Belgian Weather Sees Kovalainen Extend Lead

Belgian Grand Prix

Spa never disappoints and there was no difference this year as the weather helped to provide one of the races of the season.

Qualifying was crazy enough. Q1 saw rain disrupt the session, with Timo Glock being as high as 10th and even Sakon Yamamoto in 13th for a while. However as the track dried out they tumbled down the order, but mistakes from Sauber drivers Kobayashi and de la Rosa, as well as the early session spin from Petrov, allowed Timo Glock and Heikki Kovalainen to qualify for Q2 for the second time this season. Elsewhere there was contact between Jarno Trulli and Lucas di Grassi which saw no action for Trulli.

In Q2, Glock was outqualified by Kovalainen after no real shocks. However it wouldn’t end there as Glock would be penalised five places for ‘blocking’ Yamamoto. Other penalties meant Lotus would line up in 13th and 15h. Yamamoto started in his seasons best 19th while Glock ended up in 20th.

It was a crazy start to the race and by the time the safety car had come out the order was all over the place. The advantage held by Kovalainen had been lost and drivers found themselves in the mix alongside seasoned drivers and team. Eventually they were left alone apart from the occasional visit from Vettel after his penalites/pit stops.

The only retirement from the six was Bruno Senna, who spun out early on and eventually retiring in the pits.

Towards the end, Jarno Trulli was all set for winning, but a spin cost him massively, allowing his team mate Kovalainen through for yet another win.

	Driver	Team	Race Pos.	Points
1	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus	16th	10
2	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	17th	6
3	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	18th	4
4	Jarno Trulli	Lotus	19th	3
5	Sakon Yamamoto	Hispania	20th	2
6	Bruno Senna	Hispania	Ret.	0

 

Standings

Drivers Championship

It is looking very one sided at the moment. Heikki Kovalainen has now got a 20 point gap on his team mate. Karun Chandhok has finally lost his second place as Trulli moves up into second, and with the two Virgin Racing boys just behind, he is looking likely to be down to 5th by the end of the European leg. The spin by Trulli cost him eight points and is now just 4 points ahead of di Grassi and Glock. Bruno Senna is comfortably in 6th and Sakon Yamamoto is well at the back.

	Driver	Team	Points
1	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus	66
2	Jarno Trulli	Lotus	46
3	Karun Chandhok	Hispania	45
4	Timo Glock	Virgin Racing	42
	Lucas di Grassi	Virgin Racing	42
6	Bruno Senna	Hispania	22
7	Sakon Yamamoto	Hispania	5

 

Teams Championship

I feel we should just hand the trophy to Lotus. Now a 28 point gap to Virgin. The three are much more spread out now, with a it being clear who is the quicker.

	Team	Points
1	Lotus	112
2	Virgin Racing	84
3	Hispania	72