Jenson Button

BBC

Jenson Button was dominant as he won the Belgian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso crashing out.

Button, who started on pole, was never under threat as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel fought from 10th to second, ahead of Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen, reports the BBC.

Hamilton and Alonso were taken out in a multi-car pile-up at the start, triggered by Lotus's Romain Grosjean.

Vettel moves to second in the championship, 24 points behind Alonso.

The German's team-mate Mark Webber is third, 12 points behind Vettel. Raikkonen is one point behind the Australian, 14 points ahead of Hamilton.

Button's victory leaves him sixth, but at 63 points behind Alonso with 200 available in the remaining eight races his title hopes are still a long shot.

In Belgium, though, Button was in a league of his own.

He qualified on pole by 0.3 seconds - doing three laps out of the reach of his rivals - and never looked back after converting that position into a lead at the first corner.

"This circuit is so special to most drivers," Button said. "The way that it flows, the history here. So to get a victory here, lights to flag, is very special for me."

Behind him, there was high drama, triggered when Grosjean moved over on Hamilton at the start.

The Lotus's left rear wheel hit Hamilton's right front, knocking the McLaren into a spin and triggering chaos.

As the other drivers braked for the first corner, Hamilton and Grosjean, out of control, continued at unabated speed and took out Alonso and Sauber's Sergio Perez.

Alonso was especially lucky, as Grosjean's car flew over the front of his car, missing his head by about a metre.

The incident triggered a shake-up of the field and a safety car, and the race developed into a thrilling battle as Button continued serenely at the front.

Vettel, on a one-stop strategy like Button, impressed greatly as he made up ground once the race had been restarted on lap five.

The world champion made a series of impressive overtaking manoeuvres around the outside of the Bus Stop chicane at the end of the lap, including on Webber.

Vettel's strong pace ensured he took second place as Raikkonen and the other drivers doing two stops made their final stops.