Category: Motor Racing

Sebastian Vettel achieved his fifth pole position of the season with a supreme performance in qualifying around the Marina Bay street circuit.

The Red Bull Racing driver opted to do just a single Q3 run as his initial one minute, 42.841 seconds lap put him six tenths clear over his rivals. The triple world champion had also outpaced the pack by nearly a second in Q2.

Vettel’s casual approach to the top ten shootout almost proved costly, as first Mark Webber, then Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean all hinted at the top spot pace on their second attempt.

In the end, they all fell short. Rosberg’s Mercedes came closest, just 0.091 seconds down on Vettel, who is separated from team-mate Webber by Grosjean’s Lotus.

Lewis Hamilton was only fifth for Mercedes, while the Ferraris were down in sixth and seventh, with the departing Felipe Massa ahead of team number one Fernando Alonso again.

Massa had earlier only just made it beyond Q1 having encountered traffic at the wrong moment.

It emerged just before qualifying that Kimi Raikkonen was struggling with back pain and that Lotus had been sufficiently concerned to get reserve driver Davide Valsecchi prepared.

The Iceman only managed to qualify P13, lapping 0.7 seconds slower than team-mate Grosjean in Q2. It will be interesting if Raikkonen continues to take part despite his bad back.

Esteban Gutierrez was among the stars of qualifying as he put aside recent Saturday woes to reach Q3 for the first time. He was nearly knocked out in Q1 until a last-gasp effort was enough to get through.

As for his Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, he was completely overshadowed for once and will line up P11 on the Singapore Grand Prix grid.

Sauber was not the only team to have one driver either side of the Q2/Q3 divide.

Jenson Button sneaked into the top ten for McLaren by just 0.058 seconds and took eighth, while the under-pressure Sergio Perez was down in P14.

Jean-Eric Vergne was within 0.091 seconds of joining Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in Q3 but will start P12, three places behind the Australian.

Gutierrez and Massa’s late laps in Q1 caught out Paul di Resta, who was already in the pits and was pushed back to P17. Team-mate Adrian Sutil only managed two positions higher.

Pastor Malonado was also knocked out in Q1, though Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas made it to Q2.

Caterham was again quicker than Marussia, Charles Pic coming out in front among the tail-end pack.

So, a dominant performance by the triple world champion. Just one flying lap to take pole position and a nervous wait for his rivals to beat him. No one came close to Vettel and it was fascinating if he can keep up this winning speed into Sunday’s race.

Qualifying positions for the Singapore Grand Prix:

1.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m42.841s
2.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m42.932s
3.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m43.058s
4.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m43.152s
5.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m43.254s
6.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m43.890s
7.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m43.938s
8.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m44.282s
9.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m44.439s
10.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        No time set
11.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m44.555s
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m44.588s
13.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m44.658s
14.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m44.752s
15.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m45.185s
16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m45.388s
17.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m46.121s
18.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m46.619s
19.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m48.111s
20.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m48.320s
21.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m48.830s
22.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m48.930s

107 per cent time: 1m51.489s

In a space of twenty-four hours, the driver line-up for Scuderia Ferrari in 2014 has been resolved with the news that Felipe Massa has left, with Kimi Raikkonen announced as his replacement.

After serving the Manarello-based squad for eight years, Felipe Massa tweeted on Tuesday night that he would leave Ferrari at the end of this season.

“From 2014 I will no longer be driving for Ferrari,” Massa announced on the social networking site.

“I would like to thank the team for all the victories and incredible moments experienced together. Thank you also to my wife and all of my family, to my fans and all my sponsors.

“From each one of you I have always received a great support! Right now I want to push as hard as possible with Ferrari for the remaining seven races. For next year, I want to find a team that can give me a competitive car to win many more races and challenge for the championship, which remains my greatest objective! Thank you all.”

The Brazilian joined Ferrari in 2006 and scored his first victory at the Turkish Grand Prix that year. In 2008, he came very close to winning the world championship at his home race at Sao Paulo, but lost out to title rival Lewis Hamilton by a single point.

The following season, Massa was seriously injured in a crash at the Hungaroring and was out of action for the rest of 2009. He returned a year later but since then has struggled to get on terms with his new team-mate Fernando Alonso in terms of outright speed.

Since his crash Massa has not added to the eleven wins he scored for the Scuderia. He was on course for victory at Hockenheim in 2010 but was issued the infamous team orders that “Fernando was faster than you” resulting in Alonso scoring the race win instead.

