Formula One news
Hamilton wins thrilling Belgian Grand Prix
07 September 2008 / Results / PhotosLewis Hamilton tip-toed to victory in a thrilling conclusion to a completely unpredictable Belgian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa took second place ahead of Nick Heidfeld while Kimi Raikkonen saw his championship hopes end in the wall following a downpour just a two laps from the chequered flag.
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Spa did not disappoint in its promise of tricky weather conditions as the drivers lined up on the grid, the final sector of the lap was wet, while over the other end of the circuit conditions were bone dry. Despite the wet grid, everyone but Piquet was on dry tyres.
Hamilton made a strong start to lead Massa into the first corner, but the Ferrari driver ran wide in La Source allowing Raikkonen to get a run on him and the two fought for second, side by side on the run down to the first split. The treacherous conditions, however caught Hamilton out the next time through La Source as he spun, forcing Massa to go wide to avoid a crash, and allowing Raikkonen the chance to slipstream through La Source and pass the McLaren round the outside on the run into Les Combes.
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Raikkonen began to stretch his lead ahead of Hamilton, Massa, Alonso, Bourdais, Webber and Kubica - Heikki Kovalainen was the big loser in the first stages falling way down from third to eighth. The Finn soon blasted past Kubica having got a better run out of Eau Rouge to take seventh. But Kovalainen was soon under investigation and given a drive-through penalty after a lazy overtaking move saw him clip Mark Webber's Red Bull into a spin at the Bus Stop.
Meanwhile on lap 11 Hamilton was the first driver to pit from second place, confirming suspicions that he was light on fuel. Raikkonen responded pitting one lap later, and rejoining comfortably in the lead while Hamilton was being held up by Kubica and Kovalainen.
After the first round of stops was complete on lap 17, Raikkonen led Hamilton by almost six seconds ahead of Massa, Alonso, Bourdais and Kubica.
Raikkonen held a steady gap of 5.6s over Hamilton until the second pit stops on lap 25 when the McLaren looked much faster on the hard tyres and by lap 31 had closed the gap down to 1.9s. Massa too, in third looked stronger on hard tyres and was matching Hamilton's pace, closing in on Raikkonen's lead.
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Raikkonen responded and on lap 35 he had established a steady gap of 2.2s over Hamilton, and Massa had closed to within three seconds of the McLaren. Alonso was in a steady and comfortable fourth, 38 seconds behind the leaders, but 11 seconds ahead of Bourdais and Vettel.
Six laps from the flag the Belgian weather reared its unpredictable head again as rain began to fall in the final five laps. Conditions were treacherous as Hamilton and Raikkonen diced for the lead in the Bus top chicane, having contact forcing the McLaren to cut the corner, and rejoin for a run at the Ferrari into La Source to take the lead.
The rain kept falling though and Hamilton ran wide in the mid sector while lapping a Williams to let Raikkonen back through only for the Ferrari driver to spin and let the McLaren back through. As Hamilton tip-toed down to the Bus Stop chicane, Raikkonen lost the rear of his Ferrari and skidded off into the wall just two laps from the flag and with it almost certainly saw his title chances disappear.
Hamilton kept his cool to ride the conditions to another victory ahead of Felipe Massa, setting up a two-way fight to the drivers' championship. Heidfeld ended the race third having changed to intermediate tyres right at the end, and carving his way through the field to take a podium. On a similar move to intermediates Fernando Alonso took fourth.
Another strong day for Toro Rosso saw Vettel end up fifth and Bourdais take seventh, the duo separated by the BMW of Kubica. Timo Glock took the final point in eighth in a frantic scrap to the flag.
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