1980 Belgian Grand Prix
Fours races into the season and it's four wins for Ferrari. The Maranello outfit has dominated the season so far and there are no suggestions that their form is declining. Zolder has been a good track for them historically (Lauda was victorious in '75 & '76) but last year Tyrrell's Jody Scheckter was too tough to handle. Following Tyrrell's rather average form this year, Scheckter can't be considered a favourite. As it stands, Williams are perhaps the only team with realistic chance to challenge Ferrari.
Pre-qualifying
Wolf WR8 worked wonders once again as James Hunt took his second straight pre-qualifying victory with a great time. The 1976 World champion's time would have been sixth fastest in last year's qualifying for the Belgian GP. Ickx and Patrese followed Hunt in their Brabhams while Zunino in the second Wolf was fourth. Ensigns, Osellas and ATS's weren't really threatening the top two teams.
Qualifying
Five grand prix and five times a Ferrari has topped the time sheets after qualifying. Championship leader Alan Jones took his third pole of the season and doesn't look like ending his marvellous form yet. Every race of the season so far have been won from pole too so the odds are looking good for the Australian ahead of the race.
Second fastest was Arrows' Jacques Laffite who would be starting from the front row for the first time since the 1977 Dutch Grand Prix. It was also the first front row starting position for Arrows who look to be improving from race to race. Williams's locked the second row, Piquet beating his teammate for the first time since the season opener. Fifth fastest was Reutemann and besides him McLaren's Keke Rosberg. Tyrrells are steadily improving their pace too as both drivers made it into top-10 (Jody in 7th, Didier in 10th). Binder and Mass were 8th and 9th fastest.
Villeneuve in 11th tried his best but the Renault RS10 just doesn't seem competitive enough. Alonside him would start Ligier's Japanese ace Noritake Takahara who was delighted to end his seven race long streak of losing to teammate Tambay who was only 19th fastest. Lotuses in 15th and 26th were once again largely disappointing.
Race
The lights went off and it was pole sitter Jones who got the worst of it, he dropped to third in the start as Laffite and Piquet breezed past him. However, Jones recovered quickly as he passed Piquet in Kleine Chicane. Scheckter got a great start and was up to fourth. He was followed by Reutemann, de Angelis, Binder, Rosberg, Pironi and Cheever who got a nice start too making up 5 places.
During the first laps it was clear that Binder in seventh couldn't match his qualifying pace and a train of cars started to build behind him. Teammate Laffite meanwhile was still leading the race over Scheckter who had made it to second by the end of lap 9 thanks to Piquet spinning and dropping to 25th - only Regazzoni was behind him. Jones was in third and the rest of the top-10 followed: de Angelis, Rosberg, Cheever, Reutemann, Mass, Pironi, Binder. Icxk, Prost and Villeneuve were also very close before a slight gap to Mansell. The battle in positions 8-13 was the closest on the circuit but unfortunately on lap 13 Pironi's Cosworth blew up, forcing the Frenchman to retire.
Pit stops shuffled the pack quite a lot. Jones' crash shortly after his stop and Reutemann's very poor speed meant that we would be getting a new winning team in the race, barring anything extraordinary happening. On lap 40 of 72 Scheckter was leading Laffite with a gap of two seconds. De Angelis and Rosberg were battling for the third place but they were already a good 30 seconds behid the leading duo. Cheever, Ickx and Mass were fighting for the last points. Piquet was up to 12th after his troubles early on but still far away from points as he was stuck behind Takahara and Binder.
It was the battle for lead that understandably got the biggest interest. Laffite caught Scheckter easily and looked the faster of the two. It wasn't long until the experienced Frenchman completed the overtake with a clever move on lap 44 in Kleine Chicane which proved to be the favourite corner for overtaking. In the following laps the Arrows driver was able to increase his gap and take the second win of his career and the first for Arrows. Scheckter came home in second taking his second podium finish in a row, as did de Angelis in third. Rosberg, Cheever and Mass took the smaller points. Nelson Piquet drove like a maniac the last few laps but wasn't quite able to catch the Lotus and Shadow driver, having to settle for seventh and no points.
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The development market for the fifth race is open! You have until Friday 10:00 EEST to make/modify your investments.
