1-Sep: At the post Race
press conference for the Belgian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher
described his race as 'perfect' and said "I think we haven't really
expected anything like that. We were optimistic. We had a very good
weekend altogether but you never know what is going to happen in the race
with the temperature and so on with different tyres. Then we managed a
very good start where Rubens and myself immediately went up front and that
was basically the decision for the race where we could drive our own pace
and drive it home."
As for his drop in speed towards the end of the race, Michael said
"There were no problems. We saw a lot of engines blowing up and it
was just precaution, that there is no reason to stress anything harder
than necessary. Obviously there were two seconds between Rubens and myself
but there was another ten seconds, roughly, to Juan Pablo and in this case
we were able to take it a little bit more easily."
Michael doesn't expect to be so dominant at the next race at Monza and
said "I don't think we can ask for so much honestly. We have achieved
so much this year that it would probably be a little bit arrogant to ask
for more. We just take what comes and we do our best and honestly we would
like to do our best and take another victory as Ferrari in Monza, because
that's our home Grand Prix, but wait and see. It's a long circuit, we have
seen Williams going very well there in the past years. It's going to be a
difficult race but it should be a race where we should be competitive as
well.
We have seen this year that with the tyre situation sometimes you come to
a circuit where you have been dominant before on another circuit and you
are suddenly not dominant any more and the gap is very close. I foresee
that this can happen, it doesn't need to happen but it can happen in
Monza, so we have to give it a hundred percent. We will do and I will do
and we want to do well for our Tifosi in Monza."
Rubens Barrichello satisfied with second place as he
struggle with his car and tyre choice all weekend and said "We made a lot
of changes because this morning I wasn't happy with the car on the old tyres.
Obviously I was on different tyres to Michael but this time it was the wrong
choice. Still, I have to be glad about the result, I am quite positive about
it, but this time I had too many blisters on the front tyres which were a
little bit dodgy. But still they were better than our opposition so we were
able to drive home. But I had this kind of a problem so Michael was in a
different league today, he was driving away, there was no way I could catch
him up. There was a time during my first stint that the tyre looked good, but
after that I was changing tyres and going through the same problem again so I
just said I keep it safe.
I think from where I started on Friday, with the small problems on set-up and
everything, I think it has been a good weekend."
As for his jump on Raikkonen at the start of the race, he said "I got a
good jump and by the time he tried to close the door I was already there, so
he was just clever not to close any more because we would have touched. I was
alongside him by the first corner so I was quite tight on the way in and on
the way out there was no way for him to be in front, so that made my race in
terms of a result."
When asked why Ferrari didn't order Michael to hand him the win to help him in
his fight for second, he said "There was never a chance to ask or do
anything like that because I think Michael was so dominant at the weekend, he
scored a good pole position and as I said I had a different strategy and it
was clear that after three or four laps I was faster than everybody else but I
couldn't really follow him. It would have been too much to ask for us to
change positions. I think he deserved today and in any case I open up another
two points, and that is how it should be anyway."
Juan Pablo Montoya was pleased with the performance
of his car and said "We thought we were going to really struggle.
Actually, we did make some changes on the grid and it was probably the
best change we made all weekend. It was amazing. We still had a bit of
understeer, but it was so much more predictable to drive than the rest of
the weekend and that was very good."
Montoya described how he managed to pass Raikkonen and said "I think
he was trying to keep up with Rubens and he was just sliding all over the
place and he made a mistake. I was quite surprised I could keep up with
him after their pace this morning and everything."
As for Coulthard who was behind him from the second pit stop, he said
"It was close. I think we had very similar pace, he had a bit of an
advantage down the straights because he was just drafting along. I think
at the end he might have been a bit quicker than us, but from what we saw
all the weekend they should have just flown by us and they didn't and I
think it is good. It is the first time actually this year that they are
quicker than us in qualifying and we are actually stronger than them in
the race."
As for Williams chances at Monza, Montoya said "Well, you never know.
This year, in Canada, the only other kind of low downforce circuit, we
were quite strong there. It really depends a bit on the tyres. I think
next week everybody is going to be down there and we will have a better
idea of how competitive we are. We know they have done a lot of testing in
Monza and I think it is going to be tough to beat them but we will do our
best, like every weekend."
1-Sep: What the teams and
drivers said following the Race at Spa-Francorchamps ... Report
1-Sep: Belgian GP
– Race: Michael Schumacher wins his 10th race of the season ahead of
Rubens Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya. David Coulthard, Ralf
Schumacher and Eddie Irvine make the top 6 ... Timed Results
... Report ... Notes
1-Sep: Belgian GP
– Warm-up Session: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the
session ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard. Pedro de la Rosa,
Rubens Barrichello and Jarno Trulli make the top 6 ... Timed Results
... Report ... Notes
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
