Jenson Button claimed his second win this year and 14th of his career yesterday when he drove to a comprehensive victory in an eventful Belgian Grand Prix.

Starting from the eighth pole position of his career and his first for the McLaren team, the 32-year-old Briton produced a consummate display of dominant driving from start to finish. It was his first victory on the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

His victory was his first since the season-opening race in Australia and came in his 50th outing for McLaren and 220th overall as Formula One resumed after a month off.

Button, the 2009 champion, came home 13.624 seconds ahead of second-placed defending champion Sebastian Vettel, of Red Bull, with Kimi Raikkonen, of Lotus, completing a podium of champions by coming home third.

Championship leader Fernando Alonso, of Ferrari, crashed out of the race at the first corner where he was an innocent victim of a multiple collision triggered by aggressive driving from Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus.

Grosjean swerved into Lewis Hamilton, of McLaren, causing a pile-up that eliminated both drivers, along with Alonso and Sergio Perez, of Sauber.

Frenchman Grosjean was subsequently handed a one-race ban by the FIA stewards that effectively rules him out of this week’s Monza GP.

That first corner crash gifted Red Bull men Vettel and Mark Webber a perfect opportunity to close ground in the title race.

Webber finished sixth behind a dazzling display by Nico Hulkenberg, who was fourth for Force India, and Felipe Massa, of Ferrari.

Michael Schumacher, in his 300th Grand Prix, finished seventh for Mercedes ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne and his Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo with Paul Di Resta taking the final point in the second Force India.

Vettel’s opportunism saw him rise to second behind Alonso in the drivers’ standings with 140 points to the Spaniard’s 164.

After a morning of welcome warm sunshine, the race started like a storm with Button easing clear at the front ahead of a chaotic pile-up behind him at Eau Rouge where Grosjean swerved his Lotus into Hamilton’s McLaren.

The Frenchman’s mistake triggered a multiple collision as Hamilton lost control and ran into Alonso’s Ferrari while Grosjean rammed across the luckless Perez’s Sauber.

All four were eliminated from the race in a spectacular incident that led to the immediate introduction of the Safety Car.

This led to a four-lap delay at controlled pace as track officials cleared the debris of an F1 scrapyard left strewn across the circuit and drivers’ bickered over the causes.

Button was out in front ahead of Raikkonen at that stage, following Kobayashi’s slow start from second on the grid, with Maldonado third, after an amazing start from sixth in his Williams.

Luckily, nobody was injured in the opening lap pile-up which brought Alonso’s run of 11 successive points finishes to an end.

Schumacher soars

On the re-start, Button pulled clear and Hulkenberg grabbed second from Raikkonen before Maldonado retired with most of the front wing missing from his Williams car.

In the chaos, it went almost unnoticed that Schumacher climbed from 13th on the grid to fourth and, on lap 10, took third place with an amazing move on Raikkonen.

At the same time, Vettel was making progress from 10th on the grid to seventh by lap 12 when Button led by seven seconds ahead of Hulkenberg and Schumacher. By lap 18, he was 14 seconds clear after Hulkenberg made his first pit stop.

Schumacher pitted after 20 laps and Button followed, McLaren completing their stop in a record-equalling 2.6 seconds.

Button retained his lead ahead of Vettel, who pitted after 22.

For the Briton, it was then all about consistency and tyre management while his rivals, on varying one- and two-stop strategies, fought for positions.

Belgian Grand Prix result

1. J. Button (McLaren) - 1h29:08.530
2. S. Vettel (Red Bull) at 13.624
3. K. Raikkonen (Lotus) - 25.334
4. N. Hulkenberg (Force India) - 27.843
5. F. Massa (Ferrari) - 29.845
6. M. Webber (Red Bull) - 31.244
7. M. Schumacher (Mercedes) - 53.374
8. J.E. Vergne (Toro Rosso) - 58.865
9. D. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) - 1:02.982
10. P. di Resta (Force India) - 1:03.783
11. N. Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:05.111
12. B. Senna (Williams) - 1:11.529
13. K. Kobayashi (Sauber) - 1:56.119
14. V. Petrov (Caterham) - 1 lap
15. T. Glock (Marussia) - 1 lap
16. C. Pic (Marussia) - 1 lap
17. H. Kovalainen (Caterham) - 1 lap
18. P. de la Rosa (HRT) - 1 lap

Retired from race
N. Karthikeyan (HRT) - 15 laps to go
P. Maldonado (Williams) - 40 laps
R. Grosjean (Lotus) - 44 laps
L. Hamilton (McLaren) - 44 laps
F. Alonso (Ferrari) - 44 laps
S. Perez (Sauber) - 44 laps

Fastest lap: B. Senna (Williams) 1:52.822, lap 43.
Next race: Monza GP (next Sunday).

Overall standings

Drivers
1. Alonso (ESP) 164 points, 2. Vettel (GER) 140, 3. Webber (AUS) 132, 4. Raikkonen (FIN) 131, 5. Hamilton (GBR) 117, 6. Button (GBR) 101, 7. Rosberg (GER) 77, 8. Grosjean (FRA) 76, 9. Perez (MEX) 47, 10. Schumacher (GER) 35, 11. Massa (BRA) 35, 12. Kobayashi (JPN) 33, 13. Hulkenberg (GER) 31, 14. Maldonado (VEN) 29, 15. Di Resta (SCO) 28, 16. Senna (BRA) 24, 17. Vergne (FRA) 8, 18. Ricciardo (AUS) 4.

Constructors
1. Red Bull Racing 272 points, 2. McLaren 218, 3. Lotus 207, 4. Ferrari 199, 5. Mercedes 112, 6. Sauber 80, 7. Force India 59, 8. Williams 53, 9. Toro Rosso 12.