Rosberg, Hamilton or a surprise at Spa-Franchorchamps? RICCIARDO wins!!!

Can the championship leader further extend his 11-point advantage at the top of the drivers’ standings with now only eight grand prixs left in the calendar, or will the second-placed Briton be able to get the win he needs to breathe new life into his title bid?

Yesterday we saw the first Mercedes front row lock-out since the Canadian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg, who has been the undisputed King of Saturdays this year, took his fourth straight pole position. This will be the first of those four he will have started with a Mercedes alongside him, however, meaning the drive down to Eau Rouge will be thrilling to watch.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says it is inevitable that his team will not be able to please both its drivers all of the time, but that it has learned from the events of Hungary.

Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari can target a podium finish in today’s Belgian Grand Prix after qualifying in fourth place. The wet conditions at Spa on Saturday appeared to suit Ferrari, with Alonso admitting he was surprised how competitive the car has been so far this weekend. With both Williams cars behind him Alonso concedes it will be a tough race but is encouraged enough by the pace shown on Friday to believe a second consecutive podium is a realistic target.

“We’ll see, I think the possibility is there, no doubt,” Alonso said. “We are in a good position in fourth and we have some people around us with good race pace, like [Daniel] Ricciardo and the Williams and we need to fight hard to be on the podium. But we know the Mercedes, even if they look very quick, they have had some mechanical problems in the last races and we need to be there to take any opportunities.”

Meanwhile, Lotus’ Daniele Casanova is believed to be on his way to Ferrari following the path trodden just over a year ago by James Allison.

According to F1 Racing Magazine, Gianpiero Lambiase has been appointed Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer for 2015 following an internal promotion for Guillaume Rocquelin at Red Bull.

“I’m feeling very good and happy to be starting out front. I have a good car so everything is possible. The team has worked hard on reliability so that shouldn’t be a concern today,” says pole-sitter Nico Rosberg. “It’s a very special race here and it would be great to win here.”

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 44 Winner 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 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 44 +54.2 secs 7 8
7 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 44 +54.5 secs 10 6
8 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 44 +61.1 secs 4 4
9 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 44 +64.2 secs 13 2
10 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 44 +65.3 secs 11 1
11 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 44 +65.6 secs 18
12 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 44 +71.9 secs 12
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 +5 Lap 16
Ret 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 38 +6 Lap 2
Ret 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 33 +11 Lap 15
Ret 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1 +43 Laps 17
Ret 45 Andre Lotterer Caterham-Renault 1 +43 Laps 21

 

3 comentarii

  1. Post By GoldStandard

    Rosberg denying all knowledge of what happened, yet the replay clearly shows Rosberg beginning to pull out of the overtake……. then bizarrely turning his steering wheel into Hamilton.
    There is no wonder that he was boo’d on the podium.
    .
    I also thought that Magnussen was out of order. If he hadn’t squeezed out his faster team-mate… Mclaren would have likely held 5th & 6th (18 points), instead of 6th & 7th (14 points).
    Yes show Ron you can race; but also show that you understand that Mclaren are desperate for points. Magnussen is gonna have to do better than that if he’s to keep his seat for 2015.

  2. Well, it’s not so easy to win when your car is not 1 or 2 seconds per lap faster, is it Hammy? The Mercedes was so fast in the previous races that made qualifying redundant. The Mercs could start from the pit lane and still win easily. Not so at Spa. I’m glad they crash into each other so we can see some racing. I’m glad the Ricciardo won. I don’t want another 4 years of “Vettel in the best car” type of F1. And I’m glad big headed Hammy came second best in the bashing, to teach him some manners.
    What goes around comes around. Hamilton prevented being overtaken in Bahrain by pushing Rosberg out of the circuit a number of times. This time in Belgium it did not work for him. Maybe it’s the time for him to realise that his aggressive defensive which tells his opponents “back off or crash” sometimes ends up in “crash”. Hamilton was slower than Rosberg in Spain and turned his engine up to stay in front despite both drivers being told by the team not to do so. Rosberg messed Hamilton’s qualifying in Monaco. Six of one and half a dozen on the other, he-he-he!

    1. Post By GoldStandard

      @ Groot….. a totally distorted view (I would suggest).

      Hamilton has fought hard, and on the limit……. but what do you expect?
      .
      What Rosberg did at Spa was…… what?
      A desperate act?
      Calculated?
      Stupid?
      Cheating?
      Bad Sportsmanship?
      .
      The entire formula 1 industry has watched the video in slo-mo of Rosberg, straightening his wheel……. and then turning it into Ham.
      .
      ‘Nobody’ is in any doubt about what he did.
      .
      As has been analysed a dozen times…… Rosberg had NO CHANCE of overtaking……. that’s why his front wing was next to Hams rear tyres LOL.

      The great thing about technology…… arguments are hard to maintain, when everybody can see what happened (from about 6 angles LOL).

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