A brave one stop strategy nearly got Giancarlo Fisichella into the points from 14th on the grid. He was the only driver to opt for this tactic. In the end, he was forced to retire after a spectacular engine blow up, complete with flaming accompaniment. A recalcitrant wheel nut during his first pit stop delayed Takuma Sato, but after that the DHL Jordan Honda man was on the pace and brought the car home in eleventh spot.

As has been the case so often this year, the day belonged to Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. In a class of his own, he romped away from pole, never losing the lead except briefly during the routine pit stops. His life was made easier by the fact that team-mate Rubens Barrichello got the jump on Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren at the start, thus riding shotgun for the 44 laps. Michael’s record breaking habit continued at Spa. This was his tenth victory of the season, thus breaking the record he held jointly with Nigel Mansell for the most number of wins in a year. It was his sixth Spa win, also establishing a new record for the most number of Belgian GP victories. Finally, just to rub salt in everyone’s wounds, this was Ferrari’s 50th consecutive race with at least one of its drivers on the podium.

It was a race of attrition with only 12 cars classified as finishers, although Tail End Charlie, Olivier Panis did not actually take the chequered flag. Juan Pablo Montoya got his Williams past Raikkonen early on and set about chasing the Ferraris but was unable to put a dent in their massive lead. At the end he was “only” 16 seconds down, but by the then the red cars were cruising. There were some entertaining duels, mainly for the minor placings, although in the closing stages, fourth placed David Coulthard in the McLaren did put Montoya under a bit of pressure.  Ralf Schumacher compromised his race by spinning in the  Williams, but nevertheless he managed to bring it home in fifth place. Eddie Irvine had shown well all weekend and picked up the final point for Jaguar.

There was some good news at the end of a rather dull afternoon. Michael Schumacher said he expected Williams to be much more competitive for the next race in Monza. The world champion seems to get everything right these days, so let’s hope his prediction comes true and we have some closer racing.

Takuma Sato, 11th
“It has been a tough weekend for us. I had quite a difficult start, I don’t know why yet because I haven’t seen any data, but the car was quite nervous everywhere, oversteering and hopping around a lot and costing me quite a few seconds.  At the first pit stop, the tyre change took a really long time, which was a shame, although the second and third stints were better.  Spa is great fun to drive so it’s a shame we didn’t have better results, but this is motor racing and you have to fight back.”

Giancarlo Fisichella, DNF
“I was having a good race and unfortunately we lost it when the engine blew up, which was very scary. Considering my grid position, the one-stop strategy was looking good, which is frustrating.  I’m already looking to the next race.”

Eddie Jordan
“We’ve worked very hard here but it’s been a disappointing weekend all round. I’d like to thank the whole team and the drivers for their efforts.”