Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel dominates 2018 Belgian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel earned his fifth victory of the 2018 Formula 1 season by winning the season’s 13th race, the Belgian Grand Prix.

Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel opened up the post-summer break portion of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 schedule with a dominant performance in the season’s 13th race, the Belgian Grand Prix, at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Vettel won the 44-lap race around the 19-turn, 4.352-mile (7.004-kilometer) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps road course in Stavelot, Belgium by 11.061 seconds over second place finisher Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.

Vettel’s victory is his first victory since he won the British Grand Prix back on Sunday, July 8. He nearly won the race after that, the German Grand Prix, on Sunday, July 22, as he had a comfortable lead with just 16 laps remaining, but he ended up crashing. He finished in second place behind Hamilton in the final race before the summer break, the Hungarian Grand Prix, on Sunday, July 29.

This win is Vettel’s fifth of the season and the 52nd of his Formula 1 career, moving him into third place on the all-time Formula 1 wins list behind only Michael Schumacher and Hamilton.

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen finished on the final step of the podium in third place. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Racing Point Force India’s Sergio Perez rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.

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Force India’s Esteban Ocon, Haas teammates Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly and Alfa Romeo Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top 10 in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place, respectively.

The race featured just one lead change, and that lead change took place on the first lap following the calamity that took place in the first corner. Vettel, who started the race in second place, passed Hamilton, who started the race from the pole position, on Kemmel Straight between turns four and five before the safety car was deployed. He led all 44 of the race’s laps.

The calamity that took place in the first turn of the first lap of the race began when Renault Sport’s Nico Hulkenberg ran into the back of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, sending Alonso’s car over the cockpit of Sauber’s Charles Leclerc.

The halo device on Leclerc’s car did its job, and all three drivers involved in the collision were okay. However, they were all forced to retire from the race because of this massive wreck. The safety car period that resulted from this wreck was the lone safety car period of the race.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen also made contact in the first turn of the first lap of the race as a result of the fact that Alonso made contact with Ricciardo when he went airborne. Both Ricciardo and Raikkonen tried to continue on in the race and they both did so for a time, but they were both eventually forced to retire.

Of the 20 drivers who started the race 15 finished it. Of the 15 drivers who finished the race, nine finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The next race on the 2018 Formula 1 schedule is the Italian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place next Sunday, September 2. That race is set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 from Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy beginning at 9:10 a.m. ET.