Greetings chaps!
I can't wait for this race, IMHO the greatest on the calendar! Spa is a test not merely of driving and tire management and pit strategy, but also of racing nerve. Here is where the skilled are separated from the real racers!!
So it's no surprise that KIMI RAIKKONEN absolutely OWNS this race
: Kimi competed seven times: 01, 02, 04, 05, 07, 08 & 09. He didn't finish in 01, 02 & 08.
But every time he did finish at Spa, he finished First! Twice for McLaren/Mercedes (04 & 05) and twice for Ferrari (07 & 09).
Michael Schumacher, of course, won here more than Kimi (but he has raced more than twice as much; 13 time to Kimi’s 7). He won six times: twice for Benneton and four times for Ferrari; he also finished second three times: once for Benneton and twice for Ferrari. He has one disqualification ('94) & two DNFs. Alas,
he is no longer driving a genuinely competitive machine (though it's better than last year's clunker) so I fear he won't be able to improve on last year's worst finish ever for him of seventh.
So now here's my picks and reasons:
1. Lewis Hamilton: he was on the pole in 08 and was on the front row last year when he won. In Hungary we saw that the Red Bull was not able to pass the McLaren and both Seb and Mark have less than excellent records here, not to mention their poor launches.
2. Sebastian Vettel: his car is quick and he is almost as good as Lewis, but his qualification record here is not so good (10 in 08; 8 in 09 & 4th last year) & that will kill, I’m afraid, any chance of him winning.
3. Fernando Alonso: the Ferrari is getting faster and faster and maybe this year the Spaniard will find his way back (after too long a period) to the podium in Belgium.
4. Jenson Button: Jenson's best finish at Spa was third way back in 05; I'm afraid there are too many cards stacked against him to make the podium this year. He drove brilliantly in Hungary, but evidently Spa doesn’t suit him.
5. Mark Webber has an excellent car, but I don't see a repeat of last year's second place in the cards; there are just too many faster starters and qualifiers ahead of him this year; the Red Bull dominance is fading and will fade faster with him.
6. Reliable Felipe Massa is usually in the mix, but I think Fernando has the real fire.
7. Michael Schumacher, with some of his famous racing luck, could make history and the podium this week --but it's a very long shot, indeed! He's as much a master of Spa as Kimi was, but this year, like last, he just doesn't have the car.
8. Paul di Resta set a blistering pace in Hungary to qualify 8th and finish 7th; I hope he continues to impress us!
9. Nico Rosberg should be somewhere in the top ten; ninth seems about right.
10. Buemi, in the STR in Hungary came from 23rd on the grid to 8th at the end; can't leave someone THAT hot out of the points!
Pole: Lewis will be more than 3 tenth faster than Seb
Can't wait for Sunday!
P.S. It's genuinely sad to see Renault and Sauber falling off the pace; there are some things ONLY MONEY CAN BUY
Jim Watt