Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland steers his vehicle through a corner during the second practice session at the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix circuit in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Friday, Aug. 26, 2016.
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The race was briefly halted with nine of the 44 laps completed after a massive crash for Kevin Magnussen, who lost control of his Renault as he crested the fearsome Eau Rouge.
Hurtling up through Eau Rouge, Magnussen appeared to take too much kerb on the exit, sending the Dane into a high-speed spin across the track before ramming into the wall, resulting in a safety auto period. Daniel Ricciardo, in the second Red Bull, was sixth.
How did Hamilton do that?
Hamilton will start from the back row after accumulating multiple penalties for the introduction of three new power units in his Mercedes auto this weekend. The incident compromised all of their races, though events on the sixth lap threw them a lifeline.
Behind them, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen once again came together repeatedly on the track and continued in a war of words after the race.
Hamilton quickly attacked, sweeping past Fernando Alonso – himself doing brilliantly to come in seventh after starting 22nd – and Nico Hulkenberg by lap 18 before going to work on closing gap to Ricciardo. “But third was definitely helped by the safety vehicle and the VSC”. Ferrari have 16, including this one for John Surtees in 1966. Thankfully when he spun he initially went into the barriers backwards, but it was a huge impact.
The drivers were forced off the track and the race was delayed while fix work was carried out on the barriers. Alonso grazed Hulkenberg’s vehicle with his tyre and the Force India driver did well to keep the auto out of the wall, keeping position and staying inside the white line on exit.
Ricciardo is third in the F1 standings behind the Mercedes pair.
Saturday’s pole was the 28th of Rosberg’s career. Michael Schumacher leads the way with six – seen here making his debut in Belgium in 1991.
Move of the Race: Heart in the mouth stuff as Sergio Perez squeezed past Felipe Massa on lap 30. It is great to get the win, it is a legendary track. Tomorrow I will be the happiest guy on the grid.
“Two races in a row I’ve been screwed”, said an irate Ricciardo, who started that race from pole position and had been electrifyingly quick in practice. Alonso’s vehicle is on its third Honda power unit for the weekend because of numerous failures in practice and qualifying.
Alonso fought as well as he could in the McLaren, whose Honda engine is well down on power compared with the rest.
Raikkonen criticized Verstappen at the Hungarian GP last month, and others have also said he races recklessly at times.
The Dutchman finished 11th, a disappointment for the 20,000 fans who had come from his native country to cheer him on. Eventually, Verstappen pitted as he was on a different strategy and this allowed Raikkonen to get past.
As Vettel dived down the inside of Raikkonen and Vettel turned in, Raikkonen was left with nowhere to go in the middle and the trio made contact. We will all have major damage, there will be two or three stops, I do not know who will be able to take care of his tires or not.
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It could have been a lot worse for Hamilton who produced an impressive performance to secure a podium place against the odds.
