LEWIS HAMILTION HOLDS OFF LATE CHARGE TO WIN BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Lewis Hamilton leading the Belgian Grand Prix – Photo: LAT
It was a lights to flag victory for Lewis Hamilton in his 200th Grand Prix race at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The race looked to be a complete domination by the Mercedes driver after the first round of pit stops. However, the appearance of the Safety Car, after contact between the two Force India’s on Lap 29, brought Sebastian Vettel back into the race.
The battle between two Force India’s, who had been close all race, boiled over when Sergio Perez pushed Esteban Ocon towards the wall on the straight. The two cars made contact, puncturing the rear tyre of Perez’s car and damaging the front wing of Ocon’s car, littering the track in debris.
Ferrari then brought Vettel into the pits under the Safety Car to switch over to the Ultra Soft tyre for the last few laps of the race. This allowed him to take the fight right up to Hamilton, who was on the harder Soft tyre, on the restart. Hamilton put up a good fight and managed to hold off the pressure to take a comfortable win by the end of the race.
Daniel Ricciardo finished third – Photo: LAT
Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, who also stopped for Ultra Soft tyres under the Safety Car, pulled off a stunning move on the restart to get past Valtteri Bottas and hold off a move by Kimi Raikkonen as the went three wide down the Kemmel Straight to elevate the Red Bull driver on to the final step on the podium. Raikkonen took fourth with Bottas dropping back to fifth.
Formula 1 – Belgian Grand Prix – Results
| Position | Driver | Car | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 44 | |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 44 | 2.358s |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 44 | 10.791s |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 44 | 14.471s |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 44 | 16.456s |
| 6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 44 | 28.087s |
| 7 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 11 | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 12 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Renault | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 13 | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 14 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Honda | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 16 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 44 | 23h35m17.s |
| 17 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 42 | Not running |
| DNF | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 25 | Retirement |
| DNF | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 7 | Retirement |
| DNF | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber/Ferrari | 2 | Retirement |
Formula 1 – Championship Standings
| Position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | 220 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | 213 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | 179 |
| 4 | Daniel Ricciardo | 132 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | 128 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | 67 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | 56 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | 47 |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz | 36 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | 34 |
| 11 | Felipe Massa | 27 |
| 12 | Romain Grosjean | 24 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | 18 |
| 14 | Kevin Magnussen | 11 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | 10 |
| 16 | Pascal Wehrlein | 5 |
| 17 | Daniil Kvyat | 4 |
| 18 | Stoffel Vandoorne | 1 |
| 19 | Jolyon Palmer | 0 |
| 20 | Marcus Ericsson | 0 |
| 21 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 0 |
We’ll have a more details analysis of the Belgian Grand Prix in the next issue of Auto Action magazine. In the meantime follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates.
