Rosberg wins an eventful Belgian GP

Sagnussen escapes serious injury after crash; Hamilton third from P21

August 28, 2016 11:11 pm | Updated 11:11 pm IST - SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS:

A giant display shows the crash of Renault Sport F1 Team's Danish driver Kevin Magnussen during the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Spa on August 28, 2016.  / AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS

A giant display shows the crash of Renault Sport F1 Team's Danish driver Kevin Magnussen during the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Spa on August 28, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS

Nico Rosberg won an incident-packed Belgian Grand Prix featuring a chaotic start, wild overtaking, a heavy crash, safety cars and a red flag.

The Mercedes driver’s win on Sunday saw him close the gap on teammate Lewis Hamilton to nine points after the latter finished third behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was a season’s best fourth ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, while Fernando Alonso was seventh for McLaren.

“It’s been a great weekend; very, very happy with that result,” Rosberg said after his 20th career win. “Congrats to Lewis, last place to third must be pretty impressive.”

“Lewis wasn’t out there to battle it out [with me], so that made it an easier weekend,” Rosberg quipped. “It all worked out fine.”

For him, at least.

Rosberg started from pole with teen driver Max Verstappen also on the front row while Hamilton started from the back row alongside Alonso, after both incurred grid penalties for extra engine-part changes this weekend.

The race start was clean enough for Rosberg, but it was mayhem behind him.

The incident that shaped the race occurred right at the first turn where Verstappen was involved in a collision with the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. This immensely helped Hamilton and Alonso, who skirted the scene of the early carnage in front of them, and gained places.

As Raikkonen and Vettel went past him, the 18-year-old Verstappen aggressively tried to go for the inside even though there was very little room. The impeded Ferraris were now squeezed wide and, as a consequence, Raikkonen went across and nudged into the side of Vettel. Raikkonen pitted for a nose change but the crew also had to put out a small fire under his car.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz lost control when his rear right tyre blew out, sending him pirouetting to an improvised halt on the grass. He then drove back across the track with his rear right wheel up in the air before parking at the side of the track.

The incidents prompted the safety car to come out on lap-3, and when the race re-started a lap later, Sainz, Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Jenson Button (McLaren) and Pascal Wehrlein (Manor), who hit Button from behind, had all retired.

The safety car came out again as Renault driver Kevin Magnussen involved in a spectacular crash as he lost control coming out of the top of the hill at Eau Rouge, spinning and slamming backward into the barriers. Magnussen emerged from the wreck, hobbled away and was taken to hospital for checks. He suffered a cut to his left ankle but seemed to have escaped serious injury.

On lap 10, the race was halted because the barrier Magnussen had crashed into needed repairing.

When the race resumed 20 minutes later, Rosberg, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Hamilton made up the top-five.

In a fascinating sub-plot, Verstappen and Raikkonen were involved in another incident as Verstappen appeared to nudge him wide.

Raikkonen, who is twice Verstappen’s age, let his frustration out, saying: “His only interest is to push me off the track!”

Then, as they battled for 13th place, Verstappen zig-zagged in front of the Finn as he tried to hold position, prompting Raikkonen to use an expletive when describing Verstappen’s driving as “ridiculous.”

Meanwhile, at the front, Rosberg kept pulling away unhindered.

The results:

1. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1:44:51.058, 2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) + 14.113, 3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +27.634, 4. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) +35.907, 5. Sergio Perez (Force India) +40.660, 6. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) +45.394, 7. Fernando Alonso (McLaren) +59.445, 8. Valtteri Bottas (Williams) +1:00.151, 9. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) +1:01.109, 10. Felipe Massa (Williams) +1:05.873, 11. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +1:11.138, 12. Esteban Gutierrez (Haas) +1:13.877, 13. Romain Grosjean (Haas) +1:16.474, 14. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) +1:27.097, 15. Jolyon Palmer (Renault) +1:33.165, 16. Esteban Ocon (Manor), 17. Felipe Nasr (Sauber) + 1 lap. Retired: Kevin Magnussen (Renault) 39 laps, Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) 41 laps, Jenson Button (McLaren), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) 43 laps, Pascal Wehrlein (Manor) 44 laps.

Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton, 1:51.583 on lap 40.

Standings: Drivers: 1. Hamilton 232 points, 2. Rosberg 223, 3. Ricciardo 151, 4. Vettel 128, 5. Raikkonen 124, 6. Verstappen 115, 7. Bottas 62, 8. Perez 58, 9. Hulkenberg 45, 10. Massa 39, 11. Alonso 30, 12. Sainz 30, 13. Grosjean 28, 14. Kvyat 23, 15. Button 17, 16. Magnussen 6, 17. Wehrlein 1, 18. Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) 1. Gutierrez, Palmer, Ericsson, Nasr, Rio Haryanto (Manor), Ocon all 0.

Constructors: 1. Mercedes 455 points, 2. Red Bull 274, 3. Ferrari 252, 4. Force India 103, 5. Williams 101, 6. McLaren 48, 7. Toro Rosso 45, 8. Haas 28, 9. Renault 6, 10. Manor 1, 11. Sauber 0.

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