Massa has started more races for Ferrari than any driver, apart from Michael Schumacher.

With Massa out, the rumours of Raikkonen taking over the seat reached fever pitch and by Wednesday afternoon, Ferrari officially confirmed that The Iceman was back at the team.

It has been seven years on since Raikkonen first joined Ferrari and in that year, he won the world championship in a dramatic Brazilian Grand Prix.

By rejoining the team in 2014, alongside Fernando Alonso, the Manarello-based squad has without doubt, the strongest line-up in terms of title success.

Raikkonen’s deal is a two-year contract and it will be deeply fascinating to see how these two champions will get on in terms of bringing home the silverware for Ferrari.

A statement from Ferrari confirmed he will “join Fernando Alonso in the driver line-up for the next two racing seasons”.

“I am really happy to be returning to Maranello where I previously spent three fantastic and very successful years,” said Raikkonen. “I have so many memories of my time at Ferrari, memories which have stayed with me these past years, first and foremost, winning the world championship title in 2007, which was really unforgettable.”

“I can’t wait to be driving a prancing horse car again and to reacquaint myself with so many people with whom I had such close links, as well as working with Fernando, whom I consider a great driver, in order to bring the team the success it deserves.”

As for Fernando Alonso, who competed against Kimi Raikkonen for championship honours back in 2005 while racing for Renault and McLaren respectively, he said of the new partnership: “I’d like to welcome my new travelling companion: together, starting next year, we will have to tackle a very demanding technical and racing challenge.”

“I want to thank Felipe for all the support he has given me and the team during this journey we have made together over all these years,” he added.

“Come the end of the season, it will not be easy to say goodbye to a team-mate like him. He has always been truly professional and loyal to the team and I am sure that right to the end, he will do his utmost for the Scuderia that he loves so much.”

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali added: “I am pleased to welcome Kimi back to the Scuderia, the team with which he won his world championship title.”

“I sense he is very happy to be returning to Maranello and very determined to tackle the work that awaits him in the best way possible.”

Domenicali expressed his gratitude to Massa for eight years of service as one of the team’s racing drivers: “I wish to thank Felipe with all my heart and also on behalf of all our fans around the world, for the extraordinary job he has done for the team over so many years.”

“Felipe has always behaved like a real team player. Together we have lived through some great times and also a few dramatic moments, which have helped to cement a truly unique relationship on both a professional and personal level.”

“He will always be part of our family and we wish him all the very best for the future. Now we must concentrate all our efforts on the remaining seven races of the season and we know that, as always, we can count on Felipe’s contribution, while we work together to reach our goals. Our determination will not waver one iota right to the very end.”

So, an exciting line-up at Ferrari next year in the shape of two former champions. Not since 1953 have the Scuderia got two title winners representing the team. It’s going to be thrilling to see Alonso and Raikkonen fighting for poles, fastest laps, race wins and hopefully championships in the years to come.

Sebastian Vettel took a commanding victory at Monza, extending his championship lead with an impressive 222 points.

This was the triple champion’s sixth win of the season and his 32nd in the sport. Vettel achieved his maiden victory five years ago for Toro Rosso.

As for Fernando Alonso, competing in front of the passionate Tifosi, the Ferrari driver won the battle for second position.

With the lead Red Bull out of reach from the start, the best Ferrari could hope for was the ‘best of the rest’ honours, which Alonso secured after a long battle with Mark Webber.

Both Red Bulls were ordered to short-shift to protect a potential gearbox issues in the closing moments of Italian Grand Prix, which halted Webber’s pursuit of Alonso and yet Vettel had enough in hand to ease off and still take the flag in style.

In further good news for Vettel, his championship contenders in the shape of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen were left fighting for minor points after some early incidents.

Vettel was threatened by both Webber and the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa into a busy first chicane, locking up his right-front tyre which caused his team a concern.

A beautifully judged move around the outside into the Roggia chicane on lap three took Alonso past Webber’s Red Bull for third, as they went wheel to wheel right through the complex, making only slight contact on the exit.

Massa then made life very easy for Alonso when he came to overtake for second, and the Spaniard was able to stabilise Vettel’s lead at six seconds.

But when Alonso tried a slightly divergent strategy by running four laps longer before his sole pitstop, Vettel’s lead increased to over 10 seconds.

