Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, 11th September 2005 - Summary - Gamble pays off as Webber finishes fourth in Spa.

Spa-Francorchamps (BEL). Mark Webber emerged from a rough and tumble Belgian
Grand Prix on a slowly drying track with a five-point haul for the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team. The Australian driver finished fourth in Sunday's race as the
curtain came down on the European season in Formula One amid testing conditions
in Spa. Webber's Brazilian team-mate Antonio Pizzonia, standing in once again
for Germany's Nick Heidfeld, was forced to retire on lap 40 of the 306.972-km
race following a collision.

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen took victory in his McLaren-Mercedes after 44
laps of the 6.974-km undulating circuit, keeping his title hopes alive in the
process. Second was Renault's championship leader Fernando Alonso (Spain),
ahead of Jenson Button in a BAR-Honda. World Champion Michael Schumacher's race
ended prematurely after an incident involving Japan's Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda).

Alonso continues to head the drivers' standings after round 16 of the 19-race
season. The Spaniard increased his total to 111 points in Spa to keep him 25
points ahead of Raikkonen (86). Michael Schumacher remains third on 55. BMW
WilliamsF1 Team drivers Webber and Heidfeld are tenth and eleventh in the
table, on 29 and 28 points respectively. Pizzonia, who celebrated his 25th
birthday on Sunday, has two points after his seventh place the previous weekend
in Monza.

In the Constructors' Championship, Renault goes into the remaining races of
2005 in Sao Paulo (25th September), Suzuka (9th October) and Shanghai (16th
October) with 152 points, ahead of McLaren-Mercedes on 146 and Ferrari (90).
The BMW WilliamsF1 Team is fifth on 59 points, behind Toyota (80).

"This was a really eventful race. As the entire weekend, it was influenced by
the weather. Difficult conditions resulted in several accidents," said BMW
Motorsport Director Mario Theissen, and added: "Today the right strategy was
crucial, especially to find the right moment for the change from intermediates
to slicks. Many drivers tried this too early. Dry tyres were only the best
choice for the last laps. This decision enabled Mark to improve to fourth
position. Having started ninth, this is a very good result."

Sam Michael, Technical Director at WilliamsF1, was also happy: "It was good to
go on dry tyres for the last laps. We tried earlier in the race to put both
cars on dry tyres, as did a lot of other teams. But it didn't work and both
needed to pick up intermediates again."

As Webber summed up: "We obviously took a gamble, as everyone did today. It was
a shame that we lost a lot of time when the Safety Car came out at the start of
the race and we switched to dry tyres and then back to intermediates. We could
have scored an even better result, but it was also very easy to be in the wall
today." Webber praised the team on a good performance: "It's been a tough
season so far and they have put in a great effort. It was also a good job by
BMW, to get through two tough races with the same engine."

Birthday boy Pizzonia, on the other hand, cut a dejected figure after his
collision with Montoya: "I was on dry tyres and lapping quicker than him. He
was quite slow, maybe because his tyres were not good anymore or maybe he was
just cruising to the end of the race. I thought he saw me and when he braked
really early I thought he was trying to let me by. I put my car next to him,
but obviously he hadn't seen me because he turned into his normal line and I
couldn't avoid the crash. I am sorry for him because I am not here to destroy
anyone's race. I destroyed my race too."

Practice and qualifying.
Glorious sunshine and temperatures of 30 degrees in the shade greeted the teams
as the Formula One circus arrived in Belgium on Thursday. However, gathering
clouds as evening approached brought the promise that normal service would be
resumed in a corner of the Ardennes renowned as a haven for adverse weather
conditions.

The inevitable downpour on Friday morning soon dispelled the late-summer heat,
bringing the air temperature down to 19 degrees and leaving plenty of moisture
on the track for the first practice session. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team completed
four installation laps in the latter stages of the session, which left Webber
fifth fastest on the timing sheets. Pizzonia slid off the track on turn 13
after losing grip over a wet kerb and hitting the barriers. The team duly
replaced two suspension elements and gave the FW27 new front and rear wings in
time for the second practice session. For the first time since the start of the
season, new did not mean different, with development work for the 2005 season
having come to an end and all eyes now focussed on 2006. The same applies to
the engines. As in previous years, BMW's final update of this season's
powerplant was unveiled in Monza.

