Race Report – Spa-mash

F12016 Belgian GP Thursday Press Conference Friday Practice 1 Results Practice 1 Report Practice 2 Results Practice 2 Report Quotes Press Conference Photos Saturday Practice 3 Results Practice 3 Report Qualifying Results Qualifying Report Quotes Press Conference Photos Sunday Race Notes Race Results Race Incidents Race Report Quotes Press Conference Photos Spa-mash

Podium, Belgian GP 2016 

 © Active Pictures

 

By Dan Knutson in Spa-Francorchamps

There were plenty of smashes at Spa during the Belgian Grand Prix, and lots of hard racing, but Nico Rosberg avoided it all as he cruised from pole to checkered flag to win his sixth race of the season.

“In the race, the start, of course, is always pressure,” Rosberg said, “and then after that Daniel (Ricciardo) was quite quick in the beginning of the second stint. But in general, yes, I had everything under control because I just had an awesome car out there, and Lewis (Hamilton) wasn’t there to battle it out, which made it a less-difficult weekend. But really pleased to get the win, of course.”

Daniel Ricciardo finished a strong second in the Red Bull to visit the podium for the third successive race.

“We’re definitely making inroads,” he said when asked if Red Bull is closing in on Mercedes. “It’s the second race that we’ve at least finished in front of one of them – obviously Lewis (Hamilton) started towards the back today but I think our pace wasn’t too bad. I think the real start of the race eventually was after the red flag. I was second and Lewis was fifth. I think we held our own quite well. Nico (Rosberg) had a little bit more pace but I think generally we’re making inroads, which is really positive.”

Engine penalties put Hamilton 21st on the grid, yet he managed to climb to third.

“I really can’t believe that we came up so far to be honest,” he said. “I woke up this morning knowing how difficult it would be on these tires – lots of blistering. But you can never predict what’s going to happen in the race.

“The great thing about motor racing is that, since I was eight years old, every Sunday has been different. Your car’s positioned in a different way, your starts a bit different, something happens up front, in previous races there were no incidents, today there was.

“Today was really about trying to make sure you had the right approach: not too aggressive; not too easy. I think today, collectively as a team we had just the right balance. This is the best result I could have hoped for.”

The 44 lap race started with Rosberg getting a clean getaway. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel carved down on Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen going into the hairpin. Max Verstappen was on the inside of both Ferraris.

Verstappen’s front wing was damaged and he had to pit for a new one, and both Ferrari drivers pitted for repairs as well.

“I was P2,” Vettel said. “Nico was ahead but I was right behind on the outside leading the way into the first corner. Then I could hardly see Kimi because I was more than half a car length ahead when I turned in and to be honest he was already in the blind spot.

“It was a very bold move (by Verstappen) trying to recover those two places in one corner diving down the inside, that obviously was the reason why Kimi couldn’t turn in and follow the lead that I was dictating as the leading car of that group.

“With hindsight it’s easy, I turn in later or go wider and only those two are making contact and I get away with it. The problem is that you can’t fit three cars in that corner and the inside one of these able to trigger trouble on the outside which Kimi and myself suffered from.”

Verstappen said Vettel should have left more room.

“Definitely,” he said. “I mean he knows that he’s on the outside and suddenly he just turns into the corner where there are two other cars, so I think that’s pretty logical.”

Rosberg had run off into the lead, and he led an eclectic group of drivers and cars behind him: Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Ricciardo, Felipe Massa (Williams), Romain Grosjean (Haas), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso), Sergio Perez (Force India), Jolyon Palmer (Renault) and Kevin Magnussen (Renault). Two of those drivers would soon be departing the race in dramatic fashion.

There was more drama and crashing as Pascal Wehrlein’s Manor rammed into the back of Jenson Button’s McLaren.

Verstappen, Raikkonen, Vettel, Button and Felipe Nasr all pitted for repairs at the end of lap 1. Button was unable to continue.

“I had a really good start,” Button said. “I got ahead of a Williams, pulled in front of a Red Bull and drew alongside a Force India. But then I lost a lot of places at La Source and ran wide. I rejoined the track, but Pascal (Wehrlein) made contact with me at Turn 5, damaging the …

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