Alonso came back out only just ahead of Webber, who had jumped Massa in the stops, and had several close calls in the closing laps as the Red Bull attacked, before claiming second.

Nico Hulkenberg lived up to his qualifying performance by settling his Sauber into fifth place.

He had Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes in often very close company all afternoon, but kept his compatriot at bay and finished just a few seconds behind Alonso, Webber and Massa after an outstanding weekend.

Raikkonen had to pit for a new front wing after bumping into Sergio Perez at the start, while an early slow puncture put Hamilton onto a two-stop strategy, hampered further by radio problems.

The recovering Lotus and Mercedes then ended up in the same place on track late on having an epic battle both with each other and the midfield traffic.

Daniel Ricciardo stayed just far enough ahead of late chargers Romain Grosjean and Hamilton to take seventh, while Jenson Button just denied Raikkonen a point.

Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez chased them home. Grosjean reached the end despite Paul di Resta’s Force India slamming into his Lotus at the Roggia on lap one, an impact that ended the Scot’s race.

Jean-Eric Vergne was another early retirement, having battled in the top ten before smoke erupted from the right-rear of his Toro Rosso.

So a fantastic result for Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel. Victorious for the sixth time this season. That championship is looking very good in favour of the dream team and driver combination now.

Italian Grand Prix, race results after 53 laps:

1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault           1h18m33.352
2.  Alonso         Ferrari                    +5.467
3.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault           + 6.350
4.  Massa          Ferrari                    +9.361
5.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari             +10.355
6.  Rosberg        Mercedes                   +10.999
7.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +32.329
8.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault              +33.130
9.  Hamilton       Mercedes                   +33.527
10.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes           +38.327
11.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault              +38.695
12.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes           +39.765
13.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari             +40.880
14.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault           +49.085
15.  Bottas         Williams-Renault           +56.827
16.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes       +1 lap
17.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes           +1 lap
18.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault           +1 lap
19.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth          +1 lap
20.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth          +1 lap

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:25.849

Not classified/retirements:
Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           35 laps
Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes         1 lap

World Championship standings, round 12:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        222
2.  Alonso        169
3.  Hamilton      141
4.  Raikkonen     134
5.  Webber        130
6.  Rosberg       104
7.  Massa          79
8.  Grosjean       57
9.  Button         48
10.  Di Resta       36
11.  Sutil          25
12.  Perez          18
13.  Ricciardo      18
14.  Hulkenberg     17
15.  Vergne         13
16.  Maldonado       1

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          352
2.  Ferrari                   248
3.  Mercedes                  245
4.  Lotus-Renault             191
5.  McLaren-Mercedes           66
6.  Force India-Mercedes       61
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         31
8.  Sauber-Ferrari             17
9.  Williams-Renault            1

Next race: Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay. September 20-22.

Sebastian Vettel achieved his 40th career pole position in Formula 1 with a dominant performance, as his rivals made a complete mess of the qualifying session.

Fernando Alonso could only managed fifth after another failed attempt in slipstreaming by Ferrari, while neither Lewis Hamilton nor Kimi Raikkonen made it into the top ten.

Mark Webber did however make it a Red Bull one-two, while an impressive effort from Nico Hulkenberg gave Sauber a shock third place on the Italian Grand Prix grid.

Ferrari had experimented with its drivers giving each other slipstreams in final practice, but its efforts to recreate that same strategy in Q3 fell apart.

The cars were never close enough to make the strategy work and appeared to end up spoiling each other’s laps. Felipe Massa eventually qualified in fourth place ahead of Alonso.

Webber looked to have a shot at displacing Vettel right at the end of Q3, but was first on the scene as Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso ploughed through the Parabolica gravel.

That left Vettel clearly on pole with a time of one minute, 23.755 seconds lap, two tenths quicker than his Red Bull team-mate.

As for Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 world champion admitted it was poor driving on his part – running wide on the exit of Parabolica – which meant a disappointing qualifying result.

Lotus appeared to be simply short of pace, with Raikkonen and team-mate Romain Grosjean only P11 and P13.

While they all under-performed, Hulkenberg starred with a Q3 lap just 0.037 seconds off Webber’s Red Bull and ahead of the Ferraris and Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes.

Toro Rosso got two cars into the top ten shootout, with Daniel Ricciardo seventh but Vergne’s mistake leaving him tenth.

The McLarens will start behind them, with Sergio Perez out-qualifying Jenson Button.

