Hamilton wins Belgian GP; Bottas fifth
Ryan Joseph Ramos August 27, 2017Lewis Hamilton proved unstoppable at the Belgian GP, taking the win despite a tremendous challenge put forth by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The other Mercedes car of Valtteri Bottas finished in fifth place.
Hamilton owned F1’s first weekend back from its mid-season break. He took his 68th career pole position in qualifying, tying Michael Schumacher’s record. Then he led for most of the rice after taking the lead off the line. There was a restart, but he was able to fend off Vettel and retain the lead.
“The Ferrari was very strong today and they put on a fantastic fight,” Hamilton said. “We were both pushing every single lap and there was no room for error or mistake.”
He acknowledged that it was fun racing Vettel when the rival and his car is at its best. In addition, he thanked the team, saying it would not have been possible to win without the team’s efforts.
The win positions Hamilton nicely against Vettel as the Mercedes driver now sits just 7 points behind the leader. The second-place finish minimized the damage for Vettel, but he should be more wary now that Hamilton is this close again. Bottas is still in third, with 179 points to Hamilton’s 213 and Vettel’s 220.
Coming in for the final podium spot was Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Kimi Raikkonen, in the other Ferrari car, finished just outside the podium in fourth after losing some places in the restart.
Some other highlights of the Belgian GP include a couple of encounters between the two Force India cars. Max Verstappen of Red Bull had to retire for the sixth time in 12 races. That was to the disappointment of the fans, of which there were many supporting Verstappen.
Mercedes still has quite a bit of breathing room in terms of the constructors’ race. The team is ahead by 44 points, with 392 total points to Ferrari’s 348.
