It had to happen. The surprise is that it took 12 races for Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton to collide while fighting for the lead. It was only a glancing blow on the second lap of the Belgian Grand Prix but it had major consequences. Rosberg suffered damage to his front wing but Hamilton came off worse, a rear puncture dropping him to the back of the field and, ultimately, retirement.
Rosberg recovered to finish second but, as is becoming the norm when the Mercedes drivers run into trouble (if not each other), the ever-impressive Daniel Ricciardo was there to pick up the pieces and score his and Red Bull’s third win of the season.
The continuing battle between the Mercedes drivers took on an added frisson as F1 resumed after a three-week break at Spa-Francorchamps, a majestic track that would allow Rosberg and Hamilton to test each other fully. The challenging circumstances of this 7-km track (the longest in F1) were accentuated when rain fell during much of practice and all of qualifying. On paper, this was regarded as perfect territory for Hamilton to exercise his skill and close the 11-point gap to his team-mate in the championship.
In reality, none of that happened. Despite being just 0,228s slower than Rosberg in qualifying, Hamilton’s glum face told of a problem with his front brakes glazing in the wet conditions and an incredible lap from Rosberg.
Salvation lay in the start, Hamilton making the perfect getaway to take the lead into the first corner and for the rest of the lap. Now followed the plunge downhill for the second time to the awesome Eau Rouge left-right and the switchback ride that would fire the cars onto the uphill Kemmel Straight. As Rosberg closed in, Hamilton played it perfectly as they braked from 300 km/h and forced Rosberg to think about running round the outside going into the right-hander at Les Combes.
Rosberg’s hope of then being on the inside of the following left-hander were thwarted when, quite simply, there was not enough room. Rosberg’s front wing was alongside but not in front of Hamilton’s rear axle. Rosberg jinked left in avoidance but then came back as the gap narrowed. In an instant, his front wing endplate (out of Rosberg’s view from the cockpit) touched Hamilton’s left-rear tyre. The Pirelli was punctured instantly, Rosberg losing part of his front wing.
Unfortunately for Hamilton, this was at the point furthest from the pits. But he did not help his cause by driving quickly enough to have flailing rubber damage the rear undertray of the Mercedes. The loss of downforce would deny us another Hamilton comeback drive, the Englishman eventually retiring from 16th place on lap 38.
Rosberg hung on until lap 8 before making a stop for a new nose and fresh tyres, rejoining in 10th. He gradually moved up the order, getting as far as fifth before stopping once more. Meanwhile, there had been significant action at the front.
Ricciardo, starting from fifth, had pulled off concise overtaking moves on Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and then Sebastian Vettel’s red Bull for what had become the lead following Rosberg’s pit stop. Vettel had made a mistake at the exit of the fast downhill Pouhon corner, a sign of the world champion’s struggle after losing most of Friday’s practice with an engine problem and having no option but to put Ricciardo’s settings on his car. Judging by the way Ricciardo pulled away, the set-up suited the Australian more than his team-mate.
Red Bull then gambled by stopping Ricciardo just once more in the hope that he could make his tyres last and fend off a late challenge from Rosberg, who stopped three times. Ricciardo timed it to perfection, setting his fastest lap on the 44th and final tour to win by 3,3 seconds from Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas, the Williams driver scoring his fourth podium of the season.
The noise on the track may have died down but it was about to start in the paddock. The recriminations flew, particularly when Hamilton claimed Rosberg, at a post-race meeting, said he’d deliberately held his ground in order to ‘make a point’; a statement that could be interpreted as paying Hamilton back for going against team instructions and not allowing Rosberg through at the previous race in Hungary.
Either way, Rosberg has extended his championship lead. Hamilton will also have noted that Ricciardo has closed to within 35 points with seven races to go, the last of them in Abu Dhabi guaranteeing double points. This battle is by no means over, on and off the track.
