Zoom Senna and Pantano blew it, Grosjean won at Spa

Romain Grosjean has come out on top in an extraordinarily chaotic race one this afternoon in Belgium, beating the elements and the rest of the field to win from Alvaro Parente and Andreas Zuber to put himself third in the championship on an afternoon when the main title rivals Giorgio Pantano and Bruno Senna failed to score a point despite running first and second after the pitstop period.

With heavy rainfall starting five minutes before the start of the race every team had to scramble to change tyres, with the stewards deciding to err on the side of caution and starting the race behind the safety car. The race went live two laps later with pole-sitter Senna getting a nice jump from Parente as he set a string of fastest laps before the now inevitable pitstops came as the rain stopped.

Zuber came in for slicks on lap six as the pitlane opened, and all of his rivals were in on the following two laps to follow suit. Unfortunately for Senna his team released him into the path of Alberto Valerio and while collision was narrowly avoided, the Brazilian received a drive through penalty and proving that there is no consistency at all in the decision making process in top line motorsport.

Senna's penalty was delayed by Davide Valsecchi's huge crash on the next lap which brought out the safety car, from which he thankfully emerged with help shaken but intact, and although the Brazilian was at the head of the queue his thoughts would have inevitably turned the man immediately behind him: Pantano. It seemed clear that the Italian was going to inherit the lead and eventually the race win along with, potentially, the championship until he suddenly fell backwards down the order, a possible result of the anti-stall device cutting in before getting back underway in tenth position.

At the restart Grosjean out-dragged Zuber on the top straight for third place, and when Senna came in for his drive through the lead was handed to Parente, but the Portuguese driver's mirrors were full of the red and white car of Grosjean. Despite Parente's strong drive it was only a matter of time before he lost the lead, and on lap 20 Grosjean out-dragged him along the front straight before cutting inside at La Source and into a lead that he never looked like relinquishing.

Pantano had moved up to eighth when he miscalculated his line into La Source and spun on the kerbs just as Valerio spun into the wall on the opposite side of the track, prompting another safety car period. Another mistake from Pantano soon followed as he locked up and ploughed straight into Lucas di Grassi at turn one, who had driven a magnificent race to be eighth from last on the grid, sent both men spinning around and into retirement with just one lap remaining.