Hamilton calmly secures first victory at Spa
2010-08-30 13:42:04 Author: admin Source:
Lewis Hamilton overcame rain showers and a two safety car period race to grab his first Belgian Grand Prix victory at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit on Sunday with Mark Webber second and Robert Kubica third.
Hamilton blasted off the grid at the start and never looked back, while pole sitter Webber apparently had some trouble off the block. Kubica, too, shot to second right away followed by Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel, then Webber as the field bunched up behind the leading five drivers. By the time the drivers completed the first lap, a light shower and wet track caused immediate chaos to the field with the drivers' late braking tendencies which culminated in an accident between Rubens Barrichello and Fernando Alonso. Barrichello on his 300 Grand Prix misjudged a chicane and rammed the back of Alonso's Ferrari, forcing the Brazilian to retire on the spot and the Spaniard to visit the pits for tyres change.
Following a restart from a safety car perod, the lead order in front were Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Vettel and Webber. In the midst of the confusion, Button found a way past Kubica and McLarens were holding on to 1 - 2 positions. Soon, Kubica's R30 had Vettel's RB6 on his rear end and Vettel managed to make a decisive move on him for third.
He then went after Button and was able to close in on the McLaren for more than 10 laps, but on lap 17 Vettel became too adventurous as he tried to squeeze on the outside of the McLaren to gain a possible second at turn 18. The two cars touched with Button suffering an immediate retirement from a blanked out engine, and Vettel headed back to the pits for a new nose cone. For causing the accident, Vettel was given a drive-through which would compromise his entire race.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was out in front and comfortably in the lead, Kubica and Webber were more than 10 seconds behind. Behind the trio, Massa held on to fourth followed by Adrian Sutil, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Kamui Kobayashi, Alonso and Vitaly Petrov.
Halfway mark of the race, Sutil was the first of the front runners to pit for tyres with Webber, Kubica and Massa next. On lap 25, Hamilton was the last of the leaders to pit , but still rejoined with a marginal lead.
A lap later when everything had settled, Vettel now in the midfield pack were fighting it out with Vitantonio Liuzzi for twelfth spot, and again Vettel was overly aggresive as he took out the Force India's front wing and sustained a left rear puncture on his RB6 in the process. Afterthat, he had to crawl some distance on three plus a punctured tyre back to the pits for replacement and his race was virtually ruined.
The drivers were all informed that rain was expected throughout the race and sure enough on lap 35 it drizzled, causing everyone to slow tremendously with nine laps left to run. Hamilton, on his way to the pits, went off into the gravel, but escaped the barriers to resume the trip to the pits and the lead. In the pits, Kubica overshot his pitlane and allowed Webber (above) to jump him into second place.
When the session resumed several laps later, Alonso spun off on a straight to bring out the safety car again and the rain poured hard. Hamilton carefully drove the McLaren and spoke on the radio about the pace of the safety car.
As soon as the safety returned to the pits, Hamilton led off Webber, Kubica, Massa, Sutil, Schumacher, Rosberg, Kobayashi, Petrov and Liuzzi. Two laps from the end of the 44-lap race, Rosberg took revenge on his team mate's earlier overtaking exploit to charge up on the inside of Schumacher for sixth overall. The race would end with Hamilton crossing the line for the victory, while Webber, Kubica. Massa, Sutil, Rosberg, Schumacher, Kobayashi, Petrov and Liuzzi completed the top-ten.
Best of the new teams was Lotus Racing with their drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli finishing the race in sixteenth and nineteenth respectively.
Into the second half of the season, Hamilton reclaims the lead in the drivers' standings with 182 points to Webber in second with 179 points, while Vettel and Button who didn't score a point hold on to third and fourth. On the Manufacturer's side of things, Red Bull Racing is barely ahead of McLaren by a single point - 330 to 329 points.
Results
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1:29:04.268
2 Mark Webber Red Bull +1.5 secs
3 Robert Kubica Renault +3.4 secs
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari +8.2 secs
5 Adrian Sutil Force India +9.0 secs
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP +12.3 secs
7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP +15.5 secs
8 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber +16.6 secs
9 Vitaly Petrov Renault +23.8 secs
10 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India +34.8 secs
11 Pedro de la Rosa Sauber +36.0 secs
12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso +39.8 secs
13 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso +49.4 secs
14 Nico Hulkenberg Williams +1 Lap
15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +1 Lap
16 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus +1 Lap
17 Lucas di Grassi Virgin +1 Lap
18 Timo Glock Virgin +1 Lap
19 Jarno Trulli Lotus +1 Lap
20 Sakon Yamamoto HRT +2 Laps
DNFs
Fernando Alonso
Jenson Button
Bruno Senna
Rubens Barrichello
Drivers Standings
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren 182
2 Mark Webber Red Bull 179
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 151
4 Jenson Button McLaren 147
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 141
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 109
7 Robert Kubica Renault 104
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 102
9 Adrian Sutil Force India 45
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 44
11 Rubens Barrichello Williams 30
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber 21
13 Vitaly Petrov Renault 19
14 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India 13
15 Nico Hulkenberg Williams 10
16 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso 7
17 Pedro de la Rosa Sauber 6
18 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso 3
Teams Rankings
1 Red Bull 330
2 McLaren 329
3 Ferrari 250
4 Mercedes GP 146
5 Renault 123
6 Force India 58
7 Williams 40
8 Sauber 27
9 Toro Rosso 10
