Grapevine: Rankings: Podium boosts Kubica

The Renault driver ran a strong second in the race, but dropped to third when he missed his marker entering the pits for intermediate tyres and cost himself a handful of seconds. His third spot moved the Polish driver ahead of Rubens Barrichello, Ryan Briscoe and Jeff Gordon and into 13th place in the Castrol Rankings.

Lewis Hamilton's victory at Spa-Francorchamps in challenging weather conditions kept him fourth overall, just behind runner-up Webber (3).

Sebastian Vettel retained the top spot in the Castrol Rankings for a 23rd consecutive week, despite taking out Jenson Button, receiving a drive-through penalty and later on suffering a puncture after contact with another car.

There were non-moves for world champions Button and Fernando Alonso as well. Button's elimination at the hands of Vettel (below) kept him seventh while Alonso's crash during the worst of the rain ensured that he stayed eighth.

Both were helped by a disaster for IndyCar driver Will Power the previous night. The Penske driver had to make a late stop at Chicagoland after his car was underfuelled earlier on. He finished 16th, a result that kept him ninth in the Castrol Rankings. Had he finished second, as looked likely, he would have moved into the top six at the expense of the former world champions.

Chicagoland winner Dario Franchitti (6) was also a non-mover, while runner-up Dan Wheldon gained five spots to move into 70th in his Panther Dallara.

The biggest faller in the top 50 was Rubens Barrichello, who marked his 300th grand prix start by crashing into Alonso on the opening lap and taking himself out of the race. He dropped six places to 19th, leaving him just ahead of rally star Mikko Hirvonen.

Moving the other way was Felipe Massa, who finished fourth in his Ferrari and gained seven places to move up to 34th. His former team-mate Michael Schumacher finished seventh and gained 16 places to move to 64th.

Klaus Graf (129) made up 38 places after sharing the American Le Mans Series win at Mosport with Timo Bernhard (203). BMW driver Dirk Muller (326) though, was eliminated after hitting a Doran Ford and slid 24 places.

Pastor Maldonado (77) closed in on the GP2 crown with another feature race win at Spa-Francorchamps and gained six places. The Rapax driver's title rival, Sergio Perez (73), won race two and made up five spots.

In GP3 the wins went to Robert Wickens (117) and Adrien Tambay (230), both gaining over 20 places, while yet another Grand-Am victory elevated Ganassi duo Scott Dixon and Memo Rojas to equal 68th.

To see the full Castrol Rankings, log on to www.castroldriverrankings.com.