As it happened: 2010 Belgium - The Race

• 12:30

  Hello to one and all. Ready for Spa?

• 12:31

  There were about a million penalties after qualifying yesterday. I recommend viewing the order, but not taking it as gospel!

• 12:31

  So far, we've heard of a shower of rain already at the circuit, but things have brightened up a little now.

• 12:31

  Tweet from @MikeGascoyne: The FIA have just put the 'change in climatic conditions' message up. You can say that again

• 12:32

  The pit lane is open and cars are heading towards the grid.

• 12:33

  Have your say on who will win today's race, by voting on our poll: https://sidepodcast.com/2010/08/29/live-belgium-2010-the-race/

• 12:34

  You can also live comment there, and at https://sidepodcast.com/livecommenting

• 12:37

  Trulli gets strapped in before heading to the grid.

• 12:43

  Interview with Vettel: "The first lap should be quite exciting, going up the hill. On Friday, no one had the opportunity to try it on full tanks. Ideally, I'll try to go flat."

• 12:44

  

  15°C

  Track	20°C
  Humidity	65%
  Wind Speed	2.5mps

• 12:44

  Interview with Webber: "Feels good, track looks in good shape, very dry. Pockets of rain can come from absolutely nowhere. These cars don't get easier when it starts to spit with rain."

• 12:46

  Definitely a contingent of Ferrari fans in the grandstand.

• 12:46

  Tweet from @sarahholtf1: Button senior, Dad John has just done some sort of rain dance. He knows son Jenson is good in the wet. JB starts from 5th.

• 12:49

  Official radar suggests no rain within the next 30 minutes.

• 12:51

  Interview with Mike Gascoyne. "By mistake, I walked to the back of the grid because I'm so used to it."

• 12:52

  The poll is closed and your race winner looks to be Mark Webber - with Lewis Hamilton a close second. Not many thing Kub or Vet can win it.

• 12:53

  Interview with Martin Whitmarsh: "The key to today's race is right tyres. It's going to rain at some point and if you're out on track on the wrong tyres, you've had it."

• 12:58

  Alonso lines up tenth on the grid. He's got some work to do today.

• 12:58

  Tweet from @tonyfernandes: From the grid.Petronas mercedes behind us. Hehehehehe.Won't be like that in the race but nice for a few seconds. Go boys.

• 12:59

  The grid is clearing of bodies, formation lap about to begin.

• 13:00

  They're off on their formation lap.

• 13:01

  Team radio to Kubica: "We expect some rain at 2:08, and it's going to be reasonably heavy. It's going to last five minutes."

• 13:03

  Martin Brundle reckons Massa has overshot his grid slot by about two metres.

• 13:04 Lap 1

  Race started.

• 13:04 Lap 1

  Webber lost a huge amount of places on the start, back in 7th right now.

• 13:05 Lap 1

  An early yellow flag.

• 13:05 Lap 1

  Buemi is miles off the pace, about four corners behind everyone else.

• 13:05 Lap 1

  Accident between Alonso and Barrichello. And a Mercedes as well?

• 13:06 Lap 2

  Everyone appeared to miss the corner, and Button was trying to get past Kubica at the front.

• 13:06 Lap 2

  Alonso, Glock, Kovalainen and De la Rosa all have been to the pits.

• 13:07 Lap 2

  They have likely taken on intermediate tyres. Alonso definitely has.

• 13:07 Lap 2

  Safety car deployed.

• 13:07 Lap 2

  Barrichello is out of the race. Poor showing for his 300th Grand Prix.

• 13:08 Lap 3

  Kobayashi and Alguersuari have dived into the pitlane.

• 13:08 Lap 3

  Kobayashi having a terribly slow stop - tyres weren't even ready. He's got slick tyres going on.

• 13:09 Lap 3

  Ted reports Glock put on full wet tyres and has come back to take them off again.

• 13:10 Lap 3

  Replays show Webber's car went into anti-stall on the grid, hence going nowhere at the start.

• 13:10 Lap 3

  Safety car in at the end of this lap.

• 13:11 Lap 3

  Driver Positions

  1	Hamilton	McLaren
  2	Button	McLaren
  3	Kubica	Renault
  4	Vettel	Red Bull
  5	Webber	Red Bull

• 13:11 Lap 4

  Track is clear.

