Belgium – Race: Hamilton dominates the discussions and Vettel in Belgium

As for the 2016 edition of the Belgian Grand Prix, the sun is present in the sky and the temperatures are very reasonable: 22°C in the air and 32°C on the track. A light breeze will push the drivers a bit more in the climb of Kemmel after the Raidillon.

The starting grid experienced a shake-up in the second half of the field: Palmer, who qualified 10th, receives a penalty for a gearbox change and starts 14th, the same goes for Ericsson and Wehrlein who start 17th and 18th; Massa receives a 5-place penalty for not respecting the double yellow flags and starts 16th; the biggest penalties are for Kvyat and Vandoorne, the Russian receives 20 places and starts 19th while the Belgian, following his two engine changes, takes 65 places and starts last for his first national Grand Prix.

At the start, the top 4 holds their positions, Vettel is unable to overtake Hamilton at the Combes braking point. Alonso has an excellent start from 10th and moves up to 8th place, overtaken by Hülkenberg just before the end of the lap. Conversely, the Force India cars had a poor start and dropped 2 positions each.

The top 6 is set after two loops, only Hülkenberg, Alonso, and Ocon are enlivening the race in a battle for the 7th place. Pascal Wehrlein returns to his pit to retire.

LAP 2/44: It’s 🇪🇸 v 🇩🇪 v 🇫🇷 for P8#BelgiumGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/KKllLf410Z

— Formula 1 (@F1) 27 août 2017

At the start, the descent towards Eau Rouge is tense between Hülkenberg, Pérez, and Ocon, who find themselves three abreast on the old starting straight. The Force India drivers touch roughly; fortunately for them, they can continue.

The two Force Indias clash on the run to Eau Rouge
Sky Go: https://t.co/otdntdbR9f
Blog: https://t.co/QQfFLrQCKP #SkyF1 #BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/VOdaAfPaVS

— Sky Sports F1 🏎 (@SkySportsF1) 27 août 2017

The curse continues for Max Verstappen, who has to retire again, moreover in front of his home crowd. The consternation is complete on the Red Bull pit wall. At the front, the situation remains unchanged, but it is worth noting that only Vettel keeps up the pace behind Hamilton, with the gap holding at 1.6 seconds, while Bottas in 3rd is over 7 seconds behind.

At the 11th, Ocon and Alonso decide to pit, swapping ultra-softs for super-softs. Grosjean, Magnussen, Palmer, Stroll, and Ericsson have also already made a stop. Hülkenberg stops on the 12th lap, with Massa following suit.

On lap 13, Hamilton dives into the pit lane to switch to soft tires, Vettel stays on track; with his lead, the Briton was able to come out ahead of Ricciardo. Räikkönen is under investigation by race control for not slowing down under yellow flags during Verstappen’s removal.

Esteban Ocon had warned that the Force India cars fly up the Kemmel Straight, and Pérez in a battle with Grosjean and Kvyat overtakes the Toro Rosso and the Haas consecutively. In the pits, Vettel puts on the soft tires to cover Mercedes’ strategy, he comes out behind Räikkönen and Hamilton.

For Räikkönen, the penalty falls; he receives a 10-second penalty to be served in his pit for staying at full throttle in the yellow flag zone caused by Verstappen. On the radio, the Finn offers us a response for which he is known.

“What do you mean?!” says Räikkönen in response to his penalty. “He was on the side of the road!” #F1

— Autosport Live (@autosportlive) 27 août 2017

Pérez also receives a 5-second time penalty for cutting through Les Combes after his double overtake and gaining an advantage. The battle for the lead remains uncertain, with the gap between Hamilton and Vettel gradually narrowing to 1.2 seconds at the start of the 21st lap.

Mid-race standings: Hamilton ahead of Vettel, Bottas, Ricciardo, Hülkenberg, Räikkönen, Ocon, Perez, Grosjean, and Magnussen in the top 10. Massa, Alonso, Palmer, Stroll, Sainz, Kvyat, Vandoorne, and Ericsson bring up the rear.

In his comeback following a 10-second penalty, Räikkönen overtakes Hülkenberg for 5th place. Alonso enters the pit lane slowly to finally retire after 27 laps, the pill is very hard to swallow for the Spaniard.

New violent exchange between Pérez and Ocon, at the exit of La Source Pérez pushes Ocon towards the wall on the descent, and Ocon doesn’t give in, forcing the drivers to touch. Ocon breaks his front wing and Pérez gets a puncture, debris on the track leads to the safety car being deployed.

LAP 30/44: SAFETY CAR

OCO and teammate PER collide 💥#BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/St0SBMfuQ4

— Formula 1 (@F1) 27 août 2017

All the drivers take the opportunity to go through the pit lane, Hamilton stays on soft tires while Vettel opts for ultra-softs. After his penalty, which put him out of contention for the podium, Räikkönen regains all his chances thanks to this safety car intervention.

More than 11 laps to go at the restart and Hamilton maintains the advantage, behind Bottas is struggling more and gets overtaken by Ricciardo and Räikkönen. The Australian, as usual, is always in the right place at the right time and temporarily moves onto the podium.

Ricciardo & Kimi pass Bottas
Sky Go: https://t.co/bDlvcNroHY
Blog: https://t.co/b3qcRtGXrA #SkyF1 #BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rGllR8cp9H

— Sky Sports F1 🏎 (@SkySportsF1) 27 août 2017

Similarly, Romain Grosjean and Felipe Massa make a good move and position themselves 7th and 8th.

With 3 laps remaining, Vettel stays close to Hamilton and sets a new race record with a lap of 1:46.577. On the radio, Force India asks Pérez to come in to retire, as his car is too damaged to continue.

At the checkered flag, it’s indeed the silver that leads, as Lewis Hamilton wins the Belgian Grand Prix with little difficulty. Sebastian, close throughout the race, was unable to take the advantage. Daniel Ricciardo steps onto the podium again at the expense of Räikkönen and Bottas. The top 3 teams are present on the podium.

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (LAP 44/44): A mighty showing from @LewisHamilton 💪 #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/H87U7OkuYK

— Formula 1 (@F1) 27 août 2017