In a high class battle rich in quality if not signature drama, the two tittle rivals spent the entire race within two seconds of each other with Hamilton successfully able to fend off Vettel and maintaining track position on two separate occasions to race-winning effect.
After rebuffing Vettel’s advances at the start of the race when the Ferrari challenged along the Kemmel Straight, Hamilton, running on slower tyres, had to repeat the trick when the race restarted after a Safety Car deployment sparked by another collision between the two Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez.
Had Hamilton faltered, Vettel would have travelled to next week’s Italian GP with a 21-point advantage. Instead, Hamilton will arrive in Monza knowing that victory will guarantee him the lead of the title race for the first time this year.
Courtesy of an opportunistic move past Valtteri Bottas at the restart, Daniel Ricciardo claimed third for Red Bull. But there was crushing disappointment for the legions of Max Verstappen packed around the legendary circuit when the engine of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull expired after barely ten laps.
Inadvertently, Verstappen’s retirement also triggered race ruin for Kimi Raikkonen after the Finn was hit by a five-second stop-and-go penalty for failing to slow sufficiently when the Red Bull parked up.
Vettel makes Hamilton work for it
Hamilton was making his 200th F1 race appearance in Sunday’s grand prix but rarely can have been made to work so hard for victory.
In a Ferrari car which may well have been faster, Vettel shadowed Hamilton from start to finish, ready to pounce throughout in a tense game of cat-and-mouse.
“It was really intense,” reflected Vettel. “Every lap I was waiting for a mistake and he didn’t make one. Every lap he was waiting for me to make a mistake and I didn’t.”
Ultimately track position was decisive, even when the Safety Car deployment enabled Vettel to bolt on a fresh set of ultrasofts with fifteen laps remaining while Hamilton’s Mercedes was fitted with softs.
After the pair charged up Eau Rouge, Vettel edged alongside Hamilton along the straight but the Englishman held on to the inside line and what may prove to be a pivotal victory.
“This race, I wouldn’t have liked to have driven that,” reflected Mercedes chief Niki Lauda.
“From the first to the last lap, flat out. There was no room for nothing and Lewis did a fantastic job. You had to have everything right to win that one.”
Belgian GP race result – top ten
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2) Sebastian Vettel, Mercedes
3) Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
4) Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
5) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
6) Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
7) Romain Grosjean, Haas
8) Felipe Massa, Williams
9) Esteban Ocon, Force India
10) Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso
Source: Belgian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton clings on for victory ahead of Sebastian Vettel | F1 News
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