Belgian GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX - RACE

    With Nico Rosberg on Pole Position, the German driver knew he had to win this to close the points gap between himself and team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, who leads the drivers championship by 19 points.

    When the lights went out, it was Verstappen who tried to take the lead from Rosberg as quick as possible. Both Force India drivers were quick to try and get to the front as well. Things turned bad quickly though when the drivers approached the first corner. Vettel took the outside line too tightly and collided with Raikkonen, which caused Raikkonen's car to hit Verstappen. Vettel ended up spinning, causing Perez and Button to have to drive off track to avoid the sitting Ferrari.

    Both Ferrari's sustained damage as well as Verstappen's Red Bull. Both Verstappen and Raikkonen had to pit early for a front wing/nose change. Raikkonen's car also suffered a minor fire during the pit-stop.

    Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein were also victims of an early on collision when Wehrlein tagged the back of Button's car, causing the McLaren to sustain rear suspension damage. Both drivers retired soon after the accident.

    On lap 2, Carlos Sainz had a tyre failure and his car ran off track before spinning back on track. He then ended up in the grass before attempting to get back to the pits. However, the tyre damage had caused the back wing set up of the Toro Rosso to collapse. He ended up heading back off track and stopping the race. It was day over for him.

    By lap 4, Lewis Hamilton had already made it up to 12th after starting all the way back in 21st. Alonso had caught up as well, from 22nd and was running in 10th. 

    Marcus Ericsson was the next to retire but not due to a collision. It was a gearbox failure that ended his race early. Team-mate, Felipe Nasr also had a less-than perfect race and finished last.

    On lap 6, Renault driver, Kevin Magnussen suffered a heavy crash at the top of the hill at Eau Rouge. The Renault plowed into the tyre-barriers, causing the collar of the car to fly off. Magnussen was able to to get out of the car and walk away from the crash with help. He was limping slightly and taken to a local hospital, suffering only a small ankle injury.

    The race was red flagged due to the damage to the barriers at Eau Rouge and drivers had a chance to change tyres and make small legal adjustments to their cars. Some drivers even opted to get out of their cars and talk to their crew on the pit-walls. After 10-15 minutes, the race was restarted under a safety car.

    Rosberg continued to lead with Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg close behind. Fernando Alonso was up to 4th but Hamilton was closing in on him and soon passed him just a lap later.

    Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen had a battle of their own back in 14th and 15th. Raikkonen passed the Red Bull, then made contact and ran off the track. The two continued to race wheel-to-wheel with Verstappen back ahead of Raikkonen and the younger driver had no plans of letting Raikkonen past.

    Lewis Hamilton made it up to 3rd by lap 18, by passing Hulkenberg, who ended up having a slightly hair raising pit-stop. He was on his way down pit-lane when McLaren released Fernando Alonso and the two nearly collided while making their way back on track.

    Nico Rosberg took the win with Daniel Ricciardo finishing close behind in 2nd. Lewis Hamilton managed to finish on the podium in 3rd despite starting the race all the way back in 21st. Unfortunately for Max Verstappen, it was a home race to forget as he finished just outside the points in 11th. 

    While Force India made an impressive double points finish with Hulkenberg in 4th and Perez in 5th, it was a less than perfect race for Hulkenberg, who narrowly missed out on his first podium.

    Esteban Ocon managed to make his F1 race debut count by finishing in 16th. He may not have scored points, but he finished the race and stayed out of the way of any collisions. He'll be looking forward to Monza, where F1 returns next weekend. 

RESULTS:

1. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Australia / + 18 Points
3. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 15 Points
4. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / + 12 Points
5. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 10 Points
6. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 8 Points
7. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / + 6 Points
8. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland / + 4 Points
9. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 2 Points
10. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 1 Point
11. Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Netherlands
12. Esteban Gutierrez / Haas-Ferrari / Mexico
13. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France
14. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Russia
15. Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain
16. Esteban Ocon / Manor-Mercedes / France
17. Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil

RETIRED - Kevin Magnussen / Renault-Renault / Denmark / Accident
RETIRED - Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden / Gearbox 
RETIRED - Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Spain / Tyre Failure
RETIRED - Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain / Collision Damage
RETIRED - Pascal Wehrlein / Manor-Mercedes / Germany / Collision Damage

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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