Sebastian Vettel took a step closer to his fourth World Championship title by scoring a dominant win in Belgium.
Vettel dragged past pole man Lewis Hamilton on the straight after Eau Rouge on the first lap, and thereafter was never under threat. He now has a 46 point advantage over his nearest rival, Fernando Alonso.
“Obviously very difficult around here to plan your start because first of all you need to have a good launch off the line and then there’s a long straight coming,” he said. “I tried my best to line up behind Lewis and basically benefit from a massive tow through Eau Rouge.
“I think especially in the opening lap when the tyres are not yet completely there and the fuel tank is full, Obviously the cars are quite heavy up the hill and produce a lot of drag and I was able, in the tow, to make up a lot of speed, and when I got side by side I had a lot of advantage over Lewis and was able to get straight ahead.
“So, yeah, it worked very well, what I was trying to, let’s say, plan at the exit of turn two. And after that I just tried to settle into the rhythm. I tried to open a gap to be flexible at the first stop and yeah, until the end we had incredible pace. We didn’t expect that.
“We knew, probably, going in that, in the dry, we should be able to beat Mercedes on the track but we knew other cars – Lotus, Ferrari – they looked very competitive in the dry, so in that regard we had massive pace, and could control the race until the end.”
Despite extending his lead Vettel insisted that he wasn’t yet thinking about the World Championship.
“For sure a positive message today, but I’m honestly more happy to win the race today: it’s a fantastic track and especially when the car works well, you don’t want the race to stop. The car is getting lighter and lighter and I was very comfortable at the end on the Primes. The car, as I said, was just a pleasure to drive.
“I didn’t think about the championship or points. Obviously I know the higher up you finish the better it is: ideally ahead of everyone else, which worked today. We’ve had good races here in the past, so it’s nice to have another one, another great memory today. So, that’s what honestly I was focussing on most. For sure, regarding the championship, it’s a bonus.”
Adam Cooper F1 