Dominant Spa victory gives Vettel one hand on the title
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A fifth win of the season for Sebastian Vettel in the Belgian Grand Prix has seen the German consolidate his already substantial lead in the world championship.
The Red Bull man is a short 1/10 to win a fourth successive driver’s title after a convincing display at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
After taking the lead from Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap, the 26-year-old stormed to victory by a comfortable 16.8 seconds – one of the biggest winning margins this season.
Vettel’s recent history suggests he only gets stronger as the season goes on, and has dominated upcoming events in Korea, India and Japan in previous years.
Fernando Alonso is Vettel’s closest challenger in the standings, but the Spaniard is some 46 points behind the three-time champion.
Alonso drove well in Spa to climb from ninth to second at the chequered flag, but the Ferrari man hasn’t finished ahead of Vettel on the road since the Spanish Grand Prix six races ago and is 12/1 to claim a first world championship since 2006.
Lewis Hamilton took pole in Belgium, his fourth in succession, but the Brit couldn’t follow up his Hungary success and eventually crossed the line in Spa in third place.
The Mercedes man is 12/1 for a second world crown, but is still regarded by many as the most likely to challenge Vettel given the W04’s outright pace when the conditions suit.
Kimi Raikkonen went into the Belgian weekend second in the championship, but a first retirement for 27 races has seen him overhauled by Alonso and Hamilton.
After an opening round win in Australia, the Finn has struggled to produce race winning pace in his Lotus. Despite racking up a haul of podiums the 2007 world champion’s hopes are hanging by a thread and Raikkonen is now a massive 50/1 to win this year’s championship.
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