Lewis Hamilton wins Belgian GP

Romain Grosjean finished a deserving third for Lotus but only after Sebastian Vettel’s right rear tyre exploded two laps from the finish after attempting a one-stop strategy. “My goal today was to get pole position and my last two laps were the best laps I had all weekend so I am really happy with them”.

“In the ideal scenario I will get a mega start out of turn one and I’ll be enough auto lengths ahead, but that is never the case generally”. The vehicle was feeling great, so it was really about looking after the tyres.

His Belgian GP victory, which came on the back of a dominant display, helped him to open a 28-point lead over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the standings.

Hamilton also already boasts an unassailable 10-1 lead over the German in their qualifying head-to-head, a total turnaround from 2014 when Rosberg became the first team-mate to outqualify the Briton over a season. The race also brought his 80th podium, equalling Ayrton Senna’s tally.

Mercedes Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates his victory in the Belgian F1 Grand …

Hamilton had a brief concern when Rosberg somehow closed the gap by a second while the field was being controlled by the virtual safety auto after Ricciardo’s vehicle broke down on the pit straight on lap 21.

Lewis Hamilton has revealed it feels surreal to be closing in on a third Formula One world championship.

The F1 season continues next month with the 2015 Italian Grand Prix from the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza on Sunday, September 6.

Hamilton claimed his 48th career pole position on Saturday, clocking in a lap nearly half a second clear of teammate Nico Rosberg.

The 30-year-old German, whose wife Vivian is expecting their first child, is 21 points behind Hamilton in the title race with nine races remaining.

Max Verstappen tried a move on Raikkonen at Les Combes on the last lap but ran out of road and had to settle for eighth, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, whose race unravelled when Williams mistakenly fitted his auto with three soft tyres and a medium, which earned him a drive-through penalty. I feel we’re as ready as we can be so we’ll see how it goes. “Thank you guys”. Romain Grosjean was fourth for Lotus but will be dropped five places for a gear box change. The 2007 world champion was surprisingly signed up by Ferrari for the 2016 campaign earlier this week, but that is where his luck ran out.

Behind Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat was fourth for Red Bull, Perez fifth and Felipe Massa sixth for Williams. He will start at 14th on the grid.

Ericsson scored his second point in two races, helped by Vettel’s puncture.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was the fastest non-Mercedes powered vehicle with his Renault engine in sixth and is likely to be fast in the race, although may struggle to pass people because of his straight-line deficit.

Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg caused the aborted start, and reduction of the race to 43 laps instead of 44, when he reported a loss of power and raised his hands.