• 13:11 Lap 4

  Vettel has passed Kubica on the restart.

• 13:12 Lap 5

  After such a great qualifying position, Kovalainen is now way down the order - as is Glock.

• 13:13 Lap 5

  Hamilton has stretched out a bit of a gap at the front.

• 13:13 Lap 5

  Alonso and Alguersuari have pitted.

• 13:13 Lap 5

  Team radio to Button: "Minor damage to the front wing."

• 13:14 Lap 5

  Vettel and Kubica are under investigation... not sure why yet.

• 13:14 Lap 5

  Replays show Barrichello just couldn't slow down his car and barrelled straight into the side of Alonso.

• 13:14 Lap 6

  Interview with Mike Gascoyne: "Our radar say there's no rain for the next 30 minutes, but also that it could shower at any time."

  Helpful!

• 13:15 Lap 6

  Hamilton puts in the fastest lap so far - 1:53.065.

• 13:15 Lap 6

  Comment from Spikey: I think Vettel and Kubica are under investigation because on the first lap then passed Jenson at the bus stop (Jenson got back on the track and made the corner.)

• 13:16 Lap 6

  Senna has spun it, but continues onwards.

• 13:16 Lap 6

  Senna pits, it's not looking hopeful.

• 13:16 Lap 6

  Tweet from @clubforce: Update: Adrian is now 7th. He has overtaken Hulkenberg who is ahead of Tonio in P9.

• 13:19 Lap 8

  Senna is definitely out of the race now. Just the two retirees so far.

• 13:20 Lap 8

  Hamilton has stretched out a good lead, whilst Vettel is closing up on Button, but can't quite make it work.

• 13:21 Lap 9

  Alonso passed Buemi, and has now easily passed De La Rosa. Jarno Trulli is next.

• 13:22 Lap 10

  Trulli essentially allowed Alonso through, but de la Rosa also closed up on the Lotus.

• 13:24 Lap 10

  Alonso's next target is Kobayashi, and he's 16 seconds-ish behind him. Watch him close that gap.

• 13:24 Lap 11

  Liuzzi has come into the pits.

• 13:25 Lap 11

  Petrov has passed Rosberg, nice and cleanly. Schumacher also passed his teammate... not so cleanly.

• 13:25 Lap 11

  Rosberg has to pit for a new front wing. Hmm.

• 13:26 Lap 12

  The incident between Alonso and Barrichello will be investigated after the race.

• 13:27 Lap 12

  Stewards have decided no further action on the Vettel/Kubica incident. Still not sure what it was about.

• 13:27 Lap 12

  Interview with Barrichello: "As soon as I touched the brakes, even though I touched it very early, it was not enough to stop the car."

• 13:28 Lap 13

  One to Watch

  Button	vs.	Vettel
  2nd	+0.2s	3rd

• 13:30 Lap 14

  Alonso is chasing Liuzzi, attempted a pass but couldn't make it. The Force India holds 13th for now.

• 13:30 Lap 14

  Rosberg never did pit for his front wing, the team decided to let him stay out and see how it goes.

• 13:31 Lap 14

  Interview with Mike Gascoyne: "Jarno reporting a lot of degradation on the rear tyre, the options, but a lot of people want to hang on and see if this shower comes in."

• 13:32 Lap 15

  I wasn't expecting many lapped cars, but hey presto, Hamilton is closing up on Yamamoto. Shouldn't be long now.

• 13:34 Lap 16

  Alonso passed Liuzzi, now chasing Kobayashi again.

• 13:35 Lap 17

  Accident between Vettel and Button!!

• 13:36 Lap 17

  Good place to do it, right outside the pit entrance. Vettel makes it to the garage, but where's Button?

• 13:36 Lap 17

  Vettel took on a new front wing and is back out on track.

• 13:37 Lap 18

  Replays show Vettel just lost control and rammed into the side of Button.

• 13:37 Lap 18

  Comment from Kai: My neighbors must know there is a race on today. There have been several yelps so far today.

• 13:38 Lap 18

  Ah ha, we have located Button, he is out of the race.

• 13:38 Lap 18

  Comment from RG: So they were saying Vettel can't overtake. Might be true.

• 13:39 Lap 19

  Stewards are investigating that incident. Good job too!

