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Formula One
F1: Hamilton Reigns In Belgium
Lewis Hamilton scored a commanding triumph Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps...
Jared Turner  |  Posted August 29, 2010   Francorchamps (BEL)
Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win in the Belgian Grand Prix. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
The battle for the 2010 Formula One World Championship is suddenly looking like a two-horse race.

LINK > RACE RESULTS: BELGIAN GRAND PRIX – SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
LINK > POINTS STANDINGS: BELGIAN GRAND PRIX – SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

Lewis Hamilton, the championship runner-up entering Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, survived a late off-track excursion and safety-car period to notch a huge victory Sunday at rainy Spa-Francorchamps.

"At the end it was just about nursing the car and bringing it home in one piece," Hamilton said.

Mark Webber, the leader coming into Spa, rallied from an awful start from the pole to finish second and leave Belgium three points behind Hamilton with six races to go.

Robert Kubica, Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil rounded out the top five.

Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Kamui Kobayashi, Vitaly Petrov and Jaime Alguersuari filled out the top 10.

As for Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso - all within 20 points of the lead when the day began, their title hopes took a tremendous blow at the famous Belgian circuit.

Alonso's trouble began with an opening lap collision with Rubens Barrichello and ended with a crash on lap 38 of 44.

The Spaniard remained fifth in the standings but is now 41 points out of the lead.

The outcome was equally dire for Vettel and Button, whose fortunes were notably linked.

Running second and third, respectively, on lap 17, the two tangled when Vettel lost control of his Red Bull on a wet track and slammed hard into the left side of Button's McLaren.

Button, who had been teammate Hamilton's closest pursuer for most of the race, suffered heavy damage and retired in 22nd-place.

"Sebastian drove into the side of me," said defending World Champion Button, who remained fourth in the standings but trails Hamilton by 35 points leaving Spa. "I don't know what happened. A very strange incident."

Vettel continued with minimal damage after pitting for tires but was slapped with a drive-through penalty for wrecking Button.

The Red Bull driver's situation only grew worse from there, later cutting down a tire from contact with Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Vettel remained third in the standings but is now 31 points out of the lead.
Lewis Hamilton was victorious in Belgium. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

While Hamilton avoided the calamities many of his title challengers experienced, his third win of 2010 and first at Spa wasn't bereft of drama.

The 2008 World Champion was leading comfortably when he ran wide through the gravel, nearly missing the wall, after locking up his wheels in Turn 8 with 10 laps to go.

"The Lord definitely had his hand over me there because I was able to get away with it," said Hamilton, who entered Spa four points behind Webber.

Hamilton managed to hold onto the lead through his miscue and hold off Webber when the race resumed after an unrelated safety-car period set up a four-lap dash to the finish.

Despite losing the points lead, Webber was pleased to finish second after tumbling all the way to seventh when his car sputtered at the beginning of the race.

"These days it's very, very easy to come away with nothing with a small mistake from anybody," Webber said.

The Formula One circuit returns to action at Monza in two weeks for the Italian Grand Prix.

LINK > RACE RESULTS: BELGIAN GRAND PRIX – SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
LINK > POINTS STANDINGS: BELGIAN GRAND PRIX – SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

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