Force India looked in jeopardy of a Q1 exit until late improvements for both drivers, but there was little progress in Q2.

Post-qualifying, the race stewards handed a three-pace grid penalty for Adrian Sutil. The Force India driver had impended Lewis Hamilton’s run into Parabolica.

Paul di Resta ended up P16, just behind fellow late Q1 escapee Pastor Maldonado.

Rookies Esteban Gutierrez and Valtteri Bottas were ultimately the drivers who joined the Caterhams and Marussias at the back.

So a great result for Red Bull Racing. The team’s fifty pole in the sport, with the triple world champion scoring his fourth pole position of the year. Will we see the superb driver/team combo win again on Sunday? We shall see on one of the fastest tracks on the calendar and the final European race of the season.

Qualifying times from Monza:

1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m23.755s
2. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m23.968s
3. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari       1m24.065s
4. Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m24.132s
5. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m24.142s
6. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m24.192s
7. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m24.209s
8. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.502s
9. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m24.515s
10. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m28.050s
11. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m24.610s
12. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes             1m24.803s
13. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m24.848s
14. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m25.011s
15. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m25.077s
16. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari       1m25.226s
17. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes 1m24.932s*
18. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault     1m25.291s
19. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault     1m26.406s
20. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault     1m26.563s
21. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth    1m27.085s
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth    1m27.480s

107 per cent time: 1m30.221s

*Three-place penalty for impeding Lewis Hamilton

After the endless rumours on who will be the most likely driver to replace Mark Webber, the championship-winning team have officially confirmed Daniel Ricciardo to take over the role at Red Bull Racing.

The announcement was made on Red Bull’s Servus TV channel.

Ricciardo will now follow in the footsteps of his Australian compatriot Mark Webber, who is retiring from Formula 1 to compete in sport cars racing.

This is great opportunity for Daniel Ricciardo and he will make the switch from the sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, to the main hot seat alongside Sebastian Vettel in 2014.

By confirming Ricciardo, the team have ended the sport’s so-called silly season of possible drivers aiming for a drive at Red Bull. He headed off the challenges from Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso for the top honour.

“I feel very, very good at the moment and obviously there’s a lot of excitement running through me,” said Ricciardo.

“Since joining F1 in 2011, I hoped this would happen and over time the belief in me has grown; I had some good results and Red Bull has decided that this is it, so it’s a good time.”

“Next year I’ll be with a championship-winning team, arguably the best team, and will be expected to deliver. I’m ready for that. I’m not here to run around in tenth place, I want to get the best results for myself and the team. I would like to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to show what I can do.

“I know the team quite well already since being its reserve driver in 2010, which should make the transition easier. It will be a great challenge to be up against Sebastian Vettel, I’m looking forward to that. My aim is to finish this season as strong as possible, for myself and Scuderia Toro Rosso. Then, once the off-season is here, I’ll be fully focussed on next year and the next stage of my career.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “It’s fantastic to confirm Daniel as the team’s race driver for 2014.”

“He’s a very talented youngster, he’s committed, he’s got a great attitude and in the end it was a very logical choice for us to choose Daniel.”

“He joined the Red Bull Junior Team in 2008 and we’ve seen in his junior career in Formula Three and Renault World Series that he’s capable of winning races and championships. He’s stood out in each of these categories and we’ve followed his progress with great interest.

“He’s got all the attributes that are required to drive for our team: he’s got a great natural ability, he’s a good personality and a great guy to work with. Daniel knows what the team expects from him; he’ll learn quickly and it’s very much a medium to long term view that we’re taking in developing him. The seat within the team is a wonderful opportunity and I think he’s going to be a big star of the future.”

Kimi Raikkonen was in the running for the seat but in the end the team opted for Ricciardo, as Adrian Newey explained:

“We could have taken an experienced driver, somebody guaranteed to deliver to a relatively known level, or equally we could take on a much younger driver in the hope that they’ll develop to a very high level. We looked at the latter option and concluded that of the younger drivers, Daniel is the most promising.

“From Red Bull’s point of view that also fits well because the driver that Christian and I feel is the most promising is part of the Red Bull young driver programme.

“The decision actually reminded me a little bit of a similar situation we had when I was at Williams. Nigel Mansell was leaving and we needed someone alongside Alain Prost. We could stick with Riccardo Patrese or take a punt on a young driver called Damon Hill who was our test driver at the time. I think it’s good to bring young blood in and give promising drivers a chance.”