• 13:40 Lap 19

  Driver Positions

  1	Hamilton	McLaren
  2	Kubica	Renault
  3	Webber	Red Bull
  4	Massa	Ferrari
  5	Sutil	Force India

• 13:40 Lap 19

  Button has made it six retirements out of nine starts at Spa. They're not missing him out on track, though, as the speeds have increased and the gap to Lewis will close now.

• 13:41 Lap 20

  I was watching it intensely, waiting for the moment, then Vettel distracted me, but people, important news: Yamamoto has been lapped!

• 13:41 Lap 20

  Sebastian Vettel handed a drive through penalty.

• 13:43 Lap 21

  Liuzzi gets past Vettel, just as he gets the news over the radio of his penalty.

• 13:44 Lap 21

  Vettel serves his penalty.

• 13:45 Lap 22

  Sutil has pitted, slick tyres go on.

• 13:47 Lap 23

  Webber pits from 4th.

• 13:48 Lap 23

  Tweet from @rf1paddockpass: Halfway through the race now , have to say one of the most exciting races in the calendar...

• 13:49 Lap 23

  Kubica and Massa pit from 2nd and 3rd, Kubica comes out and remains ahead of the Ferrari.

• 13:49 Lap 24

  Kubica also just hangs on to second ahead of Webber, but Mark isn't giving up easily.

• 13:50 Lap 24

  Button is out of the car, ready to face the press, and clearly not at all happy about it.

• 13:51 Lap 25

  Hamilton pits from P1, clean stop, and returns to the track in the lead.

• 13:51 Lap 25

  Tweet from @VirginRacing: blue flag hell starts here...

• 13:51 Lap 25

  Sutil slides past Schumacher for 5th place. Easy peasy.

• 13:54 Lap 26

  Interview with Button: "It was looking really good, good start, good fight in the wet conditions. Running in second with a damaged front wing, made the rear twitchy. It was tricky to keep him behind. I don't know what happened, all I felt was a big bang on the sidepod, ripped the radiator out, I lost drive completely. I don't know what he was doing really. It's a massive blow for the championship. It hurts quite a bit really."

• 13:54 Lap 26

  Live Championship Standings

  Pos	Driver	Pts
  1	Hamilton	182
  2	Webber	176
  3	Vettel	151
  4	Button	147
  5	Alonso	143

• 13:54 Lap 27

  Vettel swiped Liuzzi, and now has a wicked puncture. He's trying to make his way back to the pitlane.

• 13:55 Lap 27

  Liuzzi went straight in the pits for a new nose. Vettel has it in for everyone today, including himself!

• 13:56 Lap 28

  Team radio to Massa (that means Rob!): "Next threat of rain should be in about ten laps. Twenty minutes time."

• 13:57 Lap 28

  Vettel has made it back to the pitlane, has a new tyre, and is out again in..... 19th. Only Kovalainen and Yamamoto are behind him.

• 13:58 Lap 29

  Tweet from @lookingspiffy: Bet Vettel's wishing he hadn't bothered turning up this weekend.

• 13:59 Lap 29

  Massa lost a load of time there, held up by back markers who were attempting to let him by, but he was stuck under yellow flags (which have now cleared).

• 14:00 Lap 30

  Tweet from @clubforce: Tonio pits for a new nose, no further damage to the car found and he rejoins in 14th position

• 14:01 Lap 30

  Top Speed

  Sector 1	Liuzzi	323kph
  Sector 2	Webber	201kph
  Sector 3	Hamilton	215kph
  Speed Trap	Sutil	304kph

• 14:02 Lap 31

  Backmarker watch: Trulli, Di Grassi, Glock, Kovi, Vettel and Yamamoto all one lap down.

• 14:03 Lap 31

  One to Watch

  Kobayashi	vs.	Alonso
  8th	+0.2s	9th

• 14:04 Lap 32

  Another fastest lap for Hamilton - 1:49.218

• 14:05 Lap 32

  Tweet from @KataHyde: People in the grandstand have put on their raincoats...

• 14:05 Lap 32

  Never mind radar, it's the umbrellas and ponchos that are the tell-tale signs.

• 14:08 Lap 32

  Webber's radio confirms it could be light rain, getting heavier, for twenty minutes!

• 14:08 Lap 34

  Glock pits.

• 14:08 Lap 34

  Glock has put on full wet tyres.

