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Ricciardo soars as rivals collide
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AUSTRALIAN Daniel Ricciardo won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa for Red Bull yesterday while Mercedes title rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton provided the drama of the day by colliding on the second lap.
Hamilton failed to finish after fighting with a damaged car but Rosberg, blamed by his bosses and booed by the crowd on the podium, finished second to extend his championship lead to 29 points with seven of the 19 races left.
The victory, on a surprisingly dry afternoon at a circuit famed for rapid changes in weather conditions, was Ricciardo’s second in succession and third of his first season with the reigning champion. It was also his team’s second in succession in Belgium after four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel triumphed last year and set off a run of nine wins in a row.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas was third for Williams.
Ricciardo’s win was almost a sideshow to the major talking point, a further stirring up of already troubled waters at Mercedes.
The two teammates had been expected to dominate the race after qualifying on the front row but the intense rivalry between them blew up in their face.
Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolf slammed the incident as ‘absolutely unacceptable’ and blamed Rosberg, who refused to comment on the incident until he had seen replays. “Lap No. 2 of a long race and a crash between two teammates, we have often discussed the situation and it happened today,” Wolf told the BBC. “You don’t try to overtake with the knife between your teeth in lap No. 2 and damage both cars.”
Hamilton had passed pole-sitter Rosberg at the start but his race was effectively over moments later when Rosberg tried to retake the lead in a misjudged move that could cost prove extremely costly for Hamilton.
Rosberg has 220 points to Hamilton’s 191 with Ricciardo moving closer on 156. Mercedes remain comfortably in front in the constructors’ standings with 411 points to Red Bull’s 254.
Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth for Ferrari, the first time he has beaten Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso this season, with Vettel fifth.
Denmark’s Kevin Magnussen was sixth, ahead of McLaren teammate Jenson Button in seventh, and Alonso eighth after a thrilling four-way battle in the closing laps.
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