2018 F1 Round 13 Belgian Grand Prix – Vettel wins, five retire after first-lap crash

The 2018 Belgian Grand Prix ran for 44 laps in dry conditions. Vettel started second and overtook pole-sitter Hamilton on the Kemmel Straight, then controlled the pace to take the chequered flag in 1:23:34.476. It was his third victory at Spa.

Hamilton finished second, 11.061 seconds behind, while Verstappen took third in front of the Dutch fans close to his home country. Bottas was fourth, 68.605 seconds adrift. He received a five-second penalty for a collision with Sirotkin during the race and remained fourth in the official final classification.

A serious chain-reaction accident occurred on the opening lap. Hulkenberg misjudged his braking and hit Alonso, whose car was launched into the air and made contact with Leclerc. Hulkenberg, Alonso and Leclerc all retired without completing a lap. The Halo helped reduce the risk of an impact reaching Leclerc’s cockpit.

The accident also damaged several other cars. Ricciardo subsequently retired after completing 28 laps and Räikkönen after eight, bringing the total number of non-finishers to five. Racing continued after the track was cleared and the Grand Prix ran its full distance, with classified finishers recorded according to their official lap totals.

The newly formed Racing Point Force India finished fifth with Pérez and sixth with Ocon. Both cars in the top six brought important points in the team’s first race after its reorganisation. Force India had been bought while in administration, with the existing personnel and cars continuing to compete. The new entity’s season record began with this event.

Toro Rosso scored two points through Gasly in ninth, while Hartley finished fourteenth. Gasly converted his weekend performance into points with a steady pace. Haas took seventh with Grosjean and eighth with Magnussen, while Sauber’s Ericsson claimed the final point in tenth. Comparisons of practice lap times must account for tyres, fuel loads and track evolution, with qualifying and race pace assessed separately. The full order remains governed by the official F1 timing classification.

Pre-race power-unit penalties changed the starting positions of several drivers. Hulkenberg started towards the rear and was held responsible for the first-lap accident. This article’s results table follows the official final race classification for positions, completed laps, finishing times and retirement status. Qualifying results and starting-grid positions are treated as distinct information.

The official F1 race classification recorded Vettel as the winner, with Hamilton second and Verstappen third. Pérez and Ocon finished fifth and sixth, and Gasly was ninth. The table below records the final classification and points for all 20 drivers, retaining the NC designation for the five non-finishers.