If there was ever a doubt as to how much faster Sebastian Vettel’s RB9 was compared to the rest of the field, lap one of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix displayed it. After a great launch by pole sitter Lewis Hamilton, Vettel trailed behind the Mercedes driver and made a blazing pass on lap one coming out of Eau Rouge en route to his fifth win of the season. Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso claimed second place and Hamilton finished third.
During the podium preparation, Hamilton could only manage to tell Vettel he was “Too fast.”
The race marks an incredible 31 wins in the 26-year-old driver’s career and 39th for the Red Bull team since joining the F1 field, and allows Vettel to extend his championship lead with 197 points ahead of Alonso’s 151.
The Ferrari driver vaulted to second in the standings, while Hamilton moves into third (139 points) after Lotus driver Kimi Räikkönen was forced to retire with a brake failure on lap 27. Marking his first DNF since 2005, the Finnish driver drops from second to fourth in the championship with 134 points.
Joining Räikkönen in the DNF column was Charles Pic (Caterham) on lap eight and Paul di Resta on lap 26. After nearly taking pole yesterday and starting from fifth, di Resta was caught in an incident when Sauber’s Esteban Guttierrez made a tight pass on Williams’ Pastor Maldonado in the final chicane. Maldonado was forced to cut across the racing line and nudged di Resta’s teammate Adrian Sutil, leading to a collision with the Scot which saw him lose his rear right tire and wing. It is di Resta’s second DNF this season to go along with a wheel nut failure in Malaysia.
Combined with Mark Webber’s fifth-place finish, Red Bull claimed 35 points to lead Mercedes 312 to 235 in the constructors’ championship. Ferrari claimed 24 points to stay in third with 218 points, while Romain Grosjean’s lone seven point finish sees Lotus trail in fourth with 187.
The schedule moves to Monza September 6 for the Italian Grand Prix, where an announcement could be made to confirm the 2014 driver vacancy at Red Bull.
RESULTS
