Rosberg wins Belgian GP as Lewis Hamilton roars to third

Rosberg, who was starting the race on pole position with Hamilton forced to go from the back of the field as he served an engine penalty, maintained the lead comfortably throughout and cut the reigning champion’s lead at the top of the drivers’ standings to nine points in the process.

“We just weren’t quick, it is hot and Pirelli (tire) pressures are high this weekend”, said Rosberg, who will be aiming for a 20th GP win. “It’s a great motivation when you see them next to the track”, said the Dutchman, who won on his Red Bull debut in Spain.

“And the vehicle was great in the race so of course everything still needs to come together and the start is critical and then with the red flag and everything it becomes a bit more complicated and messy”.

The Briton’s rise through the order was helped by the first-corner chaos that forced both Ferraris and Verstappen into the pits and by the safety auto and red flag deployed after Magnussen’s crash.

Verstappen was involved in a first-turn collision with the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel that shaped the race. “But third was definitely helped by the safety vehicle and the VSC”.

Short-lived When racing resumed it was short-lived, after Kevin Magnussen in the Renault suffered a huge, high-speed collision going nearly straight into the barriers at the top of Eau Rouge. The Danish driver walked away from the incident with a slight limp and was whisked away to the medical center to be checked out.

With the tyre barrier destroyed, the race was then suspended with further repairs carried out.

The defending Formula One champion and current championship leader was already condemned to start from the back of the grid after picking up a 15-place grid penalty in Friday morning’s first practice and a further 15 spots following another component change in the afternoon.

While Rosberg did everything he needed to do by winning in Spa, Hamilton’s third place finish means the gap between both drivers stands at nine points ahead of next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix.

“That was flawless for me”, said Hamilton, victor of six of the last seven races leading up to Spa. I might get past three cars tomorrow and my tyres might be gone. I think today I was on it, I was sharp.

“I’m very pleased to be second here in front of my fans”.

“It’s great to break records, but I want to break other records”, he said in the matter-of-fact style that underlines his cool temperament.

Hulkenberg had to stay content with fourth place, his best ever F1 result, while Sergio Perez took fifth place, which ensured Force India moved ahead of Williams, taking fourth in the constructors championship.

“I just want to say a big thanks to everyone”, Hamilton said.

Being able to start the race on the soft tyre required those drivers to set their best Q2 time on the yellow-marked rubber, which gave Ricciardo a nervous wait as he sat in the pits hoping to make it through to Q3 as the slowest of the soft-tyre runners.