Belgian GP 2008 predictions
My tip for Spa - Felipe Massa to win a second Grand Prix in a row
Who to back for the Belgian Grand Prix? Felipe Massa’s the form man at the moment but Kimi Raikkonen is superb around Spa.
Ferrari reckon the harder tyres being used at Spa this year could hand an advantage to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. The BMW pair will be poised to capitalise on any mistake by the top four - especially if it rains…
Predicting the top three for this race may be harder than usual. Two readers managed to get the prediction right for the top three at Valencia - find out who below.
Kimi Raikkonen’s record at Spa is formidable - three wins in the last three races at the circuit. It’s tempting to say if he can’t win here, he will not be able to defend his championship. Raikkonen has been struggling in qualifying recently and that has in turn compromised his race pace.
He will start the Belgian Grand Prix with a fresh Ferrari V8 engine following his failure at Valencia. But what about Massa? He will be on his second race with the unit - and Ferrari have had a con rod-related engine failure in the last two races.
Massa can change his engine without penalty (under the new-for-2008 ‘one free change’ rule) but it’s not an easy decision for Ferrari: the next two races are the toughest for the engines with the highest percentage of flat-out running. And Ferrari simply cannot afford another failure, especially with McLaren closing in on them in the constructors’ championship.
Engine concerns aside Massa, who is shrugging off almost every concern about different aspects of his performance this year, must be favourite for victory. I say ‘almost’ because I’m still not convinced of his wet-weather credentials after his awful drive at Silverstone. And Spa-Francorchamps, deep in the Belgian Ardennes, often sees mixed weather conditions.
In wet weather, my first choice for victory would be Hamilton, closely followed by Robert Kubica. In dry conditions Hamilton will likely run Massa very close but, even given Ferrari’s suspicion that the harder tyres will favour McLaren, I think Ferrari’s apparent power advantage should tip the balance in their favour.
So, based on the assumption that the weather will stay dry and the Ferraris will finish, my prediction is:
1. Felipe Massa
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Kimi Raikkonen
Two readers correctly predicted the Valencia podium of Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica. Toncho and Becken, stand up and take a bow!
Can they get it right two weeks in a row? Post your podium predictions below. And if you can’t decide who to go for, copy Toncho and Becken…
I’ll go with Raikkonen, Massa, Hamilton.
Spa was designed for Kimi Raikkonen.
Hey, I´m famous now!
…So I will use my crystal ball again to predict the next race:
1º - Lewis
2º - Kimi
3º - Bob Kubitza
1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Sebastian Vettal
3. Fernando Alonso
Considering it will be shower race: 1.Kubica; 2. Raikkonen; 3. Massa.
Remember me!
I almost agree with you chaostheory.Although i don’t believe Massa will be 3rd.Just a feeling
1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Felipe Massa
@ Rui: yeah i know - Silverstone; but i hope he got better by now… BTW. if he will do one spin at Spa - then i’ll stop considering him a ‘08 World Champ candidate.
A rainy race looks like a probability, rather than a possibility, but as always, I’ll do two predictions. (Wet and dry)
Dry Race
1. Raikkonen
2. Massa
3. Hamilton
Wet Race
1. Form book (Kubica)
2. Thrown out (Hamilton)
3. The Window (Heidfeld)
If it’s dry….
1. Massa
2. Hamilton
3. Raikkonen
If it’s wet….
1. Hamilton
2. Alonso
3. Raikkonen
Raikkonen
Massa
Hamilton
Is to be considered by dry prediction. My wet prediction is
Raikkonen
Hamilton
Kubica
People forget just how bloody good Raikkonen is in the wet, particularly in mixed weather conditions. He’s already owned Spa twice in these conditions, and I see no reason why he wouldn’t do it again.
This is Raikkonen’s weekend.
1.Hamilton
2.Kimi
3.Kovalainen
Kimi
Massa
Alonso
Spa & Kimi..made for each other! Massa in the list because of apparent advantage of Ferrari engines(of course if it lasts!) and Alonso needs to be there simply because he is the best driver in the grid and he should be on podium even with a less competitive car!
