As I wrote yesterday, Spa never fails to produce surprises.
But, unlike the events of yesterday where the likes of Marussia and Giedo van der Garde starred, today’s surprise was that, contrary to what had been forecasted, it didn’t rain once.
A race that had promised so much therefore turned into something of a procession, with Vettel taking a dominant win.
But who should be The Checkered Flag’s driver of the day?
It is clear that there are only two deserving candidates who should share the accolade, and, unsurprisingly, they finished first and second in the race.
Sebastian Vettel should be commended for the way he dominated the race today. After passing the pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton, on the opening lap, the German made it blatantly clear why he is the favourite to take a fourth consecutive title this year, and promptly disappeared up the road.
He was only briefly headed when he made his first stop, as Jenson Button stayed out. But he soon caught and re-passed the McLaren driver, and was untroubled for the rest of the afternoon as he cruised to a seemingly relatively easy victory.
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso’s race was a lot busier, at least in the first stint of the race. Starting ninth, he made a typically brilliant start and was in fifth position by the end of the first lap. He quickly picked off the others on his march to second place on a track he has never won at, but by then, Vettel was long gone.
It said a lot about the Spaniard’s character though, with his never-say-die attitude, that he was able to make such rapid progress. Despite his heroics however, after today’s result the championship does once again seem to be slipping away from him for another year, and Ferrari will require yet more Alonso magic (and a fair amount of luck) if they are to catch Vettel in the remaining races of 2013.
An honourable mention must also go to both Toro Rossos, and in particular, Daniel Ricciardo. At a time where he continues to be touted as Vettel’s team mate at Red Bull next year, the Australian did his chances no harm at all today. He took a well-deserved point with tenth place after qualifying a disappointing nineteenth yesterday.
Do you agree with my choices? Feel free to leave a comment below.
