F1: six talking points from the Belgian Grand Prix

Because obviously. Hamilton’s 39^th career win – and sixth of the season so far – stretches his lead at the pointy end of the championship standings to 28 points, enough that he could crash out of the next round and keep his lead, even if teammate and second-place man Nico Rosberg were to win it.

The win – Merc’s first at Spa since Fangio in 1955 – was more or less secured by the end of the first lap. A fast-starting Sergio Perez in the Force India had a little go into Les Combes, when Hamilton lost momentum after running a bit wide at Eau Rouge on lap one, but nothing really came of it.

Rosberg recovered from a poor start, where he was passed by Perez and Riciardo, to finish second. Third, meanwhile, went to Romain Grosjean, who was promoted to the final podium spot after…

On for third until the penultimate lap, Seb was at least trying something a bit different. After only managing eighth in qualifying, Ferrari decided to risk all on a one-stop strategy. The decision forced Seb to complete more than half the race on the same set of medium tyres.

All was going well until the final few laps, when Seb was giving his all to hold-off Grosjean, whose tyres were eight laps younger. On the second-to-last-lap, Vettel’s right-rear gave way on the Kemmel Straight. Rosberg’s right-rear met a similarly messy end in FP2, so predictably, Seb was not amused.

“Bull****!” he said, of Pirelli’s excuses. “If Nico tells us that he didn't go off the track then he didn't go off the track, same with me, I didn't go out of the track, just out of the blue it explodes and as I said, if this happens earlier - ****!"

In response, Pirelli said the number of laps a driver can complete on one set of tyres should be dictated not by the teams, buy by the rules.

And speaking of tyres…

Back in the good ol’ days, F1 teams could, if they wanted, stick upwards of two tyre compounds on the same car at the same time. Nowadays, you can’t. All four tyres must be of one homogenous compound. In a rare and unusual mix-up, Finn Valtteri Bottas – who finished ninth – was handed a drive-through penalty after Williams incorrectly fitted three soft tyres and one medium tyre to his car.

Bottas told Autosport: “For sure that cost us a lot, looking at the times in the end without that penalty we might have been fifth or something as I was at the front of that pack.”

A better race was had by Frenchman Romain Grosjean, who, as mentioned, was promoted to third after the air in Vettel’s right-rear tyre decided to explosively free itself from its rubbery confines.

Grosjean’s third comes three years after he was handed a one race ban for causing a multi-car pile-up at the start of the 2012 Belgian GP, and amid trying times for his team, which is facing legal action from former reserve driver Charles Pic.

Pic took Lotus to court over claims it did not give him enough time behind the wheel last year. After the GP, bailiffs entered the circuit to stop Lotus’ cars and equipment from leaving.

“This is probably one of my best races,” he said. “Being on the podium now, with how we are during the weekend, shows how strong our guys are, how strong we're capable of building a car."

Despite using up three of its development tokens over the summer break, and fitting brand new engines to both its cars (and hurdling the combined 105-place grid penalty simply by going last at Spa), the McLarens still aren’t particularly quick. Jenson Button, who finished 14^th and a lap down on leader Hamilton, said he had a problem with his energy recovery system.

"When you don't have the electric motor, you're losing 160, 180 horsepower. I was basically just driving round and keeping it on the black stuff,” he said.

"It was a tough day, embarrassing really, driving around at the back." Back to the drawing board, lads…

Will Red Bull terminate its contract with engine supplier Renault a year early? Maybe. The once unbeatable outfit is apparently considering whether to cut ties with Renault – which itself is reportedly close to buying Lotus and reviving its factory team – at the end of this season, amid concerns over performance and reliability.

Ricciardo retired from the weekend’s race on lap 20 with a suspected ERS issue. Daniil Kvyat, meanwhile, took fourth after passing Raikkonen, Massa and Perez in the closing laps.

Christian Horner said Renault is “under-resourced”, and that it needs to do a “root and branch review” into how it operates.

“We want to hear what Renault's commitment and plans [are] for the future,” he said, “what that entails, what that involves, whether that as an engine supplier or as a team - though they've got to have a competitive engine, unless they decide to stop. And once we understand that we can make a move."