Rosberg claims victory in a straightforward race to close the gap in the championship. After a strong race from 5th, Ricciardo ended 2nd ahead of Hamilton – who started from the back of the grid. But it was disappointment for home fans, as Verstappen was involved in a collision at the first corner and dropped down the pack.
Starting on pole, Rosberg had a good start to stay in front after the first corner. But Verstappen, lining up second, had a poor start and dropped behind the Ferraris. He took the inside line into the first corner, but with the three drivers alongside, he was squeezed off the circuit and made contact with Raikkonen. This resulted in a damaged front wing and floor.
Raikkonen received a puncture and Vettel was spun around, dropping him to the back of the grid. These incidents helped Rosberg massively, removing his closest competitors. It also helped Hamilton, up to 15th form 21st on the grid.
A first lap collision between Button and Wehrlein put both drivers out of the race, after Wehrlein hit the back of the McLaren and lauched it into the air. Then, the virtual safety car was brought out after Sainz’s rear tyre exploded, sending him spinning across the track.
When Raikkonen came into the pits, the plank of the floor of his car was on fire and his pit crew had to put the fire out whilst replacing the front wing.
Hamilton and Alonso were up to P4 and P5 going into lap six, when a massive crash for Magnussen brought out the safety car. He lost control at the top of Eau Rouge, spinning the car and then smashing into the barriers. Such was the scale of the impact, his cockpit head protection device flew out of the car upon impact with the wall. He limped out of the car and was immediately taken to the medical centre, then later taken to hospital.
After a few laps behind the safety car, the race was red flagged on lap 10 due to the damage to the tyre wall. A fifteen minute delay allowed drivers to switch tyres, effectively eliminating one pit stop. As the race restarted, Rosberg led with Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Hamilton behind.
By lap 12, Hamilton made it past Alonso and up to fourth position and was into third by lap 18. Meanwhile, Raikkonen and Verstappen were locked in battle for 14th, Verstappen’s aggressive defending upsetting the Ferrari driver. Up front, Rosberg had pulled out a 1.5 second lead over Ricciardo.
On lap 22, Hamilton pitted for soft tyres and dropped to ninth just ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. He was soon followed by the rest of the field and, by his final stop, had caught up to the back of Ricciardo. He emerged in fourth, between the Force Indias and too far from Ricciardo to mount a challenge.
However, he was very happy to finish the race in 3rd place having started last. A victory for Rosberg closes the gap in the championship to just 9 points, with eight races still remaining. Ricciardo was a happy 3rd, but his teammate narrowly missed out on the points in 11th.
In a strong race for Force India, Hulkenberg and Perez finished 4th and 5th respectively, enough to overtake Williams in the constructors’ and move into fourth. Vettel made a fantastic recovery to finish sixth, ahead of Alonso, Bottas and Raikkonen. Struggling with tyre degradation at the end of the grand prix, Massa finished a disappointing 10th.