FORMULA 1 - 2014

[PaulP]

Qualifying

Times
01 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 2:05.591
02 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 2:05.819 +0.228
03 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 2:07.717 +2.126
04 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 2:07.786 +2.195
05 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 2:07.911 +2.320
06 Valtteri Bottas Williams 2:08.049 +2.458
07 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 2:08.679 +3.088
08 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 2:08.780 +3.189
09 Felipe Massa Williams 2:09.178 +3.587
10 Jenson Button McLaren 2:09.776 +4.185
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 2:09.377
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 2:09.805
13 Sergio Perez Force India 2:10.084
14 Adrian Sutil Sauber 2:10.238
15 Romain Grosjean Lotus 2:11.087
16 Jules Bianchi Marussia 2:12.470
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 2:11.261
18 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 2:11.267
19 Max Chilton Marussia 2:12.566
20 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 2:13.414
21 Andre Lotterer Caterham 2:13.469
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 2:14.438

[MIKA27]

ROSBERG: FIRST IS THE BEST POSITION FOR THE RACE

Nico Rosberg notched up his seventh top spot start and his fourth in a row when he qualified in pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix, and is adamant that first on the grid is the best place to be for another chapter in his title duel against Mercedes teammate Lewis hamilton.

Speaking after his fine afternoon at a tricky Spa-Francorchamps, Rosberg said, “I’m just happy to be first; first is the best position for [the] race. t is one of the best tracks. It is probably more difficult this year as you have a lower downforce level and that makes the cars slip more – and the more it slips, the more difficult it gets.”

“[Qualifying] was the best example. To keep the car on the track needed a lot of precision. But we know that Spa is always tricky with the weather, so you come here prepared for unpredictable conditions.”

“Now the race wins should also roll in in the same manner! But to tell the truth it was a challenging afternoon. The track was pretty tricky – even if we were able to run completely on intermediates. It is my first Spa pole, so that is something very special,” declared the championship leader.

Rosberg was two tenths up on Hamilton, and over two seconds better than the next best, “I was surprised how big our gap to the others is. And yes, it will be very tight again with Lewis, believe me.”

“This is a track were you always have the chance to do something with the tyres during the race when you’re on a smart strategy, so it would be wrong to only focus on the qualifying result. Here you always have to put some race considerations into your qualifying setup,” added the German who will be looking for grand prix win number five of this season and his first ever in Belgium.

[MIKA27]

VETTEL: WE KNOW WE ARE DOWN ON POWER

Sebastian Vettel blamed a lack of power from his Renault engine for the massive gap between his third placed Red Bull and the two Mercedes on the front row of the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion was 2.126 seconds adrift of pole-man Nico Rosberg and 1.898 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton.

“The reason we’re behind is fairly simple,” said Vettel. “We know we are down on power. Mercedes can run a bit more wing level, they have more down-force and can still take that wing on the straight – it’s the reason.”

“It was very tricky in the wet. We knew it would be even trickier obviously when qualifying is wet, qualifying was wet so we can confirm it was trickier. I think we are similar in the corners but quite a long way off on the straights and therefore vulnerable in the race.”

“So, I think that’s the reasoning behind it, and in the wet probably it hurt us a bit more, but hopefully tomorrow we’ll be closer in terms of race pace and closer to them than in the last couple of races,” predicted the reigning world champion.

After four years of dominance, 2014 has been a reality check for Vettel who has been dogged by problems, had to contend with an under performing power unit while watching his teammate Daniel Ricciardo grab the limelight and plaudits.

But the Red Bull driver is adamant he is giving it his very best, “I’m trying very hard so it’s not like I’m deciding consciously not to qualify on pole. Obviously these guys are doing a very good job from the drivers’ point of view, their team is very strong so that is what makes them very difficult to beat.”

“We’ve been on the other side for quite a while but that’s the name of the game. Obviously my season wasn’t the way I was hoping for but there are still some races to come,” added Vettel who won the Belgian Grand Prix last year.

[MIKA27]

ALONSO: FOURTH ON THE GRID IS A GOOD SURPRISE

Fernando Alonso said he was surprised by his Ferrari team’s speed and competitiveness after he qualified fourth on the grid for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The two-time world champion had forecast that Ferrari would struggle but after a wet session he said he had been pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

“It has been a good surprise. We’ll see how we can finish it tomorrow. Hopefully we take some good points,” said the Spaniard.

“We expected a strong Williams here, but I think the wet masked their true pace a little bit so tomorrow maybe I expect them to be very competitive in the dry.

“I’m in front of the Williams, I’m one second in front of my teammate, who has won here four times, so definitely it has been a perfect weekend so far for me.”

Alonso, who finished second in the previous race in Hungary, believes another podium finish is possible.

“We’ll see – I think the possibility is there. And I think we are in a good position with fourth. We have some people around us with good race pace, like [Daniel] Ricciardo and the Williams, and we’ll need to fight hard to be on the podium.

“But we know that Mercedes has had some mechanical problems in the last races so we need to be there to take any opportunities.”

His Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in eighth place and a full second behind Alonso.

[MIKA27]

GEOMETRY AND MOUNTING CAUSE OF HAMILTON’S GLAZED BRAKES

In the aftermath of Lewis Hamilton pointing to “glazed brakes” for his Q3 mishap during Belgian Grand Prix qualifying, Brmebo and Mercedes have released a joint statement claiming that the brake mounting contirbuted to the failure.

The statement read: “Following extensive joint analysis of the previously unseen failure mode experienced by Lewis Hamilton during Q1 at the German Grand Prix, Brembo and Mercedes AMG Petronas have reached definitive conclusions concerning the cause of the failure.”

“First of all, both parties can now confirm that the quality of the disc material was not a contributory factor. Instead, extensive analysis and experimentation has demonstrated that the specific interaction between the structure of the brake material in question and the brake mounting on the F1 W05 Hybrid was at the root of the failure.”

