The Belgian Grand Prix, on the most exciting track in Formula One, fell flat as a spectacle yesterday, which is indicative of Formula One’s underlying inadequacy as a sport, featuring, as it does, cars that are so aerodynamically advanced that overtaking is almost impossible.

With all the damage being done by the spying row that has shaken Formula One during another tumultuous weekend, the sport needed to put on a show in the wooded hills of the Ardennes forest but what we saw instead was a race in which the top four finished in grid order.

Apart from the start, which saw a tense exchange between the McLaren rivals, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, precious little of note occurred at the head of the field, leaving as the main interest a series of mid-field battles involving the feisty BMW Sauber driver, Robert Kubica, and Renault’s much improved rookie, Heikki Kovalainen.

None of the above will be of any consequence to Ferrari, who were back on top after being humiliated at their home race at Monza a week earlier. This time the red cars were quicker and the race winner, Kimi Raikkonen, drove faultlessly to his fourth win of the season to keep alive his championship chances, while Felipe Massa settled in behind him for second place.

The Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, who watched the race at his home in Bologna, could not resist another dig at McLaren. Montezemolo cheekily dedicated the race win to the “English gentleman” in the photocopying store near McLaren’s headquarters in Woking, Surrey, who alerted his team to the fact that McLaren’s chief designer was in possession of a huge dossier of their technical data.

Back at the track, Raikkonen was happy with his day’s work. “It was a perfect thing for the team — a one-two, everything went right today,” the taciturn Finn said. “We knew that McLaren were going to be much stronger here than in Monza. We know why we cannot challenge them in Monza and at Monaco and Montreal and that is something we will sort out next season — it’s a question of aerodynamics.”

The first-corner battle between Hamilton and Alonso, whose rivalry is becoming more entrenched with every race and looks likely to end at some point in a big smash between them, saw Alonso lunge across the track, forcing Hamilton to go wide. The McLaren men then went wheel-to-wheel through the legendary Eau Rouge sequence at the bottom of the hill at 180mph.

But at the moment of truth — or common sense — Hamilton backed off and Alonso, with better traction, swept through to take a lead over his rookie team-mate he was never to look in any danger of relinquishing. Reflecting on that moment, Hamilton said: “At Eau Rouge it’s impossible to take two Formula One cars through there without taking both cars out, so I just lifted.”

The race leaves Alonso only two points behind Hamilton and despite the storm raging around him, the defending world champion has been steadily reeling in Hamilton. The Spaniard dominated his team-mate yesterday, just as he did at Monza, and, on present form, he would have to be favourite to take the title.

In the build-up to the race, Alonso was asked about the improvement in his performance and he gave a revealing answer and in one respect extremely surprising. “What is true is that I am now more comfortable with the car, with the team, with everything,” he said. “I approach things a little more comfortably than the first part of the season when there was a new car, a new team, a new approach and new tyres.

“I was always with some doubts but now I have everything under control. I know what I am doing, I know how changes in the set-up of the car affect it. Now I know it really well, so I can work a little more precisely.”

Results from Spa-Francorchamps

Result: 1, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 1hr 20min 39.066sec; 2, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1:20:43.761; 3, F Alonso (Sp, McLaren Mercedes) 1:20:53.409; 4, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes) 1:21:02.681; 5, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 1:21:30.945; 6, N Rosberg (Ger, Williams) 1:21:55.942; 7, M Webber (Aus, Red Bull) 1:21:59.701; 8, H Kovalainen (Fin, Renault) 1:22:04.172; 9, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 1:22:04.727; 10, R Schumacher (Ger, Toyota) 1:22:07.640; 11, J Trulli (It, Toyota) 1:22:22.702; 12, V Liuzzi (It, Scuderia Toro Rosso) 1 lap behind; 13, R Barrichello (Br, Honda) 1; 14, A Sutil (Ger, Spyker) 1; 15, T Sato (Japan, Super Aguri) 1; 16, A Davidson (GB, Super Aguri) 1; 17, S Yamamoto (Japan, Spyker) 1. Not classified: 18, J Button (GB, Honda) 36 laps completed; 19, A Wurz (Austria, Williams) 34; 20, D Coulthard (GB, Red Bull) 29; 21, S Vettel (Ger, Scuderia Toro Rosso) 8; 22, G Fisichella (It, Renault) 1.

World Championship positions: Drivers: 1, Hamilton 97pts; 2, Alonso 95; 3, Raikkonen 84; 4, Massa 77; 5, Heidfeld 56; 6, Kubica 33; 7, Kovalainen 22; 8, Fisichella 17; 9, Rosberg 15; 10, Wurz 13; 11, Webber 10; 12, Coulthard 8; 13, Trulli 7; 14, Schumacher 5; 15, Sato 4; 16, Button 2; 17, Vettel 1. Manufacturers: 1, Ferrari 161pts; 2, BMW Sauber 90; 3, Renault 39; 4, Williams 28; 5, Red Bull 18; 6, Toyota 12; 7, Super Aguri 4; 8, Honda 2.

*McLaren Mercedes disqualified from the constructors’ championship and can score no more points for the remainder of the season

Qualifying: 1, Raikkonen 1min 45.994sec; 2, Massa 1:46.011; 3, Alonso 1:46.091; 4, Hamilton 1:46.406; 5, Rosberg 1:47.334; 6, Heidfeld 1:47.409; 7, Webber 1:47.524; 8, Trulli 1:47.798; 9, Kovalainen 1:48.505; 10, Fisichella 1:46.603; 11, Schumacher 1:46.618; 12, Coulthard 1:46.800; 13, Button 1:46.955; 14, Liuzzi 1:47.115; 15, Kubica 1:46.996; 16, Wurz 1:47.394; 17, Vettel 1:47.581; 18, Barrichello 1:47.954; 19, Sato 1:47.980; 20, Sutil 1:48.044; 21, Davidson 1:48.199; 22, Yamamoto 1:49.577.

Grands Prix to come

Sept 30: Japanese (Fuji).

Oct 7: Chinese (Shanghai).

Oct 21: Brazilian (Interlagos).