Lewis Hamilton dominates at Spa-Francorchamps
Lewis Hamilton dominated the tracks this past Sunday when he won the incident-packed Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps after an appalling start from the championship leader Mark Webber.
Webber lost the lead to Hamilton in the first corner of the race as the British stayed in his position until the end of the race. The Australian struggled a lot throughout the race but made a remarkable recovery to take the second place. However, he lost his championship lead to Hamilton. Robert Kubica scored an impressive 3rd place finish in an improved Renault car.
The weather was the only concern for all the teams in the 44-lap race. After the shower around the third quarter mark, the race witnessed a series of crashes and spins, causing a safety car intervention due to which pit activity increased rapidly. It seemed that the busiest people on the track were the meteorologists and the stewards at times which ensured a dramatic end to the race.
Lewis Hamilton had an ideal race, keeping aside the two safety car sessions and the incident on the 35th lap when rain started to fall, causing the British to lose control of his car and run into the gravel. However, he was able to maintain enough control to avoid the wall, pit soon after, and still stay ahead. Yes, that is how remarkable Lewis was at Spa.
Webber had a dreadful start as his traction control malfunctioned in the beginning of the race, costing the Australian the lead. By the time he reached the second corner, Mark was back in the seventh place and it seemed that this race is going to be a nightmare for him. However, the 34-year-old recovered and fought his way back to the 3rd spot. However, he struggled behind the Renault before the pit stop blunder by Kubica cost him the second place and allowed Webber to move ahead.
Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button faced many problems during the race. Button held the second place behind his teammate as he kept Vettel, Kubica and Webber behind him, keeping in mind his car had a damaged front wing that reduced his car’s downforce. Button’s race ended after Vettel made a silly mistake and slammed the McLaren. However, the German was able to recover from the damage and rejoin the race but this affected Button’s championship dream drastically. The collision resulted in a drive through penalty and suffered a puncture as well making the race a nightmare for the German.
Barrichello’s 300th start was not as special as he collided with Fernando Alonso in the very first lap and had to retire. Alonso on the other hand, was lucky to survive and continued the race after the intense collision.
Ferrari made a blunder when they gambled on intermediate tyres and had to make another change immediately. Fernando managed to fight back but skidded into the barriers in the rain a couple of laps before the race ended. His teammate managed to finish in a solid forth place and miraculously avoided all the chaos around him.
Adrian Sutil proved that Force India made considerable improvements as he finished fifth ahead of Michael Schumacher after cruising past 7 time world champion Michael Schumacher in the 25th lap and maintained his flow throughout the race. Michael was ahead of his teammate for the whole race but Nico managed to overtake him just three laps before the chequered flag.
Vitaly Petrov started at the back of the grid after his accident at the qualifying session this past Saturday but managed to prove Renault’s improvements were vital as he worked his way up the grid and finished in ninth place. This proved that Renault will be strong at Monza as well and the battle between Ferrari, Mercedes, Force India and Renault for the “best of the rest crown” will be an interesting battle in the remainder of the championship.
There were many other collisions in the race further down the grid, keeping aside the incidents that Barrichello and Button were involved in. Places were swapped as teams gambled with their strategies on tyre changes as the weather changed. However, nothing was able to stop former world champion Lewis Hamilton from winning the race at Spa for the first time and taking the lead from Mark Webber.
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