Spa bliss for Hamilton

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS • Lewis Hamilton may be 35, but the "faultless" Briton is not slowing down at all as he clinched yet another win at the Belgian Grand Prix yesterday.

The six-time world champion was victorious at Spa-Francorchamps in a Mercedes one-two with Valtteri Bottas, as Max Verstappen finished third for Red Bull.

The top three were in the same order throughout the whole race.

Hamilton's 89th career victory left him two wins short of former Ferrari great Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 91.

He told Sky F1's Martin Brundle: "It wasn't the easiest of races. I had a lock-up into Turn Five and then one into the last corner.

"It was a bit of a struggle. I was nervous... but we just keep our heads down. It's an incredible mentality to work around. I'm 35, going on 36, but I feel better than ever. I'm really grateful to the team."

The win stretched his lead at the top of the drivers' standings to a massive 47 points - nearly the equivalent of two race wins.

Bottas, who is third in the standings behind Hamilton and Verstappen, was 8.448 seconds behind his teammate. He said: "I just couldn't catch him on the straight. Lewis was faultless today."

Verstappen took his sixth consecutive podium finish this season.

"There wasn't much to do. I couldn't really keep up with the Mercedes," he told Brundle.

"I was catching up to Valtteri but they told him to speed up and I couldn't keep up."

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1hr 24min 08.761sec

2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes +8.448sec

3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull +15.455sec

4 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault +18.877sec *fastest lap

5 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Renault +40.650sec

6 Alex Albon (Tha) Red Bull +1 42.712sec

1 Hamilton 157pts

2 Verstappen 110

3 Bottas 107

4 Albon 48

5 Charles Leclerc 45

The race was largely incident-free with the exception of an early crash involving Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams' George Russell.

The Renault pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon were fourth and fifth, as Alex Albon finished sixth in the second Red Bull.

McLaren's Lando Norris, AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, and the two Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez rounded off the top 10.

Ferrari, winners in Belgium for the last two years, had no points this time round with Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finishing 13th and 14th respectively.

The Italian team's lack of speed was laid bare down the Spa track's long straights, with rivals picking them off with ease.

Their form even drew a shake of the head from Carlos Sainz, who is set to replace Vettel next season. The Spaniard did not start the race as his McLaren car suffered an exhaust failure.

As has been all season, there were no fans to witness the action. But the succession of behind closed door races this season is set to end as almost 3,000 fans will be allowed to attend the Sept 11-13 Tuscany Grand Prix at Mugello, the Italian circuit confirmed. The Ferrari-owned Mugello is where Hamilton can break Schumacher's mark at the earliest, with the Italian Grand Prix slated for Monza this weekend.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS