What appeared to be a close race between the top two drivers in Formula One – Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel – turned into a blowout victory for Vettel at the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton snatched the pole position from Vettel in literally the last minute of pre-race qualifying but held that position for all of a third of a lap as Vettel passed Hamilton on the first straight and never looked back as he led the remainder of the race to take an easy and whopping 11-second win over Hamilton. On the first pit stop crossover, Hamilton closed the gap to 1.5 seconds but that was as close as he could muster as Vettel gradually pulled away in the second half of the race. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was a distant third as he claimed the third and final podium position.
The first lap saw all the race’s drama as Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg misjudged his braking distance and rear-ended McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who was then popped up and over the Sauber of Charles Leclerc – knocking all three racers out of the race. Vettel wins his 52nd F1 race, moving him into third place all-time, past Alain Prost.
With the victory, Vettel closes the gap in the season driver’s standings to 17 points as Hamilton leads with 231 to Vettel’s 214, with Vettel’s Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, in a distant third with 146 points. The Italian Grand Prix is next up on the schedule on September 2, 2018.
2018 Belgian Grand Prix Top 10
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull
4 Valterri Bottas Mercedes
5 Sergio Pérez Force India
6 Esteban Ocon Force India
7 Romain Grosjean Haas
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas
9 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso
10 Marcus Ericsson Sauber