After an action-packed race that was dominated by tire strategy, Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel converted pole position to another race win this year, the 17th of his career, over 44 laps around the gruelling Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
By winning in Belgium, Vettel exceeded the points total of his championship-winning 2010 season.
For the first time all weekend, conditions remained consistently dry, following rain throughout the free practice and qualifying sessions. Vettel used a three-stop strategy to win the race, having started on the soft tyre before using the harder, medium tire to finish the race.
His Red Bull teammate Mark Webber stopped twice to finish runner-up, making excellent use of the medium tire to claim second place with nine laps to go.
All the drivers apart from McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher started the race on the soft tyre. Both Button and Schumacher, who started further down the grid than they had hoped due to problems in qualifying, used a different tire strategy to their rivals, starting on the medium tire and finishing on the soft.
Before the start of the race, a number of discussions were held due to some blistering issues during qualifying. Blistering occurs when the compound overheats, causing parts of the tread pattern to degrade.
Following a comprehensive review of the situation overnight, Pirelli concluded that this was a consequence of some car set-ups, affecting compound life rather than structural rigidity. As it was, the blistering did not cause any of the frontrunners significant problems during the race.
Drivers' championship:
1 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 259 points
2 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 167
3 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 157
4 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 149
5 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 146
6 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 74
7 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes 56
8 Michael Schumacher German Mercedes 42
9 Vitaly Petrov Russian Renault 34
10 Nick Heidfeld German Renault 34
Constructors' championship:
1 RBR-Renault 426 points
2 McLaren-Mercedes 295
3 Ferrari 231
4 Mercedes 98
5 Renault 68
6 Sauber-Ferrari 35
7 Force India-Mercedes 32
8 STR-Ferrari 22
9 Williams-Cosworth 5
10 Lotus-Renault 0
11 HRT-Cosworth 0
12 Virgin-Cosworth 0
By winning in Belgium, Vettel exceeded the points total of his championship-winning 2010 season.
For the first time all weekend, conditions remained consistently dry, following rain throughout the free practice and qualifying sessions. Vettel used a three-stop strategy to win the race, having started on the soft tyre before using the harder, medium tire to finish the race.
His Red Bull teammate Mark Webber stopped twice to finish runner-up, making excellent use of the medium tire to claim second place with nine laps to go.
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| (Photo: WRI2) |
All the drivers apart from McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher started the race on the soft tyre. Both Button and Schumacher, who started further down the grid than they had hoped due to problems in qualifying, used a different tire strategy to their rivals, starting on the medium tire and finishing on the soft.
Before the start of the race, a number of discussions were held due to some blistering issues during qualifying. Blistering occurs when the compound overheats, causing parts of the tread pattern to degrade.
Following a comprehensive review of the situation overnight, Pirelli concluded that this was a consequence of some car set-ups, affecting compound life rather than structural rigidity. As it was, the blistering did not cause any of the frontrunners significant problems during the race.
Drivers' championship:
1 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 259 points
2 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 167
3 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 157
4 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 149
5 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 146
6 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 74
7 Nico Rosberg German Mercedes 56
8 Michael Schumacher German Mercedes 42
9 Vitaly Petrov Russian Renault 34
10 Nick Heidfeld German Renault 34
Constructors' championship:
1 RBR-Renault 426 points
2 McLaren-Mercedes 295
3 Ferrari 231
4 Mercedes 98
5 Renault 68
6 Sauber-Ferrari 35
7 Force India-Mercedes 32
8 STR-Ferrari 22
9 Williams-Cosworth 5
10 Lotus-Renault 0
11 HRT-Cosworth 0
12 Virgin-Cosworth 0
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