Expectations

Driver’s faced their first manual starting line launch at Spa, leaving some to think it would lead to surprise early leaders and carnage. It did neither

Honda promised a substantial engine upgrade for the McLaren, finally giving the chassis competitive power. McLaren were no better, recording the slowest straight-line speed down the Kemmel Straight.

Overview

Lewis Hamilton won the 2015 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, beating his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg with a dominating performance at Spa-Francorchamps, holding the lead for the majority of the race and never appearing seriously challenged.

Surprises

Nico Rosberg demonstrated how much strength the Mercedes has in reserve as he battled up from sixth, passing Valtteri Bottas, who also slow off the line from third on the grid, with a determined move down the inside of the Bus Stop chicane at the end of the first lap. He then jumped ahead of Sergio Perez Sauber and Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull with an undercut at the first round of pitstops. He finished his usual second.

Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel leaped from four and eighth respectively on the grid to nearly take third at the first corner, weaving from far left to inside right as others spun their tires.