The Overview I
Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg took a comfortable victory in the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo finished second for Red Bull, as Lewis Hamilton took advantage of the chaos to finish third despite starting down in 21st place on the grid.
The victory was Rosberg’s sixth win of the season, his first career Spa victory, and his first win since the European Grand Prix in June. He now trails Hamilton by just nine points in the drivers’ championships.
Any expectations that local hero Max Verstappen might collect another victory this season were dashed at the first corner. Verstappen had become the youngest driver ever to occupy the front row of a Grand Prix starting grid when he qualified second; just 0.149 seconds behind pole sitter Rosberg. Behind him were the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastien Vettel. In many prior Grands Prix, these three challengers had leapt off the starting line, blowing quickly past Rosberg’s usual wheel-spinning Mercedes. This time, it was Verstappen who bogged down, as Rosberg made a perfect launch to lead toward the La Source hairpin. Raikkonen passed Verstappen but was quickly surrounded by teammate Vettel on his left and the now resurgent Verstappen’s Red Bull steaming down his inside line as they neared the apex. Vettel turned in sharply, knocking Raikkonen into Verstappen before spinning himself out. Raikkonen’s SF16-H took a substantial hit, just before his flank broke a sizeable section out of Verstappen’s left front wing.
Vettel would recover but had front wing damage, while Verstappen was forced to complete the entire 4.32-mile lap hemorrhaging blocks of time and positions as his car wildly understeered through the high-speed corners before pitting for a new wing. Raikkonen followed him in with a puncture, losing a full lap as his Ferrari mechanics extinguished his car’s carbon fibre bodywork set ablaze as it was dragged on the tarmac as well as other frontal damage. Thus, Rosberg was able to run away serenely, opening up a 4.1s lead over Nico Hulkenberg Force India, who had snaked through the first corner carnage to rise from seventh on the grid. Jenson Button had also found racing space, but no sooner had he reached the leading group then Pascal Wehrlein ran his Manor into the back of the Button’s McLaren, putting both of them out on the spot.
On lap two, Carlos Sainz’s Toro Rosso burst its right rear tire on the long Kemmel Straight, scattering suspension, shards of body work and sections of the tyre on the racing line. A VSC (Virtual Safety Car) was activated for the cleanup. In the melee, Alonso and Hamilton had weaved their way forward to 10th and 12th. Significantly, Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull had passed Hulkenberg for second.
