LXIV ING Belgian Grand Prix (official)
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Race Date: 7th September 2008
Laps: 44
Lap Distance: 7,004 km
Race Distance: 308,176 km
Lap Record: 1:48,036 - Felipe Massa (2007)
Historic Information:
Current Driver StandingsWikipedia wrote:n 1925, the first Belgian Grand Prix was won by Antonio Ascari whose son Alberto would win the race in 1952 and 1953. Unfortunately, after winning the Belgian race, Antonio Ascari would be killed in his next outing at the French Grand Prix. In 1939, the race claimed the life of British driver Richard "d**k" Seaman while leading the race. During the 1960 race Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey lost their lives in separate incidents, the latter in a freak occurrence when hit in the face by a bird.
In 1972 Spa was considered too dangerous for Formula 1 machinery. Following that decision, the Belgians decided to alternate their Grand Prix between Zolder and a characterless circuit at Nivelles-Baulers near Brussels. The first race at Nivelles was won by Emerson Fittipaldi but although the track was safe, it inspired little enthusiasm when compared to the magnificent old Spa circuit. Zolder hosted the race the following year and it was won by Jackie Stewart. Formula One returned to Nivelles in 1974. Once again the race was won by Emerson Fittipaldi, but after that event the organizers were unable to sustain a Grand Prix at Nivelles and the track faded from the racing scene.
Afterwards, the race returned to Zolder. The Belgian Grand Prix would be held there a further nine times. Niki Lauda scored back-to-back victories at the track in 1975 and 1976, and in 1977 Gunnar Nilsson scored his only F1 victory at Zolder. The following year Mario Andretti won the race for Lotus. In 1979, Jody Scheckter won the race in his Ferrari. In 1980 Didier Pironi became a first time winner at the track in his Ligier. The 1981 meeting that was won by Carlos Reutemann was chaotic with a mechanic being killed in the pitlane, a drivers' strike and then a nasty startline accident. Zolder will always be remembered, however, as the place where Gilles Villeneuve died in 1982. John Watson won the race for McLaren, but a year later the rebuilt Spa circuit opened for racing and the Belgian Grand Prix returned there. The 1982 Belgian Grand Prix was held at Zolder. In 1983, the race returned to Spa before returning to Zolder in 1984. This was the last F1 race held at Zolder with Michele Alboreto taking the final victory there. In 1985 the Belgian F1 Grand Prix returned to Spa-Francorchamps where it has remained ever since.
World Champion Michael Schumacher, who made his debut at Spa in 1991 and won his first F1 race there in 1992, won his 52nd Grand Prix at Spa in 2001, surpassing Alain Prost's all-time record of 51 wins. Schumacher also won his seventh World Drivers' Championship title at Spa in 2004. There was no Belgian Grand Prix in 2003 because of the country's tobacco advertising laws but it returned to the schedule again in 2004.
Another notable race was the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix which took place in torrential conditions. The race was originally stopped after a massive accident involving thirteen of the twenty-two runners at the first corner. The heavy rain caused low visibility, and Michael Schumacher ran into the back of David Coulthard, an event that angered Schumacher so much he stormed into the McLaren garage to confront Coulthard, claiming he had tried to kill him. Coulthard later admitted he had been at fault, due to his own inexperience (despite it being his fourth year of Formula One)[1] Only eight drivers were classified finishers (two of whom were five laps behind, one of whom was Coulthard) and Damon Hill secured a memorable victory ahead of team mate Ralf Schumacher to record the previously underperforming Jordan team's first Formula One win in its history, and a 1-2 to top it off.
In 2006, the FIA announced the Belgian Grand Prix would not be part of the 2006 Formula One season, since the local authorities had started major repair work in Spa Francorchamps.
The Belgian Grand Prix returned in 2007, when Kimi Räikkönen took pole position and his 3rd Belgian Grand Prix win in a row.
