FIA Formula 1 World Championship 2017 – Round 12 – 2017 Formula 1 Pirelli Belgian Grand Prix

Belgian Grand Prix – Spa-Francorchamps 27 August

Posted: 27.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Maurizio Arrivabene: “Going into this race, on paper at least, it didn’t seem like one that would suit us particularly well. Despite that, we proved able to fight for the win right down to the final lap. Seb drove a great race and at the restart after the Safety Car, it really came very close. It’s a shame Kimi had to take a penalty, which cost him almost half a minute, but he managed to recover with a nice passing move at the restart. The SF70H proved to be very competitive and the team, both at the track and in Maranello, worked with concentration and determination. However, we still need to improve. The next GP will be in Monza where we will be meeting up with all our fans.”

Sebastian Vettel: “If we had ended up ahead in qualifying, then we would have had a good pace to stay in front today! I was surprised how close I could follow through the whole race. So I am a bit angry at myself, because, when the race restarted after the safety car, I was probably too close to Lewis out of Turn 1. I tried to open the gap down Eau Rouge but it’s a difficult compromise. You see the cars coming behind and you know that you need to defend, instead of focusing on attacking. At the same time I know that down the straights we are not as quick as Mercedes. So, I am not entirely happy, but after all it’s been a great weekend for the team. We don’t need to be afraid of any circuit, I believe we have the best car in terms of package. There’s still something missing but the guys in Maranello are very motivated. I think we have done the biggest improvement and a big step forward. Now we turn the page on and move on to Monza: let’s see what happens there.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “Overall, we have been quite competitive this weekend. In the race the car was good on the Soft compound, while with the Ultrasofts,after some laps,I was struggling with the rear; the first laps were ok but then I was sliding around. When I saw the yellow flags I was on the straight, on the right side and I’m sure I did not go any faster than on any other lap. The penalty was not ideal, but luckily there was a Safety Car and we could recover something. I overtook Bottas and then I tried to get close to Ricciardo, but we did not have enough speed to overtake him as he was surprisingly good in race conditions, with good speed in the right places. I guess the result of today could have been worse, but for sure I was looking for more. We have to take the good things, we learned from this race and we’ll try to do better next weekend.”

Belgian Grand Prix – Seb second and Kimi fourth

Posted: 27.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Vettel still leads the championship after an exciting race

Francorchamps, 27 August – Scuderia Ferrari finished second and fourth in a Belgian GP that was closely contested right down to the wire. Seb Vettel was runner-up, with Kimi Raikkonen fighting back after a penalty to take fourth. Sebastian still leads the Drivers’ classification with a 7 point advantage over Lewis Hamilton.

At the start, Seb was tucked in behind Hamilton and poked his nose alongside at Les Combes, while Kimi was tailing Valtteri Bottas. “We can go with him,” said Vettel over the radio, confident in his pace. At this point, the top five were all within five seconds of one another. The tyres were showing no signs of blistering on the SF70Hs and on lap 10, Sebastian was quickest, while further back, the pit stops got underway. Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 12 to switch from Ultrasoft to Soft, with Bottas coming in on lap 13, also going for the harder tyre.

Ferrari covered its rival’s strategy, calling Seb in next time round. He too opted for the Softs and came out behind Kimi, who was fighting with Hamilton before also pitting. But there was some bad news for the Finn in the shape of a 10 second stop-and-go penalty for not having slowed down under waved yellow flags. “A shame as the car was going really well…” Meanwhile, Seb reduced the gap to the leader to around a second. Raikkonen began moving up the order, passing Ocon to go sixth. With 20 laps to go, he slipped by Hulkenberg on the Kemmel climb and he was fifth.

Then came drama on lap 30: Perez lost his right rear wheel after a collision and struggled to stay on track and the Safety Car was called out. Ferrari immediately called in both its drivers to fit the softest tyres. The rivals reacted, but they went for the Softs and at the restart, the gaps were of course much smaller and the race was on with different compounds.

The Safety Car came in at the end of lap 33. Seb kept the pressure on Lewis, but was unable to get past, although Kimi fared better, as he and Ricciardo jumped Bottas who had run wide. On lap 36, the DRS could be used again but the gap was over the requisite one second. On lap 40, Vettel set the fastest race lap, which wasn’t enough to win, but going into Monza it’s a result that exceeds expectations.

