So all the drama came at the start with one of the most spectacular crashes of the season so far and Sebastian Vettel sprinting past Lewis Hamilton on the opening lap.

And that is how it finished with Vettel winning and Hamilton coming second with Max Verstappen delighting his home fans to take third.

That is that for today's live page but you don't have to wait long for the next one.

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is next week and we will have live pages and commentary for the opening two practice sessions on Friday, practice session three and qualifying on Saturday and then the race on Sunday.

Hope you can join us again for that. Bye for now.

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Image source, Reuters

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Spa

Image source, Rex Features

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel beat title rival Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix to cut his lead to 17 points.

Vettel passed Hamilton on the first lap just in time before a safety car was deployed following a multi-car crash at the first corner, and dominated thereafter.

Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg and Charles Leclerc were uninjured after the German rammed Alonso's McLaren and launched it over Leclerc's Sauber.

Hulkenberg received a 10-place grid penalty at the next race for the incident.

And here's Daniel Ricciardo: "Yeah I hit Kimi, I think it was from Alonso. I felt someone hit me going into turn one, and then I remember sliding and then the next minute I hit the back of Kimi on the exit. It all happened so quick and I don't know who caused it. If it was related to me, I hit him but someone else hit me.

"The mechanics tried to get the rear wing fixed, they did all they could. We were trying but we had been lapped a few times and then we packed it up. The car still had damage. We came through the field but couldn't do it. Just a bad Sunday I guess.

"We will wait until we get to Monza but I think I might have some penalties for that."

Image source, EPA

Hulkenberg wiped out Leclerc, Alonso and caused damage to Raikkonen and Ricciardo, who both later withdrew because of the damage.

Here is what Kimi Raikkonen said: "Someone hit me on the rear, I had to go around the lap with a flat tyre, and then it ended it up being that bad the DRS wouldn't work. Today is a bad result."

And here is the man in question...

Nico Hulkenberg tells Sky Sports: "I just got caught out with a couple of things, and the grip level. It’s incredible this year on lap one how much down force you lose with that many cars around you, and then all of a sudden you just smash. It was nasty, and it cost me my race and theirs, but I accept that.

"There was a lot of things happening, normally I keep my nose clean but today it went wrong quite badly, nobody does these things intentionally but sometimes it happens."

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Nico Hulkenberg was to blame for the opening lap carnage and that has damaged his hopes of getting some points in Italy next week, with him picking up a 10-place grid penalty for Monza.

Bottas has also been given a five-second penalty for hitting Sirotkin, but does not affect the Finn's fourth place.

Lewis Hamilton, who came second today spoke to Sky Sports and said: "I came out of Turn One and Seb had the perfect gap going into Eau Rouge and there wasn’t anything I could do to stop him. He sailed past me like I wasn’t even there.

"Then at the restart and I was hoping we could turn it around but he was rapid after the corner and then he was miles ahead and I couldn’t catch him. They just blitzed us today, I don’t really know what we can do, just keep working and naturally in our low speed area we can improve.

"Seb did a great job today he was solid and made no mistakes."

Image source, Rex Features

Some more quotes from race-winner Sebastian Vettel, who tells Sky Sports: "I think it’s always a combination, yesterday was a funny ending to qualifying. Nevertheless, we fought today. I was very happy with the start in Turn One and we had a new engine this weekend which gave us more power and boost down the straights. It's good to see that it works and there was only a couple of seconds between us.

"Our pit stop was great, it felt so quick – I thought 'green already', I had to check that nobody was waving at me as I left. A second and a half slower and it could’ve changed the outcome of the race, so its crucial.

"I think we have a good car that seems to work everywhere, I don’t think it did at the beginning of the race today, but we are competitive and we got there with it. I hope it helps in Monza to boost the race and I hope it helps it to stay on the calendar because I heard some rumours, and it's special for Ferrari as our home race.

"We had our deficits last year, but we are missing out on the tracks where the car needs to be more efficient, like here and Silverstone, but this year the car seems to be more robust, and the power unit, but the key is to have a car which works everywhere."

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Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso, who finished ninth, tells Sky Sports: "It was really good, we all struggled on this track and to finish the weekend with two points is good. It was really close with Daniel, I didn’t see it at the time, but I was alongside him and managed to get away and finish the race in P9.

"We didn’t really expect to fight with them (Haas and Sauber), we knew we would struggle on the straights, with the supersofts I stayed close to Magnussen but with the softs he managed to pull way.

"I think everything is getting better with the car, with driveability, we just need to get that extra performance. Next weekend will be a tough one for us, but looking at this weekend we did well. I know we will have a couple of more good results before the end of the season but to score points here is really good for the team."