As it turned out, the mechanics could have taken their time repairing
Pizzonia's car, with the second free practice session left to literally tread
water. Vitantonio Liuzzi was one of the few drivers to venture out onto the
circuit in the torrential rain and the Red Bull test pilot duly spun off on the
treacherous surface. The resultant red flag brought the session to an end after
just four minutes. The circuit was cleared for action again at 2.13 that
afternoon, but there were to be no further timed laps. The rain was simply too
heavy, the water flowing in streams up and down the track. And as none of the
Friday practice sessions had been dry, tyre compound selection was officially
moved back to midday on Saturday.

Before the race at Spa, the 2005 Formula One season had been largely untroubled
by rain. Indeed, the last time the cars had lapped in the wet had been in the
early stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2004, the final race of last
season.
The only previous experience of rain in 2005 had been in qualifying for the
opening race of this year's championship in Australia, where wet-weather tyres
were on the menu.

The track was still damp ahead of the third practice session in the Ardennes on
Saturday morning and, with humidity standing at 95 percent and the temperature
not getting above 16 degrees, there was little chance of it drying out in a
hurry. The race director once again declared the track wet, giving the drivers
a free choice between wet-weather tyres, intermediates and slicks. However,
only by the fourth practice session had the moisture evaporated sufficiently
for the teams to make a reasonably confident decision on tyre compounds.

By qualifying at 1.00 p.m., it was clear that the racing line was dry. Webber
went out seventh, with grip visibly improving as the session progressed. Nine
of the 13 drivers who followed Webber bettered his lap time of 1:48.071,
leaving the Australian in tenth on the grid ahead of his team-mate in 15th.
Pizzonia set a time of 1:48.898 for his flying lap from 14th in the running
order. With five drivers still to post a qualifying time, it looked like
further rain was on the way. However, this time there were no more than a few
drops around the start-finish area to inconvenience the late runners.

The two McLaren-Mercedes of Montoya and Raikkonen eventually qualified
alongside each other on the front row of the grid, with Renault's Giancarlo
Fisichella and Toyota driver Jarno Trulli setting the third and fourth-quickest
times. Alonso's Renault was fifth in the timings, ahead of Ralf Schumacher in
the second Toyota. Row 4 was filled by Spa enthusiast Michael Schumacher and
his Ferrari team-mate for next year Felipe Massa in a Sauber.

Settling on the right set-up for race day became something of a risky business.
What was clear was that driving a car with a wet-weather set up on a dry track
would be harder than vice-versa. The 2005 Formula One rule-book prohibits
mid-race tyre changes, but different rules apply in the event of changing
weather conditions. As soon as it starts to rain, the drivers can switch to
wet-weather tyres at any time. If it then stops raining and the track dries
out, the tread of a grooved wet-weather tyre experiences rapid wear. For safety
reasons, the teams may therefore change over from wet-weather to dry tyres. In
both cases, refuelling is permitted at the same time as the tyres are changed.
This is not permitted if a tyre has to be changed in constant weather
conditions due to tyre damage.

Sunday morning saw a stream of accidents as the circuit was engulfed by
prolonged heavy rain, with the MINI Challenge and GP2 series races suffering
multiple interruptions as a result.

Start and finish.
The track was still damp as the cars lined up for the Belgian GP and there was
the threat of further showers. In this type of situation, the regulations give
scope for late modifications to car set-up, with ground clearance and wing
settings first on the list. In order to keep all their options open, the teams
waited as long as possible on the grid before putting on the tyres. Eight
minutes before the warm-up lap, intermediates were fitted on the FW27 racers, a
decision repeated by the team's rivals.

Webber started from ninth on the grid, with Fisichella's Renault dropping back
to 13th after the Italian driver incurred a ten-place penalty for an illegal
engine change. Webber lost a place to Sato off the start line, slipping to
tenth, and two laps later he was down to twelfth after Fisichella and David
Coulthard (Red Bull Racing) found their way past. Pizzonia, meanwhile, was
determined to recover from a bad start of his own. Having fallen back a place
from the off, the Brazilian eased past Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber) and Rubens
Barrichello (Ferrari) on lap 2 to move into 14th position.

Fisichella's progress was brought to an unceremonious end on lap 11 after the
Renault pilot crashed heavily on the exit from Eau Rouge. As the Safety Car
made its way out onto the track, Sam Michael called the two FW27 cars into the
pits. Webber was first in, with Pizzonia waiting temporarily in the wings. The
team decided to change both cars onto slicks. BAR Honda followed suit with
Button and Sato, while Michel Schumacher was another to gamble on dry-weather
rubber. However, as they all quickly discovered, the track was still too damp
to reward their boldness. While the five were preparing to come back in to swap
back onto intermediates, Trulli and Christian Klien (Red Bull) were changing
onto dry tyres. And they too were soon back in the pits to correct their
mistake.

