A large chunk of the Belgian Grand Prix story was written within seconds of the start as a multiple accident took out four of the leading contenders. But that incident should not detract from headlines carved out by the man who led from start to finish. Jenson Button was clear of the chaos thanks to having taken pole position in the same commanding style he would use to control the 12th round of the championship.
It is a typical story of 2012 when Button, having struggled for months, suddenly found the sweet spot courtesy of, among other things, the latest aerodynamic tweak created by McLaren in their never-ending development process. It was also characteristic of this season that the first day of practice should be washed out, making assessment of the new developments a hopeless task.
The one hour of free practice on Saturday morning was action-packed and it was during this time that the fate of both McLaren drivers would be decided. Put simply, Button persevered with a new rear wing and Hamilton didn’t.
It took Button all morning to find a balance, but find it he did. So much so that his pace in qualifying stunned the opposition – as two-tenths is inclined to do in a season otherwise measured in hundredths of a second. Not only that, but it allowed Button to exercise his smooth style and let the car to do the work on this wonderful track with its succession of fast, inviting corners. And if you wanted to measure Button’s performance in statistical terms, this was his first pole position for McLaren, his previous one having been with Brawn at Monaco in 2009.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was struggling. “The set-up wasn’t perfect, but that was simply because we chose the wrong rear wing, preferring to stay with the version we used in Hungary,” explained Lewis. “The wing we’d been using in FP3 (free practice) this morning (Saturday) hadn’t been working very well, so we opted to go back to the older wing which we thought would be the safer option. It was a collective choice: we thought the older wing would be quicker in qualifying, but in fact Jenson has shown the new wing to be very good indeed. So, our side of the garage was a bit unlucky, but we’ll do what we can with what we have tomorrow.”
That final statement can be a broad one when it comes to motor racing. Hamilton was minding his own business, starting from seventh on the grid, when Romain Grosjean, starting eighth, swept across the grid and made contact with the McLaren. That triggered a chain reaction as Grosjean, now out of control, smashed into the back of Fernando Alonso, the Lotus forced by Hamilton’s McLaren over the top of the Ferrari, narrowly missing the head of the leader of the championship.
Caught in the midst of this were Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, the best-ever starting positions for the Sauber team wiped out on the spot. The Safety Car appeared for the first four laps while the wide-spread wreckage from the Saubers, the McLaren and the Ferrari was removed from La Source, the tight hairpin positioned 250 metres from the start.
Grosjean later received a ban from the following week’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza. And, almost as an aside to such a shocking incident, Pastor Maldonado was given a five-place penalty for jumping the start from sixth on the grid, and another five places for causing an accident with a Marussia later in the race.
In the meantime, Button was reassessing his tactics.
“We weren’t really sure what to do about stopping once or twice,” said Button. “We thought some people might be doing three so we were playing it by ear. I didn’t push too hard and I thought we would be stopping twice. Then, on lap 12, the tyres started working and the car felt very consistent, really good to drive and I could control the degradation of the tyres. It’s easier when you’re leading the race to do that! But we then went for a one-stop and it was a great feeling to be able to go so much further than pretty much everyone except Seb (Vettel).”
The early elimination of Alonso not only ended the Spaniard’s long run of finishes in the points but it also brought an interesting slant to the 2012 championship. His absence – plus that of Hamilton – was good news for Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, the Red Bull drivers needing all the help they could get with a car which wasn’t in tune with Spa, as witnessed by Vettel starting from 10th and Webber from 12th (which included a five-place penalty for a gearbox change).
Vettel was a contender for ‘Drive of the Race’ as he pulled some great overtaking moves after making a terrible start and dropping to 12th on the first lap.
“Qualifying wasn’t as we planned it to be,” said Vettel. “But, for the race, the car seemed to be back as we know it. My start was poor; I think I was the only one not to gain positions through the first corners, so I had to fight my way back – which wasn’t easy. But I enjoyed it a lot. The strategy worked perfectly for us and we had the pace, which was the best thing about today. One stop seemed out of reach but, after couple of laps, it was clear the tyres were lasting pretty well and we could do it.”
The final word went to Kimi Raikkonen, who counted himself lucky to finish third in a Lotus that, according to the Finn, was terrible to drive. The 15 points earned moved Raikkonen into fourth on the table – ahead of Hamilton.
“Right now,” said Raikkonen, “I don’t care when and how we score points. These things happen. You see the first corner here and how quickly it can change. That’s F1 this year.”
Driver's championship
1. Fernando Alonso – 164 points
2. Sebastiean Vettel – 140
3. Mark Webber – 132
4. Kimi Raikkonen – 131
5. Lewis Hamilton – 117
6. Jenson Button – 101
7. Nico Rosberg – 77
8. Romain Grosjean – 76
Manufacturers championship
1. Red Bull-Renault – 272
2. McLaren-Mercedes – 218
3. Lotus-Renault 207
4. Ferrari – 199
5. Mercedes – 112
6. Sauber-Ferrari – 80
7. Force India-Mercedes – 59
8. Williams-Renault – 53
