NewsOnF1 - 31 August News

31-Aug: At the post Qualifying press conference for the Belgian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher was very proud of grabbing Pole here as he never really won it before and said "I am certainly, because, incidentally, I found out this weekend that I've never had pole here so far so it's something which I didn't realise and I really wanted to have and we had the opportunity, because we worked very well yesterday and today. We sort of had a good feeling for the qualifying that we could do it and finally we did, because the guys did a great job with the car, set it up perfectly right."
Michael was not happy with the advertising on the track and asked for it to be removed and said "Yeah, because here it is a circuit which traditionally can have wet circumstances and to have wet circumstances on paint is very slippery and on a straight I don't really see the point. There is plenty of space next to the circuit, it doesn't need to be on the circuit. The problem is if it is going to be in one place it is going to be in all the places in future and we know in Monte Carlo the zebra crossing stripes are very slippery and I don't see any reason for that to be. It is not only me, it is us drivers, we feel unhappy about it and we sort of asked to move it away."
Michael is looking forward to the race tomorrow and hopes to set the record of 10 wins in a season here and said "Obviously Spa is my most favourite circuit and to do well means a lot to me, because of the history I've had here, and therefore it would be the ideal result."

Kimi Raikkonen believes he could have been closer to Michael but was satisfied with the result and said "Of course I am happy but still, we were very close on timings. If you look at the sector times I just got a bit of traffic and sand on the mid sector on my last run, but it is still my best qualifying so far, so it is pretty good."
Kimi hopes that the good form continues in the race tomorrow and said "Yeah, it has been looking good. Unfortunately we had some problems every session with the car and we didn't have much chance to make longer runs because we were losing time with problems and it took the whole session to fix it. But there is still tomorrow morning to come and hopefully we can find a quick race set-up."

Rubens Barrichello was satisfied with third even though he believes he could have got second from Kimi and said "I was struggling quite a bit this morning. The car was not balanced at all, I was having all sorts of reactions and in the middle of the corner I would have understeer and oversteer so it was pretty difficult. The qualifying time was a lot better, we made improvements and I was looking good. I was fairly confident and on the last run I was even thinking I could go better because the sector two, which is the longest one, was quite a lot quicker. But I lost a lot of time with a Minardi in Eau Rouge because I had to back off so I lost three tenths up the hill and when I got to the bus stop there was all that mess with everyone backing off, so it is just that I lost the second position. I couldn't have gone faster than Michael but I could have probably done a 43.9 or a 44.0, something like that."
Rubens believes that his tyre choice is the right one for the race and said "Traditionally I have always been okay on the race in terms of set up. I have struggled a little bit in the morning trying to find the set-up but I am finally happy and I am sure tomorrow is going to be a good set-up for the race."

31-Aug: What the teams and drivers said following Qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps ... Report

31-Aug: The Quali-flyer looks at the 'Real Race' in Belgium and hands the 'Also Ran' award to ?? ... Report

31-Aug: Belgian GP – Qualifying: Michael Schumacher grabs his 5th Pole of the season ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya and David Coulthard make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

31-Aug: Belgian GP – 2nd Saturday Practice Session: Kimi Raikkonen sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard. Rubens Barrichello, Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

31-Aug: Belgian GP – 1st Saturday Practice Session: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Raikkonen. David Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Report ... Notes

Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix Schedule:

Session	Time (Local / GMT) - Current local time
Friday Practice Session 1 Friday Practice Session 2 Saturday Practice Session 1 Saturday Practice Session 2 Qualifying Session Warm-up Session Race	11 AM Spa Time / 9 AM GMT 1 PM Spa Time / 11 AM GMT 9:00 AM Spa Time / 7:00 AM GMT 10:15 AM Spa Time / 8:15 AM GMT 1:00 PM Spa Time / 11:00 AM GMT 9:30 AM Spa Time / 7:30 AM GMT 2:00 PM Spa Time / 12 PM GMT
Go to the Belgian GP Page