At the re-start he then made further progress, passing McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, before eventually bring his vehicle home third, a result that sees him retain his Championship lead, 9 points up on team-mate, Nico Rosberg, who took the victory. He escaped serious injury. Lewis started the race in 21st position and steadily made his way to the podium.
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Thanks to a red-flag situation caused by Kevin Magnussen driving his Renault into a wall, the red flag was deployed and the race was even suspended for a short time right after in order to fix the severly damaged wall.
“But someone took me up to the paddock club today and I said [in an interview] I might not even finish”.
“After that it was an uphill battle: the floor of my vehicle was a bit damaged, but we managed to recover some positions and do the best we could, even though it was not easy”.
Rosberg had teen driver Max Verstappen next to him on the front row, while Hamilton was joined at the back of the class by Fernando Alonso.
Trouble started right from the outset, however, with Vettel and Ferrari teammate Raikkonen colliding on the first corner.
In a fascinating sub-plot, Verstappen and Raikkonen were involved in another incident as Verstappen appeared to nudge him wide.
The safety auto emerged again after Magnussen lost control of his Renault coming out of the top of the hill at Eau Rouge, spinning at speed and slamming backward into the barriers.
Raikkonen – who is twice Verstappen’s age – let his frustration out, saying “his only interest is to push me off the track”. This caused the safety auto to be deployed, with considerable damage to the tyre wall, prompting a round of pit stops for drivers on the supersoft tyres.
Rosberg, meanwhile, took his sixth win of the campaign and first since June.
Then, Verstappen zig-zagged in front of him as he tried to hold position, prompting Raikkonen to use an expletive when describing Verstappen’s driving as “ridiculous”. I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen in the race and I was just trying to keep my head down all the time and focus on the long run pace.
Mercedes had come into the race knowing Hamilton would have to take penalties due to failures earlier in the season and opted to maximise the number of components he can now draw on in the remaining eight races. “To be honest, it’s a big lie”, he said of the criticism. The pair clashed on the first corner of the first lap and Verstappen may have to look at his technique given the way he moved late to defend on the Kemmel Straight.
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Asked if he has been too aggressive at recent races, Verstappen said he was not anxious about what his rivals think of him. “But third was definitely helped by the safety vehicle and the VSC”.
