Voor de 5e keer dit seizoen heeft Vettel de race gewonnen. En hiermee heeft hij ook weer een stap richting zijn vierde titel gezet.
Na een spannende kwalificatie had Hamilton de pole binnengehaald. In de race zou hij er niet lang van kunnen genieten. Nog voordat de eerste ronde gereden was had Vettel de koppositie overgenomen. Eigenlijk was daarna de race gereden. Vettels leidende positie kwam op geen enkel moment echt in gevaar.
De enige die een vuist had kunnen maken was Alonso. Als negende had hij zich gekwalificeerd, maar na een geweldige race eindigde hij als tweede voor Hamilton.
Beide Lotuscoureurs maakten weinig indruk in Spa. Grosjean sprokkelde een paar punten met zijn 8e plaats, terwijl Räikkönen met remproblemen uitviel. Aan de recordreeks van Räikkönen is hiermee helaas een einde gekomen. Het te kloppen record staat nu op 28 achtereen volgende puntenfinishes.
Van der Garde had een goed weekend in Spa. Door een goede bandenkeuze in het eerste gedeelte van de kwalificatie haalde hij een onverwachte 3e plaats. In het tweede gedeelte wist hij de 14e startplek binnen te halen. Zijn beste kwalificatie tot nu toe. In de race eindigde hij als 16e.
Lotus F1
Lotus F1 Team endured a difficult Belgian Grand Prix, with brake failure leading to the retirement of Kimi Räikkönen whilst Romain Grosjean employed a one-stop strategy to finish eighth. Kimi's DNF was the first of his Lotus F1 Team career and his first retirement in 39 races. It was his first non-points finish in 28 races and only his second non-points finish since driving for the team.
Kimi now drops to fourth in the Drivers' Championship on 134 points, having been overtaken by second-placed Fernando Alonso [151] and third-placed Lewis Hamilton [139]. The team remains in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship on 187 points from Ferrari's 218.
Kimi Räikkönen, DNF
"I had a brake failure so there was really no point in trying to continue. We both got good starts off the line but there wasn't enough space into the first corner where I went over the kerb and lost some time, but after that I was pushing as hard as I could. There were some brake issues at the beginning of the race but we were managing them and it was going okay until we had to retire. We've finished a lot of races and had some good reliability; one day your luck has to run out and today was that day."
Romain Grosjean, P8
"We had a difficult first lap where we lost a few positions and then dropped back a couple more places in the incident with Sergio [Perez]. We decided on a one stop strategy today and with the new tyres I felt that the grip was much higher than before but I knew that it would be difficult to get the time back. We tried something different and you never know; had it rained in the middle of the race we could have been well-placed to take advantage. It is good to finish the race without any mistakes, even if eighth place isn't what we were hoping for this weekend; it's also a shame that Kimi didn't finish the race, but we go to Monza hopeful of better things."
Eric Boullier, Team Principal
"It was a disappointing weekend, with qualifying not as good as we had expected and then a difficult first lap in the race. Kimi suffered from a brake failure which, of course, is a concern. We already believe we know why it happened and we will investigate this in detail to prevent the situation arising again. Romain finished eighth which clearly isn't the sort of position we hope for at the end of a race weekend. Today we lost some pace and part of that might be due to the low temperatures. We must now look ahead, learn from this weekend and make sure that next year we can deliver on a medium downforce track."
De volgende race is op 8 september in Italië
