Sebastian Vettel made up ground in the title battle on championship leader Lewis Hamilton with a comfortable win ahead of the Briton in yesterday's Belgian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver, who had started second, seized the lead from his pole-sitting Mercedes rival on the opening lap and survived a subsequent safety car period to cross the line 11 seconds ahead of his silver car.

Max Verstappen finished a lonely third for Red Bull in front of the legions of his orange-clad Dutch fans packing the grandstands. Yesterday's win was Vettel's fifth this season and allows him to close the gap to Hamilton to 17 points in the overall standings with eight of the 21 races still to run. It was also the 52nd victory of his career, moving him ahead of four-time world champion Alain Prost's haul of 51 triumphs. The German chalked up the milestone at the same Spa-Francorchamps circuit at which his boyhood idol Michael Schumacher claimed his 52nd Formula One win in 2001.