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Red Bull dominates Belgian GP

SPA FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium - Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel dominated the 2013 Belgian grand prix to claim his fifth win of the Formula 1 season. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso finished in second followed by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel stretched his overall lead to 46 points with eight races remaining in the Formula 1 season. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, now his closest rival, finished second - a hefty 16.8 seconds behind - after starting ninth. Red Bull's Vettel has 197 points after the his fifth win of the 2013 season. Alonso has 151 points.

HAMILTON IN THIRD

Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole position for the fourth race in a row, took a distant third place for Mercedes ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg and moved up to third overall on 139.

Lap 1 - 10

Lewis Hamilton started on pole position but a switch to medium tyres saw the Mercedes ace drop further down the pack. Alonso moved up from ninth to third. By the start of lap 20, Vettel was in the lead followed by Alonso and Red Bull's Mark Webber. After serving a drive-through penalty Sergio Perez told his team: "I did nothing wrong"

VETTEL IN CONTROL

Lap 20 - 30
At the start of lap 20, Vettel retained the lead followed by Alonso in second. Despite an early switch to medium tyres that sent him further down the grid, Hamilton battled his way back to third place. By lap 22, Vettel was in control with Caterham's Charles Pic the only driver to have retired from the race, though there would be others.

KIMI SUFFERS CAR WOES

On lap 26, Raikkonen attempted to overtake Felipe Massa but botched it and ended up off-track. That put an end to the Lotus driver's streak of 27 consecutive finishes with points. Raikkonen, who was forced to retire from the race, said: "I don't know if it was a brake failure but I think it was."

Force India's Paul Di Resta and Sauber's Pastor Maldonado crashed on lap 28. Di Resta was forced to retire but fortunately his team mate, Adrian Sutil, also involved in the crash, managed to continue.

CHILTON HANDED F1 PENALTY

Lap 30 - 40

By the start of lap 30, Vettel had a commanding lead over closest rival Alonso. McLaren's Jenson Button worked his way to third place. By lap 32, Alonso picked up the pace and gained on Vettel. Despite his efforts, Vettel continued to dominate with a 7.8 second lead. On lap 33, Marussia driver Max Chilton was handed a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.

Lap 40 - 44
By the start of the final four laps, it was Vettel's race to win and indeed he did, claiming his fifth win of the 2013 season. On lap 41, Sauber's Esteban GutiƩrrez received a drive-through penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

2013 Belgian Grand Prix race results:

1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull  1 hour23min42.196
2 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari +00:16.869
3 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 00:27.734
4 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 00;29.872
5 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 00:33.045
6 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 00:40.794
7 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:r53.922
8 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 00:55.846
9 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1:09.567
10 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 1:13.470
11 Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 01:21.936
12 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso  1:26.740
13 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber  01:28.258
14 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber  1:40.636
15 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 1:47.456
16 Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham  1 lap
17 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams  1 lap
18 Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia  1 lap
19 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia  2 laps
Retired Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India  17 laps
Retired Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus  19 laps
Retired Charles Pic (France) Caterham  36 laps

Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel, 1min50.756 on lap 40.

Driver points:
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 197
2. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 151
3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 139
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus 134
5. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 115
6. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 96
7. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 67
8. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 53
9. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 47
10. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 36
11. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 25
12. Sergio Perez (Mexico) McLaren 18
13. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso 13
14. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso 12
15. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Sauber 7
16. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 1
17. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams 0
18. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 0
19. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia 0
20. Charles Pic (France) Caterham 0
21. Giedo van der Garde (Netherlands) Caterham 0
22 Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia

Constructor's Championship:

1 Red Bull 312
2 Mercedes 235
3 Ferrari 218
4 Lotus 187
5 McLaren 65
6 Force India 61
7 Toro Rosso 25
8 Sauber 7
9 Williams 1
10 Marussia
11 Caterham 0

Qualifying
Third practice
Second practice
First practice

Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Belgian GP weekend.
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