Jean-Eric Vergne of France and Scuderia Toro Rosso is seen during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit of Spa Francorchamps on August 31, 2012 in Spa Francorchamps, Belgium. (Photo: Getty Images)

Toro Rosso
Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were third and fourth in the wet FP1, which gave the Italian team some encouragement. Both men made it easily into Q2, but then their form tailed off, Vergne taking 15th and his Australian team mate 16th. Both drivers gained massively from the first corner crash, with Ricciardo emerging in sixth and Vergne in seventh. After that it was a question of fighting hard to hold on to decent points. Inevitably some quicker cars did pass, but Vergne ultimately got in front of his team mate and claimed eighth. Ricciardo, who struggled on the harder tire, finished ninth.

Williams
Pastor Maldonado’s weekend started well when he was second fastest in the wet FP1 session, and having just made it into Q3 he caused a surprise by earning third place. However he was deemed to have impeded Nico Hulkenberg in Q1 and was demoted three spots. Bruno Senna was 17th after a spin in Q2 damaged his wing. Maldonado was delayed when he spun round exiting the first corner in the aftermath of the main accident. At the safety car restart he made contact with Timo Glock, and front end damage led to his retirement. Bruno Senna was ninth after the first lap and looked set to score some points but a late stop with a slow puncture dropped him to 12th.

Caterham
Heikki Kovalainen struggled with an uncooperative DRS system during Q1, which cost him lap time relative to those ahead, but ultimately he ended up in his familiar position of 19th. Vitaly Petrov was just over 0.2s behind in 20th, both drivers then moving up a place due to Rosberg’s penalty. Kovalainen jumped up to 10th after the first corner crash before losing time with a spin. He made contact with Karthikeyan when released from the pits, which led to an extra stop for a wing change. He finished 17th. Petrov lost a little time in a pit stop on his way to 14th.

Marussia
Friday’s rain made it impossible for Marussia to assess its upgrade package, although there was some cheer when Charles Pic topped FP2 as one of the few drivers to do a flying lap. In the dry on Saturday it was back to business as usual as Timo Glock took 21st and his team mate 23rd, both men then gaining places from Rosberg’s penalty. Glock was 17th after the first corner but was then punted into a spin by Maldonado after the restart, which dropped him behind the HRTs. He eventually fought his way up to 15th, after switching to two stops. Pic stuck with the planned one-stop strategy and finished 16th, 15s behind his team mate.

HRT F1 Team's Spanish driver Pedro Martinez de la Rosa drives during the first practice session at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on August 31, 2012 in Spa ahead of the Belgium Formula One Grand Prix. (Photo: Getty Images)

HRT
Pedro de la Rosa was delighted with his qualifying lap, the Spaniard putting together his three best sectors and earning 22nd, ahead of Marussia’s Charles Pic, gaining another spot from Rosberg’s penalty. Narain Karthikeyan didn’t drive at all on Friday as Dani Clos had his car for the slightly less wet FP1 session and the team skipped FP2. The Indian qualified in his usual position of 24th. Both drivers gained from the Turn One crash but De la Rosa had to stop immediately for a new front wing, before bringing the car home 18th. Karthikeyan spun off on lap 30 after a rear wheelnut came loose following a pit stop.

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.




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