Damage to Ricciardopublished at 14:17 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Daniel Ricciardo also has massive damage. The fact the safety car is still out could be the only saving grace for the Red Bull man.
Summary
Vettel wins after taking lead from Hamilton on first lap, Hamilton 2nd
Alonso crashes heavily after being launched into air
Alonso, Hulkenberg, Leclerc, Raikkonen, Ricciardo out
Damage to Ricciardopublished at 14:17 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Raikkonen puncturepublished at 14:15 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Kimi Raikkonen has been caught up in that opening lap carnage with a puncture. He manages to limp back into the pits and he may well be able to continue.
Safety carpublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
That Alonso incident has brought out a first lap safety car. Wow! What a start.
Vettel leadspublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Going into the Kemmel Straight Hamilton had the lead, but Ferrari had been faster in dry conditions and Vettel gets past the championship leader.
Image source, Getty ImagesBig crash for Alonsopublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Fernando Alonso's last ever Belgian Grand Prix ends in disaster. A huge crash in the opening lap. Nico Hulkenberg rams into the back of Fernando Alonso, and the Spaniard goes airborne, straight over the top of Charles Leclerc. Wow.
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End of twitter postGo! Go! Go!published at 14:13 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Postpublished at 14:13 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Ready?
Driver market update...published at 14:13 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in spaThere’s lots of chat about the driver market this weekend. The big issue is the obvious desire of new Force India owner Lawrence Stroll to get his son Lance into the car he now runs. But there are lots of complications. Stroll would get Esteban Ocon’s seat. But Ocon is a Mercedes-contracted driver, the team use Mercedes engines and Stroll and Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff are close. So a solution has to be found for Ocon. But is there one?
Mercedes are trying to get him into McLaren, but McLaren don’t want him if he is on a piece of string to Mercedes. Williams seems not to be an option as a straight swap because it is said that reserve driver Robert Kubica’s contract dictates that he gets a race seat if one of the two drivers goes. Unless Stroll pays Kubica off, maybe. Sauber? Haas? Next year, potentially, but not this.
Meanwhile, what happens for 2019? Do Sauber keep Marcus Ericsson? There is apparently a plan from one quarter to get rid of him, but the team’s main owner Fin Rausing bankrolls the Swede. Charles Leclerc is expected to be promoted to Haas from Sauber, with Kimi Raikkonen keeping his Ferrari seat for yet another year. Romain Grosjean is expected to make way, but is Kevin Magnussen safe?
Stoffel Vandoorne is looking vulnerable at McLaren, where their reserve driver Formula 2 front-runner Lando Norris is a strong candidate for promotion. Could Vandoorne find a seat at Sauber? Or even Toro Rosso, where Pierre Gasly’s seat is now vacant for next year and Brendon Hartley is far from secure. There is lots to happen over the coming weeks.
Image source, Getty ImagesRicciardo's move to Renault for 2019published at 14:12 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Alain Prost talking to BBC Sport: "In this situation Ricciardo went to the factory wanting something different. He knows exactly where we are (at Renault), he knows we aren't at the top and he has to be patient. He thought 'do I want to continue like this and be a number two driver or do I want to do better and get the result of my work...?'
Image source, Getty ImagesPostpublished at 14:10 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
And they are under way for the formation lap...
Mixed up gridpublished at 14:09 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentatorI'm really excited to see the battle between the one-two. Raikkonen and the Red Bulls are out of position, so a mixed up grid is always an interesting thing.
Weather watchpublished at 14:09 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
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End of twitter post'Exciting racing'published at 14:09 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 liveThe Red Bulls were the ones who were always clinging onto the Ferrari and Mercedes, but they've dropped off since. There's a lot of work for them to do so hopefully it'll give us some exciting racing at the start today.
'We had to make quick decisions'published at 14:09 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal of Force India speaking to Jennie Gow: "We had a little but of luck yesterday, the weather was changing quickly and the rain came, so we had to make some quick decisions, and we did well.
"We hope we can continue today... This doesn't happen everyday. The team were worried about losing their jobs and they all worked really had for the last three weeks over the summer break."
get involved Get Involved #bbcf1published at 14:08 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
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End of twitter postWe're all jealous...
Looking good...published at 14:07 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
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End of twitter postThe gridpublished at 14:07 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Just a reminder, this is how they are set to start.
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Esteban Ocon (Force India)
- Sergio Perez (Force India)
- Romain Grosjean (Haas)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
- Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
- Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
- Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
- Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
- Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
- Lance Stroll (Williams)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
- Carlos Sainz (Renault)
- Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
Flip flop, flip flop...published at 14:06 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Jennie Gow
BBC Radio 5 live pit-lane reporterVettel led the way in Australia and Bahrain, and then it flipped and Hamilton led for three races, and then it flicked between the two up until Hockenheim… flip flop, flip flop.
We have two Force Indias on the second row. - At the beginning of the week we didn't even know if they would be racing this weekend, so it's good to see.
Ricciardo to show Red Bull what they will be missing?published at 14:05 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
A good chance for the Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo to show Red Bull what they will be missing next season.
Image source, .'Hamilton pulled it out of the bag'published at 14:04 British Summer Time 26 August 2018
Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 liveIt’s very close, the competition of F1 is the highest it gets in motorsport this is the pinnacle - every mistake gets noticed. In Hockenheim, Vettel slithered off in the wet, but then Hamilton pulled it out of the bag yesterday.
Spa is a legendary track and there’s some legendary corners around here. Eau Rouge - drivers will be flat out especially with the down force of these cars. Coming down the hill with a steep right at the bottom, like a chicane but at 200mph. It takes a lot of bravery especially earlier on.