Belgian Grand Prix race day

By: Geoff Creighton

Summary


	Vettel beats Hamilton after stealing the lead on lap one and edging away throughout the race
	Verstappen climbs to third after safety car period that followed Hulkenberg triggering a huge Turn 1 crash that sent Alonso airborne over Leclerc
	Raikkonen and Ricciardo pick up a puncture and rear wing damage respectively in that incident and both later retire
	Bottas recovers from low starting spot to finish fourth

Status: Stopped

15:54 Driver, Team
Vettel, Ferrari
Hamilton, Mercedes
Verstappen, Red Bull
Bottas, Mercedes
Perez, Force India
Ocon, Force India
Grosjean, Haas
Magnussen, Haas
Gasly, Toro Rosso
Ericsson, Sauber

17:54 So that's it for Autosport's Live coverage of the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, thanks for following the race with us. Be sure to check Autosport.com and Motorsport.com throughout the afternoon and evening as we will bring you all the breaking news from the Spa paddock. See you in five days for the opening action from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

17:53 Here’s our report on Sebastian Vettel defeating Lewis Hamilton to win the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix

Belgian Grand Prix: Sebastian Vettel defeats Lewis Hamilton for win

Sebastian Vettel claimed a dominant victory in the Belgian Grand Prix as a dramatic first-corner crash provided the major talking point on Formula 1's return from its summer break

17:45

17:44

17:43 Hamilton suggests Ferrari has "a few trick things inside the car" and suggests passing Vettel into the chicane at the restart would have just meant getting repassed on the straight. "I did what I could".

17:42 Vettel feels he got lucky to meet the traffic on the straights and not lose time, but also reckons Hamilton wasn't pushing the last 15 laps of the race.

17:41

17:41 "More wins than Alain... Woah!" Vettel is clearly stunned to have overtaken Prost in the all-time grand prix winners list.

17:40

17:40 Vettel does his usual slightly odd singing celebration and customary thank yous to the team on the slowing down lap.

17:39 Retirements: Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Leclerc, Alonso, Hulkenberg

17:39

17:39 Outside the points: 11 Sainz; 12 Sirotkin; 13 Stroll; 14 Hartley; 15 Vandoorne

17:39 Racing Point Force India gets its championship underway with an 18-point haul for fifth and sixth places for Perez and Ocon.

17:38 Result: 1 Vettel; 2 Hamilton; 3 Verstappen; 4 Bottas; 5 Perez; 6 Ocon; 7 Grosjean; 8 Magnussen; 9 Gasly; 10 Ericsson

17:37 Bottas puts in the fastest middle sector of the race on the final lap just for a giggle.

17:37 Verstappen is through to take third.

17:37 Vettel's final winning margin was a crushing 11.061s as Hamilton takes second.

17:37 Vettel wins the Belgian Grand Prix!

17:36 Sirotkin has dug deep and found some time to extend his gap over Stroll. Should be enough to see his team-mate off.

17:36

17:35 Vettel is 11s clear of Hamilton as he begins the final lap of a race he has absolutely controlled.

17:35

17:34 Fourth is going to be the charging Bottas's limit - he's quickly pulled away from both Force Indias but Verstappen is 34s ahead of him in third.

17:34 Vettel goes onto his penultimate lap of the race precisely 10s clear of Hamilton.

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17:33 Stroll is agonisingly close to DRS range of Sirotkin. Could be a tense final couple of laps at Williams...

17:32

17:32 Vettel's lead is now approaching the 9s mark. Unless something horribly unfortunate happens to him, he'll get Hamilton's championship advantage down to 17 points in the next few minutes.

17:31

17:30 ...but despite Perez defending the inside towards Les Combes, Bottas is able to surge down the outside and take fourth place.

17:29 Perez gets a decent run through La Source...

17:29 Sainz is reporting some strange feelings through his tyres, but with only five laps to go he's going to need to just try to hang on and cope as best he can.

17:28 Five laps to go, Vettel's lead is up to 7.4s.

17:28 Bottas is now onto Perez's tail, but he wasn't close enough to go for a move into Les Combes.

17:27 Stroll takes a second out of Williams team-mate Sirotkin with a personal best lap. Perhaps a battle on for 12th in the closing laps if he keeps this up.

17:26 Mercedes had hinted to Hamilton that traffic might give him the opportunity to get nearer to Vettel. So far it's been the other way around - the Ferrari's lead now up to nearly 7s.