F1 2016: Rosberg Wins, Hamilton Finishes Third At The Chaotic Belgian GP

Formula One made a grand comeback after the month-long summer break and so did Nico Rosberg taking the pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull.

By Sameer Contractor

1 mins read

Published on August 29, 2016

Highlights

This is Rosberg's first win this season since the European GP at Baku
Hamilton started at the end of the grid due to a series of penalties
Magnussen's major crash at Raidillon prompted the race to be red flagged

Formula One made a grand comeback after the month-long summer break and so did Nico Rosberg taking the pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull. The Mercedes AMG driver managed to break teammate Lewis Hamilton's four consecutive winning streak and showed exemplary performance throughout the race. The British driver though managed to finish third despite having started at the back of the grid due to a series of penalties for having changed too many of his engine parts. While Rosberg surged forward right from the opening lap at Spa, the race was anything but smooth sailing for other drivers with a constant duel between Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen. Rosberg led the Belgian GP right from the grid which was followed by Verstappen in second place with a poor start losing his position to both Ferraris on the grid. As Verstappen tried to compensate for the disappointing start taking the inside line, the Red Bull driver ended up colliding with Raikkonen first, who had already made contact with Sebastian Vettel on his outside. The collision saw Vettel half spin but managed to redeem himself; whereas Raikkonen suffered a puncture with his underside catching fire, and had to end up at the pits for lengthy repairs. Verstappen had to pit as well at the end of the opening lap for a new nose. Belgian GP 2016 Winners Meanwhile, Rosberg led the race followed by Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Valtteri Bottas and Jolyon Palmer. The race, however, was quickly halted by the virtual safety car to clear the debris after Carlos Sainz blew a tyre at Les Combes due to his rear wheel buckling underneath him. Nevertheless, the race was restarted again on lap 4 with Rosberg still maintaining a 2.3 second lead over Hulkenberg now but had to come to halt after Kevin Magnussen's major crash at Raidillon and the race had to be halted for barrier repairs. The race resumed for the second time at lap 9 and Nico ensured to pull away quickly over other drivers. In the meantime, Lewis Hamilton put his skills on display and managed to climb the ladder with every lap. By lap 9 he was already at 11th behind Fernando Alonso, still aeons away from the podium. As more cars pitted in for tyre change, both Alonso and Hamilton moved up in top 5, but saw Alonso eventually finishing seventh in the end. Team Force India also showed some good skills on the track in the race as Hulkenberg secured the fourth spot behind Hamilton, and ahead of teammate Sergio Perez. The move has helped the team surge ahead of Williams in the constructors' championship. Kevin Magnussen's crashed Renault at Belgian GP 2016 The Spa race also saw several early retirements as the audience was witnessed to some gruesome crashes. Magnussen of Renault happened to be a part of the most nerve wrecking crash in the race as he lost control on the exit kerb at Raidillon and spun into the tyre wall at over 241 km/h. The crash saw Magnussen's Renault being completely destroyed, while he was lucky enough to limp away with a damaged left ankle having experienced forces up to 12g. In addition, Pascal Wehrlein and Jenson Button collided on the opening lap at Les Combes. Marcus Ericsson retired his Sauber in the opening lap after starting from the pitlane. With Nico Rosberg securing his sixth win of the season, the result has narrowed the gap between Hamilton and him to nine points in the championship standings. Certainly, the German driver will be looking to regain the lost points in the coming races even as Hamilton continues to put up a tough fight. The upcoming Italian GP next weekend should put the focus back on the Mercedes drivers.