Belgian GP 2016: Rosberg wins, Hamilton charges from 21st to 3rd

Nico Rosberg won the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix for Mercedes from pole position and did not trail for a single lap. Daniel Ricciardo finished second for Red Bull. Third place went to Lewis Hamilton, even though he had started the race only 21st on the grid. Rosberg's challengers collided as early as the first corner. On top of that came a red-flag period after a heavy crash. All of this made the race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps one of the most chaotic of the season.

Behind Rosberg, Max Verstappen and Kimi Räikkönen lined up second and third on the grid. For Verstappen it was the first front-row start of his career. But the Red Bull driver got away poorly, and the two Ferrari cars of Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel moved past him. Heading into La Source, Verstappen dived down the inside of Räikkönen. At the same time, Vettel cut sharply from the outside to the inside and hit his teammate. That pushed Räikkönen into the Red Bull. All three cars were damaged and had to pit. Räikkönen had a puncture and a broken front wing, while Verstappen lost parts of his front wing. Rosberg's most dangerous rivals had taken themselves out of contention at the very first corner.

It was just as wild further back. At Les Combes, Pascal Wehrlein in his Manor Marussia ran into the back of Jenson Button's McLaren. Both drivers retired. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) had to retire after a puncture on the opening lap, and there was a Virtual Safety Car period. On lap 3, Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) also pulled over with a gearbox failure.

Shortly after the Virtual Safety Car ended came the most serious moment of the day. According to formula1.com, Kevin Magnussen lost the rear of his Renault at the exit of Eau Rouge on lap 6. He was running eighth at the time. The car spun and slammed backwards into the tyre barrier at Raidillon. Magnussen was able to climb out and was taken to hospital for checks with a cut to his ankle. His car was written off. The Safety Car came out first. Because repairing the barrier took time, the race was red-flagged on lap 9. It resumed after around 17 minutes. Teams were allowed to change tyres during the stoppage.

The interruption helped two drivers in particular. Nico Hülkenberg had been running as high as second in his Force India. However, he had pitted under the Safety Car and dropped behind Ricciardo as a result. Ricciardo had damaged his front wing on debris from the start crash. Red Bull calmly replaced the wing during the red-flag period and fitted fresh soft tyres.

Hamilton had to start from the back of the field because of several engine penalties. Mercedes had deliberately scheduled the changes for Spa. Overtaking is relatively easy there, which allowed the team to build up a stock of new power unit parts for the rest of the season. Alongside Hamilton, Fernando Alonso also started right at the back after penalties.

The pair made the most of the chaos. During the red-flag period, Alonso was fourth and Hamilton fifth. According to the FIA, Hamilton passed Alonso and Hülkenberg after the restart. Against Hülkenberg, though, it took him several laps to make the move stick. After that, according to formula1.com, he closed to within less than ten seconds of Ricciardo. With two further stops on laps 21 and 32, Hamilton opted for a more aggressive strategy. Ricciardo held on to second nonetheless. Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race and crossed the line 27.634 seconds behind Rosberg. According to the FIA, his 18 places gained were a new record at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Alonso was strong too: in the uncompetitive McLaren he went from 22nd on the grid to seventh. At the flag he finished ahead of Valtteri Bottas, the recovering Räikkönen and Felipe Massa.

Things were calmer at the front. Rosberg had the race under control again immediately after the restart and, after the stoppage, pitted only once more for tyres, on lap 26. Ricciardo stayed within reach for a long time but lost pace towards the end on worn medium tyres. At the finish he was 14.113 seconds adrift. It was the Australian's third podium in a row. Rosberg claimed his sixth win of the season, his 20th Grand Prix win overall and his first at Spa. He openly admitted that Hamilton's grid position had made the weekend “considerably easier” for him (paraphrased, according to the FIA).

Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez secured a strong result for Force India with fourth and fifth. Once again, though, it was not the first podium of Hülkenberg's career. Vettel recovered from the start crash to finish sixth. Bottas and Massa took eighth and tenth for Williams, with Räikkönen ninth in between.

After the start crash, Verstappen had dropped as low as 16th, according to the FIA. On his way back up he clashed with Räikkönen several times. The most debated incident came on the Kemmel Straight. Verstappen changed line there at the very last moment, and Räikkönen had to brake hard at full speed. The Finn called the driving “ridiculous” (paraphrased) and warned of a serious accident. The stewards and the FIA, however, deemed the single, late change of direction to be just within the rules. In the end, after three pit stops (plus a tyre change during the red-flag period), Verstappen could only finish eleventh and left without points.

*Context:* Before the next race at Monza, Verstappen and Red Bull spoke with race director Charlie Whiting about the limits when defending.

Behind Verstappen, the Haas F1 Team drivers Esteban Gutiérrez and Romain Grosjean finished 12th and 13th. They were followed by Daniil Kvyat and Jolyon Palmer. Esteban Ocon and Felipe Nasr were 16th and 17th, a lap down.

Winners of the day:
- Hamilton: 18 places gained and the championship lead defended by 9 points
- Alonso: 15 places gained, seventh in the McLaren
- Force India: 22 points, moving past Williams into fourth in the constructors' standings, 103 to 101
- Gutiérrez (+6) and Kvyat (+5), albeit without points

Losers of the day:
- Verstappen: from second on the grid to eleventh, so 9 places lost
- Räikkönen: from third on the grid to ninth
- Button: out on the first lap through no fault of his own

In the 2016 standings, Hamilton led with 232 points after the 13th round of the season. Rosberg had 223 points, just nine behind. Ricciardo consolidated third with 151 points. Vettel (128) moved past Räikkönen (124) into fourth. Hülkenberg climbed to ninth with 45 points. In the constructors' standings, Mercedes were well clear on 455 points, ahead of Red Bull (274) and Ferrari (252). Hamilton's penalties had still paid off: with fresh engine parts in hand, he lost only ten points to Rosberg at Spa. That left the title race wide open heading into the final eight races.