Race report
Formula 1
Alonso out as Button, Vettel big winners at Spa
GMM
Edited: Sep 2, 2012, 2:39 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Sep.2 (GMM) Jenson Button dominated the Belgian Grand Prix from pole, but Sebastian Vettel had an equally-big smile at Spa-Francorchamps.
Despite a poor qualifying, reigning champion Vettel's impressive run to second place on Sunday carved a huge chunk out of Fernando Alonso's championship lead.
The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, Ferrari is craned away after a crash at the start
Photo by: xpb.cc
After finishing every race of the season until now in the points, Ferrari's Spaniard Alonso was wiped out in a terrifying first corner crash caused by Romain Grosjean, which also claimed Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez.
"I wouldn't want to print the words I was thinking at the time," McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh told BBC One.
"Grosjean just kept coming, for Lewis and the others, it was a shame for all of them and us as race fans. It is not my business to say if a penalty should be awarded.
"If there's one positive," Whitmarsh continued, "it's that Lewis' main championship rival (Alonso) was taken out in the same crash."
But it is German Vettel who leaps teammate Mark Webber in the drivers' chase to become Alonso's closest challenger now, with the gap to the leading Ferrari shrinking from 42 to 24 points with eight races to go.
And following the early-week calls for Button to accept a 'number 2' role to back up his teammate Hamilton, the 2009 world champion has cut his big gap to Alonso from 88 to 63.
"It has not been an easy year for me," Button told Belgian legend Jacky Ickx on the podium. "We are going to enjoy this before we head to Monza and hopefully do the same."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Button dominates amid Spa carnage
Next article Toro Rosso score more points at Spa than the whole first half of the season
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
GMM
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Formula 1
Formula 1
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Formula 1
Formula 1
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Formula 1
Formula 1
Chinese GP
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton: Kimi Antonelli “deserves to be the champion”
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
8 h
Lewis Hamilton: Kimi Antonelli “deserves to be the champion”
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
16 h
Why it's now Oliver Bearman versus Rafael Camara for the next Ferrari vacancy
More from
Ferrari
F1 United States GP: Charles Leclerc completes perfect Friday by topping FP2
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
F1 United States GP: Charles Leclerc completes perfect Friday by topping FP2
Exploring Ferrari's 'less than a tenth' US GP update package
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Exploring Ferrari's 'less than a tenth' US GP update package
Latest news
No factory Honda bikes in Australian GP as Luca Marini withdraws due to virus
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
18 min
No factory Honda bikes in Australian GP as Luca Marini withdraws due to virus
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Sammy Smith earns first NASCAR Truck win in wild Talladega finish
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Talladega
1 h
Sammy Smith earns first NASCAR Truck win in wild Talladega finish
F1 United States GP: Charles Leclerc completes perfect Friday by topping FP2
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
F1 United States GP: Charles Leclerc completes perfect Friday by topping FP2
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe