Lewis Hamilton wins easily at Spa-Francorchamps

The Mercedes star easily beat rival Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) to win the Belgian Grand Prix and shorten the gap to seven points.

Vettel had only two opportunities to attack Hamilton during the race. Both were when the Ferrari driver was close to his rival at the start of the race. The first was at the start of the race, the second was when the safety car had just left the track after dealing with the aftermath of the Force India duo's collision.

After these two moments, despite having the advantage of tires at times, Vettel was still helpless as Hamilton continuously set fastest-laps and widened the gap to about two seconds, just enough to discourage Ferrari's efforts.

Hamilton showed superiority over Mercedes for most of the race at Spa-Francorchamps. Photo: Reuters.

Hamilton's 200th F1 race ended on a high note. The Briton equalled Michael Schumacher's 68 pole positions, and his victory at Spa-Francorchamps moved him within seven points of Vettel, putting the Mercedes driver in line to reclaim the top spot at next weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

With the advantage shown in the race on Sunday afternoon, August 27, experts predict that Mercedes will continue to dominate Ferrari at the "Temple of Speed" Monza, the home ground of the Italian racing team. Even if Vettel finishes second, and has the same points as Hamilton, the top spot on the scoreboard will still belong to the Mercedes driver, because Hamilton has six wins while Vettel has only four points.

Behind him, in contrast to teammate Hamilton's excellent performance, the remaining Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas disappointed. The Finn started third, but could not catch Vettel to fight for second place. Bottas then dropped to fifth after being beaten by Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) and Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari).

Bottas had been ahead of his two rivals by a considerable margin, but the safety car on lap 30 completely wiped out the advantage he had built up. As the safety car withdrew on lap 34, the Finn found himself in a two-way battle, having been passed by both Ricciardo and his compatriot Raikkonen just before Les Combes.

Bottas gave Mercedes a less than perfect race, finishing fifth despite starting third. Photo: Motosports.

Third place was a surprise result for Daniel Ricciardo, who had started sixth but took advantage of teammate Max Verstappen's early retirement, and Raikkonen's 10-second pit stop penalty for failing to slow down under the double yellow flag. The safety car allowed the Australian to close in on the two cars ahead and overtake him for third place.

The race was changed by the safety car after a collision between two Force India cars. This is not the first time Force India has had to witness dangerous “homegrown fighting” this season.

Esteban Ocon tried to overtake Sergio Perez at La Source and was pushed against the wall. Ocon's wing then clipped Perez's rear tyre, causing the Mexican to burst his tyre and Ocon's wing to break. Dangerous debris was left on the track and the safety car had to be deployed.

The collision between the two Force India drivers was part of the reason why the race at Spa-Francorchamps ended poorly for Mercedes, with Bottas falling too far behind.

According to VNE