Fours races into the season and it's four wins for Ferrari. The Maranello outfit has dominated the season so far and there are no suggestions that their form is declining. Zolder has been a good track for them historically (Lauda was victorious in '75 & '76) but last year Tyrrell's Jody Scheckter was too tough to handle. Following Tyrrell's rather average form this year, Scheckter can't be considered a favourite. As it stands, Williams are perhaps the only team with realistic chance to challenge Ferrari.
Pre-qualifying
Wolf WR8 worked wonders once again as James Hunt took his second straight pre-qualifying victory with a great time. The 1976 World champion's time would have been sixth fastest in last year's qualifying for the Belgian GP. Ickx and Patrese followed Hunt in their Brabhams while Zunino in the second Wolf was fourth. Ensigns, Osellas and ATS's weren't really threatening the top two teams.
Qualifying
Five grand prix and five times a Ferrari has topped the time sheets after qualifying. Championship leader Alan Jones took his third pole of the season and doesn't look like ending his marvellous form yet. Every race of the season so far have been won from pole too so the odds are looking good for the Australian ahead of the race.
Second fastest was Arrows' Jacques Laffite who would be starting from the front row for the first time since the 1977 Dutch Grand Prix. It was also the first front row starting position for Arrows who look to be improving from race to race. Williams's locked the second row, Piquet beating his teammate for the first time since the season opener. Fifth fastest was Reutemann and besides him McLaren's Keke Rosberg. Tyrrells are steadily improving their pace too as both drivers made it into top-10 (Jody in 7th, Didier in 10th). Binder and Mass were 8th and 9th fastest.
Villeneuve in 11th tried his best but the Renault RS10 just doesn't seem competitive enough. Alonside him would start Ligier's Japanese ace Noritake Takahara who was delighted to end his seven race long streak of losing to teammate Tambay who was only 19th fastest. Lotuses in 15th and 26th were once again largely disappointing.
Race
The lights went off and it was pole sitter Jones who got the worst of it, he dropped to third in the start as Laffite and Piquet breezed past him. However, Jones recovered quickly as he passed Piquet in Kleine Chicane. Scheckter got a great start and was up to fourth. He was followed by Reutemann, de Angelis, Binder, Rosberg, Pironi and Cheever who got a nice start too making up 5 places.
During the first laps it was clear that Binder in seventh couldn't match his qualifying pace and a train of cars started to build behind him. Teammate Laffite meanwhile was still leading the race over Scheckter who had made it to second by the end of lap 9 thanks to Piquet spinning and dropping to 25th - only Regazzoni was behind him. Jones was in third and the rest of the top-10 followed: de Angelis, Rosberg, Cheever, Reutemann, Mass, Pironi, Binder. Icxk, Prost and Villeneuve were also very close before a slight gap to Mansell. The battle in positions 8-13 was the closest on the circuit but unfortunately on lap 13 Pironi's Cosworth blew up, forcing the Frenchman to retire.
Pit stops shuffled the pack quite a lot. Jones' crash shortly after his stop and Reutemann's very poor speed meant that we would be getting a new winning team in the race, barring anything extraordinary happening. On lap 40 of 72 Scheckter was leading Laffite with a gap of two seconds. De Angelis and Rosberg were battling for the third place but they were already a good 30 seconds behid the leading duo. Cheever, Ickx and Mass were fighting for the last points. Piquet was up to 12th after his troubles early on but still far away from points as he was stuck behind Takahara and Binder.
It was the battle for lead that understandably got the biggest interest. Laffite caught Scheckter easily and looked the faster of the two. It wasn't long until the experienced Frenchman completed the overtake with a clever move on lap 44 in Kleine Chicane which proved to be the favourite corner for overtaking. In the following laps the Arrows driver was able to increase his gap and take the second win of his career and the first for Arrows. Scheckter came home in second taking his second podium finish in a row, as did de Angelis in third. Rosberg, Cheever and Mass took the smaller points. Nelson Piquet drove like a maniac the last few laps but wasn't quite able to catch the Lotus and Shadow driver, having to settle for seventh and no points.
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The development market for the fifth race is open! You have until Friday 10:00 EEST to make/modify your investments.
