blue flag time loss towards the end of the race.”
With Romain Grosjean banned from Monza following that first lap accident, it seems Lotus will run reserve driver Jerome d’Ambrosio in the Italian Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the story.
Lotus says there is a “very high” chance that its reserve driver Jerome d’Ambrosio will be drafted in as replacement for Romain Grosjean at the Italian Grand Prix.
Grosjean has been handed a one-race ban for causing a major startline crash in Belgium – which means he will miss next week’s event at Monza.
And although Lotus says that it is going to wait a bit more before committing to its decision, team principal Eric Boullier admits that it is likely that d’Ambrosio will be called up.
When asked about the chances of the former Virgin racer being given his opportunity, Boullier said: “Very high.
“There are many drivers around who are looking for a drive. We will consider first Jerome, who is our third driver. He has most of the chance to drive the car.
“But I need to sit down with him. I need to do a couple of things and then we will see.”
Other contenders with race experience who are available are Adrian Sutil, Jaime Alguersuari and Rubens Barrichello.
D’Ambrosio raced for Virgin in 2011, but was replaced by Charles Pic for the start of this season.
He has already driven this year’s Lotus E20 at the Mugello test, which took place after the Bahrain GP.
Romain Grosjean has accepted his one-race ban for causing the multi-car accident at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, but says the punishment is hard to take.
The 26-year-old Frenchman was banned from participating in next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix and fined €50,000 after the Spa stewards concluded he caused an avoidable crash at La Source.
“When you love racing this is very hard,” said Grosjean. “I accept my mistake.”
Grosjean maintained he did not intend to squeeze Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren towards the pitwall on the inside, prior to the contact that caused them both to collide with Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and both Saubers.
“We know that La Source is a very tough corner. It was a bit of a crazy start as well with [Pastor] Maldonado leaving [the grid early] and the Sauber [Kobayashi] smoking a lot,” said Grosjean.
“I did a mistake and I misjudged the gap with Lewis. I was sure I was in front of him. So a small mistake made a big incident.
“I didn’t change my line, I went from left to right. I was not really wanting to put anyone in the wall – I’m not here to stop the race in the first corner. I’m very, very sorry and I’m glad that nobody is hurt.
“But I have to say it is a very, very hard decision to hear.”
Grosjean, who has been involved in five early-race incidents this year, said he was more angry with himself than with the penalty, but added that the accidents were not all caused by over-aggression.
“I did too many,” he said. “If there is more than one then that is too many, I agree. But as I say it is not always the same. It’s not over-aggressive by braking 200 metres too late, it’s just most of the time misjudgement of the space I have in front or the space I have on the side.
“It’s true that we don’t see much in the mirrors and stuff like that and it goes very quick at the start.
“I was to be honest 100 per cent sure I was in front of Lewis but I was not so I need to rethink about my view of the car.
“I am the most angry at myself to have misjudged the gap with Lewis’s car.”
Grosjean said that his focus now was on analysing what led to the ban and to ensure that the rest of the season continues without error, adding that he hoped it would not affect his chances of keeping his drive with Lotus in 2012.
“It is too much. I know that. Some are not my fault, but yeah I will analyse that and I will try to not repeat it in the seven last races,” he said.
“For sure I don’t want to do any more [crashes] by the end of the season. So I will work, I will analyse as much as I can to try and avoid those. Some were misfortune, some were my mistake but now it is time to finish that.”
Source: Autosport.com