“Countermeasures have already been applied to both the disc geometry and the mounting to ensure there can be no repeat of the failure. These developments allow the team to once again run Brembo brake disc material, should it choose to do so, in race conditions.”

“Thanks to the close technical relationship between Brembo and MMercedes AMG Petronas, we have been able to collaborate to objectively analyse, diagnose and resolve the failure, and we remain committed to a close working relationship in the future.”

Mercedes had also pointed a finger at Brembo in the aftermath of Hamilton’s qualiyfing shunt at Hockenheim, but were forced to retract their allegations.

[MIKA27]

VERGNE: I AM IN FORMULA 1 AND MY PLACE IS IN FORMULA 1

It has emerged that teenage sensation Max Verstappen learned of his 2015 debut long before Jean-Eric Vergne learned of his impending ousting from Red Bull owned Toro Rosso and is now seeking to stay in Formula 1 beyond this season.

Before his new Formula 1 race seat was announced, 16-year-old Verstappen was revealed by Red Bull as the latest member of its junior driver programme on August 12.

“Part of the signing of the contract,” the Dutchman told Auto Motor und Sport, “was that in 2015 I will drive for Toro Rosso.”

Team incumbent and Frenchman Vergne, however, said he didn’t know about losing his Toro Rosso seat until six days later.

“I knew about it just before you did” on August 18, Vergne said.

Asked by France’s RMC if he appreciated Red Bull’s handling of the news, he answered: “I think there is no right or wrong way. And I’m strong enough to overcome this kind of stuff so there is no problem.

“It’s pointless to be angry – or if I do have some anger, I will put it behind the wheel and make a show! I am looking at opportunities. Today I am in Formula 1 and my place is in Formula 1.”

However, former driver and German television commentator Marc Surer doesn’t agree, “He (Vergne) had his chance. He was against Daniel Ricciardo and didn’t prevail, now he is struggling with the rookie Daniil Kvyat.

“This is obviously the worst thing that can happen to you as a driver — you’re in your third Formula 1 season against a driver who last year was in GP3 and you’re not really beating him,” said Surer.

And added, “Only the best are in Formula 1 and Vergne is not among them. He is a good driver and as a Frenchman I could see him on the podium at Le Mans. But I think Formula 1 is over for him.”

[MIKA27]

Bottas hoping for dry race

Valtteri Bottas insists Williams are not too disappointed with their qualifying positions at Spa and feels they can make up places on Sunday if it's a dry race.

The Finn set the pace during Free Practice Three on Saturday morning, but the Grove squad were not at their best during wet conditions in qualifying.

Mercedes once again locked out the front row of the grid and Bottas could only manage the sixth fastest time. He will start behind the Red Bull cars of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo as well as Fernando Alonso's Ferrari while his Williams team-mate Felipe Massa qualified P9.

Despite their lowly grid positions, Bottas feels they can challenge Red Bull and Ferrari if conditions play into their hands.

"The final practice where I finished P1 showed that we have a very strong car in the dry, but wet conditions allow other cars to move closer to us and unfortunately we didn't qualify as high today as we can," he said. "I lost some tyre temperature in my warm up lap because of traffic which is crucial for us and this made my final run trickier than the ones before, and throughout qualifying we were losing time in the second sector.

"Our wet pace has improved a lot though since the beginning of the season and P6 is still a good grid slot. We can still do a lot tomorrow and if it is a dry race then we stand a good chance of challenging Ferrari and Red Bull."

[MIKA27]

Belgian GP: Andre Lotterer pleased with 'smooth' Caterham F1 debut

Andre Lotterer declared himself happy with his first day as a Formula 1 driver, following his solid showing for Caterham through Friday's Belgian Grand Pix practice sessions.

The German made a impressive start to his Caterham career, outpacing his team-mate Marcus Ericsson by 0.091 seconds in the first session, before finishing just 0.043s in arrears of the Swede in the second session.

"I think it ran pretty smoothly," he said.

"I had to learn a lot in a short time and go step-by-step, to find the driving style of the car, the tyres and to handle the power.

"I'm still a bit behind on understanding the functions, but getting there. I tried a few launches, things like this.

"In terms of speed I'm just building it up. I think for sure there is more to come. But I think I'm quite pleased with everything.

"I'm trying to understand everything as much as possible. It doesn't look like I'm miles off, so for the first on the option tyres, it's OK. I feel that there is more to come, and we can improve the car. We're getting there."

Lotterer, who is a frontrunner in Japan's Super Formula series alongside his Audi LMP1 career, says he was surprised at how little grip F1 cars have, particularly on the prime tyre.

"In the first practice session I was obviously only on the prime, with not that much grip. I expected more speed through the corners," he added.

"The power is quite impressive in these cars. But also what's impressive in a more negative way is the grip.

"We don't have a whole lot of grip, so you have to be very patient to get on the throttle, and it takes a long time to really apply the power."

Caterham performance director John Iley said Lotterer was already proving F1 had missed a trick by spurning him in his youth.

"Possibly he should have been in Formula 1 10 years ago," said Iley.

"I think he subsequently proved in world sportscars and Japanese single-seaters that he would have been more than vindicated in being Formula 1.

"He's well known to the owners and the management of the team. They rely on good feedback and we're basically getting his experience and feedback on the car during this weekend and he's done a very solid job for us so far."

[Pedro2486]

Daniel Riccardooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[ptrthgr8]

I thought for sure Hamilton was going to run to the podium parking area to tackle Rosberg. Maybe slap him. Or throw his helmet at him. Hahahaha! I don't much care for Hamilton, so I enjoy seeing him have terrible days like this one.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[MIKA27]

I thought for sure Hamilton was going to run to the podium parking area to tackle Rosberg. Maybe slap him. Or throw his helmet at him. Hahahaha! I don't much care for Hamilton, so I enjoy seeing him have terrible days like this one.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

It's clearly a racing incident.

For Hamilton to comment like "Rosberg Hit me on purpose" is truly immature of Hamilton to say.

Rosberg could have shunted himself out of the race.

