F1 Belgium GP Spa 28 Aug


Nico Rosberg wins Belgian GP as Lewis Hamilton charges to third
By Ian Parkes
http://classic.autosport.com

Nico Rosberg clinched his first Belgian Grand Prix victory as Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Lewis Hamilton claimed a podium from 21st on the grid in a chaotic race at Spa.

Rosberg has now closed the gap to Hamilton in the F1 title race to nine points, but would have been hoping for more given the reigning champion's back-row start due to numerous penalties accrued for three power unit changes.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was sandwiched by the Mercedes duo to solidify his third place in the drivers' standings ahead of Ferrari pair Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, who could only manage sixth and ninth following numerous incidents.

The field was reduced to 17 cars within just five laps and was red-flagged on lap nine for barrier repairs after a frightening crash that sent Renault's Kevin Magnussen to hospital.

At the start, Red Bull's Max Verstappen was slow away from second and swallowed up on the short run down to the La Source hairpin by both Raikkonen and Vettel.

As Vettel dived down the inside of Raikkonen and Vettel turned in, Raikkonen was left with nowhere to go in the middle and the trio made contact.

Vettel spun to the back, while Verstappen and Raikkonen were forced to pit due to damage sustained, with the Ferrari developing a small underside fire to add to the drama.

Later on the opening lap Manor's Pascal Wehrlein ran into the back of Jenson Button's McLaren coming out of Les Combes, with both retiring.

Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr was next out on lap two after sustaining a puncture along the Kemmel straight, and although the Spaniard tried to continue, he only succeeded in further damaging the car before pulling off track.

Sauber's Marcus Ericsson, who had started the race from the pitlane due to the team working on cooling issues, also soon retired after losing sixth gear.

Penalised tail-end starters Fernando Alonso and Hamilton had reached 10th and 11th by lap six, when Magnussen ploughed into the Raidillon barrier.

Hurtling up through Eau Rouge, Magnussen appeared to take too much kerb on the exit, sending the Dane into a high-speed spin across the track before ramming into the wall, resulting in a safety car period.

A flurry of stops for fresh tyres followed over the first two laps under yellow, promoting Alonso and Hamilton up to fourth and fifth as they had no need to change rubber given they had started on the mediums at the back.

But with the barriers severely damaged, FIA race director Charlie Whiting took the decision to red flag the race for 17 minutes to allow repairs to be carried out.

The running order at that stage was Rosberg ahead of Ricciardo, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, Alonso and Hamilton, with Vettel 11th, Verstappen 16th and Raikkonen 17th.

Raikkonen and Verstappen would make contact again soon after the restart.

When Verstappen blocked Raikkonen on the following lap at high speed down the Kemmel straight, the Finn again expressed expletive-laden anger.

Up front, Hamilton moved up to third on lap 18 of the 44 by passing Hulkenberg into Les Combes.

A slow pitstop three laps later dropped Hamilton to ninth, but as those ahead made their stops soon afterwards he rose back into the top three behind Rosberg and Ricciardo.

The out-of-sequence championship leader then had to overtake Force India's Sergio Perez and Hulkenberg again after his third stop to clinch the final podium position, as Rosberg took the chequered flag by 14.1s from Ricciardo.

Hulkenberg and Perez finished fourth and fifth, bringing Force India ahead of Williams to fourth in the constructors' championship by two points.

The recovering Vettel and Alonso were sixth and seventh, with Williams pair Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa eighth and 10th either side of Raikkonen.

Verstappen tried a different strategy for his comeback drive but could only reach 11th.
On his F1 debut, Esteban Ocon held off Felipe Nasr to claim 16th.

RESULTS - 44 LAPS:
PosDriverCarGap
1Nico RosbergMercedes1h44m51.058s
2Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault14.113s
3Lewis HamiltonMercedes27.634s
4Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes35.907s
5Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes40.660s
6Sebastian VettelFerrari45.394s
7Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda59.445s
8Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes1m00.151s
9Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1m01.109s
10Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1m05.873s
11Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault1m11.138s
12Esteban GutierrezHaas/Ferrari1m13.877s
13Romain GrosjeanHaas/Ferrari1m16.474s
14Daniil KvyatToro Rosso/Ferrari1m27.097s
15Jolyon PalmerRenault1m33.165s
16Esteban OconManor/Mercedes1 Lap
17Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
-Kevin MagnussenRenaultSpun off
-Marcus EricssonSauber/FerrariGearbox
-Carlos SainzToro Rosso/FerrariTyre
-Jenson ButtonMcLaren/HondaCollision
-Pascal WehrleinManor/MercedesCollision

' CHAMPIONSHIP
PosDriverPoints
1Lewis Hamilton232
2Nico Rosberg223
3Daniel Ricciardo151
4Sebastian Vettel128
5Kimi Raikkonen124
6Max Verstappen115
7Valtteri Bottas62
8Sergio Perez58
9Nico Hulkenberg45
10Felipe Massa39
11Fernando Alonso30
12Carlos Sainz30
13Romain Grosjean28
14Daniil Kvyat23
15Jenson Button17
16Kevin Magnussen6
17Pascal Wehrlein1
18Stoffel Vandoorne1
19Esteban Gutierrez0
20Jolyon Palmer0
21Marcus Ericsson0
22Felipe Nasr0
23Rio Haryanto0
24Esteban Ocon0
CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP
PosConstructorPoints
1Mercedes455
2Red Bull/Renault274
3Ferrari252
4Force India/Mercedes103
5Williams/Mercedes101
6McLaren/Honda48
7Toro Rosso/Ferrari45
8Haas/Ferrari28
9Renault6
10Manor/Mercedes1
11Sauber/Ferrari0

F1 Germany Hockenheim GP - 31 Jul




PosDriverCar/EngineLapsTime/Delay
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes671h 30:44.200
2Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault676.996
3Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault6713.413
4Nico RosbergMercedes6715.845
5Sebastian VettelFerrari6732.570
6Kimi RaikkonenFerrari6737.023
7Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes671:10.049
8Jenson ButtonMcLaren/Honda661 Lap
9Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes661 Lap
10Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes661 Lap
11Esteban GutierrezHaas/Ferrari661 Lap
12Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda661 Lap
13Romain GrosjeanHaas/Ferrari661 Lap
14Carlos SainzToro Rosso/Ferrari661 Lap
15Daniil KvyatToro Rosso/Ferrari661 Lap
16Kevin MagnussenRenault661 Lap
17Pascal WehrleinManor/Mercedes652 Laps
18Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari652 Laps
19Jolyon PalmerRenault652 Laps
20Rio HaryantoManor/Mercedes652 Laps
-Felipe NasrSauber/Ferrari57Power Unit
-Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes36Collision