Vettel furious at Pirelli after tyre blowout during Belgian F1 GP

It was the seventh 1-2 finish for Mercedes this season.

Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton celebrated a dream Belgian Grand Prix victory yesterday to stretch his lead over Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg to 28 points with eight races remaining.

Lotus trackside operations manager Alan Permane, whose French driver Romain Grosjean finished third, questioned whether tyre wear was really the reason.

One opportunity came under the virtual safety auto , and Hamilton was quick to point out to the team that Rosberg appeared to close up.

Rosberg had a poor start and dropped from second to fourth before regaining the second position.

Vettel had made only one stop, whereas Pirelli had indicated at least two would be expected, and had done 27 laps on the medium tyres in an aggressive strategy.

Grosjean was emotional at his accomplishment, as viewers at home could hear in his voice in the transmitted radio conversation with his team.

It was Grosjean’s first podium of the season for the troubled Lotus team, which has faced severe financial problems, and his first podium since the 2013 United States Grand Prix.

“I remember watching the races when I was five, and I remember the first time driving a go-kart, watching Ayrton and one day wanting to be like him or do something similar to what he has done”, Hamilton said.

Holding off the challenge from the Force India of Sergio Perez on the run down to Les Combes – the scene of his collision with Rosberg here a year ago – pole-sitter Hamilton never looked back, and from there he made it look easy. All others – Sainz, Ricciardo, Maldonado, and Hulkenberg, did not finish.

Hamilton was eager to stretch his advantage this weekend and his unrivalled performances in qualifying and in the opening stages of the races are earning him victories. You know, today was a dream. “I was fairly relaxed at the end, the auto was fantastic all weekend”.

Pirelli chief Paul Hembery, who claimed Rosberg’s failure on Friday was due to an “external factor”, said: “I am not going to criticise Sebastian”.

“It was a costly mistake and I’m not happy with myself”, added the German.

Elsewhere it was a disappointing race for Ferrari, with Raikkonen’s seventh place the only thing they had to show for their efforts, while the Williams cars were unusually slow throughout the race, hence Massa and Bottas could only finish sixth and ninth respectively.

All of which leaves the title race in danger of becoming a procession. Such measures may not be necessary this time, but if trust is to be fully restored, a satisfactory and detailed explanation of the events at Spa needs to be put forward by Pirelli.

He continued, “A little bit too much champagne on the podium with Seb”.

“I had it where I wanted it and it was the same at the last race and we are gelling more than ever, with the engineers, and we have a great package together now”.