[MIKA27]

HAMILTON: ROSBERG SAID HE DID IT ON PURPOSE TO PROVE A POINT

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that during a meeting with Mercedes management team mate Nico Rosberg admitted to deliberately colliding with him at the Belgian Grand Prix to prove a point, in an incident which cost the team victory at Spa-Francorchamps and has further soured relations between the contenders.

The incident on lap two left Hamilton with a puncture and ultimately led to the Briton’s retirement from the race, while title rival Rosberg went on to finish second and extend his lead to 29 points.

Hamilton told reporters that the German, whose car’s front wing clipped Hamilton’s rear tyre in a failed attempt to overtake, had done it on purpose.

“We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose. He said he did it on purpose,” repeated the Briton with a dazed look. “He said he could have avoided it. He said ‘I did it to prove a point’.

“You don’t have to just rely on me, go and ask [Mercedes team bosses] Toto [Wolff] and Paddy [Lowe] who are not happy with him as well,” said Hamilton. “I was gobsmacked when I was listening to the meeting. You need to ask him what point he was trying to make.”

Rosberg, whose relationship with Hamilton has hit the rocks repeatedly this season as their boyhood friendship fragments, told reporters separately that the collision was a racing incident.

“We had a discussion, as is important after such circumstances, because obviously what happened cost the team a lot of points,” said the German, speaking to a media scrum downstairs in the Mercedes hospitality while Hamilton held court on the floor above.

“That is the main focus and the biggest issue with such a happening as today,” added the Mercedes driver, who stepped on to the podium to boos and whistles from the crowd.

“Unfortunately, I’m not going to go into any details, that wouldn’t be the right thing to do. We need to review and discuss how we move forward.”

Wolff later attempted to clarify what had happened in the meeting, explaining that “Nico felt he needed to hold his line. He needed to make a point.

Nico Rosberg during the post race press conference

“He [Rosberg] didn’t give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space, and that Lewis didn’t leave him space,” added the Austrian. “So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion amongst ourselves, but it wasn’t deliberately crashing. That is nonsense.”

Mercedes team bosses, speaking earlier as the dust settled on a race won by Red Bull‘s Daniel Ricciardo, were critical of Rosberg’s driving and indicated he could expect a stern response.

“You don’t try to overtake with the knife between your teeth in lap number two and damage both cars,” declared Wolff, who described the incident as “absolutely unacceptable”.

Retired triple champion and non-executive chairman Niki Lauda, speaking before the meeting with drivers, said Rosberg was at fault because Hamilton was in front.

“We lost the whole race, we could have been first and second… he [Rosberg] provoked it, no question,” he said. “Accidents can happen, and I have foreseen them anyway if two guys are fighting freely all the way to the end, and it is accepted but not on the second lap.”

“Why on the second lap? If he wants to pass him he can pass him on the slipstream easily one lap later without danger and without risk. It was not that he had to do it because it was the last corner.”

The two drivers had arrived in Belgium with the stage already set for sparks after a ‘team orders’ controversy in the previous race in Hungary in July, where Mercedes again backed Hamilton.

Rosberg had been angered after being beaten in that race by his team mate, despite being on pole while the Briton started last and in the pitlane.

Hamilton had been asked on the team radio not to hold up Rosberg in Hungary, with the two on differing strategies, but Hamilton had made clear Rosberg had to be close enough and he was not going to slow for him and damage his own chances.

Their relationship also entered a glacial phase after Monaco, where Hamilton suggested Rosberg might have deliberately gone off late in qualifying to bring out warning flags that denied him a chance to seize pole position.

Mercedes have generally allowed their drivers to race each other freely, wary of damaging the sport and angering fans at a time where they have been dominant on the track and seemingly in a private duel for the title.

Despite Sunday’s setback, the team have still won nine of the 12 races so far.

MIKA: Like I said above, very immature of Hamilton and it's a huge shame as Hamilton otherwise is a brilliant driver and this attitude just ruins it for me.

[MIKA27]

RICCIARDO MASTERCLASS AS MERCEDES DUO BLOW IT

Daniel Ricciardo once again defied the odds to take well calculated victory at the Belgian Grand Prix, delivering a masterclass in tyre conservation as he notched up his third win of the season at the sport’s most daunting venue, while pre-race favourites Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton collided on the second lap, with Briton coming off worse and the German surviving to finish second ahead of Williams driver Valtteri Bottas.

The afternoon belonged deservedly to Ricciardo, as he tenaciously kept Rosberg at bay in the final laps despite well worn tyres on his Red Bull, turning fifth place on the grid into maximum points. And tellingly, along the way dispatching world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel with a slick move on lap five after setting the fastest lap and by lap eight led for the first time at Spa-Francorchamps. Thereafter he managed his pace to collect his third winner’s trophy of the season.

Sporting his traditional big smile, Ricciardo reported, “I think back home there is a huge following for F1 but this is almost as many Aussie flags as there was in Melbourne so thanks so much. It is a bit different when you lead the race for that long, it’s more about composure and trying to keep steady. Once Nico went in I knew he would be quick at the end so I had to keep my pace u to stay ahead of him.”

Start of the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix

“When you are leading the first thing is you hope everything holds together, mechanically you hope everything gets you to the finish line but certainly when you are in the lead the chequered flag can’t come soon enough,” he said with an inevitable grin.

The big headlines and talking point will no doubt be all about the clash between the Silver Arrows teammates, and title rivals, who were expected to dominate the race, but instead their well laid out plans were in tatters by lap two.

Hamilton made a bullet start while Rosberg battled with Vettel to stay in second, which did and then proceeded to attack at Les Combes but Hamilton held the inside line and braked very late but made the apex. But Rosberg was too ambitious and tried to go around the outside, but clipped his teammate’s left rear tyre – and that was that for Hamilton.

The Briton made the 6 km trek back to the pits, with a rear tyre shredding to ribbons and inevitably damaging the rear-end of the Mercedes, he rejoined but thereafter spent the rest of the race requesting to be retired to save the engine. The team finally called him in with 6 laps remaining.

