After a five-week break from Formula 1, Fernando Alonso and Scuderia Ferrari expected to return and pick up right where they left off as the Spaniard and his team built a healthy momentum with victories in two of the last four Grands Prix.
However, the weekend's qualifying saw a number of good surprises. 2009 World Champion Jenson Button returned to pole position for the first time since he joined the McLaren race team. A strong flying lap, other drivers struggled to find the extra tenth to challenge the 32-year-old Briton. In the end, Jenson Button, Kamui Kobayashi, Kimi Raikkonen, and Sergio Perez would all qualify ahead of the championship leading Alonso.
Despite the trying qualifying session, it was nothing compared to Scuderia Ferrari's disastrous race start. Entering the first corner of the first lap, an eager Romain Grosjean challenges Lewis Hamilton for track position right at the start. Failing to clear Hamilton completely, Grosjean's Lotus rubs its right rear tires against the left fronts of Hamilton's McLaren. In a blink of an eye, Romain Grosjean's Lotus goes airborne, causing a dramatic wreck that involved Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi, Pastor Maldonado, and Pedro de La Rosa.
Fernando Alonso was actually ahead of the origin of the crash but Grosjean's Lotus clearly had no intention of braking while it flew sideways over the nose of Alonso's ferrari, just inches away from the Spaniard's head.
Not only did the incident take out a number of championship leading drivers, but the shaken grid provided an opportunity for slower qualifying drivers as well. Nico Hulkenberg, starting from 11th, moved up to third position. From 13th, Michael Schumacher also threaded his way up to fifth place, ahead of the Toro Rossos, Bruno Senna, Mark Webber, and Heikki Kovalainen.
After the track marshals were done cleaning the mess and the safety car re-entered the pits, Nico Hulkenberg and its harder prime tires found the sweet spot necessary to pass Kimi Riakkonen for second. In fact, Raikkonen had so much trouble getting his tires up to working temperature, Michael Schumacher would find his chance to take 3rd away from Raikkonen on lap 12 as well.
Farther behind, Red Bull duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel found themselves contending for 12th. Passing Webber at the Bus Stop chicane, Vettel moved on to challenge Felipe Massa and Bruno Senna as well. Addressing his falling pace, Mark Webber dived into the pits for a set of fresh tires.
Pit stop strategies caused controversy as well when Heikki Kovalainen was released from his box into the path of an incoming Narain Karthikeyan, making the two duke it out until pit exit.
Meanwhile, Jenson Button enjoyed a very controlled race up in front, pulling nearly 15 seconds over Schumacher. Applying a one-stop strategy, Button only had to worry about tire management to finish the race.
Meanwhile, Vettel became a man on a mission as he continued to fight his way up the grid. Taking second from Schumacker, Vettel nearly caused heavy contact at the Bus Stop chicane. Somehow, Vettel managed to pull it off and both drivers emerged without incident.
Kimi "Iceman" Raikkonen drove with a curtain of "red mist" as well. Two laps following Vettel's pass on Schumacher, Riakkonen was ready to make his move on Schumacher as well. Taking Schumacher on the outside of Eau Rouge at nearly 185 mph with DRS deployed, Raikkonen overtook Schumacher masterfully.
Towards race finish, teams began to battle with severe tire degradation and were forced to modify strategies to address damage limitations.
Finally, Button rounded blanchimont for one final time to take his first ever victory at the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit. An enormous win for the Brit, Vettel finished second for important championship points, followed by Kimi Raikkonen in third, holding off Hulkenberg in fourth.
Despite the pandemonium behind, race winner Jenson Button was never truly challenged through the duration of Spa. Addressing his fans after the race, Button apologized, "I'm sorry to all the fans if it wasn't very exciting at the front. However, winning a grand prix is never easy."
As far as Spa is concerned, "Turn 1 looked pretty crazy," Button said. "In my mirrors, I could see cars all over the place. For me, it was all pretty straightforward though."
The crazy Turn 1 was a reference to Romain Grosjean's violent incident with a number of other racing cars. Following the dangerous accident, the FIA handed Grosjean a one-race ban.
A pre-mature finish for Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard said, "I had no idea what happened. I had overtaken the two Saubers when I felt as though I had been run into by a train. Immediately after the impact, I stayed in the cockpit for a few seconds, but then there was the start of a fire and the foam from the extinguishers meant I couldn't breathe," he said, describing why he appeared groggy emerged from the Ferrari. "I tried to tell the team on the radio that I was alright, but I couldn't."
"Now I can say that, given the misfortune of having had an accident like this, I am lucky to be able to get back in the car in just a few days," he added. "The level of safety of these cars is very high and today we saw further proof of that."
Regarding the one race ban directed to Grosjean, Alonso defended, "I am not angry with Grosjean, he definitely didn't do it on purpose," he said. "It was a case of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
As for Romain Grosjean, the French racing driver admitted, "I honestly thought I was ahead of him and there was enough room for both cars; I didn't deliberately try to squeeze him or anything like that. This first corner situation obviously isn't what anyone would want to happen and thankfully no-one was hurt in the incident. I wish to apologise to the drivers who were involved and to their fans. I can only say that today is part of a process that will make me a better driver."
Grosjean also added, "I do respect the verdict of the Stewards."
Now that the dust after Spa has settled, the rest of the season looks to be very interesting. Kimi Raikkonen's strong finish moves him up the championship rank to 4th over Hamilton, Vettel moves ahead of Webber for 2nd, and Alonso's lead has now but cut to just 14 points.
Next week marks Monza and the Scuderia Ferrari racing team has every intention of bouncing back from the disappointing race in Belgium to finish on the top for their home Grand Prix.
