The 2010 Belgian Grand Prix (officially the 2010 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held before a crowd of 60,000 spectators at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium, on 29 August. It was the 13th round of the 2010 Formula One World Championship and the 55th Belgian Grand Prix held as part of the Formula One World Championship. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won the 44-lap race after starting from second position. Red Bull's Mark Webber was second ahead of Robert Kubica's third-placed Renault, his final podium in F1. It was Hamilton's third victory of the season and the 14th of his career.
Webber, who led the World Drivers' Championship with a four-point lead over Hamilton and his team Red Bull led the World Constructors' Championship, achieved the sixth pole position of his career by setting the fastest lap in qualifying but started slowly and immediately lost the lead to Hamilton. The Grand Prix was slowed by two safety car deployments due to a collision between the Williams car of Rubens Barrichello and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso on the first lap and another accident for Alonso on the 38th lap. Hamilton led throughout in variable weather, despite running into a gravel trap on lap 35, and finished 1.5 seconds ahead of Webber. Kubica took his last podium by finishing third after overshooting the entry to his pit lane box late in the race.
The result returned Hamilton to the top of the World Drivers' Championship standings with 182 championship points, three ahead of the previous leader Webber in second. Webber's teammate Vettel remained in third despite coming 15th after colliding with Button and sustaining a left-rear puncture from contact with Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India car. McLaren lowered Red Bull's World Constructors' Championship lead to one championship point with Ferrari third with six races left in the season.
Background
The 2010 Belgian Grand Prix was the 13th of the 19 events in the 2010 Formula One World Championship, and the 55th World Championship edition of the race. It was held at the 19-turn Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, located in Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium, on 29 August. Formula One tyre supplier Bridgestone brought the soft and medium dry compounds and the intermediate and full wet-weather tyres to the race. After the 2009 event, the tarmac run-off area at Les Combes chicane was expanded with three bumps (similar to those on the chicanes at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the Circuit de Catalunya and the Valencia Street Circuit) added to stop drivers sustaining damage to their cars if they ventured off the circuit. La Source turn had a larger area of artificial grass and a kerb installed at the corner to deter competitors from transgressing track limits.
After winning the preceding , Red Bull's Mark Webber led the World Drivers' Championship with 161 championship points, ahead of Lewis Hamilton of McLaren with 157 championshippoints and Webber's teammate Sebastian Vettel with 151 championship points. Hamilton's teammate Jenson Button was fourth with 147 championship points and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fifth with 141 championship points. With 312 championship points, Red Bull led the World Constructors' Championship followed by McLaren in second with 304 championship points and the third-placed Ferrari with 238 championship points. Mercedes were fourth with 132 championship points and Renault were fifth with 106 championship points.
The race was the first after a four-week gap between races that includes a mandatory two-week shut-down for all teams. Although he had reclaimed the World Drivers' Championship lead from Hamilton in Hungary, Webber said consistently finishing and reliability was an important factor in the final seven races, "You have to be mindful of the fact that you might not get anything out of it so you need to realise that four points is better than none and gambling." His teammate Vettel, the bookmakers' favourite for victory, said his title challenge would commence in Belgium following reliability issues and incidents losing him championship points in past events, "We have to focus on each and every race. With 20 races or 15 races there is probably more room for mistakes – but with seven to go every single races is probably more important." Hamilton said he was confident of better pace for the rest of the season and wanted to win at Spa-Francorchamps. His teammate Button believed the next two races would be consequential for the championship but said they would better suit his McLaren.
Some teams modified their cars for better efficiency on the track's straights. Ferrari introduced a new rear wing with less downforce on Felipe Massa's F10 car for qualifying and the race. The team also added a modified diffuser and floor to maximise the F10's performance within FIA compliance restricting the size of the car's lower surface to reduce the downforce generated. Red Bull altered the RB6's brake discs for extra ballast around the car and improved performance and McLaren installed a new front wing on Button's MP4-27 vehicle to improve airflow and downforce. Renault introduced a version of McLaren's F-duct tool to their R30 car activated by the driver's left hand and directed air to the main section of the rear wing instead of the flap. The team was impressed at the F-duct's performance during practice and retained the tool for the rest of the meeting. Williams introduced new front and rear wings for their FW32 cars and Force India added a new floor to their vehicles.
