Category: Motor Racing

Lewis Hamilton achieved his 100th front row appearance with his eight pole position of this season. His speed in the Mercedes was incredible, breaking the lap record at the Sepang International Circuit. The pole time was an impressive one minute, 32. 850 seconds.

Championship rival and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg was under pressure and yet was able to recover to grab second position from the Red Bulls. Although he was 0.414 seconds adrift from Hamilton.

Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo will form row two with the birthday boy – just turned 19 years old – ahead of the honey badger by a margin of four tenths of a second.

It’s a Ferrari row three with four-times Sepang winner Sebastian Vettel ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.

Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg represents a Force India row four.

As for Jenson Button – celebrating his 300th Grand Prix at Malaysia – ninth position is a solid result for the McLaren ace.

Button made it through to Q3 with a fine late effort that, along with improvements from the Force India pair, meant the Williams of Valtteri Bottas missed the cut by just 0.039 seconds, as Bottas failed to improve on his second Q2 run.

Romain Grosjean beat Haas team-mate Esteban Gutierrez to the 12th fastest time by less than a tenth, while Kevin Magnussen did an excellent job to qualify his Renault P14, having missed most of Friday practice after his car caught fire in the pits in FP1.

A late improvement from Daniil Kvyat meant he beat Toro Rosso team-mate Carlos Sainz to P15 on the grid by just 0.005 seconds.

This was the first time Kvyat has out-qualified Sainz since June’s European Grand Prix in Azerbaijan.

Jolyon Palmer’s Renault and Fernando Alonso’s McLaren-Honda joined the Saubers and Manors after Q1.

Given Magnussen’s performance Palmer had a realistic shot at making Q2, but his final lap of the session was scrappy and he ended up dropping behind the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr into P19.

Esteban Ocon out-qualified Manor team-mate Pascal Wehrlein for the first time, beating him to the P20 by 0.136 seconds.

Alonso completed a cursory run on medium tyres in his McLaren, knowing he will start at the back of the grid regardless owing to a 45-place grid penalty for various illegal engine component swaps.

Malaysian Grand Prix, qualifying times:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m32.850s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m33.264s
3    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m33.420s
4    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m33.467s
5    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m33.584s
6    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m33.632s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m34.319s
8    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m34.489s
9    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m34.518s
10    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m34.671s
11    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m34.577s
12    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m35.001s
13    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m35.097s
14    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m35.277s
15    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m35.369s
16    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m35.374s
17    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m35.816s
18    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m35.949s
19    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m35.999s
20    Esteban Ocon    Manor/Mercedes    1m36.451s
21    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m36.587s
22    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m37.155s

Nico Rosberg celebrated his 200th Grand Prix with race victory for Mercedes. Rosberg resisted the late pressure from Daniel Ricciardo to score his eighth win this season.

By winning the Singapore Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver has retaken the championship lead from rival and team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Rosberg now has an eight-point advantage with six races left this season.

Despite both Mercedes drivers being warned about brake management from the early laps, Rosberg controlled most of the Singapore Grand Prix.

After a safety car for a startline crash and a hair-raising moment as a marshal had to run off the track with the leaders approaching at the restart, Rosberg established a comfortable gap over Ricciardo and Hamilton.

Mercedes’ choice of softs for its second stint, when Ricciardo stayed on super-softs, left Hamilton moaning at his team over the radio.

Hamilton then found himself under pressure from Kimi Raikkonen’s super-soft compound Ferrari, which got past just after half-distance after a lock-up from the Mercedes.

The second round of pit-stops followed soon after, with the gap between Rosberg and Hamilton in fourth out to 18.9 seconds.

Mercedes then switched Hamilton to “plan B”, and he charged up behind Raikkonen and then made an unexpected third pit-stop for a set of ultra-softs with 16 laps to the flag.

Ferrari was left in two minds on whether to react, and though it hauled Raikkonen in, a superb lap from Hamilton allowed him to pull off the undercut and reclaim third. He then held off Raikkonen to the finish.

