paul
Team Owner
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Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix provided one of Ferrari's most dominant performances of the season, despite signs in practice and qualifying that their race could be a tough one.
Formula1.com looks back on the Spa event and examines how the world champions, their key rivals and the rest of the field fared at the challenging and historic circuit.
Ferrari
Despite reporting no particular problems, unusually the Ferrari pair found themselves behind both McLarens at the end of Friday practice. Come Saturday morning and Schumacher was still unable to better Raikkonen's pace.
However, in qualifying the world champion's determination to lift a maiden Spa pole won through and Raikkonen failed to get within a quarter of a second.
Barrichello was less happy with the handling of his car and had to settle for third on the grid. He quickly converted this to second at the start of the race, and with Schumacher leading away from pole, a Ferrari one-two never looked in doubt. This was despite Barrichello racing in the spare, still complaining of a less than perfect set-up.
The real surprise though was Schumacher's sheer pace. After his relatively slim qualifying advantage, his McLaren and Williams rivals could only follow in despair in the race as he consistently bettered their lap times by a full two seconds.
McLaren
McLaren were disappointed to leave Spa without a podium after a strong showing throughout the weekend. Contrary to expectations, it was they and not Williams who took the fight to Ferrari in practice and qualifying, with Raikkonen looking particularly quick.
The Finn took a career-best second on the grid behind Schumacher, while Coulthard, concentrating more on race set-up was content with sixth.
The Scot made the better start of the two. While Raikkonen lost out to Barrichello and Montoya within the first two laps, Coulthard moved up to fifth after a pass on Ralf Schumacher. A quicker pit stop then helped lift him above his team mate, but he was ultimately unable to find a way past Montoya for third.
An engine failure put Raikkonen out on lap 36, leaving the team to rue what might have been, with Coulthard's three points their only consolation. Boss Ron Dennis blamed a fall in ambient temperature for their performance drop on race day, but nevertheless, overall it was an encouraging weekend for McLaren.
Williams
Gearbox problems plagued Montoya's Friday sessions and both he and Ralf Schumacher struggled with set-up in qualifying, leaving them a relatively lowly fifth and fourth on the grid respectively.
Montoya capitalised on a swift race start and a mistake by Raikkonen to quickly move into third, a position he never relinquished. Afterwards he admitted his surprise at having beaten the McLarens.
Ralf's race was more fraught. He was passed by Montoya and Coulthard on lap one, before a mid-race spin cost him a further place. Nevertheless, his eventual fifth position plus Montoya's four points at least helped Williams strengthen their grip on second in the constructors' championship.
Jaguar
A hugely encouraging weekend for Niki Lauda's men. A new front suspension package paid instant dividends as De la Rosa and Irvine went seventh and ninth fastest in Friday practice, despite some minor technical hiccups.
They retained their form on Saturday, putting in their best qualifying performance of the year to take eighth (Irvine) and 11th on the grid.
The team's efforts were then rewarded with their first point since the season opener in Melbourne, courtesy of sixth place from Irvine, who drove a consistent if uneventful race.
He was unable to stay with the Renault of Trulli ahead in the opening stages, but successfully fended of the close attentions of Toyota's Salo until the end. De la Rosa also drove well and was running eighth when an apparent rear-suspension failure put him out with just six laps remaining.
Toyota
Just days after announcing they are dropping Salo and McNish for 2003, Toyota saw both men finish in the top ten at Spa, in seventh and ninth respectively, as the fledgling team scored another positive result.
Qualifying brought the team their second best showing of the year, with their prodigious horsepower propelling Salo to ninth and McNish to 13th.
Come the race and Salo missed out on a point by just 0.4 seconds after failing to overtake Irvine, while a traction control problem saw McNish spend much of his afternoon tussling with the Sauber of Massa, until the Brazilian's late retirement.
BAR
Villeneuve's eighth place was BAR's only reward for a tough weekend's work at Spa. A hydraulic leak for the Canadian and an engine failure for Panis cost them valuable track time on Friday and their misfortune continued on Saturday.
Another blown engine left Panis 15th on the grid after he was forced to complete qualifying in the T-car (initially set up for Villeneuve) which was also suffering a misfire. Villeneuve survived a spin to take 12th, the best Bridgestone car after the Ferraris.
A poor start from the former champion cost Villeneuve a couple of places, which he clawed back with some determined overtaking moves. Panis similarly lost out in the opening lap and ultimately retired five laps from home with his third engine failure of the weekend. BAR know they must do better if they are top be competitive at the high-speed Monza circuit in two weeks time.
Sauber
An unexpectedly poor weekend for the Bridgestone-shod team. The Swiss squad were mystified at their inability to get the car handling well around Spa and recorded their worst qualifying result of the season, with Massa and Heidfeld 17th and 18th on the grid respectively.