• 14:09 Lap 35

  

  16°C

  Track	19°C
  Humidity	66%
  Wind Speed	4mps

• 14:09 Lap 35

  FOM has changed the conditions to Wet Track.

• 14:10 Lap 35

  Lewis runs way wide on his dry tyres, off into the gravel, narrowly misses the barrier and continues.

• 14:11 Lap 35

  Lots of drivers dive into the pitlane for a tyre change. Ferrari just missed a collision letting their car out in the stream of traffic.

• 14:11 Lap 36

  Hamilton, Kubica and Webber all come in to the pits at the same time.

• 14:12 Lap 36

  Hamilton has a clean stop, Kubica overshoots his box and allows Webber to jump him in the pitlane.

• 14:12 Lap 36

  Massa also pitted from fourth.

• 14:13 Lap 36

  I can't see any more rain.

• 14:14 Lap 37

  Oh, there it is! Hulkenberg is on slicks and really struggling.

• 14:15 Lap 37

  A nice 360 from the Williams there.

• 14:15 Lap 37

  Stewards are investigating Vettel and Alonso for their almost collision in the pitlane.

• 14:17 Lap 38

  Vettel has pitted for extreme wits.

• 14:17 Lap 38

  Or wets. He probably could do with some wit too, though.

• 14:17 Lap 38

  Alonso has spun it, sitting in the middle of the track, at least a broken wishbone.

• 14:17 Lap 38

  Alonso has jumped out of the car and run for safety.

• 14:18 Lap 38

  Safety car deployed.

• 14:18 Lap 38

  Replays show Alonso ran a bit wide, spun right into the barriers, race over.

• 14:19 Lap 39

  Just five laps remaining.

• 14:19 Lap 39

  Team radio to Vettel, after he complains it's not wet enough for extremes: "Cars on inters are crashing left, right and centre."

• 14:20 Lap 39

  Team radio from Hamilton: "This Safety Car needs to pick up the pace!"

• 14:21 Lap 40

  Another lap under the SC. Alonso's car is cleared, so it should be in this lap.

• 14:23 Lap 40

  Driver Positions

  1	Hamilton	McLaren
  2	Webber	Red Bull
  3	Kubica	Renault
  4	Massa	Ferrari
  5	Sutil	Force India

• 14:23 Lap 40

  Safety Car in this lap.

• 14:24 Lap 41

  Track is clear.

• 14:24 Lap 41

  Restart is clean, Hamilton leads them away.

• 14:25 Lap 41

  Rosberg overtakes Schumacher, having already taken Kobayashi. Nico now in 6th.

• 14:26 Lap 41

  Trulli spins it, lets the pack pass and continues.

• 14:26 Lap 41

  Jarno loses out on 15th place, now at the back.

• 14:28 Lap 41

  Liuzzi has closed right up to Alguersuari, looking to get past for 12th place.

• 14:28 Lap 41

  Ooh, 11th place, actually. So close to the points!

• 14:28 Lap 42

  Pedro runs off into the gravel, and just keeps it out of the barriers.

• 14:32 Lap 44

  Lewis Hamilton wins the Belgian Grand Prix!!

• 14:33 Lap 44

  Driver Positions

  1	Hamilton	McLaren
  2	Webber	Red Bull
  3	Kubica	Renault
  4	Massa	Ferrari
  5	Sutil	Force India
  6	Rosberg	Mercedes
  7	Schumacher	Mercedes
  8	Kobayashi	Sauber
  9	Petrov	Renault
  10	Alguersuari	Toro Rosso

• 14:37

  Lewis Hamilton takes the win and jumps straight to the top of the championship - this will please him after a controversial race last year, when his win was taken away.

• 14:37

  Webber has done the best he could for his championship, whilst Vettel seemed to do the worst he could for his chances.

• 14:38

  Renault get a double points finish, with Kub on the podium and Petrov in 9th. So close to a second place, but still really good for the bright yellow team.

• 14:38

  Four retirees in all - Alonso and Button (both of whom will be bitterly disappointed and will really feel it in the championship battle), Senna and Barrichello.

• 14:39

  Virgin and Lotus both managed to get both cars to the end of the race, but I imagine they'll be disappointed they couldn't get more out of a chaotic Grand Prix.

• 14:40

  Thank you for joining us today, what a great race we had to enjoy! We'll be back in two weeks time for the Italian GP. Join us then!