Red Bull Racing covered off both those drivers by bringing in Ricciardo for new super-softs, while Mercedes left Rosberg out on his softs.

The honey badger started hunting down Rosberg, a 24 seconds gap becoming 5 seconds within seven laps.

But some traffic, fading tyres and Mercedes giving Rosberg the green light to push his brakes harder halted Ricciardo’s charge and he ran out of time to pass.

The dramatic finish matched the start, when Max Verstappen’s slow getaway from fourth triggered mayhem.

Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg tangled as they tried to dodge around the Red Bull, sending Hulkenberg spinning into the pitwall and triggering the safety car.

That proved to be the only caution period, but Sebastian Vettel did not need too much help to make it through the field from the back of the grid.

Rapid overtaking in the midfield and a long first stint on softs set up his determined drive to a fifth place finish.

Verstappen ended up sixth via a late move on Fernando Alonso’s McLaren, having had a big battle with his Red Bull predecessor Daniil Kvyat along the way.

Sergio Perez’s eighth nudged Force India a point ahead of Williams in their battle for fourth in the constructors’ championship as the latter failed to score.

Felipe Massa was only P12, while Valtteri Bottas picked up damage in the first-lap incident, had to pit with a seatbelt problem and eventually retired.

Kvyat claimed ninth, with Kevin Magnussen tenth for only Renault’s second points-scoring finish of the season.

Romain Grosjean’s nightmare weekend, which already included two crashes and a gearbox-change penalty, resulted in a brake failure on his Haas that prevented him from even taking the start.

Singapore Grand Prix, race results after 61 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1h55m48.950s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    0.488s
3    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    8.038s
4    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    10.219s
5    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    27.694s
6    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m11.197s
7    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m29.198s
8    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m49.146s
9    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.867s
10    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m51.843s
11    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
12    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
13    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
14    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
15    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1 Lap
16    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1 Lap
17    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
18    Esteban Ocon    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    Retirement
–    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    Not started
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    Collision

Drivers’ standings:

1    Nico Rosberg    273
2    Lewis Hamilton    265
3    Daniel Ricciardo    179
4    Sebastian Vettel    153
5    Kimi Raikkonen    148
6    Max Verstappen    129
7    Valtteri Bottas    70
8    Sergio Perez    66
9    Nico Hulkenberg    46
10    Felipe Massa    41
11    Fernando Alonso    36
12    Carlos Sainz    30
13    Romain Grosjean    28
14    Daniil Kvyat    25
15    Jenson Button    17
16    Kevin Magnussen    7
17    Pascal Wehrlein    1
18    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
19    Esteban Gutierrez    0
20    Jolyon Palmer    0
21    Marcus Ericsson    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0
24    Esteban Ocon    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    538
2    Red Bull-Renault    316
3    Ferrari    301
4    Force India-Mercedes    112
5    Williams-Mercedes    111
6    McLaren-Honda    54
7    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    47
8    Haas-Ferrari    28
9    Renault    7
10    Manor-Mercedes    1
11    Sauber/Ferrari    0

Next race: Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang. September 30-October 2.

Nico Rosberg claimed his seventh pole position this season for Mercedes at Marina Bay, as championship rival and team-mate Lewis Hamilton could only record third fastest time.

Hopes of a tight, multi-team battle for pole were dashed in Q2, as Red Bull and Ferrari – down to one car already after early problems for Sebastian Vettel – struggled to get within a second of Rosberg’s benchmark.

Rosberg was the only driver to make it below the one minute, 43 seconds time around the Singapore Grand Prix street circuit in Q3, and his first run proved enough to get the job done as he lapped in one minute, 42.584 seconds to claim P1 by over half a second.

Hamilton lost track time to a hydraulic valve problem in Friday’s practice session and has struggled under braking all weekend so far, and he endured a difficult time again in qualifying.

