Belgium - 27-29 Aug 2010Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Belgium Race Distance: 44 laps, 308.052 km The circuit at Spa-Francorchamps is one of the most storied courses in all of F1. The original 9.3 mile course created out of the public roads between Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot in 1924 has been reduced to a much safer 4.3 mile course. While the infamous Masta Kink was lost in the name of safety, the phenomenal Eau Rouge turn remains, and is one of the most spectacular curves in all of motorsports, taken by Formula 1 cars flat-out. The rest of the course has a very old-school feel as it winds over and around the local hill-sides, providing the drivers the feeling of actually driving somewhere rather than just lapping in an enclosed stadium. A big lap 1 wreck took out many contenders last season, leaving Raikkonen to battle for the win with Fisichella in the Force India. Vettel finished 3rd. Qualifying is more hectic than usual as spots of rain mix up the results. Despite the rain, RedBull takes their 12th pole of their dominant qualifying season with Webber at the top of the stack. Hamilton shows that McLaren's F-duct works well down the Kemmel Straight by taking 2nd on the grid. While Kubica's 3rd grid spot shows that Renault's new F-duct isn't far behind. Vettel is off his normal pace a bit and will start 4th. Button grabs 5th, while surprisingly Massa is the top Ferrari starting all the way down in 6th. The top qualifiers in Spa: WEB HAM KUB VET BUT MAS BAR SUT HUL ALO As usual for Spa-Franorchamps, mixed wet and dry weather triggers similarly mixed race results. Making his 300th career F1 start, Barrichello is heart broken to crash out on the opening lap as wet weather sends him hard into Alonso's Ferrari. Alonso somehow survives the impact, only to crash out on his own 37 laps later during another spot of rain. Webber's pole position is worth little, as a terrible start drops him back in the field at lights-out. Hamilton capitalizes and goes on to lead the race start-to-finish, the victory bumping him into the championship lead over Webber. Webber does however put together a brilliant drive in tough changing conditions to finish 2nd. Kubic rounds out the podium, with only a mistake entering the pit box in the wet that dropped him from 2nd to 3rd. Massa and Sutil round out the top 5 spots. While Rosberg and Schumacher put together terrific drives to finish 6th and 7th after suffering large penalties after qualifying. Vettel crashes into Button during the race on slicks in the wet, taking Button out. Vettel is penalized with a drive thru, then later has a tire cut to add insult to injury.
Belgian Grand Prix Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Belgium
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