Lewis Hamilton leads Nico Rosberg shortly before they collided

Rosberg damaged his front wing, but managed to continue in the lead for several laps before pitting for a new one. In the final stages he was easily the quickest driver on track and started stalking Ricciardo, but Red Bull had done their maths. Rosberg had to settle for second, but the result was a huge boost to his title ambitions as his lead at the top of the championship table over Hamilton is now 29 points.

The large crowd that assembled for the podium ceremony aired their sentiments with resounding boos every time Rosberg was mentioned or spoke, to the point of embarrassment which prompted master of ceremonies Eddie Jordan to call for respect.

Rosberg said afterwards, “I got a good run on Lewis and tried to go round the outside and we just touched in the end unfortunately and it hurt both of our races, but that’s just how it goes.”

“I have not seen it yet so it wouldn’t be good of me to comment on it, I will have a look at it and then speak about it. I was pretty confident [we could get a one-two] we had good race speed but unfortunately it didn’t work out for us,” he lamented.

Hamilton reflected on his third DNF of the season, “What can I say? Initially it was really gutting I was driving so hard to try to get what I could get out of the car, it might not have looked that way but it was so damaged and I am just gutted for my team.”

“The guys work so hard, I got a good start, it was looking good, I took the corner as I should because it was my line and I don’t know why he hit me but I am sure he will leave here happy tonight,” Hamilton added.

[MIKA27]

BELGIAN FORMULA 1GRAND PRIX: FULL RACE REPORT

Daniel Ricciardo took his third win of the season as a second-lap collision involving Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton badly compromised Mercedes‘ race.

Rosberg suffered front wing damage but eventually fought his way back to second place but Hamilton, who sustained a puncture in the incident, dropped to the back of the field and finally retired on lap 39.

Valtteri Bottas claimed his fourth podium finish of the season with third place ahead of Ferrari‘s Kimi Raikkonen, who took his best result of the season so far.

Ricciardo was all smiles as he savoured his third career win at the sport’s most daunting venue, “There was a bit of pressure, it probably looked a bit easier because I had the lead early on and I just kept it. We couldn’t really rest though because I knew Nico Rosberg would be quick at the end but we held on and it was nice to taste the champagne again.

“It couldn’t have gone better considering everything that’s happened, especially during pre season. It’s been awesome and I have enjoyed every moment of it. Monza will be challenging but if Mercedes slip up then we will be there to capitalise,” he added with a grin.

Rosberg, who was booed on the podium by fans , said, “Of course I am very unhappy for the team because we have the fastest car and we should have had first and second. For sure I regret that we touched because it cost me the win and it was unavoidable.”

The podium is becoming a familiar place for Bottas as Williams once again gave him a handy car, and he seized the opportunity to claim his fourth top three finish in five race. He reflected afterwards, “The team has been doing a very good job, we are certainly going it the right way. We are still chasing for the higher step but for this season we are going the right way.”

“I think this season it’s going to be tough, we need to be lucky because Mercedes are very quick and on a track like this so were Red Bull. There is still work to do but we are going the right way,” added the Finn.

Even before the start of the race, Fernando Alonso’s afternoon was already going badly. The Ferrari driver’s car was still on jacks as the parade lap began and though he finally got going, members of his crew were still on the grid inside the 15-second cut-off point before the formation lap. It would later earn him a five-second stop-go penalty.

Start of the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix

At the start Hamilton passed the slow-starting Rosberg and stole into the lead on the run up to La Source. Vettel too made a good start and passed his fellow German around the outside. Vettel then attempted to overtake Hamilton into Les Combes but out-braked himself, ran wide and rejoined behind Rosberg.

The drama wasn’t over, however. On the following lap Rosberg attempted a pass on his team-mate at Les Combes, but as Hamilton shut the door the pair collided, the right side of Rosberg’s front wing clipping the rear left-tyre of Hamilton’s car.

The Briton immediately swerved off track with a puncture while Rosberg shipped heavy front-end damage. Hamilton limped back to the pits for a new wheel, but while Rosberg reported much damage he was told to stay out and see how matters developed.

Behind the front two, Ricciardo was on the move, passing Alonso at Les Combes. He was soon on Vettel’s tail and overtook his team-mate when the champion ran wide at Pouhon. The Australian then set off after Rosberg who appeared to be suffering badly due to the front wing damage. Ricciardo closed to within a second and Mercedes took the decision to pit the leader for a new wing and medium tyres. The Red Bull driver assumed the lead.

Valtteri Bottas on his way to third place

Valtteri Bottas too was making a move. The Finn passed Alonso for third on lap eight, overtaking the Ferrari under DRS on the Kemmel Straight.

Rosberg was soon in trouble again. On lap 10 he picked up some debris on the track while racing down the Kemmel Straight. The debris became entangled in the aerial on the nose cone of his car and fluttered dangerously around his steering wheel.

Alonso, meanwhile, was handed a five-second stop-go penalty by the stewards, which he elected to serve during the first round of stops.

That round of stops was completed by the end of lap 15. Ricciardo, on softs, still led, with Kimi Raikkonen now second ahead of Vettel. Rosberg, who took on medium tyres during his stop, was now fourth ahead of Bottas, Magnussen and Alonso. Hamilton was now 16th and some 16 seconds adrift of Sauber’s Adrian Sutil.

On lap 16 Rosberg attempted to pass Vettel for third place but ran wide under braking and the error allowed Bottas to close and eventually pass the Mercedes driver under DRS on the following lap as the pair raced down the long Kemmel Straight.

Sebastian Vettel finished fifth

Rosberg then reported that he was getting significant vibration from the tyre he had lit up attempting the pass on Vettel and he was forced to pit again on lap 19, taking on more medium rubber. He rejoined in 11th place but was soon up to ninth behind Sergio Perez.