Best of luck Daniel in the new Formula 1 season. He deserved this opportunity and it will be fascinating to see if he can fight against his new team-mate Sebastian Vettel in equal cars.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel scored his 31st career victory with a dominant drive at Spa-Francorchamps.

This was Vettel and Red Bull Racing’s fifth win of the season and after taking the lead from pole sitter Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap, the triple champion just drove off into the distance to take the flag first.

Fernando Alonso finished in an excellent second. The Ferrari driver carved his way through from ninth on the grid to the runner-up spot and crucially, ahead of pole sitter Lewis Hamilton.

As for Kimi Raikkonen, his record-breaking run of 27 consecutive points finishing ended with a brake problem.

It took less than half a lap for Sebastian Vettel to claim control of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s Mercedes had stayed ahead through an uneventful start, but Vettel attacked immediately and overtook on the run to Les Combes.

That was the last time his rivals saw the leading Red Bull, as the world champion alternated between cruising to protect his car and going flat out by scoring fastest laps to prove how much he had in hand.

Alonso’s confidence in Ferrari’s race pace proved well-founded as an aggressive first lap took him straight up to fifth place.

Jenson Button’s McLaren and Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes were overtaken soon afterwards.

A later first pitstop brought Alonso right up behind Hamilton, who he then passed as the Mercedes slipped a touch wide at La Source.

Hamilton retaliated with DRS on the Kemmel Straight, yet Alonso was able to fend him off despite a vicious twitch under braking.

Button looked like he might have a say in the podium fight as he ran long and hinted at a one-stop strategy.

In the end he had to follow the two-stop trend, dropping him behind Hamilton, Rosberg and the slow-starting Mark Webber.

The Australian’s Red Bull showed great late pace having used hard tyres in the middle stint and softs at the end, the opposite strategy to most rivals, but ran out of speed when he came up behind the Mercedes.

Raikkonen looked set to finish adrift of this group even before a front brake issue forced him to retire his Lotus.

Felipe Massa resisted Romain Grosjean, the only successful one-stopper in the points, for seventh position.

Grosjean had an early brush with Sergio Perez in which the race stewards judged that the Lotus had been forced off the road at Les Combes.

That earned Perez a drive-through penalty, and with that late tyre wear on a one-stop, left the McLaren driver in P11 at the flag.

Qualifying sensation Paul di Resta faded from the start and was in a four-car battle outside the points when he was taken out at the Bus Stop by Pastor Maldonado.

Force India still scored some championship points thanks to Adrian Sutil’s ninth place.

Daniel Ricciardo overcame Toro Rosso’s qualifying miscue to come from P17 to tenth.

So not the most exciting Belgian Grand Prix, with Vettel taking the lead and disappearing into the distance. Formula 1 now heads to Monza, the final European race of the season. Can Ferrari strike back at their home track?

Belgian Grand Prix, after 44 laps:

1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault  1:23:42.196
2.  Alonso         Ferrari     +16.869
3.  Hamilton       Mercedes     +27.734
4.  Rosberg        Mercedes       +29.872
5.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault   +33.845
6.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes    +40.794
7.  Massa          Ferrari           +53.922
8.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        +55.846
9.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    +1:09.547
10.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     +1:13.470
11.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes       +1:21.936
12.  Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari     +1:26.740
13.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari         +1:28.258
14.  Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari         +1:40.436
15.  Bottas         Williams-Renault       +1:47.456
16.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault       +1 lap
17.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault       +1 lap
18.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth       +1 lap
19.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth      +1 lap

Fastest lap: Vettel 1m50.756s, set on lap 40.

Not classified/retirements:

Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes   26 laps
Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault                 25 laps
Pic           Caterham-Renault  8 laps

World Championship standings, round 11:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        197
2.  Alonso        151
3.  Hamilton      139
4.  Raikkonen     134
5.  Webber        115
6.  Rosberg        96
7.  Massa          67
8.  Grosjean       53
9.  Button         47
10.  Di Resta       36
11.  Sutil          25
12.  Perez          18
13.  Vergne         13
14.  Ricciardo      12
15.  Hulkenberg      7
16.  Maldonado       1

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          312
2.  Mercedes                  235
3.  Ferrari                   218
4.  Lotus-Renault             187
5.  McLaren-Mercedes           65
6.  Force India-Mercedes       61
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         25
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              7
9.  Williams-Renault            1

Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Monza. September 6-8.

