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Last season info Spa Francorchamps
After leading throughout the Belgian F1 race and beating Red Bull's Mark Webber by 1.5 seconds, Lewis Hamilton had moved back into the Championship lead by winning the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix. Mark Webber started from pole position at Spa-Francorchamps, although the Red Bull driver suffered a terrible getaway. Hamilton really wanted to add Spa-Francorchamps F1 circuit to the list of places where he has been victorious and stormed into the lead. Webber made a slow start due to a clutch problem and was quickly overtaken by Robert Kubica, Button, Vettel, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Force India's Adrian Sutil. Button soon fought his way up to second and for a while a McLaren one-two was a clear possibility. On lap 16 Vettel simply came too close to Button; he lost control under braking for the chicane and then speared into the side of the McLaren. Button was out on the spot, but Vettel crossed over into the pits for a new nose and resumed in 12th place. However, he was given a drive-through penalty for causing the accident and was out of the picture after that. With just over 10 laps to go in the Belgian Formula 1, another rain shower looked to be throwing one last roll of the Spa F1 dice before the end of the Belgian Grand Prix race. Kubica climbed to second place ahead of Webber during the first tire stops, by which time the track was completely dry again. When the rain came back Hamilton chose not to pit immediately and the decision looked to have proven catastrophic as he ran into the Rivage Hairpin gravel trap on Lap 35. And On a day where title rivals Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso all failed to score, Hamilton took his Spa F1 chance to retake the World Championship lead with 182 points to Webber's 179.
Winner+Pole position+Fastest lap last season
2010 Winner: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
Pole Position: Mark Webber (Red Bull)
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
Historic info Spa Franchorchamps
The 1st Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix was hosted in 1950 and at the time there were many complaints from drivers about the very fast and unsafe Spa Francorchamps F1 circuit. After some lethal accidents in 1960 there were serious demands for the circuit to enhance safety on the track. The 1970 Belgian Grand Prix would be the last Formula 1 race on the track. After the Spa Francorchamps circuit was shortened to 7 km and more curves were added in 1979, the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix returned to Spa in 1983.
World Champion Michael Schumacher made his debut at Spa in 1991 and won his first F1 race there in 1992. The German won his 52nd Grand Prix at Spa in 2001 and surpassed Alain Prost's all-time record of 51 wins. Schumacher also won his seventh World Drivers' Championship title at Spa in 2004. There was no Belgian Grand Prix in 2003 because of the country's tobacco advertising laws but it returned to the schedule again in 2004.
Another notable race was the 1998 Belgian Grand Prix which took place in torrential conditions. The race was originally stopped after a massive accident involving 13 of the 22 runners at the first corner. The heavy rain caused bad visibility, and Michael Schumacher ran into the back of David Coulthard. It became an event that angered Schumacher so much that he attempted to threateningly confront Coulthard in the McLaren garage. Only eight drivers were classified finishers (two of whom were five laps behind, one of whom was Coulthard) and Damon Hill secured a memorable victory ahead of team mate Ralf Schumacher to record the previously underperforming Jordan team's first Formula One win in its history, and a 1-2 to top it off
Listings of past winners (last 10 years)
2010 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
2009 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
2008 Felipe Massa Ferrari
2007 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
2005 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
2004 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
2002 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2001 Michael Schumacher Ferrari
2000 Mika Häkkinen McLaren-Mercedes
1999 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes
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