Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany (center), has a damaged car as the field goes into the first corner the start of the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps
Nico Rosberg won an incident-packed Belgian Grand Prix featuring a chaotic start, wild overtaking, a heavy crash, safety cars and a red flag.
The Mercedes driver’s win yesterday saw him close the gap to nine points on teammate Lewis Hamilton, who finished third behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo as the resurgent Australian driver secured a third straight podium finish.
“It’s been a great weekend, very, very happy with that result,” Rosberg said after his 20th career win. “Congrats to Lewis, last place to third must be pretty impressive.”
Rosberg started from pole position with teen driver Max Verstappen also on the front row. Hamilton started from the back row with Fernando Alonso, after both incurred multiple grid penalties for extra engine part changes this weekend.
“Lewis wasn’t out there to battle it out, so that made it an easier weekend,” Rosberg said.
Verstappen was involved in a first-turn collision with the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel that shaped the race.
It had a beneficial effect on Hamilton and Alonso, who avoided the early carnage in front of them, then gained places when the safety car came out after Danish driver Kevin Magnussen’s crash.
The safety car emerged again after Magnussen lost control of his Renault coming out of the top of the hill at Eau Rouge, spinning at speed and slamming backward into the barriers.
The race was halted as the red flag came out, because the barrier Magnussen crashed into needed repairing.
When the race resumed 20 minutes later, the top five was Rosberg-Ricciardo-
Hulkenberg-Alonso-Hamilton.
In a fascinating sub-plot, Verstappen and Raikkonen were involved in another incident as Verstappen appeared to nudge him wide.
Raikkonen — who is twice Verstappen’s age — let his frustration out, saying “his only interest is to push me off the track.”
Hamilton overtook Hulkenberg on lap 18, leaving just Ricciardo and Rosberg ahead of him.
“This is the best result I could have hoped for,” said Hamilton, who said on Saturday that he was aiming for a top-10 finish. “Our performance today was stronger than I expected. Third [place] is something definitely helped by the safety car.”
Meanwhile, the Ferrari-Verstappen duel continued with Vettel overtaking the Dutchman. Jerome Pugmire, Spa-Francorchamps, AP
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