Belgian Grand Prix Tag

Nico Rosberg closed the points gap to title rival Lewis Hamilton with a comfortable Belgian Grand Prix win but the championship-leading Briton limited the damage with a sparkling drive from P21 to third and a podium finish behind Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. The race began in dramatic fashion. Rosberg made a good getaway from pole to take the lead but Max Verstappen making his first career front-row start began slowly from P2. He was passed by the fast-starting Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, but Red Bull driverRead More

Nico Rosberg took his sixth pole position of the 2016 Formula One season at Spa-Francorchamps ahead of Max Verstappen who became the youngest driver to claims a front-row start at a grand prix. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third and will line up on the second row with team-mate Sebastian Vettel. With championship leader Lewis Hamilton set to start at the back of the grid due to penalties incurred following a host of power unit changes, Rosberg put himself in the perfect position to claw back some of the 19-point deficitRead More

Kimi Raikkonen topped the timeheets in final practice for the Belgian Grand Prix as he edged Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo by two tenths of a second at Spa-Francorchamps. Raikkonen’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third. Mercedes Nico Rosberg set the early pace with a lap of 1:48.880 set on soft tyres and that stood until almost the half way point in the session. Ferrari then sent both its drivers out on supersoft tyres and Raikkonen promptly jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:48.406. ThatRead More

Max Verstappen went quickest in the second practice session ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix, as Red Bull Racing turned a low key morning session into a headline-making afternoon outing with Daniel Ricciardo taking second spot. In the first session Verstappen finished in seventh position, behind Ricciardo. Part of the reason for that was Mercedes’ decision to run the supersoft tyre in FP1, while their rivals chose to stick with tradition and leave their performance runs until the afternoon. With Mercedes leaving the red-banded tyre alone in session two, theRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Fernando Alonso will have to start from the back of the grid for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix after requiring an engine change following first practice. The Spaniard suffered a water leak in the ERS in FP1 in the wake of Honda spent seven tokens for a major power unit upgrade that debuted at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The Mclaren-Honda F1 Team confirmed that the two-time Formula 1 world champion will need new ICE, MGU-H, MGU-K, turbo, energy store and control electronics. With it being Alonso’s sixthRead More

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg set the fastest time of opening practice for the Belgian Grand Prix with the German also becoming the first driver to set a timed lap in a session using the Halo device, which underwent more testing. As the session got underway at Spa-Francorchamps, four cars took to the circuit sporting the cockpit head protection device – Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Rosberg. All except Rosberg used the device for a single installation lap, but as times began toRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief McLaren will get a much needed boost as Honda has introduced a major power unit upgrade for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix. The intensely fast Spa-Franchorchamps circuit puts a premium demand on the power unit. With the summer break now over, Honda has brought the upgrade for both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. The Japanese supplier put an emphasis on combustion efficiency with the internal combustion engine (ICE). The power unit will also see improvements to both the turbo and compressor, something Honda looks to continueRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Esteban Ocon is set to make his Formula 1 debut in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Franchorchamps after being tabbed to replace Rio Haryanto at Manor for the remainder of the season. A winner of both the FIA European F3 championship (2014) and GP3 Series title (2015), Ocon has spent this year in a reserve role with Renault Sport F1 Team while also competing with Mercedes-AMG in DTM. “I’m thrilled that I’ll be making my Grand Prix debut with Manor Racing later this month, and atRead More

Lewis Hamilton backed up his pole position at Spa today with a controlled race win where he rarely looked threatened in his pursuit for victory. Behind him, chaos abound from the formation lap on. Nico Hulkenberg radioed in on the formation lap reporting a loss of power, the team told him to box, then changed their minds and instructed the German to take the start, but on the starting grid the Mercedes engine gave up the ghost and the field had to circle around a second time as the Hulk’sRead More

The FIA has decided to remove a new curb at Eau Rouge prior to qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. With the drivers capable of cutting part of the left-hander at Radillion – the top of the climb at Eau Rouge – a larger curb w installed at the apex. With a number of events in GP2 and GP3 that saw several cars getting airborne momentarily after making contact with the curb, the FIA decided following a driver’s meeting to remove it. The FIA will now monitor any advantage gainedRead More