Nico Rosberg on track for first Spa-Francorchamps triumph
Nico Rosberg was back in the saddle this weekend! The only Mercedes driver to take the lead after Lewis Hamilton's penalties, the German driver fulfilled his mission perfectly in Belgium: to take victory. With a ten-point lead over his arch-rival, his second half of the season is well underway!
Victory had been eluding Nico Rosberg since the beginning of summer. With his last win on Sunday, June 19th in Baku for the European Grand Prix, it was time to react! Four races later, here he is again on the top step of the podium. Dominant at Spa-Francorchamps, the start of the weekend wasn’t the simplest, even in the fastest car on the grid. Ultimately, the tire management was spot on for the Grays.
I’m very happy to win here, at Spa on this legendary track! It wasn’t an easy weekend for us. We had a lot of work on the setup – but it paid off: the race was perfect! The stint on the medium tires was really very good, just like the first one on soft tires, by the way.
MEGA JOB guys!! Thank you for this car 🙏🏻🙏🏻 #bestTeam @MercedesAMGF1 📸 by @paulripke pic.twitter.com/PIh04U9jVw
— Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) 28 août 2016
As Max Verstappen and the two Ferraris scuttled themselves right from the start, Rosberg had, so to speak, a clear path to claim his first winner’s trophy in Belgium. Even he admits:
« I had things under control, I just had an enormous car! It wasn’t the hardest victory of my career to go for, that’s obvious. But Daniel was very fast at the beginning of the second stint. And the Safety Car restarts are always very intense moments: luckily, everything worked out very well. »
Fair play, our current winner spared a thought for his front-row companion. It was important to be corporate with a predominantly Dutch audience!
« There was a great atmosphere here with all the Dutch who came to cheer for Max. They must be sad after this race, but Max is still very young, he has many races ahead of him! »
On the side of his Mercedes clan, Rosberg also showed sympathy for the driver ranked third, a certain Lewis Hamilton.
« It’s good for the team that Lewis was able to finish in third position: it’s an excellent overall result for us. » But did he really think so, knowing full well that his situation could have been much better?
Indeed, Rosberg ultimately only gains ten points on the Briton, thus remaining in second position in the drivers’ standings, nine points behind the leader.
« I am not disappointed at all, I am happy with what I got today. Just well done to Lewis, he did a good job. He will be back in the battle for victory next Sunday, which is going to be very exciting!
Podium selfie – I need to work on my photography skills! 😂😂 😂🏆🏆🏆 #belgianGP 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/BkuetjegLk
— Nico Rosberg (@nico_rosberg) 28 août 2016
The penalties for Lewis made things easier for me this weekend – but he’ll be back in the fight for victory next Sunday, which will be very exciting!
With this twentieth career victory, Nico Rosberg joins two prestigious drivers in the rankings, both Finnish: Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkönen. Just five more wins and the driver marked with the number 6 will enter the absolute Top Ten!
To conclude, the last word goes to the pilot’s boss, Toto Wolff: « Nico controlled everything from the moment the lights went out! A perfect drive, with superb pace on each of the different types of tires used. He was able to build the necessary gap on Ricciardo. He didn’t make a single mistake! »
Thus, despite this perfect weekend, Rosberg already has to roll up his sleeves to face Hamilton’s return at the next race in Monza in seven days! The quest for his first driver’s title goes through there…
