Belgian Grand Prix: Eventful Race: Hamilton in Charge, Grosjean on the Podium!

After a Qualifying session outrageously dominated by Lewis Hamilton, it’s time for the 44 Laps of the Belgian Grand Prix! There are multiple questions before the start: we remember that in this same first-row configuration, the 2014 edition was marked by a collision between the two Mercedes drivers at the end of the Kemmel straight during the 2nd Lap. Will Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg be wiser this time at the start? They are certainly the big favorites for the victory.

Behind, they will mainly seek to fight for the podium. The contenders seem numerous: the Williams team with Bottas is in the lead, but Ricciardo, the 2014 winner, surprises like Sergio Pérez (a surprising 4th on the grid), or even the two Lotus cars will be ones to watch. Further down the field, the two Ferraris of Vettel (9th) and Räikkönen (17th) will be trying their best to make up big points and erase yesterday’s disappointment, especially on this very symbolic day: the Scuderia is indeed celebrating its 900th Grand Prix!

The weather remains very mild just minutes before the start: however, some doubts persist about a possible rain deterioration towards the end of the Race. 23 degrees in the air compared to 40 degrees on the track.

On the technical side, the pressure is increased with a change in the starting procedure: the drivers are no longer assisted by the pit wall. At 2 p.m., they set off for the formation lap: there is panic on Hülkenberg’s radio as he finally takes his place on the grid but the Sahara Force India driver stalls!

The departure is postponed, new formation lap for the 19 remaining drivers: Hülkenberg is pushed into the pit lane.

Force India tell Hülkenberg to pit – then ask him to take the start. But he can’t get away & it’s an aborted start pic.twitter.com/igYBCrG0ip

— Formula 1 (@F1) 23 Août /f1/actualite/20285-qualifications-belgique-sur-sa-planete-hamilton-na-pas-change-ses-bonnes-habitudes.html

This preparation for the departure is definitely chaotic: Carlos Sainz is returning to his pit, he will not be taking part in the start either.

The second start is finally the right one: a start without major incidents but with a lot of position changes! Sergio Pérez has an excellent start, exits the Source in second and threatens Lewis Hamilton on the Kemmel straight: with boldness, the Force India driver tries to take the lead, but the Englishman holds on!

Nico Rosberg missed his start: he is overtaken by Ricciardo and Bottas. The German attacks the Finn from Williams with authority and regains his position at the bus stop chicane.

In the 1st Round, the ranking is as follows: Hamilton – Pérez – Ricciardo – Rosberg – Bottas – Vettel – Maldonado – Grosjean – Massa – Ericsson. An early pit stop for Pastor Maldonado who must retire. The bad streak continues for the Venezuelan, once again a spectator of the Grand Prix.

Good takeoff further from McLaren-Honda: Fernando Alonso is 13th, Jenson Button: 15th.

Lewis Hamilton set the first fastest lap on the 2nd lap, and the leader is already pulling ahead of the pack. At the opposite end of the standings, Carlos Sainz managed to start but is now a lap behind.

The battle in the early laps actually concerns the second place: Nico Rosberg is currently unable to overtake Daniel Ricciardo, he remains fourth. The Australian is the first among the leaders to stop: he switches to medium tires as early as the 7th lap. Strategy is already coming into play, but he must first and foremost keep his car running as long as possible in this stint.

The start of the race is lively and positions are exchanged: on the 8th lap, Romain Grosjean passes Valterri Bottas with DRS for 5th place. At the end of this lap, it’s Sergio Pérez who dives into the pit lane: the undercut worked for Ricciardo who gets ahead of the Mexican, though Pérez comes out on soft tires.

In the 10th Lap, many drivers make their pit stops: Grosjean, Kyvat, Massa notably change tires. The Lotus mechanics have an average stop, and he comes out behind Bottas but fortunately for him, the DRS saves him, and he overtakes again! Also noteworthy is a very bold overtaking maneuver by Max Verstappen on Marcus Ericsson in Blanchimont, standing on the curb.

Unprecedented image also with Williams and Bottas: the mechanics created an unprecedented image: their driver is driving with 3 Soft tires and 1 Hard tire: unprecedented configuration but prohibited by the regulations!

LAP 12/43: Spot the odd one out – Bottas has one medium tyre and three softs and will have to pit #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/VE3CpkMkhI— Formula 1 (@F1) 23 Août

On the 12th lap, Nico Rosberg is immobilized; the stop allows him to come out ahead of Pérez and Ricciardo. But Pérez arrives fast with his warm tires: the two drivers are side by side on the long Kemmel straight. Rosberg barely maintains the advantage. His teammate is currently running at a solid pace: he makes his first pit stop on the 14th lap, temporarily handing the lead to Sebastian Vettel, who has not yet stopped.

The Bottas case is resolved in a rather unexpected way: penalized with a drive-through, he nevertheless stays on track with his unprecedented tire configuration, which could raise eyebrows among the panel of race stewards. The Lotus team is also questioning the legitimacy of the penalty on their Twitter account…

If Bottas has a drive through for being on the wrong tyres, he’s still on the wrong tyres. Does that mean perpetual penalties?

— Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) 23 Août /f1/actualite/20285-qualifications-belgique-sur-sa-planete-hamilton-na-pas-change-ses-bonnes-habitudes.html

Nevertheless, despite Maldonado’s retirement, there’s a smile at the Enstone team for now: Romain Grosjean and his E23 are in great form: there he is overtaking Daniel Ricciardo for 4th place on the 18th lap. The pace is good, and he can also consider overtaking Sergio Pérez, who is in 3rd position.