The two-time race winner trailed Rosberg by more than seven tenths of a second after his first run in Q3 and failed to improve on his second run.

That gave Daniel Ricciardo an opportunity to steal a front row start for Red Bull Racing, as the honey badger leapt to second with a superb one minute, 43.115 seconds effort at the end.

His team-mate Max Verstappen was fourth quickest, just 0.040 seconds down on Hamilton.

Kimi Raikkonen qualified his Ferrari fifth fastest, over six tenths down from Verstappen, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel was knocked out in Q1 after his Ferrari appeared to suffer a suspension failure.

Vettel initially tried to press on and drag a lap time out of the car anyway, before pitting for repairs but the team had no time to complete.

Ferrari revealed later on that it was an anti-roll bar problem which affected Vettel’s qualifying. The four-time Singapore Grand Prix winner and last year’s pole man will start the race last on the grid…

Carlos Sainz claimed a superb sixth for Toro Rosso, ahead of team-mate Daniil Kvyat (who only made one run in Q3) and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg.

Fernando Alonso qualified his McLaren-Honda ninth quickest, fractionally ahead of Sergio Perez.

Force India’s Perez may yet face sanction for overtaking Esteban Gutierrez under yellow flags in Q2.

Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were P11 and P12, Bottas missing the Q3 cut by just 0.003 seconds, and both affected badly by those yellow flags after Romain Grosjean crashed his Haas at the Turn 10 left-hander.

Jenson Button damaged his McLaren-Honda’s left-rear wheel against the wall at Turn 14 on his final flying lap, so failed to improve and ended up P13.

Esteban Gutierrez was P14, just ahead of Haas team-mate Grosjean, whose crash also hindered Hulkenberg and Gutierrez at the end of Q2.

Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber rounded out the top 16, electing to save tyres knowing he could do no better after Vettel’s misfortune allowed him passage to Q2.

Ericsson made it through to Q2 with what he described as a “nice lap” at the end of Q1.

That put him almost four tenths clear of the Q1 dropouts, headed by Kevin Magnussen’s Renault, Felipe Nasr, and Jolyon Palmer, these three all covered by just 0.135 seconds.

Pascal Wehrlein was P20 for Manor, over six tenths up on team-mate Esteban Ocon, while Vettel’s broken Ferrari trailed the entire field, almost a second further back.

Qualifying standings, Singapore Grand Prix:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m42.584s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m43.115s
3    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m43.288s
4    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m43.328s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m43.540s
6    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m44.197s
7    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m44.469s
8    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m44.479s
9    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m44.553s
10    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m44.582s
11    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m44.740s
12    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m44.991s
13    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m45.144s
14    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m45.593s
15    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m45.723s
16    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m47.827s
17    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m46.825s
18    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m46.860s
19    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m46.960s
20    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m47.667s
21    Esteban Ocon    Manor-Mercedes    1m48.296s
22    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m49.116s

Nico Rosberg scored a comfortable Italian Grand Prix victory for Mercedes as his team-mate and challenger suffered a bad start but recovered to finish second.

This was an easy, Sunday afternoon drive for Rosberg. Benefitted from a slow start from Lewis Hamilton, who qualified on pole and bang in the lap times consistently to stay ahead of the pack. In the end, recorded his first victory at Monza.

Mercedes recorded their fourth one-two of the season in the process. Win number of seven for Rosberg in 2016 and his 21st of his Formula 1 career. This result means Nico is just two points behind Lewis in the drivers’ championship with seven races remaining.

Sebastian Vettel gave the Tifosi something to cheer about by finishing third, 20.9 secondss adrift, with Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fourth.

While Hamilton was swallowed up by the pack and dropped to sixth at the start, Rosberg held off a challenge from Vettel to take the lead into Turn 1.

The Mercedes driver set a series of fastest laps to build a gap as Vettel and Raikkonen struggled to keep pace.

Hamilton, meanwhile, passed Daniel Ricciardo through Curve Grande to move into fifth and then got a good run out of Parabolica to slingshot past Valtteri Bottas for fourth.

