Spa-Francorchamps: A victorious Nico Rosberg had no idea where his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton had finished in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix until he studied the results after finishing the race.
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Meanwhile second-placed Daniel Ricciardo said prior to the race that he didn’t expect Hamilton to get close to him during the race.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo carried over Red Bull’s strong form from Friday’s practice sessions to take second, 0.215 seconds behind.
The reigning champion had climbed to fifth by the time the race was red-flagged on lap nine following Renault driver Kevin Magnussen’s heavy crash, before then claiming a podium place come the finish.
German Nico Rosberg steered clear of the chaos unfolding behind him to cruise to an unchallenged victory in a disrupted Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.
First, a slow-starting Verstappen was gobbled up by the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Raikkonen before Vettel turned into his teammate with Raikkonen then bumping into Verstappen.
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.
Rosberg said: “We had a hard weekend up to now, especially this morning”.
“With some luck and a maybe a safety vehicle, Lewis can climb up to the top very quickly, so he can’t be ruled out either”, he added. “I am very happy with this third place finish after we changed our engine”.
“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. “I think we can win this race, but it will be key to look after the tyres and we need to have a smart strategy”. “It’s ridiculous. It’s good TV if someone is moaning, but especially after (the first corner) when they do something like that I’m not going to give up my position easily”.
But the 15-minute suspension enforced a clean start, with Hamilton seemingly in position to challenge for an unlikely win. It’s been already an unbelievable weekend. Vettel finished sixth, Alonso seventh, while Valtteri Bottas put the first of the Williams in eighth place.
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Nico Rosberg, his team-mate, trails by 19 points in the championship and has a golden opportunity to eat into the lead.