Lewis Hamilton achieved his fourth successive pole position in a dramatic qualifying session at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

A rain shower at the beginning of Q3 gave the perfect opportunity for Paul di Resta, which resulted in provisional pole for Force India.

But as the circuit dried up, the Mercedes and Red Bulls blasted through to demote him down to fifth place.

Di Resta was the only driver to start Q3 on intermediates, and while the other nine slip and slide helplessly, before pitting again to abandon their slicks, the Force India flew to the top of the time sheets.

It seemed that no one would have a chance, although Nico Rosberg hinted at a challenge when he got within half a second of the Force India in much worse weather.

While di Resta pitted with pole apparently in the pocket, the rain eased completely, and those able to squeeze in a lap in the final moments of Q3 were back in pole contention.

It was Rosberg who first deposed the Force India, but he was quickly beaten by Mark Webber, then Hamilton.

Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel came through 0.2 seconds slower than Hamilton to claim P2, followed by his Red Bull team-mate Webber, Rosberg and di Resta.

As for Jenson Button, last year’s race winner put in an encouraging sixth for McLaren.

Lotus and Ferrari had to settle for rows four and five, with title contenders Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso back in eighth and ninth positions.

The biggest upset of the wet-but-drying first part of qualifying was Marussia duo Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton plus Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde all making it through to Q2.

The trio were the only drivers to try slicks at the end of Q1 and all jumped up the order, all the way to third in Van der Garde’s case!

As they progressed, the Williams, Toro Rosso and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez were knocked out due a more conservative tactics as they failed to reach Q2.

With Q2 dry, Van der Garde, Bianchi and Chilton lined up in P14 to P16 respectively.

That still means Caterham will share row seven with a McLaren, as Sergio Perez was the highest-profile driver to fall in Q2.

He starts behind the all-German row six pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil.

So an exciting qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, with Hamilton scoring his 31st career pole position in Formula 1. Can the Mercedes driver win? It’s going to be a fascinating race.

Qualifying positions, Spa-Francorchamps:

1.  Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes               2m01.012s
2.  Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull-Renault       2m01.200s
3.  Mark Webber         Red Bull-Renault       2m01.325s
4.  Nico Rosberg        Mercedes               2m02.251s
5.  Paul di Resta       Force India-Mercedes   2m02.332s
6.  Jenson Button       McLaren-Mercedes       2m03.075s
7.  Romain Grosjean     Lotus-Renault          2m03.081s
8.  Kimi Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault          2m03.390s
9.  Fernando Alonso     Ferrari                2m03.482s
10.  Felipe Massa        Ferrari                2m04.059s
11.  Nico Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari         1m49.088s
12.  Adrian Sutil        Force India-Mercedes     1m49.103s
13.  Sergio Perez        McLaren-Mercedes         1m49.304s
14.  Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault         1m52.036s
15.  Jules Bianchi       Marussia-Cosworth        1m52.563s
16.  Max Chilton         Marussia-Cosworth        1m52.762s
17.  Pastor Maldonado    Williams-Renault       2m03.072s
18.  Jean-Eric Vergne       Toro Rosso-Ferrari       2m03.300s
19.  Daniel Ricciardo    Toro Rosso-Ferrari        2m03.317s
20.  Valtteri Bottas        Williams-Renault         2m03.432s
21.  Esteban Gutierrez   Sauber-Ferrari         2m04.324s
22.  Charles Pic         Caterham-Renault    2m07.384s

107 per cent time: 2m08.603s

Lewis Hamilton scored his first victory for Mercedes thanks to an impressive drive at the Hungaroring.

The 2008 world champion pulled himself clear of a fraught race behind. Kimi Raikkonen fended off the championship leader Sebastian Vettel to the runner-up spot.

Mark Webber salvaged fourth for Red Bull while Romain Grosjean’s chances for race victory was spoiled by a drive-through penalty.

Hamilton’s initial battle was with qualifying rivals Vettel and Grosjean, after a thrilling opening lap in which slow-starter Vettel had to defend from the Lotus as Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg also tried to get involved.

The Red Bull was right on the gearbox of the leading Mercedes initially, but as the opening stint wore on, Hamilton was able to pull away, while Vettel came under pressure from Grosjean.

