F1: Hamilton holds off Vettel to win Belgian Grand Prix

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix and closed the gap on championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

The Englishman crossed the line in Spa 2.3 seconds ahead of the German - his 58th GP win in his 200th F1 race - who remains seven points clear. Hamilton's fifth success in 12 races came a day after he equaled Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 68 pole positions.

Australia's Daniel Ricciardo gave Red Bull a third-place finish after taking advantage of a safety car stoppage. 

On an entertaining afternoon, there was drama in the Force India camp as teammates Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon collided. The resulting deployment of the safety allowed Vettel to almost wipe out Hamilton's lead, much to the frustration of the Briton. 

There was disappointment for thousands of Dutch fans who had traveled to Belgium when Max Verstappen retired on the eighth lap after a loss of power - his sixth retirement of the season. 

-- Re-live all the action from Spa as it happened -- 

44/44 -- Hamilton crosses the line 2.3 seconds ahead of Vettel to win the Belgian Grand Prix! 

43/44 -- A lap and half to go and Hamilton leads by 1.8 secs. Looking like a tough job for Vettel now on the final lap.  

43/44 -- Vettel has now fallen to 1.5 secs behind, approaching the final lap. He has to make his move. 

42/44 -- Vettel sets the fastest lap, a 1m46.577s, but is still 1.2s behind

42/44 -- Mercedes encouraging their driver. "Leave it to me!" responds Hamilton. In control. 

41/44 -- Just 0.008s between Hamilton and Vettel's lap times there. The gap is 1.170s.

41/44 -- Hamilton: "What sector is he faster? It looks like he catches me right at the end of the lap." Is he worried?

40/44 -- Hamilton's lead up to 1.3 secs with four laps remaining. 

38/44 -- "Rear temperatures coming up," says Hamilton on his tires. Lead now 1.1s 

37/44 -- "OK mate, you're doing a good job, let's keep it going" - Red Bull encourages third-placed Ricciardo.

36/44 -- Hamilton sets a fastest lap of 1m47.698s as he rebuilds an 0.8s lead over Vettel.

36/44 -- Order: 1 Hamilton; 2 Vettel; 3 Ricciardo; 4 Raikkonen; 5 Bottas

35/44 -- Hamilton sees off the attack with the help of his more powerful Mercedes engine

34/44 -- The green light is back on and Hamilton tries to hold off Vettel!

33/44 -- Safety car still out and Hamilton is complaining that he can't keep the temperature in his tires. 

32/44 -- The safety car is still out but Hamilton insists that there is no debris left on the track. The Englishman is not happy. 

32/44 -- Reminder of who's out: Alonso, Verstappen, Wehrlein

31/44 -- Hamilton, Vettel and Bottas all take the opportunity to pit. Hamilton and Bottas take softs but Vettel goes to ultra-softs. Now it's getting interesting. 

30/44 -- Drama between the Force Indias! Debris all over the track after Ocon and Perez collide. Safety car out. 

29/44 -- Hamilton's lead over Vettel is now over 2 seconds - the biggest it's been all race. 

28/44 -- 16 laps to go and Hamilton's lead is up to 1.9 secs after a strong few laps. 

27/44 -- Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Ricciardo, Raikkonen

27/44 -- Raikkonen faces a 28s gap to Ricciardo in fourth, but the Red Bull is still on super-softs and may pit again.

26/44 -- Hamilton, Vettel and Bottas all on softs. 

25/44 -- Raikkonen is now within DRS range of Hulkenberg for fifth.

24/44 -- Another fastest lap for Bottas - 1m48.616s. That brings him half a second closer to Vettel, the gap now 5.2s.

22/44 -- We're half-way through and Mercedes are telling Hamilton to maintain his track position. "I'm trying to!" he responds. Vettel waiting to pounce but the gap is back up to 1.8 secs.  

20/44 -- Hamilton responds and increases his lead back to 1.5 secs but Vettel reacts again and the gap is back to 1.1 secs. 

19/44 -- Vettel now within 0.7s of Hamilton. The gap is closing. 

18/44 -- "Turn the radio off for the rest of the race!" Alonso is not happy with the McLaren team. He's 15th. 

17/44 -- Vettel is closing the gap! He was 1.2s faster than Hamilton on the last lap and the gap is down to just 0.7s! The German has been flying since his pit stop. 

16/44 -- New fastest race lap of 1m48.676s set by Bottas! He remains 5.9s behind Vettel in third.

16/44 -- Vettel has now also pitted and Hamilton retakes the lead

14/44 -- Just a quick note - that last pit from Hamilton took just 2.3 secs! Professionalism in the extreme. 

14/44 -- Red Bull tells Ricciardo that the degradation is looking good via radio ... he's falling away from Hamilton. 

13/44 -- Hamilton makes a stop and Vettel takes the lead

12/44 -- A first stop for Hulkenberg - just a quick switch to the soft compound.

11/44 -- 1 Hamilton; 2 Vettel 1.7s; 3 Bottas 7.9s; 4 Raikkonen 11.2s; 5 Ricciardo 17.5s.

10/44 -- Verstappen's sixth race retirement and you have to feel sorry for him. Glum faces all round. Tempers running high in the pits. 

8/44 -- Max Verstappen is out! The Red Bull is out of power. Advice from the team doesn't work and the Dutchman is OUT.  

7/44 -- 1 Hamilton; 2 Vettel 1.7s; 3 Bottas 4.8s; 4 Raikkonen 6.9s; 5 Verstappen 8.7s; 6 Ricciardo 10.7s

6/44 -- There seem to be some unhappy drivers out on the track, with Magnussen complaining he has "no pace" and Alonso saying it is "embarrassing." 

5/44 -- Hamilton with a fastest lap of 1m 49.926 secs. He extends his lead over Vettel to 1.6 secs.

4/44 -- Wehrlein has retired after reporting a problem on his team radio. He said something had broken, but we couldn't quite hear what. He had started on soft tires. Up front, Hamilton leads from Vettel. 

Lap 3/44 -- Alonso, the big mover, snaps up into seventh! The sly fox! Pascal Wehrlein is already out...

-- Off we go! Hamilton keeps his spot at the top, as does the rest of the top six.