The reigning world champion inherited second when the Ferraris pitted for fresh sets of super-soft tyres.

Hamilton began closing the gap to Rosberg before both Mercedes pitted for the first and only time, taking the mediums.

He dropped back to fourth but reclaimed second when the Ferraris pitted for the second time.

Though Hamilton pushed to catch his title rival, he locked up at the first chicane, bouncing across the speed bumps in the middle before rejoining.

He was then warned by his team to build a gap to the Ferraris behind and his challenge faded.

Ricciardo, on fresh super-soft tyres, launched an attack from a long way back to pass Bottas into the first chicane to take fifth.

That overtake was the highlight of the Italian Grand Prix. It was a brave and superb move by the honey badger. So far back and yet Ricciardo pulled it off in passing Bottas.

His Red Bull team-mate also made a great overtake. Max Verstappen got a good run through Curva Grande and then passed Sergio Perez into the second chicane for seventh.

Felipe Massa and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten.

The result means Williams moves back ahead of Force India into fourth place in the constructors’ championship with a three-point lead.

In a race of little drama, Jolyon Palmer and Felipe Nasr collided on lap two with the Sauber driver being handed a 10s penalty by the stewards. Both retired with damage.

Not the most exciting Italian Grand Prix but in terms of the championship, this battle between the Mercedes drivers is getting more tense and dramatic. Two points the difference. Game on as Formula 1 departs Europe for the faraway races.

Italian Grand Prix, race results after 53 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1h17m28.089s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    15.070s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    20.990s
4    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    27.561s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    45.295s
6    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    51.015s
7    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    54.236s
8    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m04.954s
9    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m05.617s
10    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m18.656s
11    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
12    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
13    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
14    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
15    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
16    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
17    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1 Lap
18    Esteban Ocon    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
–    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    Retirement
–    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    Retirement

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    250
2    Nico Rosberg    248
3    Daniel Ricciardo    161
4    Sebastian Vettel    143
5    Kimi Raikkonen    136
6    Max Verstappen    121
7    Valtteri Bottas    70
8    Sergio Perez    62
9    Nico Hulkenberg    46
10    Felipe Massa    41
11    Fernando Alonso    30
12    Carlos Sainz    30
13    Romain Grosjean    28
14    Daniil Kvyat    23
15    Jenson Button    17
16    Kevin Magnussen    6
17    Pascal Wehrlein    1
18    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
19    Esteban Gutierrez    0
20    Jolyon Palmer    0
21    Marcus Ericsson    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0
24    Esteban Ocon    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    498
2    Red Bull-Renault    290
3    Ferrari    279
4    Williams-Mercedes    111
5    Force India-Mercedes    108
6    McLaren-Honda    48
7    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    45
8    Haas-Ferrari    28
9    Renault    6
10    Manor-Mercedes    1
11    Sauber/Ferrari    0

Next race: Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay. September 16-18.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was unbeatable in qualifying, setting impressive lap times in the Mercedes W07 Hybrid at the temple of speed.

Championship challenger and team-mate Nico Rosberg tried his best but had to settle with second position. Although the gap to Hamilton was telling… 0.478 seconds.

Sebastian Vettel leads division two, giving the Tifosi a little cheer at Ferrari’s home race. Kimi Raikkonen joins his team-mate with a red row two.

The Iceman was quicker than Vettel after their first runs in Q3, but failed to improve on his second set of tyres so slipped to fourth.

Valtteri Bottas was in fine form for Williams and pipped Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull to fifth by just a tiny margin of 0.001 second.

Max Verstappen rounded out the top seven, ahead of the Force India pairing of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg.

Esteban Gutierrez impressively got Haas into the top ten in qualifying for the first time, but then endured a scrappy Q3 session.

He ran off track at the Lesmos on his first Q3 run and failed to better his Q2 time on his second, which left him P10.

