So, a sixth Grand Prix victory of the season for Lewis Hamilton. He extends his championship lead over Rosberg to 28 points, and is set fair to disappoint Jessica Ennis-Hill at December’s Sports Personality of the Year ceremony.
Where next on this magnificent Sunday of sport? Well, you can find out what happened in the men’s world 100m final, join Nick Miller for West Brom v Chelsea, or see out the Ashes with Rob Smyth and Vitushan Ehantharajah. The choice is yours.
That’s all from me, thanks for reading. Cheerio.
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Here is the final top ten, with Vettel finishing 12th after that late blowout, and a clutch of drivers between fifth and eighth battling for position right to the line:
1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
3. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
4. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull)
5. Sergio Pérez (Force India)
6. Felipe Massa (Williams)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
8. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
9. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
10. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
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Lewis Hamilton wins the Belgian Grand Prix!
Hamilton delivers another classy performance to win from pole, and never looked in trouble once he negotiated those tricky first few corners. Team-mate Nico Rosberg is second, with Lotus’s Romain Grosjean third – his first podium since the 2013 U.S. Grand Prix.
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Lap 43: So, Grosjean will surely take a podium place, and Verstappen tries to force his way past Raikkonen, but just locks up at the last. None of that is of much concern to Lewis Hamilton, who is cruising towards the chequered flag...
Lap 42: Grosjean has just two laps to pass Vettel, who is on a one-stop strategy – and it backfires horribly at the last, with Vettel’s right rear tyre blowing out! Vettel plummets down the field, and Grosjean is up into third.
Lap 41: Both Mercedes are reporting power problems. How serious are they? Well, both cars are still moving faster than anyone else, and are a full thirty seconds clear of the field. It’s been another dominant afternoon for them. Kvyat’s fresher tyres are working a treat, and he passes Pérez to move into the top five.
Lap 40: Kvyat produces a dazzling overtaking move, pushing his racing line to the limit to squeeze into fifth spot. Grosjean has caught Vettel, but hasn’t been able to get past the wily Ferrari man, and is running out of time.
Lap 39: Still plenty to play for among the points, with Pérez, Massa, Kvyat and Raikkonen all within three seconds of each other. Grosjean, meanwhile, has closed to within half a second of Vettel. He’s right behind him, in other words.
Here’s the current top ten, with four laps to go.
1. Hamilton 2. Rosberg 3. Vettel 4. Grosjean 5. Pérez 6. Massa 7. Kvyat 8. Raikkonen 9. Bottas 10. Verstappen
Lap 37: The gap between Rosberg and Vettel is a whopping 20 seconds, so the Ferrari driver and Grosjean are going mano a mano for the final podium spot. Kvyat, trying to rescue a tough day for Red Bull, overtakes Raikkonen to move up to seventh.
Lap 36: Grosjean is breathing down Vettel’s neck, with the Ferrari’s one-stop gamble not really paying off. The Lotus is currently lapping half a second faster than the third-placed Ferrari. Hamilton’s lead over Rosberg is holding firm at 4.6 seconds.
Lap 35: Rain watch – the shower is now 40km away, which could mean that rain will arrive in the final few laps. This is entirely based on a weather forecast from the McLaren team radio, so don’t hold me to it.
Lap 34: Rosberg sets a new fastest lap, and has trimmed the gap to ten seconds. Verstappen pits, his third stop of the day, and returns to the race in tenth place. And now Sainz is retiring. Come on Carlos, come back on and carry on racing...
Lap 33: Vettel, sitting in third place, is planning to gamble on racing to the end without another stop. Massa is eyeing a top-five finish, and is gaining rapidly on Pérez.
Lap 32: Rosberg rejoins after pitting, but he emerges 7.4 seconds behind Hamilton. Safe to say, Hamilton will be disappointed with anything less than a win now.
