The weekend at Spa-Francorchamps was a difficult one for many, although not for anyone driving for Red Bull. The earliest difficulty of the day came when Bruno Senna, who had just been given his second shot at F1 by Renault, took the first corner too fast and slid into Jaime Alguersuari. Alguersuari was knocked out of the race and Senna finished, although his 13th place finish means he is still yet to get a single point in his short F1 career.

More significant was Lewis Hamilton's disappointment of the weekend. This came in the form of contact with Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber exiting a turn on the 13th lap. Hamilton has accepted blame for the accident, having made the mistake of not expecting Kobayashi to be on the outside. Hamilton was rewarded for this miscalculation with a hard crash into the barrier, ending his race and, realistically, any remaining hopes for the championship. Mark Webber suffered from tire problems early on, but was still able to finish second, with a win from Sebastian Vettel making for a one-two finish for Red Bull.

Jenson Button took third, salvaging what he could, points-wise, for McLaren. Fourth place was taken by Fernando Alonso for Ferrari, and Mercedes driver and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher came in fifth, on the weekend which marked his 20th anniversary in F1.