Formula 1 News

Vettel leads Red Bull one-two in Belgium 

Webber second, Button third.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel took another dominant win in the current season at the 2011 edition of the Belgian Grand Prix at the SPA Francorchamps circuit.

Team-mate Mark Webber finished second, securing the tenth one-two finish in Formula 1 for the Milton Keynes based team.

Third place for Jenson Button in the McLaren, ahead of Fernando Alonso in the Ferrari, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes GP, Adrian Sutil in the Force India, Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari, Vitaly Petrov in the Renault and Pastor Maldonado in the Williams.

Eleventh place for Paul Di Resta, ahead of Kamui Kobayashi, Bruno Senna, Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen, Rubens Barrichello, Jerome D’Ambrosio, Timo Glock and Tonio Liuzzi.

2011 Belgian Grand Prix, lap by lap highlights:

The twelfth race of the 2011 season is about to start at Belgium’s SPA Francorchamps circuit, after the summer break.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel starts again from pole position today for Red Bull Racing ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Mark Webber starts from P3 in the other Red Bull ahead of Felipe Massa in the Ferrari and Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes GP, Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso, Bruno Senna in the first of the Renault’s, Fernando Alonso in the other Ferrari, Sergio Perez in the Sauber and Vitaly Petrov in the other Renault.

William’s Pastor Maldonado qualified 16th but has been given a five-place grid penalty after an incident with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton during Q2.

No rain expected for the first 30 minutes.

Formation lap: the grid clears ahead of the formation lap.

Race start: The five red lights go off! Race start at SPA and…into Turn 1, La Source, Vettel, Rosberg, Massa. Rosberg passes Vettel after the Eau rouge, Rosberg in the lead. Hamilton P4, Alonso P5. Alguersuari has damaged his front suspension.

Lap 2/44: Rosberg, Vettel, Massa, Hamilton. Glock pits. Senna and Kovalainen pit. Alonso overtakes Hamilton for P4. Schumacher made it up to 14th. Alguersuari pits and retires.

Lap 3/44: Vettel overtakes Rosberg after the Eau Rouge for the lead. Replays show several contacts at the start.

Lap 4/44: Webber and Button pit. Massa pressuring Rosberg for P2.

Lap 5/44: Schumacher pits from 14th. Alonso overtakes Massa for P3. Hamilton passes Massa for P4.

Lap 6/44: Vettel pits from the lead. The German rejoins in ninth. Perez pits. Incident between Senna and Alguersuari at Turn 1 is under investigation. Race Control: Drive through penalty for Senna.

Lap 7/44: Alonso overtakes Rosberg and takes the lead. Alonso P1, Rosberg P2, Hamilton P3, Massa P4. Buemi pits and retires after a damaged rear wing.

Lap 8/44: Hamilton overtakes Rosberg for P2.

Lap 9/44: Alonso pits from the lead. Hamilton P1, Rosberg P2, Massa P3. Senna makes his drive through.

Lap 10/44: Massa pits. Alonso overtakes Webber at the straight after the Eau Rouge.

Lap 11/44: Hamilton pits while Vettel reports blistering on his front left tyre. Vettel P1.

Lap 12/44: Rosberg pits. Vettel P1, Alonso P2, Kobayashi P3. Schumacher makes it up to 12th. Liuzzi pits from 19th while Hamilton passes Sutil for seventh.

Lap 13/44: Petrov pits. Maldonado pits. Safety Car deployed. Hamilton crashed out with Kobayashi at Les Combes.

Lap 14/44: Vettel has pitted. Sutil, Barrichello, Schumacher, Button all pit. Ricciardo, Trulli, D’Ambrosio pit.

Lap 15/44: Kobayashi and Di Resta pit. Alonso P1, Webber P2, Vettel P3, Massa P4, Rosberg P5. Race is still under Safety Car. Glock pits from 20th. Retired drivers so far: Alguersuari, Buemi, Hamilton and Ricciardo.

Lap 16/44: Schumacher P9, Barrichello P10, Button P11, Maldonado P12, Di Resta P13, Kobayashi P14. Race Control: Safety Car in this lap.

Lap 17/44: Rosberg pressuring Massa. Rosberg passes Massa for P4.

Lap 18/44: Vettel overtakes Alonso for the lead. Alonso P2, Webber P3. Schumacher P7, Button P10.

Lap 19/44: Fastest lap for Vettel: 1:52.281. Rosberg in fourth, Massa in fifth, Sutil in sixth.

Lap 20/44: Another fastest lap for Vettel: 1:51.974. The German increases his gap to Alonso to +2.7 seconds. Button is now up to eighth, pressuring Schumacher for seventh.

Lap 21/44: Button passes Schumacher at the Bus Stop. Drive through penalty for Perez for causing a collision.

Lap 22/44: Senna pits in the Renault.

Lap 23/44: Button overtakes Sutil for P6.

Lap 24/44: Button is now all over the back of Massa’s Ferrari. Great driving for the Briton who overtakes Massa for P5 at the Bus Stop.

Lap 25/44: Alonso reports slight blistering on his left front.

Lap 26/44: Amazing progression for Button, he just passed Rosberg for P4.

Lap 28/44: Vettel P1, Alonso P2, Webber P3, Button P4, Rosberg P5, Massa P6, Sutil P7, Schumacher P8, Petrov P9, Maldonado P10. Liuzzi pits from 19th.

Lap 29/44: Perez pits and retires in the Sauber garage.

Lap 30/44: Alonso makes his second pit stop and rejoins in fourth. Maldonado and Kobayashi pit.

Lap 31/44: Vettel pits from the lead and rejoins in third. Rosberg, Massa and Petrov all pit. Di Resta pits.

Lap 32/44: Webber pits along with Schumacher and Sutil. Vettel overtakes Button for P1.

Lap 33/44: Button pits for a fresh set of soft tyres and rejoins in fourth. Massa makes another pit stop following a puncture. Vettel P1, Alonso P2, Webber P3, Button P4, Rosberg P5, Sutil P6.

Lap 34/44: Kovalainen pits from P15. Replays show Schumacher overtaking Sutil for P6.

Lap 36/44: Webber has closed the gap to Alonso. Glock pits from P18.

Lap 37/44: Webber makes his move at the Kemmel straight and overtakes Alonso for P2.

Lap 38/44: Vettel P1, Webber P2, Alonso P3, Button P4. Rosberg P5, Schumacher P6, Sutil P7, Petrov P8, Massa P9, Maldonado P10.

Lap 39/44: Button is closing in on Alonso for P3.

Lap 41/44: Barrichello pits after tagging the back of Kobayashi’s Sauber.

Lap 42/44: Button overtakes Alonso for P3 at the Kemmel straight. Replays show Schumacher passing Rosberg for P5.

Lap 43/44: Vettel P1, Webber P2, Button P3, Alonso P4.

Last lap: Sebastian Vettel crosses once again the finish line for first at the 2011 edition of the Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of team-mate Mark Webber and McLaren’s Jenson Button. Fourth place for Fernando Alonso in the first of the Ferraris, fifth for Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes GP, sixth for Nico Rosberg, seventh for Adrian Sutil in the Force India, eighth for Felipe Massa, ninth for Vitaly Petrov in the Renault and tenth for Pastor Maldonado in the Williams.

2011 Belgian Grand Prix, Race results: