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Jenson Button wins at Spa

Button takes a dominant win in the Belgian Grand Prix, following a big accident at the first corner

Jenson Button has driven from pole to win the Belgian Grand Prix. This is the British driver's second victory of the season, following his win at the season-opener in Melbourne.

Button was first into turn one, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. But it was chaos behind.

Romain Grosjean made contact with Lewis Hamilton at Eau Rouge, before launching over the Sauber of Sergio Perez and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Kamui Kobayashi - who had made a poor start from second-place on the grid, with smoke billowing from his overheating Sauber - was collected by Hamilton, with the McLaren flying over the top of his cockpit.

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Alonso was the worst affected, though, with severe damage to his car and there was a long delay before the championship leader climbed slowly from his car. Hamilton, Perez and Grosjean were also forced to retire, and the latter has since been handed a one-race ban and a 50,000 Euro fine for triggering the incident.

Nico Hulkenberg and Michael Schumacher made the most of the confusion, squeezing through from 11th and 13th on the grid to third and fifth respectively by lap four. The Toro Rossos of Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were up to sixth and seventh, while Narain Karthikeyan in the HRT was up in 14th.

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Meanwhile, Jenson Button was busy extending his lead. By lap nine, he was five seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus, and by lap 20 he was 13 seconds clear. A lap later, he made his first and only pit stop, and came out 7.6 seconds ahead of Raikkonen.

Vettel - who had a close call with Michael Schumacher at the entry to the pit lane on lap 20 - was also on a one-stop strategy. He finished second, thanks to a series of overtakes during the final part of the race.

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Raikkonen finished where he started in third place, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg for Force India. Felipe Massa finished just ahead of Mark Webber, who will be investigated after the race for an unsafe release following a near miss with Massa.

Michael Schumacher finished seventh, having lost time in the closing stages with an unplanned second pit stop for a new set of tyres. Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniel Ricciardo and Paul di Resta take the final few points.

Pastor Maldonado - who was under investigation for a jump start and an incident with Timo Glock at turn one - parked at Les Combes without a front wing on lap five. He receives a double penalty, with two five-place grid penalties for the next race at Monza.

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Heikki Kovalainen had an incident with Karthikeyan in the pit lane. Kovalainen pulled out of his pit box into the path of the HRT, causing minor contact. The Caterham is under investigation for an unsafe release. Karthikeyan later retired following a collision with the tyre wall on lap 32.

This result means that Alonso still leads the drivers' championship with 164 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber with 140 and 132 points respectively.

Red Bull leads the constructors' championship with 272 points, ahead of McLaren with 218.

While we wait in anticipation for Italy this weekend, be sure to check out our gallery of the Belgian Grand Prix - with all the action from start to finish.

2012 Belgian Grand Prix results

PositionDriverTeam
1Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes
2Sebastian VettelRed Bull Racing-Renault
3Kimi RaikkonenLotus-Renault
4Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes
5Felipe MassaFerrari
6Mark WebberRed Bull Racing-Renault
7Michael SchumacherMercedes
8Jean-Eric VergneSTR-Ferrari
9Daniel RicciardoSTR-Ferrari
10Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes
11Nico RosbergMercedes
12Bruno SennaWilliams-Renault
13Kamui KobayashiSauber-Ferrari
14Vitaly PetrovCaterham-Renault
15Timo GlockMarussia-Cosworth
16Charles PicMarussia-Cosworth
17Pedro de la RosaHRT-Cosworth
18Heikki KovalainenCaterham-Renault
Not classifiedNarain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth
Not classifiedPastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault
Not classifiedSergio PerezSauber-Ferrari
Not classifiedFernando AlonsoFerrari
Not classifiedLewis HamiltonMcLaren-Mercedes
Not classifiedRomain GrosjeanLotus-Renault
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