Belgian GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

BELGIAN GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS

    Lewis Hamilton took another victory on Sunday at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. He fought hard to hold of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the final laps and was able to make it a weekend to remember. 

    Sauber's day got off to a completely unlucky start when Pascal Wehrlein was forced to retire on lap 3 with suspension damage. His team-mate, Ericsson, finished the race last. Sauber currently stand 10th in the constructors standings with a total of 5 points.

    Max Verstappen was the next retiree, only 5 laps later. Verstappen's car slowed to a stop and the crowd was clearly disappointed, as was Verstappen himself. Being Half Dutch/Half Belgian, the Red Bull driver considered this his home race and it was not how he had wanted his day to go.

    More feisty racing between the Force India duo caused drama on and off track. Perez and Ocon made contact more than once throughout the race. In the beginning of the race, Perez collided with his younger team-mate, and then the two came together again at the end of the race. They both suffered damage to their cars, with Perez retiring from the race with only 2 laps to go. Ocon was able to finish the race in 9th and grab 2 points.

    Ocon wasn't the only one who Perez ran into trouble with either. The Force India driver angered Grosjean as he passed him but left the track when doing so. Perez was slapped with a 5-Second-Time-Penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He was also given 1 penalty point to his license.

    Kimi Raikkonen was another driver to receive punishment. After failing to slow sufficiently under double-waved yellow flags, the Ferrari driver was given a 10-Second-Stop-Go-Penalty and 3 penalty points to his license. He finished the race in 4th, just 2 places behind Vettel.

    Stoffel Vandoorne, who had an unlucky start to his home-race weekend, with that 65-Place-Grid-Penalty for multiple engine component changes, was able to turn things around and safely bring his McLaren-Honda across the finish line. It may not have been in the points, but finishing the race was victory enough. The same couldn't be said for his team-mate. Alonso's retired on lap 26 due to an engine issue.

    With Hamilton taking the win and Vettel close behind in second, it was Daniel Ricciardo who completed the podium. Raikkonen, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Grosjean, Massa, Ocon and Sainz also scored points in the race.

RESULTS:

1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 25 Points

2. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 18 Points

3. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia / + 15 Points

4. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 12 Points

5. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 10 Points

6. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 8 Points

7. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / + 6 Points

8. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 4 Points

9. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / + 2 Points

10. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / + 1 Point

11. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

12. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia

13. Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain

14. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Honda / Belgium

15. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark

16. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden

RETIRED - Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / Collision Damage*

RETIRED - Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / Engine

RETIRED - Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / Engine

RETIRED - Pascal Wehrlein / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany / Suspension

* - Notes Sergio Perez retired on Lap 43 but qualified as finishing the race as he had completed over 90% of the race distance.

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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