With Nico Rosberg “proving a point” to Lewis Hamilton on the second lap of the race, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo took advantage of the feuding Mercedes teammates to win the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. Rosberg collided with Hamilton on Lap Two of the race in his effort to “prove a point” after Hamilton would not let the quicker Rosberg pass him in the final laps of last month’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The resulting collision at Spa-Francorchamps sent both Mercedes teammates to the pits – Rosberg with front wing damage and Hamilton with a punctured tire – but Rosberg was able to stay in the race while Hamilton eventually had to retire with six laps remaining and no points. Rosberg played catch-up to Ricciardo all day and nearly caught the Aussie in the final laps, trimming a 26-second gap down to a mere three seconds at the finish line.
Valtteri Bottas was a distant third for Williams – 28 seconds behind Ricciardo. Meanwhile, Ricciardo’s teammate and four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel was fifth, 52.1 seconds behind. Andre Lotterer, making his first-ever formula one start for Caterham, finished last after his power unit failed in the second lap.
In the season point standings, Rosberg lengthens his lead over Hamilton with 220 points to Hamilton’s 191 followed by Ricciardo in third with 156 points.
The 2014 Formula One racing season continues with the Italian Grand Prix in Monza on September 7, 2014.
2014 Belgian Grand Prix Results
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 44 1:24:36.556 5 25
2 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 44 +3.3 secs 1 18
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 44 +28.0 secs 6 15
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 44 +36.8 secs 8 12
5 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 44 +52.1 secs 3 10
6 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 44 +54.5 secs 10 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 44 +61.1 secs 4 6
8 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 44 +64.2 secs 13 4
9 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 44 +65.3 secs 11 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 44 +65.6 secs 18 1
11 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 44 +71.9 secs 12
12 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 44 +74.2 secs 7
13 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 44 +75.9 secs 9
14 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 44 +82.4 secs 14
15 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 44 +90.8 secs 20
16 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 43 +1 Lap 19
17 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 43 +1 Lap 22
18 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 39 Gearbox 16
Ret 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 38 Damage 2
Ret 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 33 Damage 15
Ret 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1 Exhaust 17
Ret 45 Andre Lotterer Caterham-Renault 1 Power unit 21