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The
contrast could not be more
marked as in the space of a
week, the Formula 1
championship trail switches
from one of the newest
tracks on the calendar, the
Valencia street circuit, to
one of the most famous and
historic venues in motor
sport, Spa-Francorchamps.
While Valencia is a man-made
circuit, artificially
created around a port, Spa
owes its character more to
nature than to man, as its
sweeping 7.004 kilometres
follow the contours of the
Ardennes. Even some of the
roads leading to the circuit
have historic connotations,
as they used to form part of
the much longer version,
used in the early days of
the World Championship.
Standing in the paddock,
there is another obvious
contrast, as temperatures in
Belgium will be much cooler
than those encountered in
Spain, although Spa’s
version of the humidity
encountered last week is of
the more obvious rainy
variety. The journey from
one venue to the other has
in itself been a challenge
for the teams, as it is one
of the longest drives of the
year. The Scuderia Ferrari
transporters and their
precious cargo of two F60s
and all the equipment, set
off from Valencia on Monday
morning and the Scuderia
mechanics are now hard at work in
Spa preparing the cars for
Friday practice. The cars
will therefore be much the
same as in Valencia, apart
from the necessary changes
to the aerodynamic set-up –
basically, lower downforce
than last week’s
configuration. In addition,
Ferrari
has essentially stopped
development of the 2009 F60
to concentrate its R&D
resources on 2010, whereas
other teams have chosen a
different option to achieve
their own goals.
As for
the famous Ardennes weather,
the current forecast for the
weekend is mainly dry, but
the track has its own
micro-climate, so
predictions can never be
relied on. In addition, the
length of the circuit means
that it is a common
occurrence for part of the
track to be dry, while rain
falls on another section.
The length also has an
effect on the way Qualifying
is run, as drivers usually
cannot afford the luxury of
going for two timed laps on
one run and as for the rain,
if it falls in Q3, then it
can be a case of simply
running to the end of the
session.
The benefit of KERS has been
ably demonstrated by
Ferrari's
drivers in recent races,
however, with the La Source
hairpin coming so soon after
the start, it is unlikely
that the first few hundred
metres will show the benefit
at this track. However, once
past the hairpin, the long
straight, first downhill to
Eau Rouge, a corner which
could become more of a
challenge again, and then up
the hill on the other side
will provide the most
graphic illustration of what
extra power generation can
do. In fact, the Scuderia
engineers believe that KERS
will have more of an impact
here than at any other
circuit on the calendar.
Overtaking is possible at
Spa, because of the
slipstreaming effect and
this year, those cars
running KERS will probably
be able to run slightly more
aerodynamic downforce than
those without, thus having a
power advantage on the
faster sections and more
grip on the slower ones.
On the
tyre front, Bridgestone is
bringing their Soft and
Medium compounds, rather
than the more usual pattern
of bringing two types of
tyre with a greater
difference between them. It
is clear that for the F60 it
is usually a case of the
softer the better, even if
that situation has improved
in recent races, but the
greater similarity between
the Prime and Option at this
race, should help on this
front. Some uncharacteristic
warm weather would also be a
benefit.
Ferrari has enjoyed plenty
of success at this venue,
winning no less than eleven
times, with a further four
wins in the Belgian Grand
Prix, when the race was held
at Zolder. In 2004 for
example, Ferrari was able to
celebrate winning the World
Championship well before the
season finale, courtesy of
Michael Schumacher. On a
track where a driver can
make the difference, Ferrari
expect Kimi Raikkonen to
again be very competitive,
as he won here three times
and last year, had one of
his best races, right up to
the chaotic final moments of
the race, which was
eventually won by his
team-mate, Felipe Massa. The
Finn has also won in other
formulae at this track. As
for Luca Badoer, after
making his race debut for
the Scuderia in Spain, he
returned home to
Montebelluna, doing some
training for a couple of
days, even though he coped
well on the physical side in
the torrid conditions last
Sunday. Although he has not
raced at Spa since 1999,
this is at least he circuit
he knows, apart from the
minor modifications
introduced a couple of years
ago. Badoer himself expects
to make a step forward on
the performance front.
ItaliaspeedTV:
Scuderia Ferrari
Belgian Grand Prix Preview - Kimi
Raikkonen & Stefano Domenicali (English)
/ (Versione
Italiana)
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