Top 5 drivers of the Belgian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel put on a dominant drive from second on the grid including a lap one pass over Lewis Hamilton to take his 31st Grand Prix victory.

Fernando Alonso made it clear that he’s not out of the championship with a great drive from 9th place. Jenson Button put on another impressive drive, finishing in 6th place – a result that helps McLaren move ahead of Force India in the championship.

Here are the five drivers which impressed us the most during the Belgian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel – 10/10

Sebastian Vettel dominated the Belgian Grand Prix with a drive that saw him finish over 15 seconds ahead of second place Fernando Alonso.

The German driver started the race from second place and overtook pole sitter Lewis Hamilton on the very first lap. What was surprising in his overtaking manoeuvre over Hamilton at the Kemmel straight was Red Bull’s superior straight line speed. Red Bull have always been slow in the straights but they deliberately increased the top speed(at the expense of downforce) last weekend to make most of Spa’s characteristics .

After moving into first, Vettel increased his lead to almost 3 seconds by end of lap 2(when DRS gets activated). The lead only got bigger and bigger as Vettel took his 31st Grand Prix – equalling Nigel Mansell’s record.

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso – 10/10

Fernando Alonso took his first podium since Silverstone with a great drive from ninth on the grid. The key to it was a great start which helped him move into fifth place by the end of lap. That was typical of Alonso as Ferrari has always been slow over a single lap but much faster come the race day. Though at this race, his poor grid slot was due to the changing weather conditions in qualifying.

The Spaniard then passed put on a DRS assisted pass over Nico Rosberg on lap 6 before overtaking Jenson Button and occupying the final podium spot. When Hamilton ran wide at La Source, Alonso took the opportunity to take second.

Jenson Button

Jenson Button – 8/10

Jenson Button started the race from sixth place ahead of the two Lotus and Ferraris and moved immediately into fourth following poor starts of Mark Webber and Paul di Resta. But the British driver didn’t had the pace of the front runners and slipped to sixth after Webber and Alonso passed him in the opening stint.

He then tried to complete the race on a one stop strategy which was evident from his late stop on lap 18. But he eventually switched to a two stop by pitting late on lap 34. His second pit stop sent him down from third to sixth place. Nevertheless, the result moves McLaren ahead of Force India in the constructors standings.

Adrian Sutil

Adrian Sutil – 8/10

Adrian Sutil again showed his overtaking skills at last week’s Belgian Grand Prix. The German driver, unlike his teammate, Paul di Resta, failed to make it into the top 10 in qualifying but had a much stronger race. He lost a place on the opening lap but had a very strong second stint that brought him within the points. His overtaking manoeuvre on Esteban Gutierrez just before Eau Rouge was nothing less than spectacular and was probably the best move of the race.

In the end he finished the race in 8th place, but without the mid-season tyre change, he could have finished much higher and that is evident from Force India’s superior results during the first eight races of the season.

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton – 7/10

Lewis Hamilton put on a great lap in the dying moments of Q3 to take his fourth consecutive pole position. In the race, he made a clean getaway but Vettel had better momentum from Eau Rouge which he used well to pass Hamilton at the Kemmel straight. He then had no answer to Vettel’s pace as he slipped behind the German lap after lap.

On lap 15, he made a crucial error at Eau Rouge which allowed Alonso to get past him for second place. Nevertheless, the third place finish moves Hamilton to third in the championship ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.