SPA, Belgium, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Lewis Hamilton overcame a slip off the track Sunday to claim the Belgian Grand Prix and the Formula One championship points lead.
The McLaren driver contended with rainy conditions and survived a slip off the track into the gravel after pulling ahead of pole-sitter Mark Webber on the opening lap.
Hamilton led wire-to-wire in the 44-lap event at the Spa-Francorchamps road course, notching his third win of the year and the 14th of his F1 career.
With the win he grabbed a three-point lead in the standings over Team Red Bull's Webber, who was victimized by a mechanical issue at the start of the race.
Robert Kubica of Renault finished third after a mishap during his final pit stop.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa came in fourth and from Adrian Sutil of Force India rounded out the top five.