Belgian Grand Prix – Fighting hard in Spa

Posted: 26.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Seb happy with “good feeling”, Kimi’s session more complicated

Francorchamps, August 26 – Shortly after the announcement of his contract extension for another three years, Sebastian Vettel was able to put up a strong challenge for pole position, ending up with second place on the grid. His team-mate Kimi Raikkonen paid the price for a mistake in his last run, after having been consistently quick throughout the weekend, and had to settle for P4. Having aborted his lap, he helped Seb’s final effort by giving him a tow through the last sector of the track. “I had a very good feeling already in Q1”, Seb says. “During Q2, the main task was to get through and then in Q3 I was just about ok with the first run, but struggling a bit. However, my last run was better. I am happy with today’s result. I think we achieved something that some people didn’t expect from us. The pace was very good and I am really looking forward to tomorrow. It will be a long race with a lot of laps and a long track where more or less everyone has had problems with the tires during the weekend. As for the extension of my contract with Ferrari, I am very happy for that. I love this team. Two years ago we said we wanted to get back on top and I think we are on the right road. We aren’t where we want to be yet, but we are striving for the top. I am very happy we keep working together. I want to achieve a lot with Ferrari and think it’s the same on the other side. And I want to keep racing in red!” An unexpected vibration issue plagued Kimi’s session this afternoon, so at the end he was obviously less satisfied with his day, but still encouraged by the car’s pace: “It was a messy qualifying: all the way through the session I had some vibrations in the car that kept coming and going.  It’s hard to know how much they affected the lap time, but for sure it did not help.  It’s very disappointing because so far the weekend had gone very smoothly. I felt we had all the tools to do well, the car was good and we had the speed. In the last run I was off to a good start, but then I started struggling with the tire temperatures and made a mistake, got sideways at turn 9 and it was pretty much the end of it.  Fourth position is not a disaster but it is far from what I wanted.  It’s unfortunate, wrong time wrong place, but tomorrow is another day. It’s going to be quite tricky with the tires for everybody: hopefully we’ll have a straightforward race and make the right decisions”.

Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying, Ferrari on the front row

Posted: 26.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Seb 2^nd, Kimi 4^th, despite a mistake

Francorchamps, 26 August – At the end of today’s qualifying on the Ardennes circuit, the Scuderia Ferrari drivers had secured the second and fourth places on the grid. Sebastian Vettel’s best time was a 1”42’795, while his Finnish team-mate Kimi Raikkonen set a 1”43’270 on his first run in Q3, but unfortunately made a slight mistake on his final attempt. Both drivers ran Ultrasoft and Supersoft tyres during the session.

Belgian Grand Prix – FP3, Ferrari ahead

Posted: 26.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Kimi fastest in Spa ahead of Seb 

Spa – Francorchamps, 26 August – Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were first and second fastest for Ferrari in the final free practice session at the Belgian circuit, with the action starting on a damp track which then dried out. Kimi Raikkonen’s best lap was a 1”43’916, with German team-mate Sebastian Vettel doing a 1”44’113. Both men set their best times on the Ultrasoft tyres, before moving on to do some long runs.

Belgian Grand Prix – The potential is there

Posted: 25.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Kimi: “Not a bad start”. Seb: “Better in long-runs”

Francorchamps, August 25 – It was a day of mixed feelings for Scuderia Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. However, at the end of the two Friday practice sessions the two men managed to post competitive times on the 7.004 Km Ardennes track,both on timed laps or during long-runs. Kimi reported no major surprises: “Today we somehow expected how practice was going to be and it was not too bad as a start. Obviously there are always things you want to try more and the rain in the end did not help, but it was a pretty normal Friday.  It’s hard to compare driving here to a year ago, but it doesn’t feel very different, as we are now quite used to going a bit faster everywhere. We’ll keep working today, this evening and tomorrow morning, in order to be stronger for qualifying. There are things we have to go through to do better, as is the case with any Friday at any race circuit. There’s no point now to start guessing what the others are doing, we’ll see tomorrow in qualifying, but I’m sure we can be fast”. Seb, on the other hand, felt that improvement is at hand in terms of performance: “I am not entirely happy but overall I think the car is ok. We just need to put a little bit more together. This is a nice track and the cars have more grip, so it is more fun. It should be nice tomorrow even if I don’t know what the weather will be like. This is a long track, so it is not that easy to put everything together. I didn’t really find the rhythm today but the long run was better. So, overall the car is capable of being fast, but we need to get it right. I need to do my job and I know I can go faster. On Friday it is always difficult to judge the situation, because on Saturday it seems that everyone makes a step forward. If we can do that, then we can be very close. We are here to give a hard time to our competitors”.