Felipe Massa failed to improve on his final run in Q2, so was bumped out of the top ten by a fine lap from Gutierrez, plus marginally better times by both Force India drivers, and the Red Bulls abandoning plans to progress on the soft tyre and then turning in quicker super-soft laps at the death.

Massa wounded up P11 in a car fast enough for the top six, while Romain Grosjean found nearly half a second on its second Q2 run but this was only good enough for P12.

The Haas driver will drop a further five places on the grid thanks to a penalty for changing his gearbox after the final practice session.

Pascal Wehrlein impressively split McLaren-Honda’s past world champions with P14, just 0.042 seconds slower than Fernando Alonso and 0.044 seconds quicker than Jenson Button.

Carlos Sainz managed to drag a sub-one minute, 23.5 seconds lap out of his underpowered Toro Rosso, but this was only good enough to make him the slowest driver in Q2, just under a tenth back from Button.

Daniil Kvyat joined the Saubers, Renaults and Esteban Ocon’s Manor in failing to escape Q1.

Kvyat swore furiously over team radio after missing the cut by just 0.042 seconds, as Toro Rosso team-mate Sainz, both McLarens and Wehrlein’s Manor all made it through with last efforts.

Felipe Nasr was P18 in the best of the Saubers, complaining an engine misfire cost him a shot at finding the two tenths he needed to make it through to Q2.

Team-mate Marcus Ericsson was just over a tenth slower in P19, ahead of Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen, who survived a big moment exiting the Ascari chicane on his final run.

Ocon’s car broke down on track for the second time this weekend, before he could set a time.

So a pure domination from Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton on pole position at the temple of speed. Can Nico Rosberg fight back? What about Ferrari? Can Sebastian Vettel or Kimi Raikkonen raise a cheer for the Tifosi? We shall find out on race at the legendary Monza circuit.

Qualifying positions, Monza:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m21.135s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m21.613s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m21.972s
4    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m22.065s
5    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m22.388s
6    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m22.389s
7    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m22.411s
8    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m22.814s
9    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m22.836s
10    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m23.184s
11    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m22.967s
12    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m23.273s
13    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m23.315s
14    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m23.399s
15    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.496s
16    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.825s
17    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m23.092s
18    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m23.956s
19    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m24.087s
20    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m24.230s
21    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m24.436s
22    Esteban Ocon    Manor/Mercedes    No time

Nico Rosberg scored his first victory at Spa-Francorchamps while his title rival Lewis Hamilton claimed a podium finish from P21 on the grid in a chaotic Belgian Grand Prix.

By winning the race, Rosberg has now reduced the gap to his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton to nine points. But would have been hoping for more given the reigning champion’s back-row start due to numerous penalties accrued for three power unit changes.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished in a Silver Arrows sandwich on track while in the points standings, the money badger is third place ahead of the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, who could only manage sixth and ninth following numerous incidents.

The field was reduced to 17 cars within just five laps and was red-flagged on lap nine for barrier repairs after a massive crash that sent Renault’s Kevin Magnussen to hospital.

At the start, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was slow away from second and was swallowed up on the short run down to the La Source hairpin by both Raikkonen and Vettel.

As Vettel dived down the inside of Raikkonen and Vettel turned in, Raikkonen was left with nowhere to go in the middle and the trio made contact.

Vettel spun to the back, while Verstappen and Raikkonen were forced to pit due to damage sustained, with the Ferrari developing a small underside fire to add to the drama.

Later on the opening lap Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein ran into the back of Jenson Button’s McLaren coming out of Les Combes, with both retiring.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz was next out on lap two after sustaining a puncture along the Kemmel straight, and although he tried to continue, Sainz only succeeded in further damaging the car before pulling off track.

Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, who had started the race from the pitlane due to the team working on cooling issues, also soon retired after losing sixth gear.

Penalised tail-end starters Fernando Alonso and Hamilton had reached P10 and P11 by lap six, when Magnussen ploughed into the Raidillon barrier.

