Nico Rosberg wins Formula One Belgian Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg clinches his sixth win of the season at the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix today to tie up the number of wins with his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton. For Rosberg, this is his 20th F1 victory in a career and the first victory at the famous Belgian Grand Prix circuit in the premier racing series.
As Hamilton finished third at Spa-Francorchamps, he remains in the championship lead but the gap is now decreased to nine points. Hamilton started from 21st place on grid due to engine-change penalty. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who is third in the championship points, takes his fourth podiums of the season, finishing second at Spa.
Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez get plenty of points for the team, finishing fourth and fifth. Sebastien Vettel crossed the finish line in the sixth place, ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. Valtteri Bottas, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa completed the Top 10.
Turn 1 before the collision of Vettel, Raikkonen and Verstappen
The race started with Turn 1 clash between two Ferraris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who started slowly and then tried to compensate his position in the first corner. All three drivers continued to race but dropped down in the order. Later during the opening lap few more incidents caused the first interruption with the Safety Car. The victim were Carlos Sainz Jr, Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein.
After the restart Rosberg was in the lead ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo. On Lap 6, Kevin Magnussen became the victim of the Eau Rouge-Raidillon combination, destroyng not only his car but the big piece of the barrier. The Safety Car was deployed again. Few drivers pitted during the SC period so the positions were mixed before the red flag was shown on Lap 10 because of barrier repairs.
At the restart, Rosberg, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg stayed in front, while Alonso had to give his fourth place to Hamilton. On Lap 18, Hamilton reached the podium place by passing Hulkenberg. In the remainder of the race there were no more changes among the leading four drivers. After 44 laps, both Ferrari drivers returned among points scorers while Verstappen misses the points by finishing eleventh.
Check the full results of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix
Photos: formula1.com,
