FORMULA ONE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX: MARK WEBBER confirmed he is be back in the championship hunt after setting the fourth fastest time in yesterday's practice ahead of tomorrow's Belgian Grand Prix but admitted while his Red Bull Racing team may prosper on the long, sweeping contours of the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, upcoming races may hand the initiative back to chief rival Jenson Button.
After a poor outing in Valencia last weekend, where Webber only managed ninth, which came on the back of a tough race to third in Hungary a month ago, the seven kilometre-long Spa, deep in the Ardennes hills in eastern Belgium, was tipped as a recovery point for Webber as he chases series leader Button, whose form has dipped dramatically in recent races.
And after a rain-hampered morning session Webber proved it so yesterday afternoon, lapping in 1:47.329, just adrift of the session’s fastest man, Lewis Hamilton, who despite his McLaren team’s protestations that Spa was ill-suited to their improved car, also looks a contender for the front row in this afternoon’s qualifying session.
While Webber, third and 20.5 points adrift of Button in the championship standings, looks set for a profitable weekend, he warned the return to form may be shortlived with more street circuits and warmer, more Brawn-friendly climes than Belgium coming.
“It’s certainly not impossible, but it’s going to be tough,” Webber said of his title prospects. “Looking at what happened in Valencia, we’ve got (more street circuits) in Singapore and Abu Dhabi as well. The title is theirs to lose, we know that. But they are the hunted and we have more to gain than them.
“We need a phenomenal amount of points and a very consistent run, and then both Rubens and Jenson to have a rough run. It’s not impossible, but as we know things can change fast. There are a lot of points still to go.”
While Webber was back in the hunt, however, team-mate Sebastain Vettel, fourth in the title standings, was lacking his normal firepower. Formula One drivers this year have just eight engines at their disposal for the season and following two blow-ups in Valencia last weekend, Vettel has just two fresh powerplants and two partially worn units to get him through the final six races.
The German sat out the first wet session and ran 13 fewer laps than his team-mate in the afternoon in a bid to protect his fresh engine, a move that left him 10th at the end of the afternoon.
Brawn drivers Button and Rubens Barrichello slumped to 17th and 18th respectively on the timesheets. Button, though, was upbeat after his 34 laps in the afternoon, insisting the tyre temperature problems which have hampered his team at races similarly cool to Spa are not an issue this weekend. “We definitely don’t have a tyre-temperature issue here,” he said. “It’s quite an abrasive asphalt, so we don’t have any issues.
“This is the perfect circuit for a Red Bull car, so we have to hope we can be as close as possible and maybe have the chance of nibbling some more points off them.”
Hamilton, though, was the unexpected front-runner yesterday. McLaren came to Spa insisting their car, a race winner for Hamilton in Hungary, would struggle at the more demanding Belgian track and yesterday Hamilton admitted some surprise at how much pace he had found. “I’m happier today than I expected,” he said of his quickest time.
“We don’t have as much downforce as some of the other teams, so we’re not as quick as we’d like to be, especially in the middle sector. Fortunately we have KERS and can use it to our advantage in the first and third sectors.”
It could be that advantage that defines tomorrow’s race. With both Hamilton and Ferrari’s Spa specialist Kimi Raikkonen equipped with the power boost, the championship contenders could again be left squabbling over the minor points placings.
