Rosberg closes gap to Hamilton after win at Belgium

Nico Rosberg has taken the victory at Spa-Francorchamps for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. The German controlled the whole race while Ricciardo finished second between the both Mercedes with Hamilton third.

Before the start of the Belgian Grand Prix everyone expected the victory from Nico Rosberg following Hamilton penalties but in racing you should never say something is ensured.

Crashed start for big guns

The German who started from pole position avoided the crash between the Ferraris and Verstappen at La source. Verstappen damaged his front wing after a contact with Räikkonen who suffered a punctured tyre, as well as Sebastian Vettel who spun as well. Then at Les combes, Pascal Wehrlein (Manor Racing Team) crashed with Jenson Button (McLaren) and both had to retire as well as Marcus Ericsson (Sauber).

Vettel, Räikkönen and Verstappen had to pit, with the Finn losing a lap with Rosberg. The Mercedes driver was leading ahead of Hulkenberg (Force India) and Ricciardo (Red Bull).

Debris makes more crashes

Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) was the next driver who abandoned the race after a puncture due to the debris. The Spanish destroyed his car trying to get the car back in the pits. This caused the first Virtual Safety Car (VSC) appearance.

When the green flag returned, Perez (Force India) overtook Grosjean (Haas) for fifth position while Magnussen (Renault) – who was running ninth, lost the control of his car at Le Radillon and crashed into the barriers heavily.

Thus cause the safety car appearance at first and then red flag for repairing protections. Everybody excepting Mercedes, Alonso (McLaren) and Ricciardo joined the pits before the red flag due to the need of work in the barriers. This helped the drivers who didn’t stop to change his tyres. Meanwhile, Magnussen was reported with an injury at his left ankle.

Race re-start: Hamilton returns, Ferrari come back

On lap 10 when the green flag returned, Rosberg was leading ahead of Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Hamilton. Rapidly, Hamilton overtook Alonso for fourth and did the same to Hulkenberg a few laps later for third.

Behind the field, Vettel, Verstappen and Räikkönen started their comeback. That wasn’t a good comeback for the Dutch driver who battled very hard with Räikkönen and didn’t find a good tyre strategy to let him finish on 11^th position.

In the lead, Rosberg had such a big control of the race ahead of Ricciardo who saw Hamilton pushing him. Anyway the F1 champion tried a different strategy that didn’t work out. Hülkenberg continued quietly on fourth place while Perez (Force India) overtook Massa (Williams) for a final fifth position.

The Williams driver lost a lot of pace in the latest stages of the race, and finished tenth after been overtook by Vettel –who finished sixth, Bottas – finished eight, and Raikkönen – finished ninth.

Fernando Alonso kept the pace and Williams’ drivers to finish on seventh position and score some points after start last. Esteban Gutierrez -12^th, with Haas, beat once again his team mate, Romain Grosjean -13^th, but finished again about to catch the points. Daniil Kvyat with Toro Rosso confirmed the poor pace with the 14^th result. Palmer (Renault) with temperature issues finished 15^th while Ocon finished his first F1 race with 16^th position, Nasr completes the standings on 17^th.

Rosberg with the victory cuts is now 9 points behind Hamilton in the standings, Ricciardo continues in a solid third position.

The next Formula 1 Grand Prix will be held next week at Monza, for the Italian Grand Prix.

Belgian Grand Prix results: