Race 2010 Belgian Grand Prix

defending champion jenson button in second place first corner; crash vettel on lap 16 led retirement.

bruno senna second retirement of afternoon, hispania f110 returning pits , staying there mechanical fault. retirement overshadowed of jenson button @ hands of sebastian vettel; on approach bus stop, red bull driver spotted weaving aggressively behind 2009 world champion. ran deep corner , lost control, throwing himself spin whilst still travelling in straight line. in collision similar collision webber in istanbul, vettel s inevitable trajectory saw him make contact button. vettel able pit immediately, damage button s mclaren catastrophic, destroying sidepod, , radiator. vettel subsequently handed drive-through penalty – second in many races – causing avoidable accident. button s retirement , vettel s double pit stop promoted robert kubica second , recovering mark webber third.

whatever hopes kubica might have had of reeling in hamilton @ restart quashed mclaren driver opened sizeable gap within minutes of restart, , race order established itself. further down field, ferrari s hopes rested on felipe massa battled force india of adrian sutil. however, biggest winners of race mercedes drivers , vitaly petrov. despite penalties , qualifying accidents respectively, schumacher, rosberg , petrov spent entire race restart running in points. others not lucky; nico hülkenberg made unscheduled stop clutch problem, whilst several drivers explored gravel traps around circuit. meanwhile, vettel undid dash through field when made contact vitantonio liuzzi – again @ bus stop chicane – , developed slow puncture. liuzzi able pit straight away, vettel forced limp around circuit majority of lap before having delaminated tyre replaced.

lewis hamilton won race take drivers championship lead mark webber.

the unpredictable belgian weather reared head once more towards end of race, teams trying balance need pit against predicted rain; if pitted early, risked wasting pit stop, if stayed out on circuit long, tyres lose grip. strategy played hands of mercedes drivers, elected stay out long possible , preserve sixth , seventh place when expected downpour arrived in spectacular fashion. half of circuit inundated within minutes, tricky conditions catching leader lewis hamilton out slid off edge of circuit @ rivage, brushing outer wall left-front wheel; pedro de la rosa have similar experience several laps later @ stavelot. fernando alonso fourth , final retirement, making mistake exited les combes-malmedy complex. alonso ran wide , strayed onto artificial grass strip lining outside of corner lost grip , spun wall, ferrari coming rest perpendicular circuit , triggering second safety car.

the final chapter of race came twist race leaders pitted wet tyres. despite off-track excursion, hamilton able pit cleanly; second-placed kubica less fortunate. overshooting pit box, renault mechanics forced scramble realign kubica s position , lost second place webber. 3 drivers remain in order crossed finish line. massa finished fourth, ahead of sutil , mercedes of rosberg , schumacher, had late position swap @ les combes. kamui kobayashi claimed eighth ahead of petrov, jaime alguersuari taking tenth , final points-scoring place on offer after de la rosa s off-track excursion removed him contention.

the effect of race result stretch field out further; button , alonso failing finish , vettel failing score points, hamilton , webber able build twenty-point buffer on other drivers. , while race result meant red bull retained grip on world constructors championship lead, hamilton s victory meant lead cut down single point. kubica s podium , petrov s two-point haul not enough claim ground on mercedes, whilst force india further extended lead on non-scoring williams drivers.