Zoom Very mixed fortunes for Ferrari on race day

Massa started the race from the front row of the grid but was not able to challenge leaders Hamilton and Raikkonen, but with the latter sliding into retirement on the penultimate lap and Hamilton being given a 25 second time penalty post race, the Brazilian was able to pick up ten points and keep his championship challenge on track.

Third position on track fell to Nick Heidfeld and BMW Sauber after they opted to pit ahead of the final lap and change to intermediate tyres in the tricky conditions. Lapping significantly faster than those who did not pit, Heidfeld cut through the pack to take the flag in third position, just 24 seconds behind Hamilton and 14 seconds behind Massa. Given another lap and Heidfeld could well have taken the race win. With the post-race adjustments, Heidfeld was declared the runner-up to Massa.

It was a similar situation for Fernando Alonso on the final lap as he finished in a strong fourth position for Renault beating the Toro Rosso Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel by a fraction of a second across the line to take the position.

Robert Kubica had a tough weekend in Belgium but will be relatively happy to at least pick up some points with sixth position ahead of Sebastien Bourdais who amazingly started the final lap in third position. In the wet conditions, there was no holding back those on the intermediate tyre but it remains to be seen how he lost position to Vettel and Kubica. With six points on the board, Toro Rosso Ferrari now move ahead of the struggling Honda team in the constructors’ championship.

Timo Glock finished in eighth position for Toyota but like Hamilton would later take a post-race penalty dropping him out of the points. It was a disappointing day for team-mate Jarno Trulli in the sister TF108. The Italian made a stunning getaway from the grid from 11th position, gaining more than half a dozen positions on the run to La Source. Sadly for the Toyota squad, Bourdais ran into the back of Trulli under braking and the Italian would suffer with handling issues for the remainder of the race.

Mark Webber finished ninth, eighth in the points, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and there was some justice in that as the McLaren driver attempted a pass early in the race that sent Webber spinning down the order. Kovalainen, who made a dreadful start from third position on the grid, would serve a drive through penalty for his actions and then go off on the final lap at turn eight. Kovalainen now heads to Monza without adding to his points tally and sliding further down the points standings.