The racetrack at Spa has been renowned for its unpredictable weather and it didn't disappoint for the Formula 1 fans today. Webber surrendered his pole start straight away as he couldn't seem to get his car going and went fifth into the first corner. Hamilton benefited as he took the lead but both Petrov and Schumacher climbed up the pack early on.
There was carnage on the very first lap as Barrichello's brakes couldn't quite work on the wet surface and collided into Alonso which forced Barrichello out of the race and brought about the first Safety Car of the day. Senna became the second casualty of the weather as he span out a few laps later and forced him to retire from the race.
The Championship took a dramatic turn on the 16th lap as Vettel lost control of his car and collided into Button. This caused Button to retire and Vettel was handed a drive through penalty as he could carry on at McLaren's despair. However Vettel's day got even worse as he got a puncture after clipping Liuzzi's front wing during an overtaking manoeuvre. he made it back to the pits but he wasn't going to get any points from the race.
The rain began to fall again on Lap 35 and Hamilton went off the track into the gravel but just about managed not to hit the barrier and could keep driving. From there everyone was in a hurry to get either the intermediate or extremely wet tyres on and after Kubica over cooked his stop, Red Bull managed to complete their pit stop quicker and Webber overtook Kubica in the pits.
A third potential Championship winner Alonso span out of the race on Lap 38 causing a second Safety Car and Hamilton's lead was cut short. The Mclaren held on though to take the checkered flag ahead of Webber and win the Belgian Grand Prix. Here's the final standings:
1. Hamilton (McLaren), 2. Webber (Red Bull), 3. Kubica (Renault), 4. Massa (Ferrari), 5. Suti (Force India), 6. Rosberg (Mercedes), 7. Schumacher (Mercedes), 8. Kobayashi (Sauber), 9. Petrov (Renault), 10. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 11. Liuzzi (Force india), 12. De La Rosa (Sauber) 13. Buemi (Toro Rosso), 14. Hulkenberg (Williams), 15. Vettel (Red Bull) 16. Kovalainen (Lotus) 17. Di Grassi (Virgin) 18. Glock (Virgin), 19. Trulli (Lotus) 20. Yamamoto (Hispania), 21. Alonso (Ferrari), 22. Button (McLaren), 23. Senna (Hispania), 24. Barrichello (Williams)
This leaves Hamilton as Championship leader on 182 with Webber second on 179. Vettel, Button and Alonso have lost considerable ground with 151, 147 and 141 points respectively. However Red Bull still lead the Constructors Championship now by just a point with 330 and McLaren on 329.
No comments:
Post a Comment