Fortunately, their race set-up proved much better, with Heidfeld finishing tenth. Massa's afternoon saw him battle past both his team mate and McNish before a late retirement due to engine problems.
The major consolation for the team though was that key rivals in the constructors' championship, Renault, also failed to score points.
Jordan
Damper problems for Fisichella and an engine failure for Sato meant Friday's already weather-reduced sessions were not as productive as they might have been for Jordan.
Things improved little on Saturday. Fisichella spun off on only his second run and was forced to qualify in the spare, taking 14th on the grid, while Sato was only 16th, despite pushing hard.
Fisichella was the only man to choose a one-stop strategy in the race and it looked to paying off until his retirement from eighth place on lap 40 with yet another Honda engine failure.
A nervous car in the early stages and then a wheel-nut problem in his first stop handicapped Sato, who eventually finished 11th to bring an end to Jordan's disappointing weekend.
Renault
Two retirements was not a fair reflection of Renault's weekend. Button and Trulli were sixth and 12th on Friday, despite some handling and balance problems. A solid qualifying then put Trulli seventh on the grid, with Button tenth after a set-up mistake on his last two runs.
Trulli made up places off the line, but then managed to select neutral into Turn one, dropping him back to seventh again. He moved into the points after capitalising on Ralf Schumacher's spin and did well to keep the Williams behind until retiring with an engine failure on lap 36.
Button moved up a position at the start, but then did not have the straight-line speed to pass Irvine's Jaguar. He went out on lap 12, also with an engine-related problem. Overall, Renault had the pace, but not the reliability.
Minardi
Sadly, a double DNF for Paul Stoddart's team. The gearbox problems that plagued Webber throughout the weekend saw him retire on lap five, after qualifying 19th ahead of his team mate.
Alex Yoong stand-in Davidson put in another professional performance in practice and qualifying, before an admitted driver error saw him spin off at Pouhon on lap 18, marking the end of his two-race stint with Minardi.
After winning praise and thanks from Stoddart, Davidson now heads back to his testing duties with BAR and this week's multi-team session at Monza ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.
Arrows
Another weekend of mystery and intrigue surrounded the Arrows team. Their cars and Bernoldi were in the garage on Friday, but second nominated driver Frentzen was nowhere to be seen and neither car appeared in practice.
They then announced that would not be competing because of delays in completing the sale of the team to a new investor, the identity of which is still to be confirmed.
The move prompted the FIA to call on Arrows for an explanation of their situation, and a warning that their failure to participate at Spa could lead to penalties.
Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix provided one of Ferrari's most dominant performances of the season, despite signs in practice and qualifying that their race could be a tough one.
Formula1.com looks back on the Spa event and examines how the world champions, their key rivals and the rest of the field fared at the challenging and historic circuit.
Ferrari
Despite reporting no particular problems, unusually the Ferrari pair found themselves behind both McLarens at the end of Friday practice. Come Saturday morning and Schumacher was still unable to better Raikkonen's pace.
However, in qualifying the world champion's determination to lift a maiden Spa pole won through and Raikkonen failed to get within a quarter of a second.
Barrichello was less happy with the handling of his car and had to settle for third on the grid. He quickly converted this to second at the start of the race, and with Schumacher leading away from pole, a Ferrari one-two never looked in doubt. This was despite Barrichello racing in the spare, still complaining of a less than perfect set-up.
The real surprise though was Schumacher's sheer pace. After his relatively slim qualifying advantage, his McLaren and Williams rivals could only follow in despair in the race as he consistently bettered their lap times by a full two seconds.
McLaren
McLaren were disappointed to leave Spa without a podium after a strong showing throughout the weekend. Contrary to expectations, it was they and not Williams who took the fight to Ferrari in practice and qualifying, with Raikkonen looking particularly quick.
The Finn took a career-best second on the grid behind Schumacher, while Coulthard, concentrating more on race set-up was content with sixth.
The Scot made the better start of the two. While Raikkonen lost out to Barrichello and Montoya within the first two laps, Coulthard moved up to fifth after a pass on Ralf Schumacher. A quicker pit stop then helped lift him above his team mate, but he was ultimately unable to find a way past Montoya for third.
An engine failure put Raikkonen out on lap 36, leaving the team to rue what might have been, with Coulthard's three points their only consolation. Boss Ron Dennis blamed a fall in ambient temperature for their performance drop on race day, but nevertheless, overall it was an encouraging weekend for McLaren.
Williams
Gearbox problems plagued Montoya's Friday sessions and both he and Ralf Schumacher struggled with set-up in qualifying, leaving them a relatively lowly fifth and fourth on the grid respectively.
Montoya capitalised on a swift race start and a mistake by Raikkonen to quickly move into third, a position he never relinquished. Afterwards he admitted his surprise at having beaten the McLarens.
Ralf's race was more fraught. He was passed by Montoya and Coulthard on lap one, before a mid-race spin cost him a further place. Nevertheless, his eventual fifth position plus Montoya's four points at least helped Williams strengthen their grip on second in the constructors' championship.
