Hamilton's on a roll

MIGHTY McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won a chaotic and thrilling Belgian Grand Prix to seize back the Formula One championship lead from Red Bull's Mark Webber on Sunday.

Hamilton's victory, despite a near-miss with the barriers in the challenging conditions ranging from dry to wet, lifted him three points clear of second-placed Webber at the top of the standings with six races remaining.

"It was a great weekend, and very tough racing," said the Briton. "It almost feels like this is my first win. It's just phenomenal."

The success, his third of the season, contrasted with team-mate and reigning world champion Jenson Button's misfortune on a sweet-and-sour day for the Bahrain-backed British team and their two world champions.

Button, running behind Hamilton in a McLaren one-two at the fast and flowing circuit, was shunted out of the race by Webber's young German team-mate and title rival Sebastian Vettel on the 17th of the 44 laps.

Vettel was given a drive-through penalty for causing a collision and then plunged further back through the field after tangling with Force India's Vitantonio Liuzzi and puncturing his own left rear tyre.

Webber, winner of four of the 13 races so far this season, had been on pole position but suffered a terrible start when the fickle Spa weather played its hand to full effect and the safety car was deployed twice.

"Lewis deserved the win, he did a good job," the Australian said.

Poland's Robert Kubica finished third for Renault, losing second with a pit-stop error but still taking a morale-boosting result for a team who, this time last year, became embroiled in a major race-fixing scandal that led to a suspended permanent ban.

Hamilton has 182 points to Webber's 179 and Vettel's 151.

Button is on 147.

Red Bull stay ahead of McLaren in the constructors' standings by a single point.

"I don't know what Sebastian was doing," said Button of an incident that team boss Martin Whitmarsh said was more reminiscent of a junior series.

"I'd rather he did it with his team-mate than with us," added Whitmarsh, referring to a Turkish Grand Prix collision between the two Red Bulls in May that gave McLaren a one-two finish.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, fifth in the standings, retired after an incident-filled afternoon on which he collided with Brazilian Rubens Barrichello on the opening lap and dropped to 20th place.

The debris from that incident, apart from ending Barrichello's 300th race without the Williams veteran completing a lap, brought out the safety car.

The Spaniard pitted for a new front wing and fought his way back to eighth but finally crashed out six laps from the end when he spun and hit the barriers.

The Ferrari was stranded on the track, so the safety car was brought out again.

"It is very disappointing ... but it does not mean that I have given up on my chances of winning the title," said Alonso, now 41 points off the lead.

Brazilian Felipe Massa finished fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Germany's Adrian Sutil - Force India.

Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher, who had started in 21st place after a 10-place penalty for an incident with Barrichello at the previous race in Hungary, finished seventh at his favourite circuit.

The 41-year-old tangled twice with Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, their cars touching once, before the younger German grabbed sixth place.

Japan's Kamui Kobayashi was eighth for Sauber, with Russian Vitaly Petrov handing Renault a double points finish and Liuzzi scoring after Toro Rosso's Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari was given a retrospective 20-second penalty.

Team by team analysis

RED BULL (Mark Webber 2, Sebastian Vettel 15): Webber sank to sixth by the end of the first lap after a bad start but eventually moved up to second. Vettel speared into Button, ending the champion's race. He was handed a drive-through penalty after a clash with Liuzzi.

MCLAREN (Lewis Hamilton 1, Jenson Button retired): Hamilton's third win of the season and 14th of his career sent him top of the standings again. He also set the fastest race lap. Button's title hopes took a massive blow when Vettel drove into him on lap 17.

FERRARI (Felipe Massa 4, Fernando Alonso retired): Alonso collided with Barrichello on the opening lap. He continued but retired six laps from the end when he skidded out. He is now 41 points adrift of Hamilton. Massa chalked up his second fourth place in a row.

MERCEDES GP (Nico Rosberg 6, Michael Schumacher 7): Schumacher started in 21st place at his favourite circuit after being handed a 10-place penalty at the previous race in Hungary. He had several battles with Rosberg, the cars' bodywork touching at one point.

RENAULT (Robert Kubica 3, Vitaly Petrov 9): Kubica could have had second place but missed his braking point during his second stop, locking the front wheels and hitting some mechanics - fortunately without injury. Petrov started on the back row of the grid and did well to score.

FORCE INDIA (Adrian Sutil 5, Vitantonio Liuzzi 10): Liuzzi picked up the final point after Toro Rosso's Alguersuari was penalised for cutting a chicane. It was his first since Canada in June. Sutil's was his best result since Malaysia in April.

WILLIAMS (Nico Hulkenberg 14, Rubens Barrichello retired): Barrichello's 300th race ended before he had completed a lap. Hulkenberg had a throttle control problem early on and he made an unscheduled stop.

SAUBER (Kamui Kobayashi 8, Pedro de la Rosa 11): Kobayashi started 17th and De la Rosa was last.

TORO ROSSO (Sebastien Buemi 12, Jaime Alguersuari 13): Alguersuari crossed the line in 10th place but lost the point after stewards gave him a retrospective drive-through penalty, translated into 20 seconds added to his time.

LOTUS (Heikki Kovalainen 16, Jarno Trulli 19): Kovalainen made a slow start from 13th on the grid, the highest placing by any driver from a new team. Trulli lost a few places at the end due to a late spin.

HRT (Sakon Yamamoto 20, Bruno Senna retired): Senna damaged his front wing on the first lap and then retired with a suspension failure.

VIRGIN RACING (Lucas di Grassi 17, Timo Glock 18): Glock damaged his first wing on the first lap and had to pit immediately.