Raikkonen made his second stop from second place on lap 21, taking on medium tyres. Vettel took his set of mediums on lap 22 and rejoined in P8. Ricciardo pitted from the lead on lap 27, taking on medium tyres, which he would race to the flag. Bottas now assumed the lead, having stopped just once, ahead of Rosberg who had made two stops and carved his way through the pack.

Bottas pitted on the very next lap, which promoted Rosberg back to the lead he had lost on lap eight. The German, on 10-lap-old medium tyres, would need to stop again, though with Bottas rejoining in fifth and new third-place man Raikkonen also possibly requiring another stop, Rosberg was told he was a “safe second”.

On lap 31, Bottas passed Vettel for fourth place and seemed set to secure his podium place as both Vettel and third-placed Raikkonen looked set to take on fresh tyres, whereas Bottas was on a two-stop plan.

With 10 laps to go Rosberg and Vettel made their stops, with both taking on soft tyres, aimed at utilising the tyre’s better pace to see what they could achieve against the two-stoppers on ageing prime tyres.

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed his best race of the season

Rosberg rejoined in fourth and quickly dismissed Bottas and Raikkonen, but now the German was 22 seconds down on Ricciardo. That was simply too big a gap to make up to the Australian and the Mercedes driver settled in the end for his safe second place.

Behind him Raikkonen defied expectation, the Finn attempting to cling on to third on the set on prime tyres he had taken on at the end of lap 21. It was a brave choice but ultimately one that failed as Bottas, breezed past the Ferrari on the Kemmel Straight four laps from home.

Nevertheless Raikkonen would be satisfied in at last beating his teammate this year, and said, “It would have been nicer to finish higher up but it’s disappointing. They wanted me at the front to push for a win but I finished fourth. We have a pretty good speed in the race but when we are starting at the back after qualifying it’s going to be tough.”

With Raikkonen secure in fourth, a furious battle developed for fifth. Magnussen held fifth but a train was building up behind him, featuring Alonso, Button and the hard-charging Vettel.

Top three celebrate on the podium

A titanic battle ensued, with at times, the drivers racing four abreast on the run to Les Combes. It was Vetttel who came out on top, thanks to fresher tyres. Magnussen was sixth ahead of Button and Alonso. It wasn’t without a price though and Magnussen given a 20 second time penalty as well as two penalty points after stewards investigated the incident with Alonso.

Fifth was little consolation for quadruple world champion Vettel who saw his teammate notch up a third win while he has yet to celebrate on the top step of a podium this year.

He summed up his afternoon, “Disappointed because we didn’t have the speed today. I was trying to put Lewis under pressure from the off, we were set up for straight lines but the tyres were colder than expected. Lap two was good to see the two Mercedes hit each other and give us a chance but I just didn’t have the pace.”

Ahead, though, Ricciardo took a calm and controlled third career win, to leave him on 156 points, just 35 behind championship contender Hamilton, who stays on 191 points.

Rosberg, meanwhile, moves to 220 points and a healthy title lead as the championship heads towards Monza.

The day at Spa belonged to Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull

Final word to winning Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, “This was supposed to be a damage limitation race. We have managed to find a balance and Daniel has managed to find a confidence in the car that has managed to produce a good lap time.”

“Ultimately we benefited from the Mercedes’ little get together but in like-for-like pace we were not far off them today. The incident between the two Mercedes was two guys going for a world championship and going for the same piece of tarmac,” he added with a twinkle in his eye.

[MIKA27]

FERRARI: WE HAVE MISSED OUT ON A GREAT OPPORTUNITY

Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth in the Belgian Grand Prix to secure his best result of the season so far, while team-mate Fernando Alonso salvaged a few points, in a race compromised before the start, when a problem on the F14 T meant his mechanics stayed on the grid too long and the Spaniard was given a stop-go penalty.

He took the flag in eighth spot, but a post-race penalty for Magnussen moves him to seventh. With the Mercedes duo tripping each other up, the way was clear for Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull to take his third win of the season, joined on the podium by Nico Rosberg, second for Mercedes and Valtteri Bottas third in the Williams.

Marco Mattiacci: “At the end of a weekend in which the topic of young drivers was very much in the news, I want to start by congratulating Raffaele Marciello on his first GP2 win and Jules Bianchi for his strong showing in yesterday’s qualifying. As for the race, we are very pleased for Kimi: today, he came close to the podium and scored his best result of the season, a result which sees us maintain third place in the Constructors’ classification. Unfortunately, Fernando’s race was compromised by a problem at the start. Without that, I firmly believe the podium was within his reach. We know we have missed out on a great opportunity, but we will learn from this incident to pay obsessive attention to our procedures, as we strive to improve reliability. The next race will be complicated because top speed is a strong point of the Mercedes-powered teams. We will try and defend with every means available, because the efforts of the team in terms of improving the car are producing encouraging signs.”

Fernando Alonso: “Today my race started on the back foot as the car did not fire up and we had to use another battery. It’s a shame because we had a strong pace all weekend and, starting fourth, we could have finished on the podium. With a penalty to take and on a circuit where top speed is our weak point, we knew we didn’t stand much of a chance, but all the same we did our best. Unfortunately, towards the end there was some rather questionable driving and after my front wing was damaged in a coming together with Vettel, the important thing was to get to the chequered flag. I know the Stewards acted on what happened, but I don’t think it’s that important when you are fighting for sixth and seventh places. Now we must look ahead and prepare for Monza. Even if it’s a track that won’t suit our car, it’s our home race. We will have the support of all the fans and so it’s a race where we want to do better. Let’s hope we succeed in that.”

Kimi Raikkonen: “We had decided to tackle this race more aggressively, making an early stop to get ahead of the cars that had yet to pit and that meant I was able to stay with the leaders for much of the race. When Bottas in the Williams began to close on me, I knew I didn’t have the speed to defend on the straight and with a few laps to go, he managed to pass me. In general, I’m happy with how this weekend ended. We knew it would not be easy on this circuit, but we did our utmost and for the first time, we managed to have a clean race without any problems. The car has improved and today the pace was good. Fourth place shows we are going in the right direction, but it doesn’t mean we can settle for that. Today, we scored a good number of points, but we are here to win and we will continue to work to reach the top.”

