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Double points for STR in Belgium
By Catherine Black
September 8 2008
In typical Spa- Francorchamps fashion which had un-predictable weather in the closing stages of the race and post race controversy with Lewis Hamilton being given a 25 second penalty which gave the race win to Ferrari's Felipe Massa, Scuderia Toro Rosso finished with both cars solidly in points paying positions.

With both cars starting within the top 10, points always looked like a possibility, how many would be scored was the question, which would only be answered after 44 laps of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

 

Both drivers made a clean get away at the start of the race, and making up valuable race positions, which saw Bourdais running as high as 3rd place in the latter stages of the Grand Prix, until the famous Belgian changeable weather, took a turn for the worse only 2 laps from the end of the race.

 

With Bourdais and Vettel opting to stay on dry tyres on a wet track, and several other drivers (Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld) pitted for intermediate tyres, saw Bourdais’s hope of a podium fly past him.

 

After 44 laps, which at the end saw drivers struggling to stay on the track, Vettel finished the race in 5th place, collecting 4 championship points, and Bourdais finished in 7th place, collecting 2 championship points. Sebastian Vettel now sits 12th in the World Drivers Championship with 13 points, and Sebastien Bourdais is 17th with 4 points. Scuderia Toro Rosso also moves up the World Constructor Championship to 8th place, with 17 points, equal with Williams-Toyota.

Sebastian Vettel - 5th: 

 "Both me and Seb have good reason to smile after a race like that. The last lap was unbelievable and I was shocked as I got passed in the last fifty metres and then Heidfeld followed by Alonso drove past me with a "whoosh" on their intermediates.

"It was very tricky at the end and you really had to trust your car. We were all saying that Eau Rouge and Blanchimont are now flat, but with a few drops of rain, I tell you, you see the real nature of these corners. Overall it was a fantastic race, even though I was stuck in traffic for a while.

"But I was very happy with the car and we had a very strong pace today. The guys at the front are still in a different dimension, but we have made some good steps forward and now it is up to us to use that potential at the next few races."

Sebastien Bourdais - 7th:

"On the last lap it was a lottery with the car getting away from you with every turn of the wheel. It's a horrible situation, as everything had been under control up until then. But I am not in a situation where I can risk everything and at the end of the race I didn't even know where I finished.

"It was so close to being a great result I felt I could almost touch it and so it was a very frustrating way to finish what was a great weekend up to that point. Such a shame, but nevertheless a very strong result for the team."

 

Franz Tost:

"I am really very happy with this result and now we head for our home race in Monza, hoping to carry the momentum with us. It's also the home race for our engine supplier and I expect the Prancing Horse to be on very good form next weekend. A very good start and a very good race from Bourdais until he was unlucky on the last lap, as the rain came a bit too early for him. But that's the game at Spa.

"It was definitely his best race for Toro Rosso and I am very happy for him. Vettel struggled a bit at the start, but then he too drove a fantastic race, passing Glock and Piquet with some good moves. At the end, he also passed his team- mate. In the closing stages we thought about bringing them in for intermediates but by then it was too late to make that call.

"But in the dry, in straightforward conditions, it was undoubtedly our best performance. We have moved ahead of Honda and are now on equal points with Williams and I hope we can score more points in the remaining five races. Fantastic!"

Spa-Francorchamps Race Results

 Pos

 Driver

 Team Laps Time Points
 1 Felipe Massa Ferrari 44 1:22:59.394 10
 2 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 44 +9.3 secs 8
 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 44 +10.5 secs 6
 4 Fernando Alonso Renault 44 +14.4 secs 5
 5 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 44 +14.5 secs 4
 6 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 44 +15.0 secs 3
 7 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 44 +16.7 secs 2
 8 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 44 +42.7 secs 1
 9 Timo Glock Toyota 44 +67.0 secs 
 10 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 43 Transmission 
 11 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 43 +1 lap 
 12 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 43 +1 lap 
 13 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 43 +1 lap 
 14 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 43 +1 lap 
 15 Jenson Button Honda 43 +1 lap 
 16 Jarno Trulli Toyota 43 +1 lap 
 17 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 43 +1 lap 
 18 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 42 Accident 
 RET Rubens Barrichello Honda 19 Gearbox 
 RET Nelsinho Piquet Renault 13 Accident 

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