F1 - Race 13 - Belgium

Once again Red Bull were in pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, this time Mark Webber getting the honours. There were a number of drivers (including Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg) way down the grid due to penalties for various previous misdemeanors including gear box and engine changes and dangerous driving.There was drama in lap 1 when Fernando Alonso and Rubens Barichello collided. This signalled the end of the race for Barichello which was a shame as it was his 300th GP. Despite having pole position Webber was overtaken immediately by Lewis Hamilton who was 2nd on the grid.In lap 11 there was more contact this time between the two Mercedes drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg but nothing serious. However the collision in lap 16 was a bit worse with Sebastian Vettel ending Jensson Button's race for which Vettel got yet another drive though penalty.

Vettel's race was to get worse, he got a puncture in lap 26 when Vitantonio Liuizzi's front wing sliced open his left rear tyre. However he managed to stay in the race. Lap 35 saw Hamilton in the gravel when the rain made its 3rd appearance of the afternoon. With several drivers going into the pits there was more drama. Alonso and Vettel touched wheels and Robert Kubica overshot his pit-lane box which cost him second place. Lap 38 saw the end of Alonso's race when he spun his car and hit the barrier bringing the safety car out.Mercedes got their fifth win this season and Lewis Hamilton his third. Hamilton and Webber are now 31 and 28 points respectively in front of Vettel with Button fourth. With just 6 races left it looks like one of these four drivers will win the title. But this is Formula One and nothing is certain until the final race.

Driver	Team	Time
1. Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:29:04:260
2. Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	+00:01.571
3. Robert Kubica	Renault	+00:03.493
4. Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+00:08.264
5. Adrian Sutil	Froce India-Mercedes	+00:09.094
6. Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	+00:12.359
7. Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	+00:15.548
8. Kamui Kobayashi	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	+00:16.678
9. Vitaly Petrovi	Renault	+00:23.951
10. Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	+00:34.831

Drivers Championship Table

Driver	Team	Points
1 .Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	182
2. Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	179
3.Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	151
4. Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	147
5. Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	141
6. Felipe Massa	Ferrari	109
7. Robert Kubica	Renault	104
8. Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	102
9. Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	45
10. Michael Schumacher	Mercedes GP	44