07.09.2008


Behind the scenes

Toyota Motor Europe took the opportunity of its home Grand Prix to give those in the Formula 1 paddock a sneak preview of the new Toyota iQ model. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock joined a celebratory cocktail party on Friday evening and posed with the new iQ. The new car caused quite a stir, with even Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone taking the opportunity to get behind the wheel and experience a surprising amount of space for such a small car. The world’s media, as well as several drivers and team owners, also joined.

News From Our Rivals

The late rain was the story of the day at Spa–Francorchamps. It brought an exciting end to the Belgian Grand Prix and made it nearly impossible to keep up with the action on track.
Even the championship contenders were caught out by the treacherous conditions, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen hitting the wall when victory was in his grasp.
Prior to that he had duelled with McLaren-Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for the win, with both men suffering spins on the wet track.
Hamilton did cross the line first but was dropped to third after the race following a penalty for cutting the chicane. That left Felipe Massa as the winner with Nick Heidfeld second for BMW Sauber.
Renault’s Fernando Alonso made a switch to standard wet tyres and still took fourth, overtaking the Toro Rosso of Sebastian Vettel just a few metres from the chequered flag.
Sebastien Bourdais had been running a stunning third with two laps to go but he fell victim to the wet track after opting against changing tyres. He wound up seventh.

Race Report

Timo Glock was denied a point in the Belgian Grand Prix when the race stewards punished him after the race for allegedly overtaking under a yellow flag.

Timo appeared to have clinched eighth place on the final lap with the rain coming down as he made perfect use of the standard wet Bridgestone Potenza tyres, while Jarno Trulli brought a damaged car home in 16th.
That point would have been hard earned and well deserved. Timo started from 13th, with Jarno two places ahead, after both struggled to get heat into their tyres on a cold track in qualifying.
But fantastic starts for both TF108s rocketed them into the points battle.
Timo said: “I have to say thank you to the team, especially the guys who work on the starts because it was mega for both cars and in the last couple of races they have done a perfect job.”
Jarno was up to sixth at turn one after some superb passing moves but his challenge was soon blunted when S.astien Bourdais hit him in the rear at La Source.
That damaged his diffuser and gearbox, contributing to a spin at the Bus Stop at the end of the lap which dropped him down the order. Timo meanwhile was running ninth after making up four places on the first lap.
With a heavy fuel load due to his one–stop strategy, Timo lost a few places in the opening laps but regained them as his rival made their first pit stops.
However, as the chequered flag neared, points looked unlikely until the clouds darkened and the rain began to pour with three laps remaining. With nothing to lose and points to gain, Timo pitted for standard wet Bridgestone Potenza tyres and put them to full use in the remaining two laps as the cars on dry tyres struggled badly.
The points were within range on the last lap and he passed Mark Webber at the Bus Stop, only for a 25-second penalty to drop him to ninth.
The damage inflicted on Jarno’s car had a negative effect on its performance and he was unable to make up any ground, simply concentrating on reaching the chequered flag.
Jarno said: “Once again I wasn’t very lucky here – it seems to happen too often at Spa that I am competitive but I have bad luck. I was hoping we could have a strong race and score some points. This was possible because we had a competitive strategy and a great start so it’s a shame that we couldn’t manage to do it.”