Although it was Rosberg who took victory in Spa, there were numerous impressive performances from other drivers, with Hamilton and Alonso fighting through the pack to both finish in the points. Read the story of the race for each team and driver below.
Mercedes
A great race for both drivers, with Rosberg taking his first victory for some time and Hamilton finishing third from the back row of the grid. The result means that the gap in the championship is down to 9 points so it is all to play for going in to Monza next weekend.
Nico Rosberg P1
With Hamilton starting from the back, Rosberg easily took pole and went on to win the race. A good start kept him ahead at the first corner, whilst his rivals collided behind. From there, a simple two-stop race followed and he took victory by a comfortable margin. His victory means that the gap to Hamilton in the title race has been trimmed to just 9 points.
Lewis Hamilton P3
Due to multiple power unit changes, Hamilton had to start the race from the back row. However, helped by the number of incidentsduring the race, he was able to work his way through the order. By lap 6, he was up into 5th position. Given the circumstances, 3rd place was a good result and incredibly it is the third time he has reached the podium when starting 20th or lower.
Ferrari
A disappointing race after strong qualifying on Saturday. Both Vettel and Raikkonen were involved in the collision with Verstappen, which massively compromised their races. However, they both benefited from the red flag, which put them both in contention for points.
Sebastian Vettel P6
His initial getaway was brilliant, enough to get him up to second by the first corner. But then, he turned in on his teammate and a collision occured. This drastically compromised his – and Raikkonen’s race – putting him at the back of the pack. A great recovery drive meant he ended the race 6th, helped massively by the number of incidents during the race.
Kimi Raikkonen P9
Stuck between Verstappen and Vettel at the first corner, he had no options to escape contact. He received a puncture and a damaged floor in the collision, with the bottom of his car in flames when he pitted. However, he was able too keep going but ended up behind Verstappen and once again questioned the Dutchman’s defensive strategy describing it as ‘dangerous’, adding that:
“If I had not braked, we would have had a massive accident…it will happen sooner or later if this doesn’t change. I am fine with good, hard racing but that is not correct.”
With 20 laps to go, he made his final pit stop, allowing him to get past Verstappen. He was able to pass Massa for ninth but unable to challenge Bottas or Alonso for higher positions. Overall, a disappointing result given where he started the race.
Williams
Bottas was running a strong fourth before the safety car but pitted before the red flag, which lost him many places. This put him outside of the points but he came through to eighth by the end. Massa opted for two long stints after an early stop, however struggled in the closing stages and dropped to tenth.
Valtteri Bottas P8
Up in fourth before the safety car, Bottas immediatley pitted and dropped to 12th. When the red flag came out, his advantage from his pit stop was lost as the other drivers were given a free stop. This meant he lost 8 places and had to fight back through the pack from there. Without the red flag he would have finished in a much higher position and scored more important points.
Felipe Massa P10
Starting 10th, Massa benefited from the incident-filled opening lap to reach fourth by the end of lap one. Pitting early, he tried to complete the race on just one more stop. However, this strategy didn’t pay off, as he struggled with degradation in the closing laps and dropped to tenth.
Red Bull
Ricciardo gained places at the start due to the collision between his teammate and the Ferraris. He wasn’t close enough to challenge Rosberg but showed encouraging pace nonetheless. For Verstappen, it was a disappointing race in front of his fans, finishing just outside of the points.
Daniel Ricciardo P2
Benefiting from the early collision between Verstappen and the two Ferraris, Ricciardo was into 3rd by the end of lap one. He damaged his front wing after hitting some of the debris from the crash but the red flag gave him the chance to fix this. From there he was unable to challenge Rosberg for the win but remained in a fairly safe second place. In the final stint of the race, his lap times were very similar to the race leaders’, an encouraging sign on a circuit they expected to find harder.
Max Verstappen P11
A hugely disappointing result in front of his fans, after the collision at the opening corner. With a poor start dropping him behind the two Ferrari drivers, he made an optimistic move up the inside of Raikkonen going into turn one. Although Raikkonen tried to give him space, he was forced to make contact as Vettel turned in. This resulted in a damaged front wing for Verstappen.
Force India
A brilliant race for both drivers, with Hulkenberg yet again so close to a podium finish. Perez lost places at the start but recovered to fifth. A strong race means they overtake Williams to go fourth in the constructors’ championship.
Nico Hulkenberg P4
Moving into second in the first lap, Hulkenberg was running well up until the safety car. The team opted to pit him then, ultimately loosing him positions as the red flag came out soon after, giving his rivals a free stop. However, he managed to finish a strong 4th, but once again just short of a podium.
Sergio Perez P5
Dropping a few positions at the start after having to avoid the collision ahead, Perez had a tough race. However, he managed to pick up positions after the restart and in his second stint especially. In the end, he finished just behind his teammate in an impressive 5th.