Having driven one of its cars since the three races earlier, Hispania Racing opted to retain Sakon Yamamoto in lieu of Karun Chandhok, whom the press anticipated would return to drive for the squad following the mid-season interval. Paul di Resta, Force India's reserve and test driver, did not enter the first practice session because the team wanted its race drivers Vitantonio Liuzzi and Adrian Sutil to become acclimatised with a revised aerodynamic bodywork.
Practice There were three practice sessions held in accordance with the 2010 regulations, two 90-minute sessions on Friday morning and afternoon and one 60-minute session on Saturday morning. Heavy rain fell on the circuit at about midnight before the first session. Although the track was wet, a decent level of grip was reported as some drivers aquaplaned when the rain briefly increased in intensity and lightning came approximately 50 minutes in; the rain abated with 20 minutes left. Alonso lapped fastest at 2:01.223 at mid-point before improving to a 2:00.797 late on. Hamilton, Renault's Robert Kubica, Vettel, Sutil, Button, Webber, Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber, Williams' Rubens Barrichello, and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher made up positions two through ten.
The second session commenced on a damp circuit which gradually dried up bar a small rain shower early on. Drivers used wet-weather tyres before switching to the dry compounds. Alonso led with the day's fastest lap, a 1:49.032, ahead of Sutil, Hamilton, Kubica, Massa, Vettel, Button, Pedro de la Rosa for Sauber, Barrichello and De la Rosa's teammate Kamui Kobayashi in positions two to ten. Due to the damp conditions, some drivers ventured off the track during the session. Liuzzi lost control under braking for Rivage chicane but was able to return to the pit lane for a new front wing. Virgin's Timo Glock lost control of his car on a white line and crashed sideways into the barrier at Liège corner. The session was stopped for ten minutes by the stewards for a safety hazard limiting dry track running. Children were reportedly climbing the catch fence on track grounds, forcing FIA race director Charlie Whiting to drive the safety car and do an inspection. While the session restarted with four minutes left, a malfunctioning red light delayed on-track action, requiring marshals to wave a green flag to resume proceedings.
More overnight rain showers made the track damp by the start of the final session but slick tyres were used after 20 minutes. Conditions remained dry enough for drivers to go faster until a downpour fell on the circuit with 15 minutes remaining and caught out some participants. With a 1:46.106 lap being almost three seconds quicker than Friday's best time, Webber led from Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Kubica, Alonso, Massa, Sutil, Williams' Nico Hülkenberg and Kobayashi. Vettel stopped his car at the pit lane entry with his car stuck in gear due to an air box fault prompting his team to instruct him to switch off the engine as a precaution. A group of marshals moved Vettel's car into the pit lane for retrieval by his team.
Qualifying Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was split into three parts. The first session ran for 20 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 18th or lower. The second session was 15 minutes long, eliminating cars that finished 11th to 17th. The final ten-minute session determined pole position to tenth. Cars in the final session were not allowed to change tyres before the start of the race, using the set with which they set their quickest lap times. Qualifying commenced in clear weather before rain showers fell on parts of the circuit, making the surface uneven and catching some drivers out. The rain soon abated and the circuit quickly dried up before light rain fell again at the third session's end.
Webber positioned himself for space and driving on the circuit at its driest, for his first pole position since the , his fifth of the season and the sixth of his career with a 1:45.778 lap set late in the third session. It was the 12th time in 13 races Red Bull had pole position. Webber was joined on the grid's front row by Hamilton whose first timed lap was on old soft tyres with his second on a new set of tyres before the rain fell. Kubica in third did not set a second timed lap in the final session because a fuel feed fault cut out his car entering the pit lane and requiring mechanics to push his car into the garage for the rest of qualifying. Errors on each of his third session laps left Vettel fourth. Button took fifth by saving a set of soft tyres despite losing time through an error at La Source turn and being circumspect at Fagnes corner. Massa, sixth, altered his rear wing for better straightline speed but had less grip in the turns halfway through the lap. Barrichello qualified seventh for his 300th Grand Prix on the hard compound tyre having depleted his soft tyre allocation in the first two sessions. Sutil, eighth, had one timed lap on one set of soft compound tyres and Hülkenberg in ninth was on worn soft tyres.