Rosberg romps as Lewis suffers from penalties
The Belgium G.P certainly was entertaining, we had a mix of strange rules, rookie driving, a couple of surprises, and two brilliant drives.
First the rules on engine and gearbox changes. A driver who has his engine or gearbox changed has to take grid penalties, all season it has been known Lewis Hamilton was running out of engines. So the team rebuilt and tested three engines meaning Lewis had 56 grid penalties, he also had a gearbox change.
This resulted in more penalties, which should have meant the back of the grid for Lewis in the next three races. This is where things take a strange turn, the rule means he only had to take the penalty in this race. Which is not bad for three engines and a gear box, he is now covered through to the end of the season.
Fernando Alonso also had to start at the back of the grid. Both he and Hamilton started on soft tyres, hoping to do a long first stint. Luck was on the driver’s side, when what could have been a very serious crash at Eau Rouge occurred. Kevin Magnussen went into the barriers at top speed after taking too much kerb, this brought out the safety car.
A lot of the drivers used the time for a pit but Lewis and Fernando attempted stay out, the barrier was so badly damaged though the race was eventually red flagged. All cars had to go to the pits which meant the cars could be fixed, also tyres could be changed.
This was ideal for Lewis and Fernando as this brought them right up the grid, but does not take away from them the brilliant drive that seen Lewis take third place and Fernando 7th.
Another surprise that came out of the race was the crash of Magnussen, the driver went into the barrier at high speed. On the replay it could be seen the protective head restraint flew off, this is designed to stop the driver getting serious whiplash.
Max Verstappen was on home turf in Belgium, but we think he was trying to please the crowd. After making a poor start off the grid, Max made an ill-advised dive down the inside of Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner. This resulted in damage to three cars, Verstappen went on to be accused by Vettel and Raikkonen of dangerous driving.
Max is still very young and we find the accusations from Vettel a bit of a joke, especially when you look at some of the drives he has had in the past.
Jenson Button, after a very good qualifying, was very unlucky to come together with Pascal Wehrlein in the first lap. In our opinion Jensen was heading for a good finish, but both drivers were forced out of the race.
Nico Rosberg with no Lewis on the front row had all the race to himself, he did what was required and had a clean race to the chequered flag. His only challenge was from Daniel Ricciardo, who was 14 seconds adrift at the line.
On to Italy
Round 14 will be in Italy on the 4th of September. Following the setback in Belgium Lewis will no doubt be back in front here, though Vettel and Raikkonen will want to get a good drive in for the Ferrari fans. The Tifosi do not care who wins as long as it’s a Ferrari, they have been known to walk out of the track when their boys are not performing.
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