Toro Rosso
An early end to the race for Sainz, as a puncture sent him spinning off the track. Kvyat ran inside the top ten initially but a lack of power due to the year old engine meant he slowly dropped down the order. Overall. a disappointing result which allows McLaren to pass them in the championship.
Daniil Kvyat P14
Knocked out in Q1 on Saturday, Kvyat qualified 19th, making points look an unlikely prospect. However, by the red flag period in the race, he was up to eighth and on track to a potential points finish. Unfortunately, he dropped down the pack after the restart, struggling with a lack of power from the 2015 Ferrari power unit.
Carlos Sainz DNF
An amazing first lap saw Sainz go from 15th on the grid to 7th. But when he got on to his second lap, he ran over some debris from the earlier crash and punctured his right rear tyre. It exploded going into Eau Rouge and he lost control of his car. A frustrating end to what could have been a good race for Sainz.
Renault
A frightening crash for Magnussen saw him flying into the barriers at the top of Eau Rouge at high speed. Fortunately, he was able to get out of the car and sustained no serious injury. His teammate had another tough race, despite a good first stint, slowly dropping down to fifteenth.
Jolyon Palmer P15
After his best qualifying of the season so far, Palmer lined up 14th on the grid. Running 7th in the early stages of the race, it looked like he was on for a strong result. However, he began to struggle with his tyres in the high temperatures and dropped down the order to finish 15th.
Kevin Magnussen DNF
Also running well early on, Magnussen then suffered a massive crash in Eau Rough, ploughing into the barriers at the top of the hill after loosing control and spinning the car. It was a relief to see him get out the car and he sustained no serious injury, although was taken to hospital for precautionary checks. He has confirmed he should be fit to race at Monza next weekend.
Sauber
Another frustrating result for Sauber, with Ericsson retiring early with gearbox issues and Nasr picking up a puncture near the start, he eventually finished in last place.
Felipe Nasr P17
Due to the debris on the track, Nasr received a puncture in the opening laps and dropped down the field. Fortunately, he was able to continue with the race but – with a damaged floor – he was not in contention for a strong result and was last of the finishers.
Marcus Ericsson DNF
Having to start from the pitlane after cooling issues prior to the start, his race was already largely compromised. Loosing sixth gear on lap three with gearbox issues, Ericsson was forced to retire from the race.
McLaren
Hit by Wehrlein at the start of the race, Button’s race was over on lap one. However, for Alonso the race was an incredible fight from the back of the grid to seventh, enough to overtake Toro Rosso in the constructors’ championship.
Fernando Alonso P7
Like Hamilton, Alonso also had a large number of grid penalties due to power unit changes and he started from the back of the grid. He benefited from the incidents in the opening laps, running in the points by lap three and remarkably finding himself in fourth place at the restart.
However, he was never going to be able to hold of the likes of Hamilton and Vettel for the duration of the race and gradually dropped back. But, encouraging pace at last meant he kept behind both Williams’ to the finish, showing that they should find themselves in contention for points finishes more regularly from now.
Jenson Button DNF
A really good start saw Button move swiftly up the order in opening corners. However, running wide at La Source, he was hit by Wehrlein when he rejoined the track. Although he made it back to the pits, he had sustained too much damage to continue and unfortunately was forced to retire.
Manor
Running into the back of Button on the opening lap, Wehrlein’s race came to an end immediately. However, for Ocon, it was a strong debut avoiding collisions in the opening laps to run as high as 11th at one stage. Unfortunately, he dropped back due to lack of pace from the car but still a good first race in F1.
Esteban Ocon P16
Negotiating his was through the mess of the opening lap of the race, Ocon found himself up in 11th before the red flag. Managing his tyres well, he was able to finish ahead of the Sauber which was an encouraging result on his debut.
Pascal Wehrlein DNF
Colliding with Button on the opening lap, Wehrlein’s car sustained a subastantial amount of damage and he was unfortunately unable to continue with the race.
Haas
Fighting in the midfield for the majority of the race, they narrowly missed out of points in the end, despite running as high as sixth at one stage during the race. Both cars pitted during the safety car, before the red flag, so they lost a few places due and were unable to regain them.
Esteban Gutierrez P12
Having received a grid penalty for impeding Wehrlein during practice, Gutierrez wasn’t expecting a strong race – starting 18th. However, with the chaos of the early laps, he made up lots of the places to make scoring points a potential change. When the safety car came out, he dived into the pits, which ultimately proved to be a mistake after the red flag was shown. He lost a lot of time with this but fought back to a strong 12th.
Romain Grosjean P13
A good start for Grosjean saw him, like his teammate, gain many positions in the opening lap. However, an issue with the ERS system in the opening laps reduced his progress, but this was soon resolved. Dropping back during the safety car, he eventually made up places at the end to finish 13th.