Hamilton wins Belgian Grand Prix thriller

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium : September 7, 2008 - McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won a Belgian Grand Prix thriller on Sunday after fighting wheel to wheel with luckless world champion Kimi Raikkonen in an all-or-nothing duel over the closing laps.


Raikkonen led until rain began to fall and Hamilton, the 23-year-old championship leader who had started on pole position, reeled in the Ferrari and powered past on the penultimate lap.

The action did not stop there, with the desperate Raikkonen fighting back to retake the lead before losing control on the slippery surface and smashing into a wall while Hamilton went wide over the grass.

The two rivals had already banged bodywork, skidded and narrowly avoided other cars, with race stewards announcing after the chequered flag that they were investigating one particular incident.

Brazilian Felipe Massa finished second for Ferrari with Germany's Nick Heidfeld third for BMW-Sauber.

"It was an experience and a half," said Hamilton, who drove gingerly round his final lap on the treacherous surface. "It was just mix and match. I was just praying for rain. I wanted it to come because I knew how to deal with it.

"It was one of the most exciting races of my career. I love having battles.

"I was on every limit that I knew possible, and even beyond."

Hamilton's fifth win of the season, at the circuit where 40 years ago founder Bruce McLaren gave his team their first win, put him on 80 points to Massa's 72 with five races remaining.

Raikkonen, still without a win since April, slipped to fourth place overall with 57 points and could soon find himself supporting Massa's title aspirations.

STUNNING TURNAROUND

It was a stunning turnaround to an afternoon that, until two laps from the end, looked sure to revive Raikkonen's championship hopes with a fourth Belgian Grand Prix win in succession.

Starting in fourth place, the Finn made a determined move on Massa after running wide at the tight first corner.

The two Ferraris ran side by side up the hill through Eau Rouge before Raikkonen, whose engine had blown in the previous race in Valencia, scythed past and took the chase to Hamilton.

Hamilton then locked his right front tyre and spun at La Source at the start of the second lap, with Raikkonen seizing the advantage.

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso was fourth with Germany's Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso.

Poland's Robert Kubica was sixth, a result that elevated him to third in the championship with 58 points, with France's Sebastien Bourdais considerably enhancing his prospects of staying at Toro Rosso next season with seventh.

Germany's Timo Glock took the final point for Toyota.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, who had started in third place, missed out in 10th place after capping a string of errors with a drive-through penalty.

Ferrari, with their home race at Monza next up, lead the constructors' championship with 129 points to McLaren's 123.

2008 ING Belgium Grand Prix : Result :

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time/Retired	Pts
1	22	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Winner	10
2	2	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+14.4 secs	8
3	3	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+23.8 secs	6
4	5	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+28.9 secs	5
5	15	Sebastian Vettel	STR-Ferrari	+29.0 secs	4
6	4	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+29.4 secs	3
7	14	Sebastien Bourdais	STR-Ferrari	+31.1 secs	2
8	12	Timo Glock	Toyota	+56.5 secs	1
9	10	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	+57.2 secs
10	23	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	+1 Lap
11	9	David Coulthard	Red Bull-Renault	+1 Lap
12	7	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	+1 Lap
13	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Ferrari	+1 Lap
14	8	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	+1 Lap
15	16	Jenson Button	Honda	+1 Lap
16	11	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1 Lap
17	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Ferrari	+1 Lap
18	1	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Accident
Ret	17	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	Gearbox
Ret	6	Nelsinho Piquet	Renault	Accident

Driver Championship Standings :

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	80
2	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	72
3	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	58
4	Kimi Raikkonen	Finnish	Ferrari	57
5	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	47
6	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren-Mercedes	43
7	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	26
8	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	23
9	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull-Renault	18
10	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	16
11	Nelsinho Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	13
12	Sebastian Vettel	German	STR-Ferrari	13
13	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Honda	11
14	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams-Toyota	9
15	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams-Toyota	8
16	David Coulthard	British	Red Bull-Renault	6
17	Sebastien Bourdais	French	STR-Ferrari	4
18	Jenson Button	British	Honda	3
19	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Force India-Ferrari	0
20	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Ferrari	0
21	Takuma Sato	Japanese	Super Aguri-Honda	0
22	Anthony Davidson	British	Super Aguri-Honda	0

Constructor Championship Standings :

Pos	Team	Points
01	Ferrari	129
02	McLaren-Mercedes	123
03	BMW Sauber	105
04	Toyota	42
05	Renault	36
06	Red Bull-Renault	24
07	Williams-Toyota	17
08	STR-Ferrari	17
09	Honda	14
10	Force India-Ferrari	0
11	Super Aguri-Honda	0

Updated : F1 - Updated : Massa given Spa win after Hamilton penalty

[Source : SuperWheels]