1. Hamilton
2. Heidfeld
3. Kovalainen
Dry
Raikkonen
Hamilton
Massa
Wet
Hamilton
Kubica
Heidfeld
Dry
Hamilton
Kimi
Kovalainen
Wet
Hamilton
Barrichello
Heidfeld
Alonso
Heidfeld
Piquet
(Massa
Bourdais
Kubica
Webber
Vettel)
Lewis
Kubica
Heikki
Dry:
1-Raikkonen
2-Massa
3-Hamilton
Wet:
1-Hamilton
2-Heidfeld
3-Kubica
Dry:
Kimi
Massa
Lewis
Wet:
Hamy
Kub
Kimi
Webber
Hamilton
Vettel
(Ah, what should have been at Fuji last year :))
OK Serious
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Kovaleinen (Love isn’t always on time!)
1. Hamilton
2. Kovalainen
3. Räikkönen
1 Kubica
2 Hamilton
3 Kimi
1.Kimi
2.Massa
3.Lewis
Robert
Kimi
Felipe
01. HAM
02. MAS
03. KOV
kimi
heiki
kubica
I can’t ever force myself to do the predictions. I will only say this time that if Santori’s guess comes true, I’ll pay the beer for the entire forum!
Standard race:
1. Hamilton
2. Massa
3. Raikkonen
Wet or safety car:
1. Hamilton
2. Kubica
3. Alonso
1. Robert Kubica
2. Felipe Massa
3. Lewis Hamilton
Dry:
1 Kimi
2 Lewis
3 Massa
Wet:
1 Lewis
2 Kimi
3 Bobby K
I reluctantly put Massa to finish third simply because of the prancing horse sitting behind him. And that is a generous prediction based entirely on his car. I am not in any way convinced that Mr. Massa has what it takes to conquer a beast like Spa-Francorchamps. Especially in the rain.
extreme wet
glock-just because i like his name
alonso
button
1998-think about it.
1. Ham
2. Kov
3. Rai
@verasaki
glock has been a really nice surprise at least for me (i didn’t follow gp2).I do hope he makes a nice race.
Button on 3rd that’s a big stretch no?I’d bet more on Barrichelo.On Sylverstone he brought the Honda to the podium, even with those refueling problems.I’d love to see him winning again.
extreme wet
1 - Barrichelo
2 - Glock
3 - Heildfeld
wet
1 - Kubica
2 - Raikkonen
3 - Heiki
sun
1 - Hamilton
2/3 - Raikkonnen/ Kubica
I didn’t put Massa or Hamilton on the top if it rains..because i have a feeling if that happens they will both go out.
Kimi
Massa
Kovalainen
Qualifying
1. Mas
2. Ham
3. Rai
Race
1. Mas
2. Rai
3. Ham
Number of spins for Massa: 11
Q:
1. Hamilton
2. Räikkonen
3. Massa
GP:
1. Räikkönen
2. Hamilton
3. Heidfeld
Benny must be from Finland cause Räikkönen is written like it should be=)
Dry
Kimi
Felipe
Lewis/Robert
Wet
Kimi
Lewis
Nick/Robert/Timo/……………………………Felipe
Distant chance for Felipe…
Dry weather:
1 Ham
2 Kov
3 Rai
Not an easy choice as I am a Kimi fan, but the change of tyres could be decisive.
But I expect that Kimi will win in Monza. What they couldn’t do last year.
Wet weather:
1 Rai
2 Kub
3 Sut (wild card, liked his driving last year)
In case of another monster crash as a few years ago, I’d go for
Dry or Wet:
1 Rai (he escapes because of his bad qualifying)
2 Alo
3 Vet
1. Massa
2. Great Lewis/Kimmi fight… especially off the line.
4. Alonso vs Piquet - yep I said it!
1. kimi
2. massa
3. kubica
1. Kimi
2. Massa
3. Alonso
DNF. Lewis
This is perhaps a little more heart than head but….
1. Raikkonen
2. Massa
3. Kubica
I reckon it’ll be slightly wet.
I hope santori is also correct, but only for the beer from qazuhb
So I’ll go for:
1. Hamilton
2. Raikkonen
3. Vettel
Massas engine will “pop it’s clogs” as it’s his 2nd race with it. Seems to be a Ferrari pattern at the moment.
My predictions
Lewis
Massa
Kimi
listening to kubica in practice, he really hates the feel of the car, handling like a pig, so i’m not putting anything on him… except that he wont make it into q3…
1. massa
2. kimi
3. ham
Dry/damp:
1) Massa
2) Kimi
3) Lewis
Wet:
1) Lewis
2) Massa
3) Vettel*
* just because it would be nice to get almost every team on the podium this season, come on force india get in there!!!
I kinda hope it rains just so massa can show that silverstone was just a really bad day for him.
my bet kimi , glock , trully