The crucial moment for Hamilton was when he emerged behind Jenson Button after his first pitstop.

Hamilton made the important pass, not so for Vettel. The defending champion couldn’t find a way by after making a pitstop too.

The McLaren and Red Bull made light contact, leaving Vettel concerned about his front wing and allowing Grosjean plenty of opportunity to attack, as Alonso closed in too.

It took until lap 24 for Vettel to finally pass Button, with Grosjean clashing with the McLaren as he tried to follow.

Both were able to continue, but the incident will be investigated post-race.

Grosjean still got a penalty though… Following his second pitstop, he boldly passed Felipe Massa’s Ferrari around the outside of the fast Turn 4.

But the race stewards adjudged that he had exceeded track limits in doing so and was given a drive-through penalty, dropping Grosjean out of contention.

By the time Vettel was clear of Button, Hamilton had a commanding advantage over the triple world champion that he would not lose.

The other Red Bull driver was not defeated yet, though. Webber ran a very long first stint on his medium tyres and spent a while in the lead.

On their slightly different sequences, Hamilton twice emerged right behind Webber after pitstops, and twice passed him on the outside of Turn 3, with Webber ending up taking to the run-off in the second move.

Those passes ensured Webber had no chance of delaying Hamilton’s progress as the Briton achieved Mercedes GP’s third victory of the 2013 season.

Meanwhile Raikkonen worked his way forward on a two-stop strategy, spending the early part of the Hungarian Grand Prix trapped behind Massa before bringing himself into contention.

His consistent pace meant that he emerged in second place as the final stops played out, with both Red Bulls behind him.

Vettel tried his utmost to pass Raikkonen in the closing laps and complained that the Finn was over-defensive in what turned out to be a decisive battle with two laps to the flag.

Webber tried to chase down the pair but had to settle for fourth, while Alonso fell away from the leaders and could only fend off Grosjean for fifth.

McLaren got both its cars in the points on two-stop strategies, with Button seventh and Sergio Perez ninth.

First-lap contact with Rosberg and a later brush with Adrian Sutil hampered Massa’s day and he finished eighth.

Rosberg tumbled down to P12 in his incident with the Ferrari. He recovered to ninth before a fiery late-race failure.

His retirement allowed Pastor Maldonado to end the Williams team’s points drought in tenth position.

So a fantastic result for Lewis Hamilton. His fourth victory at the Hungaroring and yet his first for the Mercedes. He becomes the first British driver to win for the Silver Arrows since Sir Stirling Moss back in 1955.

Formula 1 now heads into the summer break and it will be fascinating if the other teams can keep up this close competition as the racing resume at Spa-Francorchamps next month.

Race results from the Hungaroring after 70 laps:

1.  Hamilton       Mercedes    1:42:29.445
2.  Raikkonen      Lotus-Renault +10.938
3.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault +12.459
4.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault +18.044
5.  Alonso         Ferrari +31.411
6.  Grosjean       Lotus-Renault +32.295
7.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes +53.819
8.  Massa          Ferrari +56.447
9.  Perez          McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
10.  Maldonado      Williams-Renault +1 lap
11.  Hulkenberg     Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
12.  Vergne         Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
13.  Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
14.  van der Garde  Caterham-Renault +1 lap
15.  Pic            Caterham-Renault +1 lap
16.  Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
17.  Chilton        Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap

Retirement/non-finishes:

Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes +66 laps
Rosberg        Mercedes +64 laps
Bottas         Williams-Renault +42 laps
Gutierrez      Sauber-Ferrari +28 laps
Sutil          Force India-Mercedes +19 laps

World Championship standings, round 10:

Drivers:
1.  Vettel        172
2.  Raikkonen     136
3.  Alonso        133
4.  Hamilton      122
5.  Webber        105
6.  Rosberg        84
7.  Massa          61
8.  Grosjean       49
9.  Button         39
10.  Di Resta       36
11.  Sutil          23
12.  Perez          18
13.  Vergne         13
14.  Ricciardo      11
15.  Hulkenberg      7
16.  Maldonado       1

Constructors:
1.  Red Bull-Renault          277
2.  Mercedes                  206
3.  Ferrari                   194
4.  Lotus-Renault             185
5.  Force India-Mercedes       59
6.  McLaren-Mercedes           57
7.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         24
8.  Sauber-Ferrari              7
9.  Williams-Renault            1

Next race: Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps. August 23-25.