Hamilton, Mercedes Falter at Belgium

The tire wear problem that dogged the Mercedes-Benz factory team for the first half of the season is no longer a problem. Their car, however, lacks the speed it once had.

Hamilton stole the show in Saturday qualifying, waiting until the last possible moment to bag pole position for Sunday’s race. But on the day when points are scored, Red Bull Racing outclassed Mercedes and Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel won Sunday’s Belgium Grand Prix in dominant fashion.

A good clean getaway by Hamilton did the Brit no favors. Vettel and his RB9 chassis stuck behind the W04 of Hamilton on the opening lap. Two turns later, at the bottom of Eau Rouge, Vettel’s car had better traction and carried more speed through to the top of the hill.

Vettel’s Red Bull displayed an uncharacteristic amount of top end speed and by the end the the Kimmel Straight, the race for first place was decided.

Hamilton was later passed by Alonso at La Source hairpin when he carried too much speed into the corner and ran wide of the apex.

Teammate Nico Rosberg had an equally marginal race starting from 4th on the grid and finishing 4th.

With the win,Vettel is 58 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the championship.

Italy is up next, the home race for Ferrari and the Tifosi will be out in force cheering for their man, Alonso. Hamilton won the race a year ago, but, at this point, it’s hard to bet against Vettel and Red Bull.