There is a meeting of minds in the paddock as Renault team boss Flavio Briatore, Brawn boss Ross Brawn and Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali take a stroll - just what could they all be laughing about?
Formula 1's usual dose of glamour is in evidence early on Sunday morning. Race 12 of an action-packed season promises to be an intriguing affair with many of the championship challengers starting way down the grid
It is a landmark day for Force India as they start a grand prix from pole for the first time, the Silverstone-based team have yet to score a point in F1
The on-track action gets under way at Spa-Francorchamps and surprise pole-sitter Giancarlo Fisichella gets away cleanly but Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen also gets a good start by going wide around the outside
Fisichella leads the motorcade down towards the first corner but a cunning move by Raikkonen sees him run deliberately wide and use his Kers power boost system to storm through the field
It is a tangled field going into the first corner at La Source but Raikkonen is the biggest gainer, and it is not long before he passes the Toyota of Jarno Trulli to move up into second place
There is drama on the very first lap as Renault's Romain Grosjean and Brawn's Jenson Button come together, ending the race for both of them
Button may well feel hard done by after the Grosjean incident but in truth it was the Brawn man's relative failure in qualifying, which saw him start the race from 14th, that cost him dearly in Belgium
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari are caught up in the chaos caused by the Grosjean/Button incident and that means that it is an early finish to the race for both of them
Championship leader Button and defending world champion Hamilton scratch their heads and try to make sense of the incident that ruined both of their races at Spa
Fisichella tries to pull away on the undulating contours of the Spa circuit, but the Force India man cannot shake off Raikkonen - meanwhile the safety car is soon out after the big crash on the first lap
Soon after the safety car period finishes Raikkonen seizes upon his chance to get past Fisichella - the Finn uses his Kers button to get past on the way out of Eau Rouge
Ferrari's Raikkonen holds onto the lead until the chequered flag, despite some impressive pace from Fisichella and Force India, it is the famous Italian team's first race win of 2009
Force India celebrate their first points and their first podium in fine style, Raikkonen toasts his win and Sebastian Vettel celebrates a third-place finish that keeps his championship chances alive
Raikkonen gets stuck into the victory champagne after recording his first win in 25 races - he last tasted success in Spain in 2008
Fisichella celebrates his second place in emphatic style on the Spa podium - the Italian thought he had the pace to win the race but finishing second in the unfancied Force India car is still quite an achievement
~RS~a~RS~International~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~45~RS~){kind=small}
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~45~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Bookmark with:
What are these?