Pat Fry: “Fourth and seventh places can’t be seen as satisfactory, especially given that circumstances today meant we could have delivered more as a team. Clearly, Fernando’s penalty, because of a problem with the charge from the external battery we use on the grid, cost him the chance of fighting for a place on the podium and from this incident we must learn to improve our procedures. From then on, his race was compromised and whatever strategy we went for would have seen him in traffic: that’s how it turned out and unfortunately, he suffered a lot behind Magnussen, who could count on better straight line speed. Despite this, Fernando pulled off several overtaking moves and drove a great race. It’s a shame about the contact with Vettel at La Source, which cost him places right at the end. Kimi ran a clean race and we are pleased his feeling with the car is improving. It was precise and he made no mistakes: we came close to a third place with him, which he maybe deserved. Now we will continue to develop the car to give both our drivers an ever more competitive package, even if we have to be realistic when it comes to the rest of the season. Monza will be a very tough race, but there too, we will try and get the maximum out of our available package.”

[MIKA27]

WILLIAMS: WE NEED TO IMPROVE OUR OPERATIONS

Williams report from the Belgian Grand Prix, Round 12 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Spa-Francorchamps.

Race Notes:

• Valtteri Bottas finished third and Felipe Massa thirteenth in the Belgian Grand Prix, with Valtteri picking up his fourth podium of the season.
• Valtteri managed his tyres well and showed strong pace throughout the race to make a two-stop strategy work and make up three places in total to finish on the podium.
• Felipe’s race was hindered by debris that was lodged in his car at the beginning of the race that affected the car’s aerodynamic performance and impacted his pace.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: “Valtteri had a brilliant result today, putting in a really mature drive and passing cars when he needed to thanks to the impressive chassis and power unit package. The strategy worked perfectly for us as well; we stuck to our plan and this paid dividends. Felipe was incredibly unlucky, picking up a large amount of debris from Hamilton’s tyre that stayed under his car for 20 laps and probably cost him about 40 seconds in total with his compromised pace and strategy. As we are continuing to do, we need to improve our operations. This has not been a straight forward weekend so to finish with a car on the podium is a decent result and we look forward to Monza.”

Valtteri Bottas: “Our pace was solid today and a lot better than in qualifying, with some good battles with the Ferrari’s and Red Bull’s, and I think third was probably the right result. I was stuck behind slower cars at the beginning which made the first stint difficult, but I managed to make my way past cars when it was needed and that was important for my race. We came into this race aiming for a podium and it is very satisfying to achieve that after an up and down weekend with tricky weather and Felipe being very unlucky today with debris.”

Felipe Massa: “Unfortunately at the beginning of the race I had some tyre debris stuck in the floor that came from Hamilton’s car and this made the car very slow, losing about two seconds per lap. This wasn’t removed until my second pitstop and after that I was nearly three seconds quicker and the fastest car on track, but at this point it was too late for me to really do anything. Obviously I’m very disappointed that something like this has hurt my race and I just hope that in Monza my luck will change and I am able to put the car in the sort of position it is capable of.”

[ptrthgr8]

It's clearly a racing incident.

For Hamilton to comment like "Rosberg Hit me on purpose" is truly immature of Hamilton to say.

Rosberg could have shunted himself out of the race.

One of the reasons why I don't much care for Hamilton. He's a big baby. Very douchy in all respects. He's like a little princess who always wants his way and feels like all the other drivers should help him win or something. I thoroughly enjoy seeing him fail.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

[MIKA27]

CATERHAM: THE TEAM HAS DONE A SOLID JOB

Caterham report from the Belgian Grand Prix, Round 12 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Spa-Francorchamps.

André Lotterer: “I didn’t even get the chance to sweat unfortunately. I was really looking forward to a good race and I had a good start, but then I went a bit wide at turn 17 and there was a sudden loss of power. The team and Renault will have to investigate this tonight and see what happened. It’s a shame, but I am pleased with my race weekend – I made no mistakes and did a reasonably good job. Of course it would’ve been fantastic to finish the race and do a whole Grand Prix, but it’s still been an amazing weekend. I can go home happy even though it didn’t really end the way I would’ve liked it to. I want to thank Caterham F1 Team for this amazing opportunity – it’s been fantastic to experience Formula 1, I got a lot of support and the team has been great. It’s frustrating to have only completed two laps of the race, but this is motorsport and these things happen.”

Marcus Ericsson: “I did a very decent start but then I was a bit unlucky in the first corner and I didn’t gain any positions. But I got a really good run after Eau Rouge and managed to overtake Chilton at turn 5. After that it was a long race fighting him – he put a lot of pressure on me throughout the whole race and it wasn’t easy to keep him behind, even though I managed to do just that for pretty much the whole race. Unfortunately he overtook me with only two laps to go, which was of course very frustrating as it would’ve been nice to beat him. With the performance we’ve had this weekend I think we can be satisfied with our race. I’m happy with both the team’s and my work and now we just need to work even harder to continue to develop the car and push forward. I feel we have really taken a step forward this weekend here in Belgium and we just need to build on that and keep pushing.”

Christijan Albers: “The team has done a solid job this weekend, we’re moving forward. Marcus drove a strong race and was able to fight for positions during all 44 laps. It’s a real shame that André was only able to race for one full lap before retiring – his weekend up until then had been close to perfect and he has certainly provided us with very useful feedback that will help to continue developing the car. We have a very busy next two weeks ahead, as we carry on working to bring more updates to the next race in Italy. It’s been a positive start, but now we need to build on this and make sure we get stronger every race. I have total confidence in the team and I know that they are going to give their very best to keep improving the car. We are moving in the right direction.”

Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “We had a very smooth race with Marcus and he was ahead of Chilton for a large part of the GP. We tried to give him as much power as possible at the end, but his tyre wear was too high and Max was able to get past. André’s race was very short – his car lost power on the second lap, possibly as a result of running hard over a kerb. We need to look into this tonight in more detail. Overall however it’s been a positive weekend and gives a good basis for the second part of the season going forward.”

[MIKA27]

TORO ROSSO: BOTH OUR DRIVERS DID A VERY GOOD JOB

Toro Rosso report from the Belgian Grand Prix, Round 12 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Spa-Francorchamps.

Daniil Kvyat : “This was a good but tough race, especially the end where I was defending my position against Hulkenberg who was on new options. That was quite thrilling, as I had to look after my tyres and at the same time fight to keep tenth place. The car handling during the race was good and I was quite pleased that the weather stayed dry. All in all, it was a positive weekend, where we were able to improve step by step and I’m happy to take away a point from this race. I can’t wait to get back into the car in two weeks’ time when we will be in Monza.”

Jean-Eric Vergne: “The start wasn’t great. There were some cars already passing me by on the straight and I couldn’t do anything to defend myself. It’s a bit frustrating to sit in the traffic, with my tyres which didn’t last very long and suffering of a lack of performance. We need now to have a look at all the data to see if there is anything we can do to be back in Monza in a better condition. We are not far from the points but we need to sort a few things out, have a clean weekend and score some points at our home Grand Prix.”

Franz Tost (Team Principal): “First of all congratulations to Daniel Riccardo and Red Bull for another win. Daniel’s race was very exciting, so really well done! As for us, Daniil scored another point which is quite important for the team and for the Constructor Championship. Unfortunately, our performance during the race was not on a level to be able to fight and beat the teams which were in front of us. Both our drivers did a very good job, always pushing as much as possible. We leave this great circuit with a tenth position and we are looking forward to our home Grand Prix in Monza.”

Ricardo Penteado (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): “The race was clean for us in terms of energy and fuel management on Daniil’s car so it was a shame to come away with just one point. On JEV’s car the different car set up possibly offset the pace we could have had, making it difficult to overtake, but the potential is there. It gives us momentum going forward to the team’s home race in Monza in two weeks.”

[MIKA27]

LOTUS: HIGHLY UNFORTUNATE WE HAD TO RETIRE BOTH CARS

Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean both suffered forced retirements from the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Pastor parked his car early in the race with a suspected exhaust failure whilst Romain demonstrated promising race pace, however damage sustained to his car meant a precautionary retirement in the interest of safety late in the race.

• Romain started from P15 on new soft compound tyres, pitting at the end of the first lap for a new front wing and new medium compound tyres. He stopped on laps 13 and 27 for further sets of soft tyres. He retired from the race on lap 33.
• Pastor started from P17 on new soft tyres. He retired from the race on lap 2.

Romain Grosjean, DNF: “The car was pretty good; the pace was much better than expected, which is encouraging. Unfortunately the race was compromised early on, we had to change the nose on the first lap and we picked up some damage later on from debris on the track. We lost a lot of downforce as a result so we retired the car. We’re moving forward every weekend and learning a lot, though Monza is likely to be challenging too. Singapore should suit us a lot better.”

Pastor Maldonado, DNF: “We were expecting a tough weekend – both here and Monza are challenging tracks for us – although the car seemed competitive and consistent today. It might have been possible to fight with Sauber and Force India during the race. Unfortunately I felt a big loss of power at the end of the first lap and saw in the mirrors that the engine was smoking a lot so we had to retire.”

Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: “It was highly unfortunate that we had to retire both cars today. There is pace and the team is working extremely hard to extract every ounce of performance. We will regroup between now and Monza of course, and do everything we can to improve further. We’ll also keep looking for that pot of good luck.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: “A tough race. Romain sustained damage at the first corner, which meant we had to change the front wing at the end of that lap. We opted for the prime tyres and he was actually running very strongly from then on, although obviously a long way back. Unfortunately, he picked up some damage after his final pit stop which made the car a real handful for him – he radioed in that the car was dangerous, so the only sensible thing to do was retire. Pastor suffered from what looks to be an exhaust failure early on in the race. We’re investigating both cars to understand what happened.”

Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “We knew Spa would be difficult but we fell short of our expectations this weekend. Pastor suffered an exhaust failure soon after the start, while the team had to retire Romain’s car due to a bodywork issue. We’ll look to Monza now and hope for better.”

[MIKA27]

MCLAREN: BOTH DRIVERS DROVE EXTREMELY WELL

McLaren report from the Belgian Grand Prix, Round 12 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Spa-Francorchamps.

Jenson Button: “We played the long game today – most people were making their pit-stops early – and I felt I kept the tyres in good condition. I also had a lot of fun out there, especially racing Kevin [Magnussen], Sebastian [Vettel] and Fernando [Alonso] at the end. In the final laps Kevin and I didn’t touch, although I had to back off a bit at Turn Eight, when Fernando ran off as he and Kevin were dicing. I lost a place to Fernando there, which was a bit of a shame, and in turn a place to Sebastian after that, but as I say I really enjoyed it out there. It’s such a fantastic circuit; driving here always feels so good.”

Kevin Magnussen: “Despite being penalised after the race, I have to say I enjoyed the weekend. I had great fun out there this afternoon – I was involved in exciting racing on an awesome circuit. It was a tough challenge, because everyone around me had slightly fresher tyres than I did, and they’re all great drivers: they’re not the easiest guys to keep behind. So I just tried my best to defend my position as well as I could. Changing the subject, I want to say how brilliant it was to see so many Danish fans in the crowd. The support I’ve had this weekend has been incredible – I’ve never experienced anything like it, to be honest. Last but not least, it was good that Jenson got past Fernando at the end, to score some useful points for the team.”

