Another disappointing result for Williams

After the disappointment of seeing their cars qualify in fifteenth and nineteenth the AT&T Williams would again be facing the prospect of having another race where they would not take away any points. The weather would again see some rain falling but most of the circuit was dry prior to the race start. The start/finish straight was wet so this would pose a problem for the start of the race.

Only Piquet would start on intermediate tyres. At the corner leading on the start/finish straight it was also wet. The start of the race would see Hamilton leading from Massa. There was chaos at Le Source as drivers ran wide. Raikkonen would pass Massa while Bourdais was up to fifth. Alonso was in fourth while Kovalainen was down in eleventh. Raikkonen was right behind Hamilton through Eau Rouge. He would pass Hamilton and take the lead in the run up to Le Combes. Nico was down in thirteenth and Kazuki nineteenth. Replays show that Hamilton would spin at Le Source as they started lap two allowing Kimi to close. Lap two and Alonso was fastest with a 1m:55.915. Bourdais was till in fifth followed by Webber, Kubica, and Piquet.

Lap three and Raikkonen was fastest with a 1m:52.772. Kovalainen had passed Heidfeld for ninth. Raikkonen was leading Hamilton by 1.4 seconds as they started lap five. Kimi was again fastest on lap four with a 1m:51.439. Lap five and Hamilton was also pushing with a new fastest lap of 1m:50.364. Kovalainen would pass Piquet for eighth. Lap six and Hamilton was again fastest with a 1m:49.895. He was right behind Raikkonen but the Ferrari driver would respond and set a new fastest lap on lap seven, 1m:49.710. Massa was still in third followed by Alonso, Bourdais, Webber, Kubica, and Kovalainen.

Kovalainen was looking to pass Kubica as Raikkonen went faster with a 1m:49.108. Kovalainen would pass Kubica after exiting Eau Rouge faster than the BMW. Hamilton was again fastest with a 1m:48.892 on lap nine. Nico was still in thirteenth and Kazuki had improved one place to be eighteenth after Sutil ran wide at Fanges. Lap ten and Raikkonen went quickest with a 1m:48.510. It was really turning out to be a very close fight at the front. Massa was over five seconds behind Hamilton. Kovalainen and would make contact with Webber as he pulled alongside at what was the Bus Stop chicane.

Lap twelve and Hamilton would pit staying on the softer tyre. he would rejoin behind team-mate Kovalainen. Kovalainen was given a drive through penalty for his accident with Webber. Webber was in ninth. The next lap and Raikkonen would also pit, joined by Webber. Raikkonen was now third behind Massa and Alonso. Lap fourteen and Massa would pit. He was joined by Alonso and Kovalainen. Raikkonen was again leading from Bourdais, Kubica, Hamilton, and Massa. Sixth placed Heidfeld had pitted. Kovalainen would take his drive through penalty as Piquet would crash at Fanges. He would hit front end first ending his race.

Lap sixteen and Bourdais and Kubica would pit. Raikkonen was leading by 5.6 seconds over Hamilton. Massa was now third followed by Vettel, Alonso, Bourdais, Kubica, and Glock. Nico was up to tenth and Kazuki sixteenth. Massa was just 3.3 seconds behind Hamilton as Raikkonen went fastest on lap seventeen with a 1m:48.229. Vettel would pit on lap eighteen. After his penalty Kovalainen was down in thirteenth. Heidfeld would pas Glock for eighth. Lap nineteen and Raikkonen was again fastest with a 1m:47.932. He was now leading by 6.0 seconds and Hamilton had opened out the gap to third placed Massa, 4.1 seconds. Alonso was in fourth followed by Bourdais, Kubica, Vettel, and in eighth Heidfeld.

Nico was sill in tenth and on what was most likely a one stop strategy. Lap twenty two and Barrichello would retire in his garage. Coulthard and Button would from thirteenth and fourteenth pit on lap twenty three as the circuit had dried out. Kazuki was now in thirteenth as Raikkonen went fastest with a 1m:47.930 on lap twenty four. lap twenty six and both Raikkonen and Hamilton would pit. They would both take on the harder tyre and would come out in the same order. Nico would also pit for what should be his only stop. Massa was now leading as Glock also made his only stop. Alonso would pit from fourth on lap twenty eight. Hamilton had close the gap to Raikkonen down to 3.0 seconds. Kazuki would pit on lap twenty eight.

Massa would make his second stop the following lap as Hamilton was now just 2.4 seconds behind Raikkonen. Nico was now in twelfth and Kazuki fourteenth after their stops. Lap twenty nine and Kimi's lead was down to 1.9 seconds as Massa returned to third followed by Bourdais, Kubica, Vettel, Heidfeld, and
Alonso. Eighth placed Heidfeld would pit on lap thirty two. Bourdais would pit from fourth on the next lap. Tenth placed Webber would also come in. Bourdais would come back out in eighth. Lap thirty four and Kubica, Vettel, and Kovalainen would pit. Hamilton had taken a few tenths off Raikkonen with the Ferrari leading by 1.7 seconds. But Kimi was able to extend his lead out to 2.2 seconds.

The order was Raikkonen from Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Bourdais, Vettel, Heidfeld, and Kubica in eighth. Nico was in twelfth and Kazuki fourteenth. With eight laps remaining Hamilton had closed the gap to 1.6 seconds and Massa was 4.2 seconds behind Hamilton. Kazuki would be lapped and would hold up Hamilton slightly. There was concern as to whether it would start to rain with just six laps remaining. Raikkonen was 1.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton as the first spots of rain would start to fall. Lap forty and Raikkonen's lead was just 0.9 seconds. It was a real fight between the two drivers. But Hamilton would make a small mistake at the Bus Stop chicane that would see Raikkonen's lead extend to 2.0 seconds. The rain was getting heavier in places.

Massa was still in third followed by Alonso, Bourdais, Vettel, Heidfeld, and Kubica. But Hamilton would try to pass Raikkonen at the Bus Stop. Hamilton would run wide and would come back out in front of Raikkonen. He would pass at Le Source but the next lap would see both Hamilton and Raikkonen spinning and running wide as they ran through traffic. Eventually Raikkonen would spin and crash into the wall ending his race. At one stage Nico had found himself involved in the fight between Hamilton and Raikkonen as the pair tried to pass the Williams.

With the rain many drivers would pit including both Williams drivers. Hamilton would lead from Massa and Bourdais. Kovalainen would stop out on the track as on the last lap Heidfeld would pass a series of drivers to come home an amazing third after having pitted for a third time late in the race. The drivers in front of rain ran so slowly that Heidfeld was able to close to gap running on wet weather tyres.

Hamilton would take the chequered flag to win the Belgian Grand Prix from Massa and Heidfeld. Alonso was fourth followed by Vettel, Kubica, Bourdais, and in eighth Glock. For the Williams team it would be a race that would see both cars lapped and out of the points. There is not a lot that can be said about their race performances apart from saying let's hope we see an improvement in a weeks time at Monza.

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1h22.44.933
 2.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +    14.461
 3.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    23.844
 4.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    28.939
 5.  Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    29.037
 6.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    29.498
 7.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +    31.196
 8.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    56.506
 9.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    57.237
10.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap
11.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     1 lap
12.  Rosberg       AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Nakajima      AT&T Williams-Toyota  (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
18.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:47.930

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Barrichello   Honda                 (B)    21
Piquet        Renault               (B)    14