Current Constructor Standings01 Lewis Hamilton 70
02 Felipe Massa 64
03 Kimi Räikkönen 57
04 Robert Kubica 55
05 Heikki Kovalainen 43
06 Nick Heidfeld 41
07 Jarno Trulli 26
08 Fernando Alonso 18
09 Mark Webber 18
10 Timo Glock 15
11 Nelsinho Piquet 13
12 Rubens Barrichello 11
13 Nico Rosberg 9
14 Sebastian Vettel 9
15 Kazuki Nakajima 8
Winners 1995 - 2007*01 Ferrari 121
02 McLaren-Mercedes 113
03 BMW Sauber 96
04 Toyota 41
05 Renault 31
06 Red Bull-Renault 24
07 Williams-Toyota 17
08 Honda 14
09 STR-Ferrari 11
10 Force India-Ferrari 0
Code: Select all
1995: Michael Schumacher Benetton-Renault B195 1:36.47,875 = 190,204 km/h
1996: Michael Schumacher Ferrari F310 1:28.15,125 = 208,442 km/h
1997: Michael Schumacher Ferrari F310B 1:33.46,717 = 196,149 km/h
1998: Damon Hill Jordan-Mugen 198 1:43.47,407 = 177,229 km/h
1999: David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes MP4/14 1:25.43,057 = 214,595 km/h
2000: Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes MP4/15 1:28.14,494 = 208,467 km/h
2001: Michael Schumacher Ferrari F2001 1:08.05,002 = 221,050 km/h**
2002: Michael Schumacher Ferrari F2002 1:21.20,634 = 225,970 km/h
2004: Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes MP4/19B 1:32.35,274 = 198,898 km/h
2005: Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes MP4/20 1:30.01,295 = 204,568 km/h
2007: Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari F2007 1:20.39,066 = 229,174 km/h
**=Race was shortened by 8 laps
Timetable
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Local time: CEST (UTC + 2 Hours)
Western European Times (UK etc.): CEST - 1 Hour
Eastern European Times (Finland etc.): CEST + 1 Hour
Session UTC/GMT CEST EDT Stream / Channel
Friday 5th September
F1 Friday Practice 1 08:00-09:30 10:00-11:30 04:00-05:30 ITV
F1 Friday Practice 2 12:00-13:30 14:00-15:30 08:00-09:30 Several Available (See Streams)
Saturday 6th September
F1 Saturday Practice 09:00-10:00 11:00-12:00 05:00-06:00 See Streams
F1 Qualifying 12:00 14:00 08:00 Several Available (See Streams)
Sunday 7th September
F1 Race (44 Laps) 12:00 14:00 08:00 Several Available (See Streams)
Weather
Check these sites for weather updates, 5-10 day forecast:
Weather.com
Accuweather
Yahoo Weather
BBC Weather
Live Streams
Programs used: Sopcast, TVU Player, PPMate, TV Ants
Schedule
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CHANNEL STREAM STREAM ID TYPE FP1 FP2 FP3 Qualifying Race
ITV ITV Web N/A Flash - Web based X X X X
SpeedTV Wheels N/A TVU Player X X X
Star Sports Star Sports 10005 TVU Player X X
Star Sports N/A PPMate X X
CCTV5 CCTV5 10007 TVUPlayer X
CCTV5 6002 SopCast X
RTL RTL Web N/A MMS - Web based X X
Eurosport France Eurosport (?) N/A TVAnts X X X
F1stream.co.nr, [url=tvu://53060]Wheels[/url], [url=tvu://10005]Star Sports TVU[/url], [url=ppmate://www.ppsportstv.com/channels/PCAST182.txt]Star Sports PPMate[/url], [url=sop://broker1.sopcast.com:3912/6002]CCTV 5 SopCast[/url], [url=tvu://10007]CCTV 5 TVU[/url], [url=tvants://www.tvants.com/tvants/?k=66c19d44a27ecb46]CCTV 5 TVAnts[/url], [url=ppmate://ps.itv.mop.com/channels/DEFAULT/txt/1,0,0,75/PCAST_26.txt]CCTV 5 PPMate[/url], RTL
Predicition league topic
http://www.f1zone.net/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3182
Live Timing
Live Timing for all sessions, requires Java & account on F1.com:
http://www.formula1.com/services/live_t ... popup.html
Video thread
Gp Thread : http://www.f1zone.net/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=3233
F1Michi's Thread : http://www.f1zone.net/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2080
Results
Free Pratice 1
Free Pratice 2
Free Pratice 3
Qualifying
Race
Sources and links:
Wikipedia - Bellgian Grand Prix
The Official Formula 1 Website
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