• Belgian Grand Prix

Vettel surprised by Red Bull's dominance

ESPN Staff
August 25, 2013 « Pirelli calls 2014 situation 'farcical' as Michelin rumours grow | Alonso happy with recovery to second »
Sebastian Vettel won with ease at Spa-Francorchamps © Sutton Images
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Sebastian Vettel said he had pace in hand after dominating the Belgian Grand Prix by 16.8s from Fernando Alonso.

After passing Lewis Hamilton coming out of Eau Rouge on the first lap Vettel's victory never looked in doubt and in the final stint of the race he stretched his lead by 10 seconds with ease. However, Vettel, who now leads the championship by 48 points, said he could have gone faster.

"The car was much better than we expected going into the race," he said. "We had a bit of pace in hand to control the race and I really enjoyed that a lot and I think the guys on the pit wall were not as stressed as other times. There was no rain so it was pretty easy calls to make. We are looking forward to Monza now where we don't expect to be as strong but we will see."

Vettel said the only concern was whether the rain would close in towards the end of the race.

"It was a fantastic race for us. From start to finish we had very good tactics and obviously it helped on the first lap to have the run on Lewis on the first lap. Once I passed him I had incredible pace and could control it until the end of the race. We were a bit afraid of the rain coming towards the end but I think it just passed the circuit."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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