Hurricane Kimi hits Belgium

McLaren bulwark Kimi Raikkonen sizzled to victory ahead of his Spanish rival Alonso in a heavily contested Belgian Grand Prix. BAR's fortune, Jensen Button, took third, followed by Williams driver Mark Webber on a foggy Belgian afternoon with just enough rain for teams to joust from the pit-walls in terms of strategies but not enough rain to cancel the grand prix. The ousting of McLaren's other driver, Montoya, with just four laps to go might have dampened Ron Dennis's spirits, but Kimi's performance at the 'Pisspot of Europe' was nonethless a treat to watch.

Qualifying resulted in an all McLaren front row for the first time in five seasons. A blown engine would mean that Fissichella, inspite of setting the third best time would start thirteenth, whislt Jarno Trulli would start along side Fernando Alonso, who, with this race, was hoping to climb to the throne of Formula One. Messrs Schumacher & Schumacher started off on row three, with Button and Massa on row four. As for the others, it was regulation qualifying.

Come sunday and the drivers entered their cockpits, smelling the rain, and smelling the opportunity.The race started with Montoya blistering into the fog, with Trulli almost managing to out-wit the Finn. A little behind, the rain-master had begun to weave his sorcery, ousting his younger brother and the notorious Trulli, who is usually is happy to settle for his qualifying position, much to the irritation of drivers behind him. A struggling Webber gave way to Coulthard, with Fissichella too managing to squeak past the Australian in the nick of time.

A few laps into the race, the struggling Fissichella let go of his car at Raidillon, managing to place a road-block for cars passing by. The truck came out, while all the cars went in for a change of rubber. Montoya pitted first, changing to intermediates, even as Raikkonen was trying to slow down the train heading into the pits until his team mate came out. Villeneuve, the brave French-Canadian did not pit, and as a result, the Sauber driver went up the ladder, splitting the McLaren's along with Ralf, the Toyota driver having benefitted from Fissichella's timely demise. The Ferrari's, BAR's, WilliamsF1's all made daring switches to dry tyres, but a seemingly wrong choice saw them return to the pits to make a quick change to more groovy tyres.

Lap thirteen saw the demise of Michael Schumacher, the German great being whacked on the back by a senseless Sato. The normally cool Scuderia driver had a word or two for the maverick Jap, for afterall, he was deprived of 31 laps more on a track which many acknowledge as 'made for Schumacher'. The Raidillon crash will cost Sato ten places at the upcoming Interlagos Grand Prix in Brazil. As for Schumacher, it was a race of "IF's" - If only the Honda driver had not slammed into him, the German would have romped home, for after all, he is still the best rain-man out there.

Former World Champion and Red Bull driver, Coulthard, exited on lap seventeen, with his Cosworth engine failing on the long pit-straight. A rarity indeed for a Cosworth engine! Ralf Schumacher sizzled in the rain, the German lapping a second faster than McLaren driver Montoya, running first. Villeneuve pitted on lap twenty, only to come out and engage in battle for eigth spot with Button. Button tried to outwit the Canadian, and finally managed to do so after a flurry of tries.

Ralf's brave attempt on the dry tyres ended in tears as the Toyota spun off at the hill(Les Combes). Villeneuve was overtaken by a marauding Karthikeyan who cut across the hill to overtake the Sauber. Montiero, who had a great race, was engaged in bitter battle for eigth position with Pizzonia. The middle of the race saw Kimi fly in his McLaren, trying to gain on his team mate while he was in the pits. He did manage to do so, and the fans started to trumpet their air-horns on seeing the McLaren come out of the pits to an empty piece of track. Trulli spuns off at Fagnes on the same lap, the Italian having left enough debris on the track.

The end of the race saw a lot of drama, as Pizzonia bumped into the back of the McLaren in front of him. The crowd waited in hushed silence and let out a groan of relief on seeing Montoya emerge from inside the car. A thoroughly angered Montoya climbed off from his car, even as the steely eyed Ron Dennis must have wondered, "Well, what more can I/he do?". Surely, victory would not be as sweet as it should have been. Alonso ofcourse, got second spot, happy that a hand full of points that must have gone McLaren's way had crashed into the barriers. On the podium, Kimi shrugged when Alonso asked a question. Might we guess the question was 'Where's your team mate?'.

Kimi took the flag with grace, the Finnish driver collecting ten points as against Alonso's eight. But for disaster for either Alonso or Renault, the drivers championship is over. As for the Constructor's championship, there is still time for a change of guard at the top, with McLaren inching towards Renault. Had Montoya finished the race, it would have been Renault who would have had to do the catching up and not the Woking team.

Jensen Button proved that he had the eye and the intent with this superb performance which I would rate as one of his best ever. His moves on Villeneuve and Barrichello were top-notch, and his run for Alonso during the ending stages of the 44 lap race showed his character. Nick Fry must have breathed a sigh of reassurance, for after all what he was going to pay to Sir Frank Williams for keeping Button at BAR would make the sixteen million (pounds) that Newcastle has paid for Michael Owen look like a walk in the park. Talking of Sir Williams, Webber's performance must have been some consolation for Sir Frank. Webber drove well and thoroughly deserves the five points that he has made. The other stars of the day were old man Villeneuve and Jordan's Tiago Montiero. The Portugese driver secured his first 'genuine' point in F1. Narain, the other Jordan driver managed to come in eleventh, ahead of the two struggling Minardi's.

Overall, a great race, the first rainy race in two years, the Spa proving yet again that it was the most favorite to one and all - the fans, the drivers, and ofcourse the spectators! A great race for Kimi, a performance he would have to repeat in the last three races if Ron Dennis is to see the Constructor's trophy at his Woking garage after a gap of six years. As for Renault, a surprise at the fag end of the race would only make the flambuoyant Flavio burst out :
"Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho Its home from work we go!"