Eric Boullier, racing director, McLaren Mercedes: “Before I say anything else, I want to pay public tribute to Formula 1, which delivered a magnificent afternoon’s entertainment here in Belgium today. On the most daunting racetrack on the Formula 1 calendar, there was cut and thrust all through the field, and the resulting spectacle must have made for fantastic television. Throughout, Jenson and Kevin were in the thick of it, and it was great to see them racing the Red Bulls and the Ferraris fast and hard. They both drove extremely well, exhibiting redoubtable derring-do, and, although they raced wheel to wheel with each other, they never touched. From here we go to Monza, another classic low-downforce circuit, where we’ll be hoping to capitalise on our steady ongoing performance development and score a useful number of World Championship points.”

[MIKA27]

SAUBER: WE WERE SIMPLY NOT FAST ENOUGH

In the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps the Sauber F1 Team drivers applied different strategies, which in the end didn’t make a significant difference. Adrian Sutil, who stopped three times, finished in 14th , while Esteban Gutiérrez, who pitted twice, was 15th.

Esteban Gutiérrez: “It was a tough race. The race strategy was to attack straight from the beginning on. Unfortunately, it did not work out as expected, but at least I was able to gain some positions during the first laps. Throughout the race I struggled a lot with the medium tyres. This aspect made things complicated and put us in a difficult position. Our pace was too slow to finish the race in the points. We need to keep working to be in the top ten as soon as possible.”

Adrian Sutil: “It was an exciting race, but 14th was the maximum today. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind Felipe (Massa). As I came in for the pit stop, he also went in at the same time. In some sectors on track I was faster than him, but on the straights he was just too fast. Felipe’s engine was simply too strong and I could not overtake him. We then decided to race with a three-stop-strategy, which in the end was the right choice. I felt more comfortable with the soft compound in comparison to the medium tyres. I am satisfied with the procedures over the weekend. The team did a good job without making any mistakes.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “The whole crew delivered a race without any mistakes. However, it is disappointing to see that on a track where power and top speed are crucial, we were simply not fast enough. For the upcoming events it will be important for us to build on the improvements that we were able to make recently on the chassis side during the last few races.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “This was a disappointing result after a reasonable race. We expected that we would struggle in dry conditions, and we finally achieved more or less what we could expect. We tried something with Adrian‘s strategy, starting on the medium tyre, which was clearly slower than the soft. This was working until he got stuck behind Felipe Massa. We then decided to switch to a three stop strategy, which didn’t work out because Adrian got stuck behind slower cars. In the end, our drivers finished behind each other.”

[MIKA27]

FORCE INDIA: GOOD TO SEE THE TEAM RECOVER SOME GROUND

Sahara Force India scored two points in today’s Belgian Grand Prix as Sergio Perez finished in ninth place. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished in P11. The team has now scored 100 points, making this the earliest point in a season the team has reached this milestone.

Sergio Perez: “Somehow I avoided all the crazy battles that took place today because my race was quite straightforward. I went flat out and I think we achieved the most that was possible from the race. I lost a bit of time in the second stint, having to pass the two McLarens and I took a bit too much out of the tyres, which cost me some time later in the stint. In the final ten laps I was under a lot of pressure from Kvyat: he was catching me quickly, but I managed to hold him off. In the end, we got some points out of this weekend and that’s the important thing.”

Nico Hulkenberg: “It’s a shame to miss out on points today but I guess I paid the price for the mistakes yesterday [in qualifying] which gave us so much ground to recover in the race. My start was not great, but I was able to gain a few positions on the first lap. After that I had good pace, but it was hard to show it because I was stuck in heavy traffic. There was a train of cars in the midfield with everybody using DRS and making it very difficult to overtake. I think that’s where we lost the most time today and it stopped me from scoring points. I was closing quickly on Kvyat at the end and I was very close, but I probably needed an extra lap to be able to get ahead.”

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: “Considering the issues we had in qualifying yesterday, it’s good to see the team recover some ground today and score points. The two-stop races for Sergio and Nico went to plan, without any significant issues, but starting outside the top ten meant we were always going to face an uphill struggle this afternoon. Both drivers were caught in the midfield train of traffic and that made it difficult to demonstrate our true race pace, especially early on. Sergio drove a very mature race and picked up a couple of points, while Nico came close to claiming the final point. We remain in a strong position in the championship and hopefully Monza will give us a better opportunity to show our potential and get both cars in the points.”

[MIKA27]

Magnussen handed 20s penalty

Kevin Magnussen has been handed two penalty points and a post-race drive-through penalty following an incident with Fernando Alonso at Spa on Sunday.

During the closing stages of the race, Magnussen, Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button were involved a toe to toe battle for fifth place.

On the straight following turn four, Alonso tried to overtake the Dane but the Spaniard was squeezed onto the grass after Magnussen didn't leave him enough space.

"The driver of car 20 [Magnussen] was defending his position on the straight between turns 4 and 5, a significant portion of car 14 [Alonso] was alongside car 20," a statement from the steward reads.

"The driver of car 20 did not leave enough space for car 14 and forced the car off track."

As a result of the 20-second penalty, he drops down from sixth place to 12th, while Nico Hulkenberg moves up to 10th and will pick up the final point.

Magnussen has now accrued four penalty points.

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Vettel: I didn't have the pace

Sebastian Vettel admitted that he simply didn't have to pace to challenge the front-runners at Spa on Sunday.

The four-time World Champion started in third place in Belgium and made a flying start to the race, passing Nico Rosberg and challenging Lewis Hamilton for the lead, before dropping back again.

Subsequently, Vettel was also passed by his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo and lost further position to Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen during the first round of pit stops.

In fact, were it not for a late salvo that saw him pass Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen on the final lap after the trio and Jenson Button were involved in a tight scrap for fifth that took place over several laps, Vettel might have finished further down the track.

Speaking to the BBC after the race, Vettel admitted that his car wasn't working as well as that of his team-mate Ricciardo.

"Disappointed because we didn't have the speed today. I was trying to put Lewis under pressure from the off, we were set up for straight lines but the tyres were colder than expected. Lap two was good to see the two Mercedes hit each other and give us a chance but I just didn't have the pace," Vettel said.