Here’s the current top ten: 1. Hamilton 2. Rosberg 3. Vettel 4. Grosjean 5. Pérez 6. Massa 7. Raikkonen 8. Verstappen 9. Kvyat 10. Bottas
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Lap 31: Rosberg is told to push hard for a final lap before pitting; he will lead the race for half a lap or so before he comes in. Apologies to Carlos Sainz – the Toro Rosso has not retired, and is still racing despite being miles behind at the back. Kudos to him.
Lap 30: Bottas has sorted his tyres out, but it’s not helping a great deal as Kvyat rolls past the Williams on the outside. Hamilton is set for his second pit stop, but suggests he could manage another lap. The team radio tell him that if he does, “Nico will get to stop first”. Hamilton pits.
Lap 29: Kvyat is in tenth, and will now push the soft tyres to the limit in order to move up the field. Vettel is weighing up when to make a second stop, to give him a similar opportunity to attack drivers on older tyres late in the race.
Lap 27: Pérez, down in sixth, is chasing down Kvyat, but the Red Bull keeps a second clear – far enough to prevent the Mexican using DRS. Kvyat is struggling for grip though, and pits to switch to soft tyres.
Lap 26: Hamilton has extended his lead over Rosberg to 4.5 seconds, while Carlos Sainz, who has trundled along gamely for half the distance, has now retired. He joins Ricciardo, Maldonado and Hülkenberg back in the paddock.
Lap 25: Hamilton seems perplexed that Rosberg was able to clip a second off his lead while the virtual safety car was in place. The rain is still around 100km away, the McLaren radio tells Alonso. Given the season they’ve had, expect the heavens to open imminently.
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Lap 24: The top ten has reshuffled somewhat on account of those pits, with Vettel and Kvyat among those saving their second stop in order to move up the field.
1. Hamilton 2. Rosberg 3. Vettel 4. Grosjean 5. Kvyat 6. Pérez 7. Massa 8. Raikkonen 9. Verstappen 10. Bottas
Lap 23: Clouds are building in the distance; the track temperature is dropping, and perhaps the rain will arrive earlier than expected. Pérez, who also pitted, is being told to race to the end on his new tyres.
“Nico’s getting closer” says a nervy Hamilton over the team radio. The gap is two seconds, with back marker traffic approaching for the race leader.
Lap 22: With the race halfway to completion, a number of drivers are going for a final pit stop. Raikkonen, Massa, Verstappen and the third-placed Grosjean all go in, with the virtual safety car sent back to its imaginary garage.
Lap 21: Ricciardo is out! The Red Bull suffers a sudden and total power failure halfway around a corner, and one of the sport’s more curious recent additions, the virtual safety car, is in effect.
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Lap 20: Romain Grosjean is flying, and employs DRS going into Les Combes to steam past Pérez and into a podium place. Grosjean took four podiums in five races at the tail end of the 2013 season, but hasn’t been back since.
Lap 19: Not a great day for Bottas then, after starting third on the grid. He’s still out racing with mismatched tyres, and will struggle to get near the points. Hamilton has a lead of three seconds, and is gaining on team-mate Rosberg.
Lap 18: Kvyat, Massa and Raikkonen are in sight of each other, battling for seventh – and Grosjean sweeps past Ricciardo to take fourth place! That’s where he would have started, but the speedy Frenchman has now cancelled out his starting penalty.
Lap 17: Bottas apparently has a different tyre on his right rear wheel than on the others, which is regrettable. Pérez is struggling for pace with Ricciardo and Grosjean chasing him down, while Rosberg is closing the gap gradually to Hamilton, out in front. The leader has just set a new fastest lap, which will help.
Lap 16: “Just drive straight into the pits and out again”, a weary Williams radio tells Bottas, who has to take a drive-through penalty for that tyre business. The Finn is down to 11th, with the field behind him jumping up a place, and Max Verstappen moving into the points.
Lap 15: Rosberg has shaken off that shoddy start, and sets a new fastest l ap. With the key players all taking their first pit stops, here’s how it stands:
1. Hamilton 2. Rosberg 3. Pérez 4. Ricciardo 5. Grosjean 6. Vettel 7. Bottas 8. Kvyat 9. Massa 10. Raikkonen
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Lap 14: Vettel locks up going into La Source, but he now leads the race, although the Ferrari is yet to pit. Vettel isn’t able to gain any real ground on Hamilton, leading by just half a second and is set to return to the track fighting for a podium place rather than the race win.
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Lap 13: Rosberg gets out ahead of Pérez, but the Force India driver has momentum going into Eau Rouge. Rosberg does enough to hold him off, which could prove significant later in the race. Hamilton is next into the pits, while Bottas is set to be penalised after incorrect tyres were fitted. That seems like a schoolboy error...
Lap 12: Pérez eases past Ricciardo to move back into fourth, with Vettel sandwiched between the Mexican and the two Mercedes. None of the front three have pitted yet, but Rosberg is set to do so next lap...
Lap 11: Verstappen goes big, taking on Nasr around the outside of Blanchimont, and making it round the Sauber. Not bad for a guy who’s yet to take his driving test.
Lap 10: Pits ahoy in the tenth lap, with Bottas, Grosjean, Massa and Ericsson all trundling in. Massa re-emerges and finds himself in a confusing battle with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, while Grosjean and Bottas resume hostilities, with the Lotus overtaking the Williams once again.
Lap 9: Pérez also pits, but can’t match Ricciardo’s time, and exits behind the Red Bull. It’s Hamilton and Rosberg in first and second, although neither Mercedes has pitted yet. Maldonado has also been forced to retire, so two drivers are out, with Sainz surely set to follow in due course; the Toro Rosso has been lapped twice by Hamilton.
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Lap 8: Ricciardo has pitted, switching from soft tyres to the medium tyres that he impressed with in practice. The Lotus of Grosjean moves past Bottas as he continues his charge up the field.
Lap 7: Hamilton has the fastest lap, a clean air advantage, and five seconds over Pérez in second. It’s looking good. Pérez has made the podium four times, but just once since leaving Sauber in 2012, so this is something of a surprise.
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Lap 6: Plenty of overtaking action in the early stages, with Kvyat up to eighth after outlasting Felipe Massa. The Red Bulls have made a strong start, with last year’s winner, Danny Ricciardo, currently holding a podium place.
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Lap 5: Kimi Raikkonen has also overtaken Ericsson; there are a fair few experienced drivers lurking in the middle of the field today. Further up the track, Romain Grosjean has continued his qualifying form, and is closing in on the sixth-placed Bottas.
Lap 4: Max Verstappen sits in behind Ericcson, then cruises past the Sauber driver to move into the top ten, after starting way down the grid. Another back marker making moves is Fernando Alonso; the McLaren driver is up to twelfth.
Lap 3: Hülkenberg has officially retired, while Sainz is out there, but struggling badly. Pastor Maldonado becomes the third driver to report power problems.
Here’s the top ten after three laps: 1. Hamilton 2. Pérez 3. Ricciardo 4. Rosberg 5. Vettel 6. Bottas 7. Grosjean 8. Massa 9. Kvyat 10. Ericsson
Lap 2: That start was largely straightforward in the end, save for Rosberg, who could have sank further down the field, were it not for a decent recovery going into the first corner. Hamilton, meanwhile, has held his lead and will be feeling pretty chipper.
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Lap 1 of 43: Rosberg twists and turns to creep past Bottas, moving up to fourth at the end of the first lap. Both drivers then lock up on the second trip into La Course, and Vettel, who has made a menacing start, is able to slingshot past Bottas, and plant himself firmly on Rosberg’s tail.
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Lights out
We do get underway, and Hamilton outguns Rosberg comfortably to lead into La Course. Rosberg’s slow start sees him swamped by the challengers behind, with Pérez and Ricciardo jumping into the top three!