Belgian Grand Prix – A busy Friday in Spa

Posted: 25.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Kimi 2^nd and Seb 5^th in P2, running different programmes 

Spa – Francorchamps, 25 August – The two Ferrari SF70H cars finished in second and fifth places with Kimi Raikkonen (1”45’015) and Sebastian Vettel (1”45’235) respectively in the second free practice session, at the Spa circuit. The Scuderia drivers worked on quick single laps and then on race pace running. They started off on different programmes, with Kimi running the Soft tyres and Sebastian the Supersofts, staying on them throughout. In the final part of the session, heavy rain hit the track.

Belgian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1, Ferrari out in front

Posted: 25.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Kimi and Seb first and third fastest 

Francorchamps, 25 August – After the summer break, the second part of the Formula 1 World Championship got underway this morning with the first free practice session for the Belgian Grand Prix. Topping the time sheet was Kimi Raikkonen who took his Ferrari round in 1”45’502. Sebastian Vettel was third quickest with a lap in 1”45’647. The job list for the first session included tyre testing and set-up adjustments. Both drivers used the Ultrasofts to set their best times, with Sebastian starting the session on the Soft tyre.

Belgian Grand Prix – The battle of the Ardennes

Posted: 24.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Kimi, Seb focus on Spa: “We have high hopes, but nothing comes easy”

Francorchamps, August 24^th – It’s not raining in the Ardennes-which is not so obvious for this region! Scuderia Ferrari drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Seb Vettel, are about to start their racing weekend off the back of the announcement that Kimi has been confirmed for next season. “To drive for Ferrari – he says “is special and I feel privileged to be in the team also for next year. Ferrari is Ferrari, and it’s different to any other team. I’m very happy to stay and the team is happy, too; I’m really glad that the deal is done, so now we can focus on racing  the end of the season”.

Commenting on the nature of the challenge ahead, Kimi notes: “Spa is quite a unique place: it’s an old fashioned circuit and I like it very much; a challenging place, great for drivers  and for the spectators;  a lot of overtaking and many other things happen in a race that is always unpredictable. Some people think this may not be such a good place for us, given the nature of the circuit, but there are fast tracks where we have  been very strong this year, and also in the past we have been very competitive here . We have high hopes,  but nothing comes easy, we can only do our best”.

“This track changes a bit every year” Seb comments “so we’ll see how it goes. We brought updates here but we don’t underestimate our competitors. Spa is a beautiful place, with a lot of supporters coming over, and I am really looking forward to racing here. I don’t see this race and the next one as more ‘critical’ than others: in fact, here and Monza rank probably among the best, because of the atmosphere. But first of all, it is nice to be back after the break and able to jump in the car. As for the renewal of Kimi’s contract, there is no discussion on his talent. It is nice to see the team is appreciating his work and I am happy to work with him”.

Belgian Grand Prix – Spa and its legendary corners

Posted: 22.08.2017 / Source: Ferrari

Eau Rouge is the most famous, but is it the most demanding?

93 years and still going strong, Spa-Francorchamps is the granddaddy of the current Formula 1 circuits, as well as being the longest at over seven kilometres. However, by comparison with the original circuit, inaugurated in 1924, it pales into insignificance, the older one being an altogether bigger beast and almost fifteen kilometres in length. Apart from a few modifications, the current layout has been in use since 1979 and the Ardennes track has hosted nearly all the Belgian Grands Prix, right back to the Twenties and then from 1950, the first year of the Formula 1 World Championship, although there were a couple of exceptions held at Nivelles and Zolder between 1970 and ’80. When it comes to Zolder, one cannot help but recall that it was here in 1982 that Gilles Villeneuve left us. The much less well known Nivelles circuit, not far from the Belgian capital, Brussels, was less than four kilometres long.
For all drivers, Spa is something of a right of passage. It’s one of the tracks where a driver can “make the difference,” which might explain why Michael Schumacher won here six times and Ayrton Senna five. Kimi Raikkonen has won at Spa four times and two of those victories, in 2007 and 2009, were with Scuderia Ferrari. Mention Spa and thoughts immediately turn to Eau Rouge and Raidillon, the brutal vertical compression to which driver and car are subjected, as the incline changes. However, maybe not everyone is aware that, these days, the most demanding corners, also from a physical point of view, are Pouhon and Blanchimont. These two “kinks” actually produce the highest lateral forces of the whole season. And this year, with the new aerodynamic rules and wider tyres, one can expect to see staggering figures. On the subject of tyres, the use of the softest ones in the range – Soft, Supersoft and Ultrasoft – should add another interesting element to a race that, thanks to its setting and atmosphere, is one of the absolute highlights of the sport.