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Force India's Esteban Ocon who finished sixth speaking to Sky Sports: "I had a good start and got on the inside next to Seb, but I lost a place to Sergio (Perez) - maybe I was over confident in trying to taking the lead from him, but I was lacking the slipstream. I will review what I can do differently, but it was good. I went on the brakes early to be safe and Sergio had the perfect spot to stay ahead.

When asked on recent events within the team: "It is just a new name, the team is totally the same. We scored a lot of points today which is fantastic and I think we are eighth and it's great to get those points. The pace we have with the car is good, and if we can continue like this, we will be happy. I hope we can fight for those positions in Monza next week."

When asked on his future in F1: "I don't know what's going to happen, all I know is that I'm racing here this year. I'm going to the simulator tomorrow at HQ at Silverstone to prepare for next week, and I'm just preparing for each race as it comes.

"I don't know what is going to happen next year, but I hope teams can keep me in mind for F1 next year. I'm enjoying every single moment, you never know what can happen in this world."

Image source, Rex Features

Sebastian Vettel's win in Spa was his third here, the same number as Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio, but three short of Michael Schumacher's six victories in Belgium.

It is a track Ferrari like, with this being their 17th success, more than any other team. McLaren are second with 14 successes, while Mercedes have only won at Spa four times.

Force India's Sergio Perez who finished fifth ahead of his team-mate Esteban Ocon, tells Sky Sports: "You see the other drivers really close to you, and you think you might have a chance to overtake but realistically, I was fighting for the position with Esteban and with everyone else. It worked well for me this time and for the rest of the race."

"It's definitely a great start (to the updated team) especially after all the trouble we had over the summer break. I want everyone in the team to feel proud of everything we have achieved for now."

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Max Verstappen, who came third, tells Sky Sports: "It was good. After Turn One I just had to be focused on how to get past those guys, we shouldn't be there to start with.

"Compared to a Force India, how difficult it is to get past those guys on the straight is disappointing and we tried to make the best of it.

"It's great to see how many people come to the grand prix, it gave me goosebumps."

(On team-mate Daniel Ricciardo leaving) "We always had equal material and still have, and we try to have the best result as a team. Everyone knows Daniel is leaving but we want two cars in the points."

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1. Hamilton 231
2. Vettel 214
3. Raikkonen 146
4. Bottas 144
5. Verstappen 120
6. Ricciardo 118
7. Hulkenberg 52
8. Magnussen 49
9. Alonso 44
10. Perez 40
11. Ocon 37
12. Sainz 30
13. Gasly 28
14. Grosjean 23
15. Leclerc 13
16. Vandoorne 8
17. Ericsson 6
18. Stroll 4
19. Hartley 2
20. Sirotkin 0

This is how it stands at the top of the drivers' championship. Lewis Hamilton started the day with a 24-point advantage, but that has now dropped down to 17.

Image source, .

Marcus Ericsson, who came 10th to take his season total to six points, tells Sky Sports: "It was a pretty good race, had a good first lap and stayed out of all the problem at the start I had some fun fights with a Williams and then a Toro Rosso.

"We had some good fights, if you overtake and they get the DRS it is easy for them to overtake back. Brendon is a good friend from back in the day so fun to fight with him.

"Monza is a track that should suit us well. We go there with expectations."

Nico Hulkenberg, who crashed with Alonso and Leclerc in the first corner, tells Sky Sports: "No, there was no problem, it was just a mistake. I'm forever finding out how sensitive these cars are.

"I locked up the front wheels and then slid into Fernando. It was a misjudgment on my behalf and I was too slow on the brakes and then hit him.

"I didn't see if it affected Daniel (Ricciardo) and Kimi (Raikkonen), we all have to go to stewards at 17:30 (16:30 BST), so we will see what happens then."

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Charles Leclerc, who was lucky to avoid injury when Fernando Alonso crashed over the top of him on lap one, told Sky Sports: "The Halo probably helped today, it is very unfortunate the potential for the race was big and it was a shame to finish like that.

"Our pace was strong. I don't know if it was a problem for him (Hulkenberg, who caused the crash) or a mistake, but for sure it was too much."

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Win number five of 2018 for Sebastian Vettel. And listen to that moment again here.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes team boss: "Sometimes you need to stay humble. P2 is a good position and we had both cars finish, unlike Kimi at Ferrari. But it is still a deflating feeling, our car wasn't quick enough overall, you can see plenty of deficit and that's hard for us. Lewis was swallowed up on the straight.

"We are lacking traction, we are not where we should be, we were blistering the tyres and I don't see many positives from today."