Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg has taken his first win around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit from pole position after a race that can only be described as crazy.
Despite starting in 21st, Lewis Hamilton came third behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to limit the damage of his championship lead to just losing 10 points.
The German driver got away in a clear lead at the front as the three cars behind him on the grid all collided with each other at turn one.
This resulted in Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel all pitting because of car damage. Raikkonen’s undertray had been so badly irritated by the damage that it caught fire.
Manor Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein collided with McLaren’s Jenson Button at the start as well, which caused both cars to exit the race.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg moved up into second place with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo third and Williams’ Felipe Massa fourth.
A Safety Car period then began on lap six after an extremely violent crash for Renault’s Kevin Magnussen. The Dane spun and flew into the tyre barriers, causing damage to them. His headrest bounced off the car with the energy of the collision. It later emerged that he was taken to hospital with a cut ankle being checked over.
This period allowed Raikkonen to unlap himself after falling behind with his contact, bringing him back into the race.
The race was then red-flagged on lap 10 to repair the damaged barrier, with all cars lining up one-by-one in the pit lane. This gave drivers a chance to change tyre strategies and discuss plans with their personnel.
After all the chaos, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Hamilton moved up to fourth and fifth from starting on the last row of the grid.
When the race got back underway, Rosberg led from Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Hamilton. The British driver soon got past the Spaniard for fourth.
A few laps later Verstappen and Raikkonen were once again battling each other hard for position trying to make their way through the grid. An aggressive move from the Dutch driver saw Raikkonen have to cut the corner before appearing to block the Finn on the next lap.
Hamilton then moved past Hulkenberg for third place, with Rosberg having a handsome lead at the front ahead of Ricciardo. The German driver led by 3.4 seconds by the 19th lap.
More drama ensued in the next pit window as Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg came into the pits for new tyres. Alonso appeared to come out into the path of Hulkenberg and the two made slight contact, Alonso touching his right rear tyre, as they went side-by-side at the pit exit.
The race did calm down in the final stages, with some midfield battling with the likes of Vettel, Verstappen and Raikkonen coming through the order. Hamilton used a three-stop strategy and changed onto medium tyres for his final stint, something he clearly disagreed with over team radio.
“I’m not sure that’s the right idea,” Hamilton said, with his engineer Pete Bonnington replying with, “we think it is.”
Despite setting the fastest lap near the end of the race, Hamilton was someway behind Ricciardo and couldn’t catch the Australian.
Rosberg went on to win the race, with Ricciardo in second and Hamilton claiming third. It is the third time that he has finished in third for the team from the back row of the grid.
Force India’s Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez continued their good race from the start to claim fourth and fifth. This is the team’s best joint finish since coming third and fourth at the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Vettel recovered to sixth ahead of Alonso who did well to stay in the top seven after some late pressure from cars behind. Valtteri Bottas finished in eighth for Williams, with Raikkonen ninth and Massa completing the top ten.
Despite it being his home track, Verstappen had no luck and finished in 11th, outside the points for the first time as a Red Bull driver.
Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez and Romain Grosjean were 12th and 13th ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Renault’s Jolyon Palmer. Manor’s Esteban Ocon claimed a 16th place finish on his Formula One race debut, with Felipe Nasr being the last classified finisher for Sauber.
Magnussen, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Sainz, Button and Wehrlein all retired from the race.
After the race, Hamilton leads the Drivers’ Championship by nine points, with the Briton on 232 points compared to Rosberg’s 223. Ricciardo moves 23 points clear of Vettel, who moves into fourth place.
Mercedes extend their Constructors’ Championship lead to 181 points, with the team on 455 points compared to Ferrari’s 274. Red Bull are now 22 points behind the Scuderia.
Force India promoted themselves to fourth place in the championship on 103 points, moving two points clear of Williams, who are on 101. McLaren have moved into sixth place on 48 points, now three points clear of Toro Rosso.
