Sebastian Vettel overtook lewis Hamilton on the first lap and comfortably held on to win the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday and extend his overall championship lead.
It was Vettel’s fifth win of the season, second from three GPs, and 31st of his outstanding career.Fernando Alonso drove brilliantly from ninth on the grid to take second place ahead of Hamilton and move back into second overall in the title race.
Speculation heading into Spa was of Hamilton emerging as the biggest threat to Vettel’s bid for a fourth straight title, but within one minute Vettel dismissed that talk with a slick passing move inside Hamilton’s left. The German was never troubled after that.
Vettel started from second on the grid after Hamilton secured his fourth straight pole position. Vettel, who finished 16.8 seconds ahead of Alonso and nearly 30 clear of Hamilton, pumped his right fist and then wagged his finger aloft — reminding everyone who really is No. 1 and admonish those who had doubted him.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg finished fourth ahead of Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber.
Hamilton become the first Briton since Damon Hill in 1995 to achieve four straight poles and sat on the front row for the seventh consecutive race and eighth in nine.
Vettel has not secured a pole since winning the Canadian GP in June. But it made little difference. Within one minute he was in front as the much-anticipated rain around the Ardennes forest stayed away.
Although Hamilton made a good start and held his line at the first turn into la Source turn, Vettel moved into the slipstream of his Mercedes and surged past him down the Kemmel straight.
Alonso, meanwhile, looked like he was on a mission as he carved through the field, zooming past last year’s Spa winner Jenson Button and Rosberg to move into third.
After earning a one-race ban for reckless driving at last year’s Spa GP, where his dangerous driving sent three drivers off the track at the first turn, Frenchman Romain Grosjean made a noticeably conservative start and seemed desperate to avoid even the slightest contact.
Shortly after, Sergio Perez was given a drive through penalty for forcing Grosjean wide.
Hamilton was the first of the front-runners to pit for new tires, followed by Alonso, but Vettel stayed out three laps longer than Hamilton — who was held up by traffic when he came out, enabling Alonso to move past him into second.
Force India concede fifth place to Mclaren
A collision caused a premature end to Paul di Resta’s race while Adrian Sutil finished ninth as Sahara Force India lost its fifth place to Mclaren.
The team was struggling ever since the introduction of new tyres by Pirelli and on Sunday was a good chance to gain some lost ground on the back of Di Resta’s fifth place on the grid.
However, misfortune struck the side when the Scot was hit by Pastor Maldonado, who was trying to overtake Esteban Gutierrez, in lap 28.
Di Resta was firmly in points contention even as he had dropped some places but the crash forced his second retirement of the season. Before this, it was at the Malaysian GP where the Scot had retired.
>IJ bdIJIJψtml> n IJ#eiIJIJψt five years). ... Ranked in top five for first time in career.
SERENA WIllIAMS
Seeded: 1 Age: 31
Country: United States
2013 Match Record: 60-4
2013 Singles Titles: 8
Career Singles Titles: 54
last 5 US Opens: ‘12-W, ‘11-F, ‘10-DNP, ‘09-SF, ‘08-W
Topspin: Trying to win two US Opens in a row for first time. ... As winner of the US Open Series — based on hard-court results during the North American summer hard-court circuit — eligible for $1 million bonus for a title at Flushing Meadows, giving her chance to take home $3.6 million. ... Her 34-match winning streak that ended with fourth-round loss at Wimbledon was the longest run in women’s tennis since older sister Venus won 35 in a row in 2000. ... Only Steffi Graf (22), Chris Evert (18) and Martina Navratilova (18) have won more Grand Slam titles in the Open era, which began in 1968.
VICTORIA AZARENKA
Seeded: 2 Age: 24
Country: Belarus
2013 Match Record: 36-4
2013 Singles Titles: 3
Career Singles Titles: 17
last 5 US Opens: ‘12-F, ‘11-3rd, ‘10-2nd, ‘09-3rd, ‘08-3rd
Topspin: Reached the final at the past three hard-court Grand Slam tournaments, winning two titles at the Australian Open and losing in three sets to Williams at last year’s US Open. ... Career record against Williams is only 3-12, but two of the victories came this season, making Azarenka only woman to beat the American twice in 2013. ... 16 career hard-court titles put her fourth among active women, behind only the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova, who withdrew from the US Open with a right shoulder injury.
AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA
Seeded: 3 Age: 24
Country: Poland
2013 Match Record: 28-9
2013 Singles Titles: 2
Career Singles Titles: 12
last 5 US Opens: ‘12-4th, ‘11-2nd, ‘10-2nd, ‘09-2nd, ‘08-4th
Topspin: Master of using spin, changing speeds and angles, to fluster opponents. ... Finally had Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon a year ago, reaching her first major final. ... Her 27-2 record in first-round matches at Grand Slam tournaments — 7-0 at the US Open — gives her the second-best winning percentage among active women, trailing Williams, who is 51-1. ... Moved up to No 3 seeding when Sharapova withdrew.
lI NA
Seeded: 5 Age: 31
Country: China
2013 Match Record: 32-11
2013 Singles Titles: 1
Career Singles Titles: 7
last 5 US Opens: ‘12-3rd, ‘11-1st, ‘10-1st, ‘09-QF, ‘08-4th
Topspin: 22-5 on hard courts this season, including a run to her second career Australian Open final plus two recent semifinal appearances at Toronto and Cincinnati. ... Straight-set victories over Sharapova and Radwanska put her in the title match at Melbourne in January, but lost to Azarenka in three sets.
CAROlINE WOZNIACKI
Seeded: 6 Age: 23 Country: Denmark
2013 Match Record: 27-18
2013 Singles Titles: 0
Career Singles Titles: 20
last 5 US Opens: ‘12-1st, ‘11-SF, ‘10-SF, ‘09-F, ‘08-4th
Topspin: Had won 20 first-round matches in a row at Grand Slam tournaments into back-to-back losses at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2012. ... Otherwise, though, has had plenty of success at Flushing Meadows, reaching at least the semifinals the three previous years, including her only major final in 2009. AP