The Mercedes crew applaud Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg following the team’s seventh one-two of the season.
Stats
Another Ayrton Senna record equalled
Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Belgian Grand Prix now gives him as many podium finishes as Ayrton Senna. Hamilton racked up 80 podiums in 159 starts – it took Senna 158 races to achieve as many.
Only one driver on the grid today has more podiums than Hamilton: Fernando Alonso, with 97. Further ahead of them on the ‘most podiums’ list are Alain Prost (106) and Michael Schumacher (155).
Ferrari’s 900th Race
Vettel was looking good to increasing his current 21 race streak of point finishes when his right-rear tyre failed on the penultimate lap. This run has ended six races shy of the record held by his team mate Kimi Raikkonen. This also means only the Mercedes drivers have now completed every racing lap this year.
Vettel’s 150th grand prix and Ferrari’s 900th therefore ended in disappointment. Raikkonen could only manage seventh place – the lowest finishing place he has recorded in a Belgian Grand Prix where he was still running at the end.
However Vettel remains the only non-Mercedes driver to have finished on the podium more than once this year. Romain Grosjean inherited his third place, giving him and Lotus their first podium since the 2013 United States Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari.
Despite starting on the back row of the grid the McLaren pair got away well, leading Max Verstappen, Felipe Nasr, Will Stevens, Kimi Raikkonen and Roberto Merhi up the hill from Eau Rouge.