Losers: Williams
Williams failed to score for the second race on the bounce, with Alex Albon the team’s leading finisher in 12th.
The Briton made a good start to gain a couple of places and race Fernando Alonso – who went on to score points for Aston Martin – but he lacked pace in the second stint and fell away.
The team have struggled to bring upgrades, in part because of the high damage bill early in the year, and that has seen them fall away from their midfield rivals on pure performance.
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Winner: Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso was in fine form at Spa, sailing into Q3 – the final part of qualifying – for the third race weekend in succession.
While he fell back a place to ninth at the flag – having impressively made a one-stop strategy work – he was back up to eighth courtesy of Russell’s removal from the classification.
That was his second points finish in three events and ninth of the season, leaving him in a comfortable ninth in the drivers’ standings with double the points of team mate Lance Stroll.