At the 20th Lap, the standings are therefore as follows: 1-Hamilton, 2-Rosberg, 3-Pérez, 4-Grosjean, 5-Ricciardo, 6-Vettel, 7-Kyvat, 8-Massa, 9-Räikkönen, 10-Verstappen

Romain Grosjean is definitely insatiable: he closes in on Pérez and takes 3rd place. The operating method is always the same: overtaking with DRS on the Kemmel straight.

Twist at the 21st Lap for Daniel Ricciardo: engine seized at the entrance to the main straight of start/finish. The Virtual Safety Car is activated!

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LAP 21/43: VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR – Daniel Ricciardo suddenly stops on the pit straight and his race is run #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/sCxrmNfdwL

— Formula 1 (@F1) 23 Août /f1/actualite/20285-qualifications-belgique-sur-sa-planete-hamilton-na-pas-change-ses-bonnes-habitudes.html

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She causes a few gambles, notably for Grosjean. A change of strategy for the Frenchman who equips Medium Tires, apparently to go to the end of the race. Other drivers follow suit, these staggered strategies will surely offer an interesting uncertainty for the end of the Grand Prix.

And that’s not all, the clouds in the sky are increasingly threatening! Fernando Alonso’s race engineer indicates that the rain is gradually approaching the track.

At the 25th Lap, the two Mercedes are still in the lead, Hamilton still ahead of Rosberg. Sebastian Vettel has reclaimed 3rd place following Grosjean’s pit stop. The Frenchman seems to be conserving his energy to manage his tires as best as possible: he remains a few seconds behind the Ferrari. Behind, Daniil Kyvat stayed on track, he is 5th. Following are Pérez, Massa, Räikkönen, Verstappen, and Bottas: all with two stops.

We are gradually moving towards the end of the Grand Prix and the battle is still very interesting for the last spot on the podium: especially since Sebastian Vettel is complaining about some problems with his car. After Kimi Räikkönen, will reliability once again let down the Reds?

In the lead, there is also a discussion between Lewis Hamilton and his engineer: the Englishman pits, particularly to fine-tune his car’s balance. Nico Rosberg temporarily takes the lead: his strategy mirrors his teammate’s as he stops on the next lap, the 31st.

The two Mercedes are still alone in the world, but at Lotus, they’re dreaming of an “exciting” race finish.

Obviously our current position is colouring our view, but isn’t this a great race? Now all we need is @MercedesAMGF1 to slow to join the fun

— Lotus F1 Team (@Lotus_F1Team) 23 Août /f1/actualite/20285-qualifications-belgique-sur-sa-planete-hamilton-na-pas-change-ses-bonnes-habitudes.html

At the 33rd lap, 10 laps from the finish, the standings are now set as follows: 1-Hamilton, 2-Rosberg, 3-Vettel, 4-Grosjean, 5-Pérez, 6-Massa, 7-Räikkönen, 8-Kyvat, 9th-Bottas, 10th-Verstappen. Further back, Alonso and Button are anonymously in 13th and 14th position. Carlos Sainz has retired, also having had a difficult race 2 laps off the lead.

Lap record for Nico Rosberg with 1:52.669 on soft tires. But the stakes are more intense in the battle for third place: Grosjean is now catching up with Vettel tenth by tenth. Will the Ferrari driver attempt to hold on with these tires until the end of the race? The Frenchman is closing in to within a second, and thus approaching DRS activation…

Behind them, the battle continues as well, from Sergio Pérez in 5th to Valtteri Bottas in 9th, all within less than five seconds. Daniil Kvyat climbs up and passes Kimi Räikkönen on Lap 38, still on the Kemmel straight. The Russian now has Massa in his sights.

We therefore finish this race with two battles: the Vettel-Grosjean match for the podium, and the race for the 5th place currently dominated by Sergio Pérez.

For the podium, Romain Grosjean enters the DRS zone on Vettel on Lap 40. His engineer authorizes him to use an aggressive engine map to catch the German, who is struggling with his tires. But the four-time World Champion has very good top speed, even with DRS, the Lotus is just not enough!

In the same lap, Daniil Kyvat continues his comeback and overtakes Pérez: here he is in 5th place and now leading the small group.

Catastrophe in the penultimate lap for Sebastian Vettel! His right rear tire explodes at the top of Radillon: Romain Grosjean moves up to 3rd! Another disappointment for Ferrari in this Ardennes weekend. Vettel’s flat tire causes confusion: it has grouped the drivers for the 4th place! Daniil Kvyat holds the lead, but behind it’s chaos.

End of the race is more peaceful for Lewis Hamilton, as he crosses the finish line as the winner of this Belgian Grand Prix! Back to normal for Mercedes, having missed the mark in Budapest: a one-two finish with Nico Rosberg in 2nd place.

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YES YES YES!!! @LewisHamilton WINS the #BelgianGP! Perfection from start to finish! WHAT A DRIVE! #F1 pic.twitter.com/pLE9sqAjoS

— MERCEDES AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 23 Août /f1/actualite/20285-qualifications-belgique-sur-sa-planete-hamilton-na-pas-change-ses-bonnes-habitudes.html

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Romain Grosjean finds himself back on the podium, which he hadn’t seen since the 2013 United States Grand Prix! The French driver throws himself into the arms of his engineers once he gets out of the car. This image will certainly remain a highlight of the weekend when one knows the complicated situation the Lotus team is in!

.@Lotus_F1Team celebrate a first podium since the US GP in Nov 2013. It’s a 10th podium for @RGrosjean #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/LMDAvWTCVU

— Formula 1 (@F1) 23 Août /f1/actualite/20285-qualifications-belgique-sur-sa-planete-hamilton-na-pas-change-ses-bonnes-habitudes.html

Here is the complete classification of this Belgian Grand Prix /f1/news/20285-qualifying-belgium-on-his-planet-hamilton-has-not-changed-his-good-habits.html: