We rate the drivers after the Belgian GP

Red Bull-Renault RB9
Start: 2nd
Finish: 1st
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 9

It's easy simply to shrug off his drive as that of a man in the best car, which it was. But had Vettel not pulled off that pass for the lead on Hamilton on the run to Les Combes on lap one, it would have made his task a lot less simple, especially as the Red Bull was one of the slower cars in the speed trap at the end of the Kemmel Straight.

Eclipsed by Hamilton on Saturday, but masterful on Sunday.

Red Bull-Renault RB9
Start: 3rd
Finish: 5th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/medium)
Rating: 7

Just a tenth-and-a-half off Vettel in qualifying having run a little ahead of his team-mate and therefore with slightly worse track conditions was encouraging. But a bad start cost him ground and meant he was only able to show his pace in flashes.

Finished the first lap behind Vettel, both Mercedes drivers, Alonso and Button but after picking off the McLaren on lap six, could go no further. A solid, if unremarkable, drive to bank points.

Ferrari F138
Start: 9th
Finish: 2nd
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 9

You could excuse Alonso for being frustrated on Saturday afternoon, when he ended up ninth on the grid in a car that should have been challenging for the front row thanks to a blend of poor timing and a spin.

Ultimately, it made little difference: an incisive early stint meant he was able to climb the order and he was firmly established in second place once the first pitstops had shaken out. Fast, determined and couldn't have finished higher.

Ferrari F138
Start: 10th
Finish: 7th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 6

Looked to have booked his place on the front row with a fine lap on intermediate tyres after abandoning his initial slicks run in Q3. But bad timing meant he was powerless to avoid tumbling down the timesheets to 10th.

Had an adequate race, battling KERS problems early on thanks to an issue with the controls on the steering wheel to climb from 12th on the opening lap to seventh at the flag. Adequate, but put firmly in the shade by his team-mate.

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28
Start: 6th
Finish: 6th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 8

Button was upbeat heading to Spa and, while the McLaren did not prove to be quite as competitive as he hoped, he was still able to fight for the top six on merit.

Drove his characteristically unruffled race, shrugging off the fact that he had to abandon his planned one-stopper, which left him on a compromised two-stop strategy. As ever, was clean in battle, although was driving well enough to finish higher with a perfect strategy.

McLaren-Mercedes MP4-28
Start: 13th
Finish: 11th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 6

A frustrating weekend for Perez, who missed out on Q3 thanks to being sent out too late for his final run and not getting to set a lap when the track was at its quickest.

In the race, made good progress and would surely have finished only a place or two behind Button had he not been hit with a drive-through. Needless squeeze on Grosjean as he attempted to make room on the entry to Les Combes was a costly misjudgement.

Lotus-Renault E21
Start: 8th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: Retired (medium/medium)
Rating: 7

Missed out on being the last driver across the line in Q3 by a matter of seconds, which condemned him to eighth.

The Lotus was not as competitive as the team hoped in the race, a fact compounded by Raikkonen getting a visor tear-off jammed in his front-left brake duct, which very quickly compromised him under braking. He fought hard, but eventually, it led to his retirement from a grand prix for the first time since Germany 2009!

Lotus-Renault E21
Start: 7th
Finish: 8th
Strategy: 1 stop (medium/hard)
Rating: 7

Considering that Grosjean's previous two appearances in the Belgian GP have ended on the first lap and, on one occasion, a ban, he should be quite satisfied with eighth place.

On paper it's disappointing, but the Lotus was not particularly competitive in the race and Grosjean deserves credit for being one of the few drivers to pull off a one-stop strategy - especially after surviving a dicey moment with Perez at Les Combes. All in all, a quietly effective weekend's work.

Mercedes F1 W04
Start: 4th
Finish: 4th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 7

There's very little to criticise in Rosberg's weekend. While he might have done better than fourth on the grid, he was the first man to depose di Resta from top spot. Ultimately, Rosberg was not giving much away to Hamilton, which showed in the race as he chased his team-mate home.

Did nothing eye-catching in the race, but was quick and error-free, which prevented Webber from seriously threatening his fourth place.

Mercedes F1 W04
Start: 1st
Finish: 3rd
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 8

Hamilton was far from happy with the pace of the Mercedes during practice but the wet conditions in qualifying gave him the opportunity to shoot for pole. Yes, he was last across the line, but Vettel was only a few car lengths in front of him and, but for a scrappy final chicane, he might have been on pole by a far bigger margin.

Led briefly, but didn't have the pace to fight Vettel or Alonso. While third place seems disappointing, it was the maximum.

Sauber-Ferrari C32
Start: 11th
Finish: 13th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 6

Things were looking very promising for Hulkenberg until he started to hit tyre trouble during the first stint. After qualifying well and picking up places at the start, he began to struggle with rear grip, which meant he soon dropped out of points contention.

As well as struggling for pace, he struggled more with tyre life than his team-mate, meaning that he became increasingly anonymous as the race went on. Pace was good, but perhaps had a hand in accelerated tyre degradation.

