A grand prix ends as the cars cross the finish line, in the case of the Belgian Grand Prix, for the 44th time. The top three drivers stand on the podium and spray the champagne and we all go home to prepare for the next race.
Unfortunately, that is not always the case and in Spa-Francorchamps, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s race ended, long after the race, in the control tower, in the stewards’ room, where Jaime Alguersuari lost his tenth place and, more importantly the championship point that goes with it. It is not our policy to argue with those who police the sport, but all the same, Jaime’s 20-second penalty for allegedly gaining an advantage by cutting the chicane is a bitter pill to swallow. It means that in the new race order, the Spaniard finished 13th, one place behind his team-mate Sebastien Buemi.
Our own disappointment aside, the Spa weekend was a perfect showcase for Formula One, with the weather playing its usual role in the Ardennes, spicing up qualifying and the race, delivering two really fantastic afternoons of sport. Rain is so much part of the Spa experience, that F1 folk would be disappointed if we had a completely dry weekend, while for those of us travelling by road to Belgium rather than doing the more usual airport run, it means you can pack enough waterproofs and spare clothes in the car to deal with all extremes of weather.
Coming by car suited Paris-based Canadian F1 journalist, Brad Spurgeon, who brings his guitar to every GP, finding a bar or club where he can play and sing at ‘open mic’ nights. However, at Spa, Brad made the most of driving to the track, packing another interesting piece of equipment. What many of his colleagues don’t know is that, in a past life, Brad used to be a circus performer, so last weekend, he took on the amazing challenge of riding a Unicycle up and down the hill at Eau Rouge:
You only have to watch the way our engineers and mechanics carefully study the Energy Station menus for lunch and dinner to see that food is a very important factor of Italian life. In Spa, some of them added their own item to the kitchen store room at the track, after they spotted some wonderful wild mushrooms growing around the edges of the circuit car park: sliced and fried, they were a delicious addition to Sunday’s pre-race lunch.
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