Jaguar
A hugely encouraging weekend for Niki Lauda's men. A new front suspension package paid instant dividends as De la Rosa and Irvine went seventh and ninth fastest in Friday practice, despite some minor technical hiccups.
They retained their form on Saturday, putting in their best qualifying performance of the year to take eighth (Irvine) and 11th on the grid.
The team's efforts were then rewarded with their first point since the season opener in Melbourne, courtesy of sixth place from Irvine, who drove a consistent if uneventful race.
He was unable to stay with the Renault of Trulli ahead in the opening stages, but successfully fended of the close attentions of Toyota's Salo until the end. De la Rosa also drove well and was running eighth when an apparent rear-suspension failure put him out with just six laps remaining.
Toyota
Just days after announcing they are dropping Salo and McNish for 2003, Toyota saw both men finish in the top ten at Spa, in seventh and ninth respectively, as the fledgling team scored another positive result.
Qualifying brought the team their second best showing of the year, with their prodigious horsepower propelling Salo to ninth and McNish to 13th.
Come the race and Salo missed out on a point by just 0.4 seconds after failing to overtake Irvine, while a traction control problem saw McNish spend much of his afternoon tussling with the Sauber of Massa, until the Brazilian's late retirement.
BAR
Villeneuve's eighth place was BAR's only reward for a tough weekend's work at Spa. A hydraulic leak for the Canadian and an engine failure for Panis cost them valuable track time on Friday and their misfortune continued on Saturday.
Another blown engine left Panis 15th on the grid after he was forced to complete qualifying in the T-car (initially set up for Villeneuve) which was also suffering a misfire. Villeneuve survived a spin to take 12th, the best Bridgestone car after the Ferraris.
A poor start from the former champion cost Villeneuve a couple of places, which he clawed back with some determined overtaking moves. Panis similarly lost out in the opening lap and ultimately retired five laps from home with his third engine failure of the weekend. BAR know they must do better if they are top be competitive at the high-speed Monza circuit in two weeks time.
Sauber
An unexpectedly poor weekend for the Bridgestone-shod team. The Swiss squad were mystified at their inability to get the car handling well around Spa and recorded their worst qualifying result of the season, with Massa and Heidfeld 17th and 18th on the grid respectively.
Fortunately, their race set-up proved much better, with Heidfeld finishing tenth. Massa's afternoon saw him battle past both his team mate and McNish before a late retirement due to engine problems.
The major consolation for the team though was that key rivals in the constructors' championship, Renault, also failed to score points.
Jordan
Damper problems for Fisichella and an engine failure for Sato meant Friday's already weather-reduced sessions were not as productive as they might have been for Jordan.
Things improved little on Saturday. Fisichella spun off on only his second run and was forced to qualify in the spare, taking 14th on the grid, while Sato was only 16th, despite pushing hard.
Fisichella was the only man to choose a one-stop strategy in the race and it looked to paying off until his retirement from eighth place on lap 40 with yet another Honda engine failure.
A nervous car in the early stages and then a wheel-nut problem in his first stop handicapped Sato, who eventually finished 11th to bring an end to Jordan's disappointing weekend.
Renault
Two retirements was not a fair reflection of Renault's weekend. Button and Trulli were sixth and 12th on Friday, despite some handling and balance problems. A solid qualifying then put Trulli seventh on the grid, with Button tenth after a set-up mistake on his last two runs.
Trulli made up places off the line, but then managed to select neutral into Turn one, dropping him back to seventh again. He moved into the points after capitalising on Ralf Schumacher's spin and did well to keep the Williams behind until retiring with an engine failure on lap 36.
Button moved up a position at the start, but then did not have the straight-line speed to pass Irvine's Jaguar. He went out on lap 12, also with an engine-related problem. Overall, Renault had the pace, but not the reliability.
Minardi
Sadly, a double DNF for Paul Stoddart's team. The gearbox problems that plagued Webber throughout the weekend saw him retire on lap five, after qualifying 19th ahead of his team mate.
Alex Yoong stand-in Davidson put in another professional performance in practice and qualifying, before an admitted driver error saw him spin off at Pouhon on lap 18, marking the end of his two-race stint with Minardi.
After winning praise and thanks from Stoddart, Davidson now heads back to his testing duties with BAR and this week's multi-team session at Monza ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.
Arrows
Another weekend of mystery and intrigue surrounded the Arrows team. Their cars and Bernoldi were in the garage on Friday, but second nominated driver Frentzen was nowhere to be seen and neither car appeared in practice.
They then announced that would not be competing because of delays in completing the sale of the team to a new investor, the identity of which is still to be confirmed.
The move prompted the FIA to call on Arrows for an explanation of their situation, and a warning that their failure to participate at Spa could lead to penalties.