After this additional tyre stop, Webber and Pizzonia lay in twelfth and 15th
positions when the race restarted. Both made up two positions on lap 14, when
Michael Schumacher and Sato collided in La Source. Webber and Pizzonia
continued to move up through the field on their intermediates, Ralf Schumacher
offering proof on lap 25 that this was still the right decision. Having plumped
for a set of slicks, it wasn't long before Schumacher junior had spun on the
greasy surface. Another five laps later Massa also took on dry tyres - and also
paid the penalty in lost pace.

This made it an easy decision for the team to send both Webber and Pizzonia
back out with intermediates after their stops on lap 32/33. Webber rejoined in
sixth position, Pizzonia eighth. Up front, meanwhile, Raikkonen was using his
pit stop to take over the race lead from team-mate Montoya.

As the race entered its latter stages, discussions between the drivers and
engineers over the BMW WilliamsF1 Team pit radio centred on the possible gains
of switching to dry tyres for the final few laps. Webber duly chanced his arm
after 38 laps, and was soon the fastest man on the circuit. The new rubber
allowed him to moved up to fourth place in the final race standings. Pizzonia
came in for slicks a lap later, but he was only able to enjoy the extra grip
until lap 40, when he collided with Montoya.

History and background:
Spa-Francorchamps has been host to 39 out of 51 Belgian Grands Prix. Formula
One was held in Zolder ten times and in Nivelles twice.

The idea of building a race track at the famous health resort of Spa goes back
to the year 1920. The aim was to use the triangle formed by the roads
connecting Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps. By August 1921 preparations had
been completed, but the first car race fell through because a solitary entrant
had signed up. In the end, the race track was inaugurated by motorcycles before
it went on to hold its first car event in 1922.

1924 saw the first 24-hour race held here. That was followed by the first
significant single-seater event in 1925, namely the European Grand Prix. Of the
seven cars that took part, Antonio Ascari won on Alfa Romeo.

The Second World War brought an end to racing events for seven years up until
1947. 1970 witnessed the last race on the old course, which up to then had been
14 kilometres long. Cars had become too fast for the track and drivers refused
to accept the risks involved. The current circuit opened in 1979.

In 2003, Formula One bypassed Spa. In the interim, modifications were carried
out around the Bus Stop chicane and the track was extended by ten metres.

Other well-known features of the circuit apart from Eau Rouge are the fast
Blanchimont section and La Source, the hairpin soon after the start which saw
the biggest pile-up in Formula One history in 1998 - fortunately without any
injury to the drivers involved.

Results and points.

1. Kimi Raikkonen (Team McLaren Mercedes), 44 laps in 1 hr 30:01.295 min
2. Fernando Alonso (Mild Seven Renault F1 Team), + 28.394 sec
3. Jenson Button (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), + 32.077 sec
4. Mark Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team), + 69.167 sec
5. Rubens Barrichello (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro), + 78.136 sec
6. Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber Petronas), + 87.435 sec
7. Ralf Schumacher (Panasonic Toyota Racing), + 87.574 sec
8. Tiago Monteiro (Jordan Grand Prix), 1 lap behind

Drivers' points.

1. Alonso (111)
2. Raikkonen (86)
3. M. Schumacher (55)
4. Montoya (50)
5. Trulli (43)
6. Fisichella (41)
7. R. Schumacher (37)
8. Barrichello (35)
9. Button (30)
10. Webber (29)
11. Heidfeld (28)
12. Coulthard (21)
13. Villeneuve (9)
14. Massa (8)
15. Monteiro (7)
16. Wurz (6)
17. Karthikeyan (5)
Klien (5)
19. Albers (4)
de la Rosa (4)
21. Friesacher (3)
22. Pizzonia (2)
23. Liuzzi (1)
Sato (1)

Team points:

1. Mild Seven Renault F1 Team (152)
2. Team McLaren Mercedes (146)
3. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (90)
4. Panasonic Toyota Racing (80)
5. BMW WilliamsF1 Team (59)
6. Lucky Strike BAR Honda (31)
7. Red Bull Racing (27)
8. Sauber Petronas (17)
9. Jordan Grand Prix (12)
10. Minardi F1 Team (7)