2018 Belgian Grand Prix: Race Highlights

And it's lights out and away we go here at Spa. Hamilton gets away well. Perez as well, covering his teammate. Hamilton moves over to cover off Sebastian Vettel. And there's locking up in a crash. And Fernando Alonso goes over the top there as Charles Leclerc's Sauber. Also involved Nico Hülkenberg in the Renault. Hamilton down through Eau Rouge. Continues to lead though, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Alcon and Sergio Perez. Up to the top of the Radeon. And Magnussen has made up places at the start. But here comes Sebastian Vettel. He's neck and neck with Lewis Hamilton. Vettel is alongside and ahead. Alcon is also ahead. There are four abreast going into the corner. Vettel ahead of Hamilton. Ahead of Perez. Ahead of Alcon. Ahead of Verstappen. Wow! Safety car is out. Kimi's got a puncture. Kimi has got a puncture. So he got caught up in that as well. I was going to say, Martin, if ever you want to ask yourself why the halo is in Formula 1, now is a chance to look. Because Fernando Alonso, very well protected. From what could have been a very nasty incident. He got hit from behind by Hülkenberg, didn't he? Yes, he did. Come on! What did he do? Charles Leclerc not knowing that Fernando Alonso was rather punted over the top of his car by the late-braking Nico Hülkenberg. And actually, what we're about to see is Hülkenberg get too deep on the brakes. Locked up. And boom. Wow. Just could not stop in time. Nico Hülkenberg going straight into the rear of Fernando Alonso. You look away from that incident and there was a shunt already going on with Bottas who's got too deep into the corner. That was already going on just before the Alonso one. So that is where Ricciardo... I think he got a shove, didn't he? Half the pack were going in there sensibly thinking about lap 44 and not lap 1. And the other half weren't. Into the pits comes Daniel Ricciardo already. So, rear wing's gone on that. He got caught up in the shunt as well. That is a big job to change the rear wing. And now, with a safety car in, Sebastian Vettel has gone, can get his foot down and Hamilton is following him all the way. And look, Hamilton is going to have a look into the braking zone. He could go through there legally but he's got in a bit deep and that's allowed Vettel to get away slightly. That was a mistake by Hamilton to attack into the final corner because it allowed Vettel to get away. DRS is now enabled. Here goes Verstappen along the Kemmel straight. Ocon is ahead. Moves over to the right to defend. Coming down the inside is Max Verstappen and he forces his way through. Esteban Ocon left in the space. Verstappen said, yes, thank you very much. And Max Verstappen is up into fourth place. While we've been looking at the full Sydney with the Red Bull, Bottas and Hartley have been swapping places. This is Bottas. Wow! Through Eau Rouge doing what Mark Webber did to Fernando Alonso all those years ago. Nice move from Valtteri Bottas. That's one to tell the grandchildren. And this is not a sight you would want to see if you're a fan of Kimi Räikkönen retiring from the Grand Prix on lap nine of this race and joining Hülkenberg, Alonso and Leclerc who are already out as Hamilton does pit in this race. And it is the soft compound tyre that goes on the Mercedes. So Mercedes playing their hand first and pitting Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen will take over in second place. Hamilton will want to come out ahead of Perez who's currently running fourth, fourth, fourth India and should do that quite comfortably and have a nice clear track ahead of him. And box, guys, and box. So this could be quite close actually. Round about two and a half seconds stationary would be very good indeed. And there is Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the background as Sebastian Vettel makes his way at 80 kilometers an hour down the pit lane. Verstappen who hasn't stopped yet. Hamilton who has stopped yet. Make their way around the source. It's going to be very tight indeed but Vettel does get out ahead of Verstappen and ahead of Hamilton. But that gap has certainly come down from that 3.2 seconds now to round about 1.8 seconds. Probably hurt Hamilton a little bit that he caught the Red Bull. But he's going to get DRS now, Martin. And he's going to get past Max Verstappen. And that's going to give Lewis Hamilton extra speed along the Kemmel straight. And that will start to help him a little bit gain on Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton retakes that second position ahead of Verstappen. It is now game on between Vettel and Hamilton. Marcus Ericsson pitting. Brendan Hartley still going on that set of tyres he's had on from the start of the race. Hartley showing a neat turn of pace there to get past the Sauber. Ericsson's trying to fight back. Is he going to have a little go down the inside into La Source? Late on the brakes goes Marcus Ericsson. And Brendan Hartley knew that he could defend but not defend any more than he did. Presumably Hartley will get some DRS though. So here we go again for Round 3. Ericsson against Hartley. Sweden against New Zealand. The Kiwi comes out on top into the LACOMBE chicane. It's Round 4 and it's DRS assisted from Marcus Ericsson this time around. See how effective that is. And Ericsson's back into the points again. OK, Dale, we're going to box this lap to retire. Box this lap. Retiring from a Grand Prix at least means they can put a fresh gearbox in without any penalty, should they need one. And here he comes, like a shark through the water. Hold tight, Sergio Perez. That silver car behind you is now ahead of you. Valtteri Bottas starting 17th in this race. Back up then into the top four with a very commanding performance here in Belgium this afternoon. Sebastian Vettel reduces Hamilton's lead, sees a chequered flag and wins the Belgium Grand Prix for Ferrari. Celebrations for the Scuderia. It was a very, very comfortable win, taking Ferrari's first win here in this decade. Lewis Hamilton comes home to take the podium and second place. Verstappen, after retiring last year, delights the Dutch fans with a podium at Spa. Red light, smells day, spells danger. Grazie, thank you. Good effort all weekend. Valtteri Bottas will come home ahead of Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly and Marcus Ericsson to complete the points scoring finishes. Stoffel Vandal would love to be amongst them, but he'll finish last in his home Grand Prix. It has been a brilliant afternoon for Sebastian Vettel and for Ferrari.