It was also his sixth win of the season, but first since June’s European Grand Prix, and it cut the deficit to Hamilton to nine points in the standings.
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While Rosberg did everything he needed to do by winning in Spa, Hamilton’s third place finish means the gap between both drivers stands at nine points ahead of next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. “The penalties for Lewis made things easier for me today – but he will be back in the battle for the win again next weekend, which will be exciting”.
“After the checkered flag, I looked at the results and I knew Daniel was behind me and then I see “HAM” in P3 and I was like ‘What?”
The race was halted in the early stages when Dane Kevin Magnussen crashed heavily, but he limped away from his wrecked Renault auto with only a damaged ankle.
Hamilton, who had incurred multiple grid penalties over the weekend for extra engine part changes, avoided the carnage at the start and gained places when the race was restarted after Magnussen’s smash.
Rosberg, who cruised to his sixth victory of the season, was happy to win on Formula One’s return to action.
Nico Hulkenberg equalled his best-ever result in F1 by taking fourth ahead of Force India team-mate Sergio Perez and Vettel while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, who started alongside Hamilton on the back row, produced the drive of the drive to fight to seventh.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second while his team-mate Max Verstappen, roared on by an army of Dutch fans, could manage only 11th following a first-corner collision involving the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. “I am very happy with it”.
After the safety auto came out, the race was halted on lap 10 of 44 as the battered barrier needed repairing.
Rosberg, runner-up to Hamilton in 2014 and previous year, opened the season with four wins in the first four races.
“So I came out of Eau Rouge with a decent gap between me and those cars ahead because they all looked like they were going a bit insane”.
In a turbulent start, Verstappen, on the front row alongside Rosberg, was surprised by the Ferraris and then was squeezed out on the inside on the first turn.
The impeded Ferraris were now squeezed wide and, as a effect, Raikkonen came across and nudged into the side of Vettel.
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Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was ninth and Red Bull’s Verstappen finished a disappointing 11th. He infuriated Raikkonen, a rare feat considering the Finn’s nickname is “The Ice Man” for his usually unflappable demeanour.
