Vettel wins in Belgium to rein in Hamilton

SPA- FRANCORCHAMPS: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel sped clear of first corner carnage to celebrate a commanding Belgian Grand Prix victory and trim Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One lead to 17 points with eight races remaining.

Hamilton, last year’s winner in Belgium, again started from pole position after a wet qualifying but his Mercedes could not match the German’s pace in the dry and he had to settle for second.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen gave his army of Dutch fans something to cheer by taking third place.

In the enthralling battle between the four-time world champions, Hamilton now has 231 points to Vettel’s 214 with both on five wins apiece for the campaign.

“I had a great start, I’m not sure Lewis saw me as he pushed me to the left in the first lap,” said Vettel of his decisive pass on Hamilton on the Kemmel straight after the title frontrunners had made clean getaways.

“As soon as I was ahead I relaxed. I had a good restart after the safety car and after that it was a very smooth race,” he added.

The first corner otherwise pro- vided the main drama, with Fernando Alonso’s McLaren flying over Charles Leclerc’s Sauber at the La Source hairpin after being rammed by Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

All three retired as the safety car was deployed for four laps but Leclerc had reason to thank the “halo” head protection system – introduced this season – for allowing him to step away unscathed.

Hulkenberg was later handed a 10 place grid penalty for next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

Television close-ups after the race showed the structure heavily marked by the impact.

“We can end the HALO discussion now. It will save lives,” tweeted 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg after seeing the images. — Reuters