Once again fate played a cruel part in frustrating Kimi's and McLaren-Mercedes fortunes this weekend. Kimi should have reduced Alonso's lead by two extra points and McLaren- Mercedes should have taken the lead in the constructor's championship. "We had a perfect race and it was unfortunate for the team what happened in the last few laps because we could have had a one-two and we deserved it," said Raikkonen. This has since been backed up by Ron Dennis who also absolved Montoya of all blame.
Renault meanwhile seem unable to do wrong with Alonso seemingly content to cruise along and try to keep out of trouble, his second place means the Spaniard now requires one third-place finish in any of the final three races to become the youngest ever world champion. The 24-year-old takes a 25-point lead into the Brazilian Grand Prix in two week's time where he's sure to want to wrap up the title.
The first major incident of the race came on lap 11 when Giancarlo Fisichella, who had been making steady progress up the field after being demoted to 13th on the grid, lost control of his Renault at Eau Rouge. He joined the ranks of many top drivers who have crashed here when he smashed into the tyres at very high speed but was able to walk away unscathed from the wreckage.
The safety car was deployed and the teams took the opportunity to pit with Raikkonen very cannily holding up the line of cars as they entered the pits to allow team-mate Montoya, who was already with his mechanics, to finish his stop, therefore remaining on the same lap. Drivers such as Button, Sato and Michael Schumacher all decided to gamble with a switch to dry tyres. A bad choice as they only lasted a lap and had to return to the pits as they found it impossible to keep hold of their cars on the damp track. Toyota's Ralf Schumacher also gambled with the dry tyres when he came in from second place but he could not even complete his first lap and ran on to the grass at Les Combes. He did make it back to the pits to change tyres again and finish seventh.
Meanwhile Michael Schumacher's miserable season continued, he had been lapping faster than the McLaren when he was hit from behind by BAR's Takuma under braking on the approach to turn one. This incident ended the race of both drivers and Schumacher demonstrated his frustration by walking over to Sato, who was still in his car and giving him an angry lecture and a 'tap'on his helmet. "I'm not very happy," said Schumacher. "It's not the first time Sato has been involved in an incident like this, so it's not good."