Sauber-Ferrari C32
Start: 21st
Finish: 14th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 8

Superficially, it's a case of the same old for Gutierrez. But he actually showed an impressive turn of speed at Spa. He would have had no trouble escaping Q1 but for being sent out too early for his second run on intermediates and he showed an admirable feistiness in climbing the order.

Had he not been hit with a penalty (predictably) for going off track while dicing with Maldonado, he would have beaten Hulkenberg. Considering his trials to date, a good weekend.

Force India-Mercedes VJM06
Start: 5th
Finish: DNF
Strategy: Retired (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 8

For a few minutes, di Resta looked assured of his first F1 pole position having opted to start Q3 on intermediate rubber while others were on slicks. It's difficult to judge just how good that first lap was, but given the conditions were worsening all the time it was surely a great effort.

Made a bad start, losing five places, three of which he quickly regained. Was fighting hard and on course for points when he was swiped out of the race by Maldonado.

Force India-Mercedes VJM06
Start: 12th
Finish: 9th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 8

Qualifying was disappointing and he was one of a multitude of drivers to complain about bad timing in Q2. That left him 12th on the grid and he slipped to 13th on the first lap. But from there, he drove excellently, showing admirable fight in battle and a willingness to lay it on the line.

His reward was ninth place, which given the gap to the cars in front - in time and pace - was surely the maximum a Force India was capable of.

Williams-Renault FW35
Start: 17th
Finish: 17th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 5

After reaching the heady heights of 10th place last time out in Hungary, Maldonado had high hopes coming into Spa. Unfortunately for Williams, the car simply was not at the races.

The team expected intermediates to be good for two fliers late in Q1, but they were past their best after one, meaning Maldonado failed to reach Q2. Showed his characteristic feistiness in the race, but hitting di Resta while trying to get into the pits amid a gaggle of cars was unnecessary.

Williams-Renault FW35
Start: 20th
Finish: 15th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 6

The Finn suffered the same fate as his team-mate in Q1 as he proved unable to get another competitive time out of his intermediates on a second lap. In the race, he showed respectable pace but the car was not quick enough to do anything but hang on to the thick of the midfield fight.

On the plus side, made no significant mistakes, as usual, and was not far off his team-mate in terms of raw pace. A decent effort.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8
Start: 18th
Finish: 12th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/medium/hard)
Rating: 7

Vergne can be mightily impressive on track and he looked mighty during free practice. The question was, could he deliver in qualifying? Frustratingly, he was not given the chance to answer the question thanks to Toro Rosso sending out both cars too early for their final run. But Vergne did at least beat his team-mate in qualifying.

JEV often bemoans his bad luck and his team-mate's superior strategy (running longer on hards in the first stint) helped him finish ahead even though the Frenchman was the stronger Toro Rosso driver.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari STR8
Start: 19th
Finish: 10th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/medium/medium)
Rating: 7

The Australian looked all at sea on Friday, something he blamed on some set-up directions that didn't work. But going into qualifying it was clear that Vergne was the quicker STR driver.

In the race, Ricciardo deserves credit for sticking to his task, running a longer first stint on hards and then climbing from 13th to 10th after his final pitstop, picking off Perez for the final point late on. A good salvage job considering it was a difficult weekend.

Caterham-Renault CT03
Start: 22nd
Finish: DNF
Strategy: Retired (medium/retired)
Rating: 6

A weekend to forget for Pic, at least from the moment qualifying started. His fundamental pace was good, but there was not time for him to bolt on slicks and get them up to temperature like his team-mate did thanks to being called to the weighbridge.

After qualifying last on inters, he turned in a fine cameo in the race, overtaking both Marussia drivers before having to retire with an oil leak. Better than the bare facts suggest thanks to bad luck.

Caterham-Renault CT03
Start: 14th
Finish: 16th
Strategy: 2 stops (medium/hard/hard)
Rating: 8

In the grand scheme of things, van der Garde's third place in Q1 didn't mean a great deal. But it was testament to how well he drove on slicks in tricky conditions that he was so far up there.

Fourteenth on the grid was his reward but, after battling gamely to hold off faster cars early on, he inevitably lost touch with the midfield stragglers, Comfortably beat the Marussias and did well to keep the delayed Maldonado at bay on the final lap.

Marussia-Cosworth MR-02
Start: 15th
Finish: 18th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/medium/hard)
Rating: 7

Another fine weekend from Bianchi, who breezed into Q2 after switching to slicks for the closing stages of Q1.

In the race, he didn't have the pace to stay up the order and quickly dropped back as it became clear the Marussia could not challenge Caterham. Thereafter, there was little to race for. Bianchi did a good job in the circumstances and stayed on top of team-mate Chilton, which was all that could have been asked of him.

Marussia-Cosworth MR-02
Start: 16th
Finish: 19th
Strategy: 2 stops (hard/medium/hard)
Rating: 6

Chilton has admitted the need to raise his game in qualifying and, while escaping Q1 with a slick-shod run was positive, it was even more encouraging to see him only a couple of tenths off Bianchi in Q2.

He soon dropped to last in the race and was a little slower than his team-mate, but had another clean run until picking up a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags. A solid Sunday's work harnessed to a fine piece of opportunism in qualifying.