The tops and flops of the Belgian GP

The tops

Lewis Hamilton
A well-deserved victory for the driver McLaren ? Mercedes. Starting on the front row alongside Mark Webber, the 2008 World Champion took advantage of a missed start by the driver Red Bull to take the lead at the exit of the La Source hairpin. Lewis Hamilton subsequently contented himself with protecting his position without making any mistakes, resisting the attacks of his pursuers. He scored another victory at Spa-Francorchamps which allowed him to regain the lead in the Championship. Good for confidence!

Mark Webber
Starting in pole position (his fifth of the season), the Australian lost all the benefits by completely missing his start. In seventh position, the Red Bull driver rolled up his sleeves to make up for his mistake. In third position behind Robert Kubica, Mark Webber managed to recover the second step of the podium, after a missed pit stop by the Pole at the end of the race. If he loses the lead in the Championship, Mark Webber remains in contact by limiting the gap with the new leader to three small points. And he increases his lead over his teammate Sebastian Vettel.

Renault F1 Team
We were waiting for the return of Renault with its F-Duct. Le Losange responded to Spa-Francorchamps, securing a new podium with Robert Kubica, who took third place on the podium. The R30 also proved effective in qualifying since the Pole started from the second row at the start of the race. His teammate Vitaly Petrov was unable to take advantage, after a spin in the warm-up lap of Q1? But the Russian made up for his blunder by coming up from the last row to get into the points and prove his true value. Renault was once again able to prove itself stronger than the Silver Arrows, yet in a good rhythm here.

Adrian Sutil
Certain of no longer being as efficient as last year on this track (second place for Giancarlo Fisichella), Force India expected a disappointment at Spa-Francorchamps. But Adrian Sutil's fifth place was a good surprise for Vijay Mallya's team, which secured its best result of the season (11 points with tenth place taken on the green carpet by Vitantonio Liuzzi).

The Flops

Fernando Alonso
With seven Grands Prix remaining in the season, Fernando Alonso, last of the drivers in the race for the title, was expected to achieve a solid result after the summer break. But quite the opposite happened. Bad qualifying (tenth on the grid) and a bad race for the Spaniard who was harpooned by Rubens Barrichello at the Bus Stop corner, before retiring at the end of the race. The former Renault driver says he is still in the fight for the Championship, but no more mistakes will be allowed from now on.

Sebastian Vettel
His race was a nightmare. Fighting with Jenson Button, the German loses control of his car and hits the McLaren, which gives up instantly. The Red Bull driver reaches the pits, but has to return there a few laps later, for a drive through, following his accident. Vettel leaves Spa with zero points on the clock, new criticisms of him, and a teammate who is widening the gap. A return to business in Monza will be essential!

Engines Ferrari by De la Rosa
De la Rosa was close to the points at Spa. He came back on Vitaly Petrov before making a mistake putting him out of the points. But the Sauber driver could claim a much better place if he had not encountered problems with his engine in qualifying. Limited to eight engines for the season, De la Rosa was penalized on the starting grid after installing his ninth engine, with six Grands Prix remaining.