Success had to be and success it was. Sebastian Vettel won the Belgian Grand Prix, making up for a Saturday that had left a bitter taste in the mouth with the mess between the pit wall and the pits which had penalized both drivers.
At the start, everything happened: Hulkenberg completely misses the braking point and hits the McLaren in full by Alonso, who takes off over Leclerc's Sauber, saved by the providential halo which from this year protects the heads of the pilots. In the initial chaos consequences also for Bottas and Ricciardo, both forced to pit stop. It got worse at Raikkonen, who is shot by Ricciardo, hole the rear right and ruin the bottom. After the pit stop, the Finn gets back on track, but after one lap he realizes that the SF71H is too damaged and decides to finish his race there also to save the engine in view of Monza.
The safety car is inevitable, but before the communication from the race direction, Vettel has time to put Hamilton in power, gaining the lead of the race a few moments before the race is neutralized.
At the restart after the safety car, Vettel keeps the lead by running away from Hamilton, behind them Verstappen puts in two great overtakings on both Force India.
The emotions are all concentrated in the tire changes, with Hamilton who, after catching up on Vettel, anticipates the stop hoping for a magical lap with fresh tyres. He doesn't deal with Verstappen who keeps him behind, allowing Vettel to stop and return to the track still in command.
In the final comes the retirement of Ricciardo (the Australian pays for the damage to his car in the chaos of the first corner), the last emotion before the triumphal arrival of Vettel, who precedes Hamilton and Verstappen. Bottas closes behind them, ahead of Perez and Ocon and the two Haas of Grosjean and Magnussen. Gasly (Toro Rosso) and Ericsson (Sauber) close the top 10.
Vettel's success (thirteenth victory at the wheel of Ferrari) allows the driver from Maranello to recover 7 points over Hamilton, whose advantage drops from 24 to 17 lengths (231 points for the Englishman, 214 for the German). In the constructors' standings, on the other hand, it is Mercedes (375 points) that pulls ahead of Ferrari (360), thanks to Raikkonen's retirement and Bottas' great comeback (from 17th to 4th).
“We made a great start – Vettel said after the race -. Lewis pushed a lot on the left, but I knew I had a chance further up the hill. I overtook him and managed the overtaking crucially while also staying ahead of the Force India. With the safety car I was able to hold the position, then I led a very linear race. Hamilton pushed
a lot, but I was able to control the pace. In the final laps I saw that Hamilton wasn't pushing and I was able to relax a little more. The World Cup? Be careful, it's not easy to always be in front, it's a very complicated season because the values are close, Mercedes and Red Bull are there and I don't think we have such a big advantage. We have very similar performances and so I think we will have to fight in the next races”.
The next one, however, will be in Monza. Casa Ferrari, where the red tide of typhus is ready to invade the Brianza circuit. Winning in front of your own fans would be the best, another great opportunity to try to gnaw at precious points from Hamilton and Mercedes: "This is a fantastic team - said Maurizio Arrivabene, team principal of the Reds -, sometimes we still make mistakes , as well as pilots, but we are people and not robots. Did Hamilton look at our car after the race? It's good that Hamilton looks at our car, because he's not inferior to theirs. If yesterday he was the rain wizard, we were the dry wizards. Monza? The battle with Mercedes continues with serenity, concentration and a beautiful smile. We will also have the twelfth man, we are counting on it a lot ”.
