Here are the results of Round 12 of our 2009 Prediction Game. We had few predictions for Raikkonen’s win and Vettel’s fastest lap but surprise surprise, not a single prediction for Fisichella on pole. The winner of this round is Ozzi with 17 points. Wil is still at the top of the provisional standings after 12 rounds.

Round 12 results:

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Was this all carefully planned by Renault ?

Bizzare, bizzare … And I am not talking about the pole position or podium for Force India. FIA confirmed that an investigation is underway regarding the crash in Singapore last year by Nelson Piquet that resulted in above pictured safety car period that seriously contributed to the unexpected and lucky race win the Renault driver.

“The FIA can confirm that an investigation is underway regarding alleged events at a previous world championship race.”

I was there in Singapore watching the race from the grandstands with my friends. We joked about the conveniently timed crash by Renault driver that helped the other, we joked. Who would want to believe that someone can be mad enough to ask a driver to smash his car into the wall.

Now it looks like some fresh evidence has surfaced and FIA decided to step in. One can wonder if the sudden attention a  year old accident is getting may have anything to do with the recent unhappy departure of Nelson Piquet from Renault F1 team.

This is going to get interesting … I am also interested to see how will Renault the company react to this…

Giancarlo Fisichella celebrates first podium and points for Force India

The only previous Belgian GP winner on the grid – Kimi Raikkonen – won the 2009 Belgian GP. This is the first Ferrari win of the season and Raikkonen’s first win since 2008 Spanish GP. We have the 6th different race winner in last 6 races …

Giancarlo Fisichella converted his pole position to 2nd place, the first points and first podium for Force India. The final podium place belongs to Sebastian Vettel. Kubica finished 4th, Heidfeld 5th, Kovalainen 6th.

Rubens Barrichello managed to bring the car home in 7th, despite his car throwing blue smoke out for final 3 laps (and flames once it slowed down in the pitlane). The final point scoring place belongs to Nico Rosberg.

Jenson Button retired on lap 1 after collision with Romain Grosjean. His championship lead is now only 16 points.

2009 Belgian GP race result:

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Mighty Eau Rouge at Spa Francorchamps

The Belgian GP post qualifying weights have been made public by FIA. Giancarlo Fisichella is the second lightest on the grid after the lightest car of Rubens Barrichello. Trulli, Heidfeld and Raikkonen are fueled for about 2 laps more than Fisichella, Barrichello and Kubica. It will be interesting to watch the heavier Red Bulls, Rosberg, Hamilton and Button trying to climb up the order as the race develops …

Post qualifying weights Belgium:

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Fisichella’s pole position in Begium is the maiden pole for the Force India team. They still have a race to do but that does not mean they can’t celebrate on Saturday. Here are few photos of Force India pole position celebrations (courtesy of Force India F1 team).

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Pole position for Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India

Giancarlo Fisichella will start the 2009 Belgian GP from pole position ! What a result for Force India. P2 belongs to Jarno Trulli, P3 to Nick Heidfeld, P4 for Rubens Barrichello.

Sebastian Vettel will start from row 4 (P8), Mark Webber from row 5 (P9). Let’s see what the post qualifying weights (click here) will reveal when they are published few hours later.

1. G. Fisichella – 1:46.308
2. J. Trulli – 1:46.395
3. N. Heidfeld – 1:46.500
4. R. Barrichello – 1:46.513
5. R. Kubica – 1:46.586
6. K. Raikkonen – 1:46.633
7. T. Glock – 1:46.677
8. S. Vettel – 1:46.761
9. M. Webber – 1:46.788
10. N. Rosberg – 1:47.362

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Spa Francorchamps

The final practice session did not make us any smarter. Heidfeld, Trulli, Sutil, Grosjean, Glock, Kubica – these are the top 6 drivers in FP3. Rosberg seems to have finally found some pace in his Williams and finished in 7th. The reliability worries continue for Red Bull – this time it was Mark Webber’s turn to experience engine problems … Luca Badoer was only 6 tenths slower than Kimi Raikkonen.

The sky was getting darker and darker towards the end of FP3, the qualifying may be interesting …

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Eau Rouge

Jarno Trulli finished the first practice session on the top of time sheets ahead of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. Toro Rosso drivers took 4th and 5th places. The times however do not tell us much as the session was affected by rain and changing track conditions. The winner probably is the “running-out-of-engines” Sebastian Vettel who could almost sit out the whole session and save some engine mileage without really loosing much valuable track time. There were also some silly rumours flying around the airwaves during the session, the silliest of all suggesting Alonso’s return to McLaren … Silly season in full swing …

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There is not too much time to relax, F1 is back this weekend with the Belgian Grand Prix. Here is round 12 of our prediction game.

At the moment the weather people do not predict rain for the weekend but expected temperatures are lower than last weekend in Valencia.

As usual you can wait till the last moment before the qualifying or make your prediction right away to make sure you do not miss the round (and change your prediction later if you feel like doing that). But do remember, the deadline is the start of the Saturday qualifying session ! So, make your prediction for the pole position, fastest lap and top eight finishers in the comments below this post. The results of round 12 will be published on Monday after the race. Good luck !

Back to back races, back to back quizzes. This week the topic is the Belgian GP.

You know the drill. Complete all 10 questions, afterwards all the answers will be revealed. As usual please no googling for answers .

And do not forget to share your result in comments ! If you missed the past quizzes you can try them too – click here.

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The results of round 11 of our prediction game are here. This was a lower scoring round. Only 2 people guessed Rubens for win, nobody expected Glock to clock fastest lap and there were only 2 or 3 predictions for pole for Hamilton. Several people had Sutil among top eight but only three predictions incldued Kubica. The winners of this round are velvet demon and shaggy with 18 points.

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The 2009 European GP win is Barrichello’s 10th career win, his first since the inaugural Chinese GP race back in 2004. The last time Barrichello was not on pole and won the race was at 2002 US GP.

This win is also the 100th F1 race win for a Brazilian driver, the first since Massa’s win at Interlagos last year. Well and yes, this is Barrichello’s first win in a car other than Ferrari.

Here is a photo gallery featuring images from Barrichello’s day in Valencia:
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