Few expected Red Bull to do well at Belgium at all. The lack of horsepower from the Renault powertrain was pointed towards the reigning champions struggling here. That certainly wasn’t the case as Red Bull left Spa with more points than Mercedes, Williams and Ferrari. The race will be remembered for the incident between the two Mercedes drivers but Daniel Ricciardo’s third win of the season was nothing short of exceptional. Not only did he carve his way through the field but he managed to hold off an incredibly fast Nico Rosberg in the closing stages of the race. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel put his racecraft to the test again to claim a solid haul of points.
Red Bull Belgian GP Review
No. 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
Grid: P3
Race: P5
Even though Vettel was third on the grid, he was over two seconds behind the Mercedes in qualifying, an incredible margin. He made an awesome start, straight into P2, and had a look at Lewis Hamilton in P1 but misjudged his breaking point for Les Combes. His race didn’t quite pan out as he would have liked, making an error coming out of the incredibly fast Pouhon corner cost him position to his team mate, and he gradually slipped back. He made a late stop for fresh rubber and duelled Fernando Alonso and the two McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen for fifth, and that’s where he ended up. It isn’t a disastrous result considering that he missed the whole of second practice through no fault of his own, but it is yet again another race where he has finished behind Daniel Ricciardo
No. 3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
Grid: P5
Race: P1
Ricciardo is making a habit of this winning business. He has won three of the last six races, the same number as the two Mercedes drivers combined. He too made a good start and was fourth and chasing Vettel quite early on in the race. Once the two Mercedes drivers decided to not play nice, this suddenly became a fight for the lead. Ricciardo took the lead and never looked back. He did come under threat from Rosberg at the end of the race, but held off, despite the German being 1.5 seconds a lap quicker. This result means that he is now just 64 points behind Rosberg with 200 to play for, so he isn’t out of this title fight yet, especially if the two Mercedes drivers continue to collide, reminiscent of Alain Prost’s superb 1986 triumpth.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @Craig_O_F1. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport and @LWOSworld– and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Formula 1 writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at sports injury alert.
Have you tuned into Last Word On Sports Radio? LWOS is pleased to bring you 24/7 sports radio to your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. What are you waiting for? GO!
Main image:
