Red Bull dominatesposted in F128 | 08 | 2011
RED BULL COMPLETED its first 1-2 finish since Turkey earlier this year when world champ Sebastian Vettel led home his team-mate Mark Webber at Spa today. Bathgate's Paul di Resta finished just outside the top 10, in 11th, after battling through the race when his Force India was damaged at the opening corner of the 44-lap grand prix.
Vettel capitalised on the loss of pace by Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to eventually win at a canter ahead of his Aussie team-mate (pictured on the podium today). McLaren's Jenson Button delivered one of the drives of the day by powering through from 13th on the grid to finish third.
Button's team-mate Lewis Hamilton was pitched into a high-speed crash when Kamui Kobayashi when his Sauber clipped the rear of the former world champ's McLaren.
The impact, on lap 13, pitched Hamilton violently into the barriers at Les Combes spat the McLaren prompting a safety car period.
First corner frustration for Scot Paul di Resta
Vettel immediately pitted for more tyres, which meant although Alonso was able to lead again from the restart, the German soon eased ahead once more with a DRS pass. From then onwards Vettel was effectively untouchable.
"We had a lot of concerns going into the race after the damage to the tyres in qualifying and we took quite a lot of risk," a delighted Vettel, who won for the first time since valencia in June and who takes a 92-point lead to the next round at Monza in a fortnight. explained.
"We had reason to feel confident we should be fine, but if no one in the paddock is giving you guarantees. We didn't feel comfortable, so we both stopped early in the race.
"The main target was to see how tyres feel after a couple of laps, and go from there. I have to say the car worked brilliantly and compared to previous years we were very competitive, I am very happy with the result and happy with the race — how we managed the race and the tyres. We need to learn from that and head down for the next race."
Alonso continued to finish fourth, one place ahead of seven-times world champ Michael Schumacher. The 42-year-old, celebrating 20 years since he made his F1 debut, stormed through from 24th and last on the grid to record his best finish of the year.
Hamilton, meanwhile, was adamant the crash had cost him a podium finish.
"I'm not really quite sure what happened, to be honest." he explained. "I just remember hitting in the wall; I hit the wall pretty hard.
"It was bit unfortunate for the team – we were in a good position and as far as I was concerned I was ahead of whoever it was I was racing and then I just got hit by them and that was my race over. That's motor racing. I think I'd probably have been able to get a podium finish today."
Belgian Grand Prix; Results (Provisional):
1. Vettel, Red Bull-Renault — 1h26.44.893
2. Webber, Red Bull-Renault +3.741secs
3. Button, McLaren-Mercedes +9.669
4. Alonso, Ferrari +13.022
5. Schumacher, Mercedes +47.464
6. Rosberg, Mercedes +48.674
7. Sutil, Force India-Mercedes +59.713
8. Massa, Ferrari +1m06.076
9. Petrov, Renault +1m11.917
10. Maldonado, Williams-Cosworth +1m17.615
11. Di Resta, Force India-Mercedes +1m23.994
12. Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari +1m31.976
13. Senna, Renault +1m32.985
14. Trulli, Lotus-Renault +1 lap
15. Kovalainen, Lotus-Renault +1 lap
16. Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
17. D'Ambrosio, Virgin-Cosworth +1 lap
18. Glock, Virgin-Cosworth +1 lap
19. Liuzzi, HRT-Cosworth + lap
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars
Craig James