Belgian GP: Hamilton Claims First Spa Win

Lewis Hamilton won what could be called a race of attrition for the Championship contenders as only two of the five scored points

It was a flying start to the race for Hamilton, who easily stormd by Mark Webber to take the lead while Robert Kubica and Button fought over second place. A brief and blitzing shower caused chaos on lap 2, sending drivers flying off the track, the Safety Car out onto the track, Rubens Barrichello into retirement and Alonso into the pits for intermediates after he was caught up in Barrichello's shunt. However, the move to inters was reversed a lap later, putting an end to Alonso's bid for a podium finish.

With the track drying almost immediately after the brief shower, the race calmed down with Hamilton slowly but surely pulling away from Button and Sebastian Vettel. The battle between Button and Vettel, both of whom are in the thick of the title fight, came to an end on lap 17 when Vettel was caught out by a few drops of rain at the final chicane, lost control and went spearing into Button. Button was put out of the race, Vettel pitted for repairs and was later handed a drive-through penalty.

Kubica and Webber were promoted to the fight for second place, which Kubica held until more rain came down on lap 34, prompting almost everyone barring the top four to pit. The top four finally came in on lap 36 after Hamilton ran off the track, just avoiding the barriers. But he kept it safe, pitted for new rubber and retained his lead. There was a change for second, though, as Kubica missed the mark in the pits and lost a positon to Webber. Massa remained fourth.

The Safety Car made its second appearance of the afternoon on lap 39 when Fernando Alonso spun and stalled in the middle of the track. Alonso's DNF made it three Championship contenders out of the points: the Spaniard, Button (DNF) and Vettel (well out of the points). With the action underway three laps later, it was left to the only two remaining Championship contenders in the race to fight for the victory.

However, Hamilton's superior pace easily won out at the restart as he pulled away from Webber to race to the victory and a much-needed 25 points, which handed him back the lead in the Drivers' Championship. Webber's 18 points for the race means he now trails by three points. Kubica finished the race in third place.

Times
01 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1hr29.04.268
02 Mark Webber RBR-Renault +1.5 secs
03 Robert Kubica Renault +3.4 secs
04 Felipe Massa Ferrari +8.2 secs
05 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +9.0 secs
06 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP +12.3 secs
07 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP +15.5 secs
08 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari +16.6 secs
09 Vitaly Petrov Renault +23.8 secs
10 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari +29.4 secs
11 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes +34.8 secs
12 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari +36.0 secs
13 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari +39.8 secs
14 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth +1 Lap
15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault +1 Lap
16 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth +1 Lap
17 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth +1 Lap
18 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth +1 Lap
19 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth +1 Lap
20 Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth +2 Lap
Ret Fernando Alonso Ferrari +7 Lap
Ret Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +29 Laps
Ret Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth +39 Laps
Ret Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 43 laps

Source: Planet-F1