Lewis Hamilton won his third race of the year in Spa to take back the lead of the drivers’ championship.
He passed Mark Webber at the start and clung on to win as a series of showers hit the track causing an action-packed race.
They were the only two of the top five championship runners to score points as Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button all hit trouble
Barrichello crashes out of 300th raceHaving started from pole position Webber was down to sixth by the first corner, as he bogged down badly. Hamilton seized the lead followed by Robert Kubica and Button.
But within a few moments the first of the rain showers had hit the tracks. It wasn’t very heavy, but enough to make the braking zone for the chicane treacherous. Several cars failed to get around it including Hamilton and Button, who was trying to pass Kubica.
Rubens Barrichello also got it wrong and crashed heavily into Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. The impact was enough to tear a wheel off the Williams, ending Barrichello’s 300th race, but Alonso astonishingly was able to keep going.
That brought the safety car out, but not before Button had taken advantage of a mistake by Kubica at the top of Eau Rouge to claim second. Vettel almost followed him through but had to take to the grass to avoid the Renault.
Vettel hits Button
Hamilton stayed ahead of Button at the restart while Vettel moved ahead of Kubica. The Red Bull driver now set about attacking Button, whose McLaren had a damaged front wing.
Hamilton had stretched his lead to ten seconds by the time the rain returned and Vettel began pursuing Button more aggressively. On lap 16 Vettel tried to pass Button at the chicane, lost control of his car and ploughed into the side of the McLaren.
Steam billowed from the side of the MP4-25, indicating it was terminally damaged. But Vettel was able to continue after a stop in the pits for a new front wing. Meanwhile Kubica moved up to second ahead of Webber.
As another shower passed over the track teams turned their attention to making their mandatory dry-tyre pit stops. Adrian Sutil came in early to ensure he stayed ahead of Alonso.
The Ferrari driver had already been in after his collision to try intermediate tyres before switching back to the hard compound. He picked off the new teams’ cars and then spent several laps trying to get past Liuzzi, who he eventually edged aside at the chicane for 13th place.
After Sutil pitted the others began to react. First Webber, then Felipe Massa and Kubica together on the next lap. Webber fell short of getting ahead of Kubica with his pit stop, trying to slipstream by at Kemmel but unable to get by.
Hamilton finally came in on lap 24 and got away again still in the lead. But it wouldn’t be his last stop.
Scare for HamiltonThe biggest shower of the race arrived with around ten laps to go. As before Hamilton and the rest tried to tough it out on slicks to begin with. Others gambled: Timo Glock switched to full wet tyres right away, but it never got quite wet enough for that.
Hamilton, Kubica, Webber and Massa came by the pits still on their slicks as the rain hammered down, but the cars further behind them had seen enough and all began to peel in, most for intermediates.
Hamilton found out why at Rivage, as he understeered off through the gravel. He gave the barrier the merest of kisses and managed to re-join the circuit. But his lead had now been slashed.
This time the lead quartet all pitted. Kubica failed to stop his R30 on his marks and knocked several of his pit crew over, and the time lost allowed Webber by into second place.
Crash ends Alonso’s raceBy now Alonso had made it up to eighth by Kamui Kobayashi. But as he came out of turn seven on lap 37 he ran too high on the kerb and spun into the barrier.
This finally brought the apparently indestructible Ferrari to a halt and the safety car was summoned again. At this point the rain was falling most heavily, potentially robbing the drivers who’d tried full wets of their best chance to make up places.
The race re-started with four laps to go and Hamilton held his lead over Webber and Kubica to the flag – the McLaren driver finally claiming the win that was taken from him two years earlier. Webber was the only other driver in the top five of the championship to score points.
Massa had a quiet run to fourth, with Adrian Sutil less than a second behind him at the flag.
Nico Rosberg took sixth ahead of Michael Schumacher, the pair swapping places twice during the race. Schumacher passed Rosberg – and gave his front wing a knock – after his team mate was taken by Vitaly Petrov. But Rosberg fought back later in the race, edging his team mate aside at Les Combes.
Petrov came home ninth behind Kobayashi – a useful recovery having started 23rd. Jaime Alguersuari claimed the final point for tenth but the stewards are investigating whether he gained an advantage by cutting the chicane late in the race while battling with Liuzzi.
The Force India driver was 11th ahead of Pedro de la Rosa, Sebastien Buemi and Nico Hülkenberg who spun late in the race on wet tyres.
Vettel ended the race out of the points in 15th. Liuzzi made contact with his left-rear tyre after Vettel passed him at the chicane, leaving Vettel with a puncture which he had to drag around an entire lap. An extra stop for a second set of full wet tyres meant he made a total of five trips to the pit lane, including his drive-through penalty for hitting Button.
Heikki Kovalainen was first among the new teams, followed by Lucas di Grassi, Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and Sakon Yamamoto.
PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS
The Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium;
44 laps; 308.052km;
Weather: Mixed.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1h29m04.268s
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault +1.571
3. Kubica Renault +3.493
4. Massa Ferrari +8.264
5. Sutil Force India-Mercedes +9.094
6. Rosberg Mercedes +12.359
7. Schumacher Mercedes +15.548
8. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +16.678
9. Petrov Renault +23.851
10. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +29.457
11. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +34.831
12. De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari +36.019
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +39.895
14. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
15. Vettel Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
16. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
17. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Glock Virgin-Cosworth +1 lap
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth +1 lap
20. Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth +2 laps
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1m49.069s
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Alonso Ferrari 38
Button McLaren-Mercedes 16
Senna HRT-Cosworth 6
Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1
World Championship standings, round 13:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. Hamilton 182 1. Red Bull-Renault 330
2. Webber 179 2. McLaren-Mercedes 329
3. Vettel 151 3. Ferrari 250
4. Button 147 4. Mercedes 146
5. Alonso 141 5. Renault 123
6. Massa 109 6. Force India-Mercedes 57
7. Kubica 104 7. Williams-Cosworth 40
8. Rosberg 102 8. Sauber-Ferrari 27
9. Sutil 45 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11
10. Schumacher 44
11. Barrichello 30
12. Kobayashi 21
13. Petrov 19
14. Liuzzi 12
15. Hulkenberg 10
16. Buemi 7
17. De la Rosa 6
18. Alguersuari 4
Nov 12, 08, 14:13
