2011 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

Venue: Spa-Francorchamps
Date: Sunday 28 August
Lap length: 4.352 miles
Race laps: 44
2010 winner: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
First grand prix: 1924

Vettel wins action-packed Belgian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel has strengthened his championship lead by winning the Belgian Grand Prix. The German led home team-mate Mark Webber as Jenson Button rose to third from 13th on the grid. With Alonso and Schumacher fourth and fifth, Lewis Hamilton crashed heavily in an incident with Kamui Kobayashi.

There was much drama prior to the race, with top ten qualifiers – especially Red Bull – complaining of blistered front tyres but not being allowed to change them. Blisters remained an issue for the field during the race, although there were few tyre-related incidents. Rain, predicted by some to hit the circuit halfway through the Grand Prix, stayed away from the legendary venue.

The start was clean for the front-runners, with Nico Rosberg seizing second place and then taking the lead from Vettel at Les Combes. At first corner La Source, drama in the midfield saw Bruno Senna clout the innocent Jaime Alguersuari, whose left-front suspension was ruined by being pushed into an escaping Alonso.

'Wonderful end to wonderful weekend' - Schumacher

Michael Schumacher produced an inspiring drive in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, with the race marking the seven-time World Champion’s 20th anniversary in F1. After starting at the back of the grid due to losing a wheel in qualifying, the German’s rise to the top five included a pass on team-mate Nico Rosberg with three laps remaining.

“A wonderful ending to a wonderful weekend here at Spa,” the Mercedes driver commented. “I think more than fifth place would not have been possible today, but making up 19 places was a good feeling.

"With all my family, friends and fans here, it was an extra motivation and I would like to thank all of them for their support. They saw an exciting race with a great strategy from our team.

“So all in all, for me, there was a lot of emotion and a lot of overtaking today. At the beginning I was a bit afraid that some of the flying parts might hit and damage my car, but I was lucky that nothing happened. After that, I had big fun hunting and making my way forward.”

Today’s drive at Spa followed a similar performance for Schumacher last year, when he finished seventh from 21st on the grid.

Vettel retook the lead from Rosberg once DRS was enabled on Lap 3, with drivers enjoying Istanbul-like advantages from the new-for-2011 aid. Alonso climbed to second as fast-starting team-mate Felipe Massa lost ground attacking Rosberg; the Brazilian soon dropped to fifth as Hamilton took advantage at Pouhon. Massa’s day eventually ended in eighth, having had to pit once more than necessary for a puncture but grabbing one place from an ailing Vitaly Petrov on the final lap.

Hamilton’s race ended dramatically on Lap 13. After passing Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber, the Englishman attempted to retake the racing line as the duo approached Les Comes; with the Sauber still alongside, last year’s winner was speared into the barriers in dramatic fashion, being slightly winded by the heavy impact. The accident brought out the Safety Car as a number of drivers – notably Vettel, Sutil, Schumacher and Button – immediately dived for the pits to save time.

Alonso headed the field at the Lap 17 restart, with Webber (after enduring a slugging start) and Vettel both in close attendance. A lap later, Button’s rise saw an impressive two-car pass on Petrov and the Sauber of Sergio Pérez under braking for La Source. Pérez – who served a Drive-Through penalty for damaging Sébastien Buemi’s car - later retired with suspected damage to his rear suspension, with Daniel Ricciardo’s HRT stopping on-track.

Vettel’s third and final stop came on Lap 30, with Button appearing to be favourite for victory as the German took on the slower, Medium compound tyres; however his pace proved to be adequate in overtaking the McLaren, which pitted on Lap 32 for brand-new Softs. As Vettel consolidated his lead, Alonso lost both second and third places to Webber and Button, respectively using DRS on Laps 37 and 42.

During the first pit-stop window, Webber had pulled a spectacularly courageous manoeuvre on Alonso as the pair headed towards Eau Rouge on the eighth tour, narrowly avoiding contact at high speed.

Also on Lap 42, Schumacher – shooting to the top five from the very back of the grid – overhauled fuel-saving team-mate Rosberg as Adrian Sutil and Force India scored six more points in seventh. Having been penalised for hitting Hamilton’s car in qualifying, Pastor Maldonado successfully recovered to tenth from 21st on the grid and therefore scores his first point in Formula 1.

Vettel’s win means he has already scored more points than during the entire title-winning season of 2010. His 17th career victory moves him back ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the overall statistics, as the tally of Britain’s Stirling Moss is also bettered.

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