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Sainz is being called into the pits, as the drivers arrange themselves on the grid once more. There’s a gaping hole in the middle of the grid now, with Sainz and Hülkenberg in the pits...
An aborted start here, with Hülkenberg waving his arms frantically as he returns to the grid. He won’t be starting the race from the grid, which is desperate news for Force India, on a day when they may have fancied getting two drivers in the points.
Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz is also complaining of a lack of power. He’s due to start in tenth, one place ahead of Hülkenberg. The aborted start also means we’ll race 43 laps, instead of 44.
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They’re off on the formation lap, and the drivers are very much on their own from here. Some variable speeds off the mark, with Grosjean particularly slow, giving the whole thing the look of a testy scrap to get out of a supermarket car park.
Nico Hülkenberg is on the radio, telling his team he has no power. That doesn’t sound good, but the Force India man will start the race.
Five minutes to go before the field takes on the F1 calendar’s longest circuit, and the most beautiful in the world according to, um, the track’s official website. The opening La Source, the tricky interchange at Eau Rouge-Raidillon and the left-hand Blanchimont are among the most fearsome corners in the sport.
There have been six different winners here in the last seven years, including Lewis Hamilton – although today’s pole sitter has only finished on four of his last eight appearances here. The Hammer is not a fan of this much-loved circuit.
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Hat-tip to Robin Croft for this: Williams’ Valtteri Bottas makes the bold move of riding around in a Mercedes during the track parade. Let’s hope this isn’t as close as Bottas, third on the grid, gets to a Mercedes this afternoon.
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After two thrilling starts, at Silverstone and in Budapest, the powers that be have made the logical step of changing the starting procedures. The two key changes are that communication between teams and drivers is restricted on the formation lap, and more significantly, engineers are no longer able to help drivers adjust their clutch biting point once they’ve left the garage.
Former F1 driver Mark Webber is among the dissenting voices: “The new rule will be exposed for the first three or four races. The worst nightmare is a stalled car. If you do have a stalled car, which is a possibility, then it can create a start-line crash.”
Giles Richards has more on how the new rules might play out.
Listen, if we’re talking all-time best Belgian GPs, you’d have to go some to beat 1998, where an enormous pile-up on the opening lap left the door open for Lotus’s Damon Hill to bag a surprise victory. Here’s that start, with a strangely appropriate Verve soundtrack:
Not much chance of rain – it’s 23 degrees in southeastern Belgium, and while rain is coming later, it should be long after the race is over.
The grid
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
- Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
- Sergio Pérez (Force India)
- Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- Felipe Massa (Williams)
- Pastor Maldonado (Lotus)
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
- Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
- Nico Hülkenberg (Force India)
- Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull)
- Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
- Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
- Will Stephens (Manor)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Roberto Merhi (Manor)
- Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso)
- Jenson Button (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
In more good news for McLaren, both drivers start at the back: both have picked up fresh grid penalties for exceeding the allowable number of power units to be used in a season. Romain Grosjean finished qualifying in fourth, but gets a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. Max Verstappen has a 10-place grid penalty for using his sixth engine of the season and will start 18th, just ahead of the two McLarens.
Preamble
Hello. It’s almost a month since Sebastian Vettel upset the F1 apple cart, winning a helter-skelter Hungarian Grand Prix to fire a warning shot in the direction of Mercedes before the drivers jetted off on their summer holiday.
The practice and qualifying sessions in Belgium have put paid to any uprising, with Lewis Hamilton beating Nico Rosberg to pole, and the rest of the field at least a second back on the front row. Hamilton is already guaranteed the most poles this season, and Vettel came home ninth, with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas offering the keenest resistance.
There are still pitfalls for Mercedes to avoid, of course. Their last two starts have been sluggish, and a host of new starting procedures could hinder them further. That could be trouble on a track that offers plenty of overtaking opportunities, and if nobody else can get near them, each still has the other to worry about. This is Spa, after all.
The race begins at 1pm BST. Here’s Belgium’s finest musical export to pass the time until then.
