Lewis Hamilton won his third race of the year in Spa by beating Mark Webber, Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa to the checkered flag and thereby taking back the lead in the drivers’ championship.

The race that marked the 300 th F1 race for Rubens Barrichello turned out to be eventful as race rain started pouring down as early as the first lap causing problems  for many drivers.

One of them was Barrichello, who got the breaking zone horribly wrong and crashed into Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. The impact was enough to tear a wheel off the Williams, ending Barrichello’s  race, but Alonso astonishingly was able to keep going.

However, the excitement  started moments earlier when Webber struggled with his gears from the get-go, giving Hamilton the lead. Webber moved down to sixth.  On lap 16 Vettel (3rd) tried to pass Button at the chicane, lost control of his car and ploughed into the side of the McLaren. Miraculously Vettel was able to continue while Buttons race was over.

Hamilton controlled the pace of the race in the front while the Mercedes drivers, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher fought their way through the field.

Unlucky Fernando Alonso, after fighting back from way back, ran too high on the kerb on lap 37 and spun into the barrier. With ten laps to go the rain hit again and all commotion broke loose, Hamilton almost lost control of his car as he kissed the barriers around a corner. Luckely he survived, regained composure and continued. 

Hamilton held his lead over Webber and Kubica to the flag – the McLaren driver finally claiming the win, while Webber was the only other driver in the top five of the championship to score points.

Massa had a quiet run to fourth, with Adrian Sutil less than a second behind him at the flag.

Top 10:
 
Hamilton
Webber
Kubica
Massa
Sutil
Rosberg
Schumacher
Kobayashi
Petrov
Alguersuari

Drivers’ Championship Top Three
 
Hamilton 182
Webber 179
Vettel 151
 
Constructors’ Top Three
 
Red Bull 330
McLaren 329
Ferrari 250