After a seemingly endless break of almost four weeks, Formula 1 made a welcome return last weekend. To make it an even more enjoyable three days, the infamous Spa-Francorchamps was the venue to get proceedings back underway. Sebastian Vettel was sitting comfortably atop the standings heading into the event but, having not won since Valencia, the pressure was on to reassert himself at the front.
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View GPUpdate.net's In-depth Tyre Analysis chart for the 2011 Belgian GP
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Following Jenson Button’s impressive win in Hungary last time out, spirits were high in the McLaren camp that Red Bull could be outpaced once again. However, it wasn’t to be, with Sebastian Vettel raising his pole position total to match Niki Lauda and Nélson Piquet in qualifying, before claiming his seventh win of the season and taking his points total above the amount he amassed throughout the whole of last year.
Before looking at the German’s aggressive but effective tyre strategy, a pre-race concern must be discussed. After qualifying, top teams had asked for fresh Pirelli front tyres with the argument that the changeable conditions had increased degradation over the course of their respective fastest runs. This was linked largely to a lack of setup time on a wet Friday, with unsuitable camber settings producing a serious tyre headache in the dry.
However, Pirelli and the FIA simply said ‘no’. This caused some anxiety for Red Bull in particular, but Vettel’s performance would put all of that to rest 90 minutes later. The German bounced back from a sluggish opening lap to triumph for the first time in 63 days. Three short Option tyre stints of five, eight and 17 laps respectively were followed by a controlled run on the Prime rubber, enough to hold off team-mate Mark Webber.
Second placed man Webber adopted one of the most unique tyre plans of the race in response to what he described as a ‘shocking’ start, with the Australian almost instantly dropping to eighth place from third on the grid. Pitting on Lap 3 to switch from the Option tyres, Webber completed two quick and consistent stints on the harder Prime rubber, with his longest run totalling an impressive 28 laps - more than 60 percent of the race.
Button was another driver to fight through the field on Sunday afternoon, making his first stop just behind Webber to repair some Turn 1 wounds, changing from the Prime compound to Option tyres at the same time. The Briton then stormed through the field en route to third, explaining: "We put the Option tyres on and did the rest of the race on the Option. It was a fun race, lots of good overtaking, I really enjoyed it out there."
Arch rivals Ferrari endured another troublesome afternoon courtesy of the harder Pirelli tyre, with both Fernando Alonso (fourth) and Felipe Massa (eighth) tumbling down the order after their impressive runs on the Soft rubber. Alonso had been an early threat before a distinct lack of pace in the final phase of the race, with team-mate Massa suffering a similar fate as well as the added inconvenience of a late puncture.
Due to the Scuderia’s issues, Mercedes GP and Force India got themselves fully involved in the fight for strong points finishes. Michael Schumacher’s star drive to fifth draws extreme comparisons to that of Button’s race, with the pair utilising almost identical tyre strategies. A short Prime run of four laps was followed by three impressive Soft compound trips to the chequered flag, with his result made all the more sweet courtesy of a move on team-mate Nico Rosberg before Les Combes.
Just behind the Mercedes duo, Adrian Sutil delivered another encouraging performance for the Force India squad on the way to his second biggest points haul of the season so far. The German utilised a plan very similar to the one that secured him sixth place at the Nürburgring last month, initially making good use of the Option tyre grip before cementing his position on the Prime rubber in the final stages of the race.
Another man worthy of mention inside the top ten is Pastor Maldonado, the Williams driver who finally secured his first points finish after unfortunately missing out earlier in the season. Putting his qualifying antics to one side, the 2010 GP2 Champion completed one of the strongest drives of the afternoon, rising from 21st on the grid courtesy of a three-stop plan (Option, Option and Prime).
A little further back, Bruno Senna’s promising weekend faded at the first corner. The Brazilian later apologised for taking Toro Rosso rival Jaime Alguersuari out of the race, but was thankful to continue and learn more about the Pirelli rubber: "Firstly I would like to say sorry to Jaime for that. However, after the drive-through penalty I was able to start making some progress and my race pace was actually quite strong, so I kept pushing and was pleased with how I drove from then on."
Team Lotus were once again the team with the highest spirits out of the three new-for-2010 teams, but it could have been very different if it wasn’t for an untimely retirement at HRT. Daniel Ricciardo was forced to withdraw on Lap 13 after leading the ‘battle at the back’ comfortably, paving the way for Lotus to advance, despite some Turn 1 dramas.
Jarno Trulli ultimately led the charge for the Norfolk squad in 14th place, hailing the weekend as one of the best for the team so far this year. The Italian’s race consisted of two Option tyre runs totalling 13 and 18 tours respectively, before reaching the chequered flag on the back of a 12-lap Prime tyre dash, edging out team-mate Heikki Kovalainen after their collision on the opening lap.
Now the F1 circus prepares for its arrival at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, one of the finest Grand Prix venues to ever grace the earth. Even if the traditional Tifosi passion drowns out the voices of non-Ferrari fans, it is a favourite amongst all. Mercedes and Force India are certainly teams to look out for with their straight-line speed and, if they can deliver tyre strategies as seen at Spa, they could develop into a podium threat. All we know is, as per usual, it will be a fantastic weekend of motor racing.
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View GPUpdate.net's In-depth Tyre Analysis chart for the 2011 Belgian GP
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Some key facts uncovered at Spa-Francorchamps:
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- 22 drivers started the race on the softer Option rubber, while Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher were the only two men to use a set of Prime tyres
- The longest Option tyre stint was completed by Jérôme d'Ambrosio, touring 23 times on the same set of rubber
- Mark Webber put together the longest run on Prime rubber, completing 28 laps during his second stint
- Out of the 19 drivers to finish the race, seven opted for a three-stop plan while 12 pitted twice
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Analysis conducted by GPUpdate.net’s Mike Seymour
Twitter: @MikeSeymourF1
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:26:44.893 |
| 2. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +3.741 |
| 3. | J. Button | McLaren | +9.669 |
| 4. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +13.022 |
| 5. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +74.464 |
| 6. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +48.674 |
| 7. | A. Sutil | Force India | +59.713 |
| 8. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +1:06.076 |
| 9. | V. Petrov | Lotus Renault | +1:11.917 |
| 10. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +1:17.615 |
| Full results | |||
| 2011 Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix | |||
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