Vettel wins Belgian GP and extends his overall lead

Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel ran away with the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday to stretch his overall lead to 46 points with eight races remaining.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, now his closest rival, finished second - a hefty 16.8 seconds behind - after starting ninth. Red Bull’s Vettel has 197 points after the German’s fifth win of the season, Alonso is on 151.

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole position for the fourth race in a row, took a distant third place for Mercedes ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg and moved up to third overall on 139.

Kimi Raikkonen’s run of 27 successive races in the points came to an end with the first retirement since his comeback last year. The Finn had started the day second in the championship but fell to fourth overall with 134 points.

- (REUTERS)