Racing up through Eau Rouge, Magnussen appeared to take too much kerb on the exit, sending the Renault into a high-speed spin across the track before ramming into the wall, resulting in a Safety Car period.

A flurry of pit stops for fresh tyres followed over the first two laps under yellow, promoting Alonso and Hamilton up to fourth and fifth as they had no need to change rubber given they had started on the mediums at the back.

But with the barriers severely damaged, race director Charlie Whiting took the decision to red flag the race for 17 minutes to allow repairs to be carried out.

The running order at that stage was Rosberg ahead of Ricciardo, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, Alonso and Hamilton, with Vettel P11, Verstappen P16 and Raikkonen P17.

Raikkonen and Verstappen would make contact again soon after the race restart.

When Verstappen blocked Raikkonen on the following lap at high speed down the Kemmel straight, The Iceman again expressed expletive-laden anger.

Up front, Hamilton moved up to third on lap 18 of the 44 by passing Hulkenberg into Les Combes.

A slow pitstop three laps later dropped Hamilton to ninth, but as those ahead made their stops soon afterwards he rose back into the top three behind Rosberg and Ricciardo.

The out-of-sequence championship leader then had to overtake Force India’s Sergio Perez and Hulkenberg again after his third stop to clinch the final podium position, as Rosberg took the chequered flag by 14.1 seconds from Ricciardo.

Hulkenberg and Perez finished fourth and fifth, bringing Force India ahead of Williams to fourth in the constructors’ championship by one point.

The recovering Vettel and Alonso were sixth and seventh, with Williams pair Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa eighth and tenth either side of Raikkonen.

Verstappen tried a different strategy for his comeback drive but could only reach 11th.

On his F1 debut, Esteban Ocon held off Felipe Nasr to claim P16.

Belgian Grand Prix, race results after 44 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1h44m51.058s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    14.113s
3    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    27.634s
4    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    35.907s
5    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    40.660s
6    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    45.394s
7    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    59.445s
8    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m00.151s
9    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m01.109s
10    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m05.873s
11    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m11.138s
12    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m13.877s
13    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m16.474s
14    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m27.097s
15    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m33.165s
16    Esteban Ocon    Manor-Mercedes    1 Lap
17    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
–    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    Spun off
–    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    Collision
–    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    Collision

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    232
2    Nico Rosberg    223
3    Daniel Ricciardo    151
4    Sebastian Vettel    128
5    Kimi Raikkonen    124
6    Max Verstappen    115
7    Valtteri Bottas    62
8    Sergio Perez    58
9    Nico Hulkenberg    45
10    Felipe Massa    39
11    Fernando Alonso    30
12    Carlos Sainz    30
13    Romain Grosjean    28
14    Daniil Kvyat    23
15    Jenson Button    17
16    Kevin Magnussen    6
17    Pascal Wehrlein    1
18    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
19    Esteban Gutierrez    0
20    Jolyon Palmer    0
21    Marcus Ericsson    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0
24    Esteban Ocon    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    455
2    Red Bull-Renault    274
3    Ferrari    252
4    Force India-Mercedes    103
5    Williams-Mercedes    101
6    McLaren-Honda    48
7    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    45
8    Haas-Ferrari    28
9    Renault    6
10    Manor-Mercedes    1
11    Sauber-Ferrari    0

Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Monza. September 2-4.

After a long summer break, Formula 1 returns with a positive feeling with Nico Rosberg taking pole position at Spa-Francorchamps while Max Verstappen achieved his best-ever grid slot with second place.

Pole position for Rosberg was expected considering the speed of the Silver Arrows while his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton choosing not to try for pole, on account of a 55-place grid penalty for multiple engine changes, Rosberg looked set to face a relatively unchallenged run to pole.

And yet, Max Verstappen became the challenger for P1. The fight for the top spot was exciting but in the end, second quickest time for Red Bull is still impressive. Verstappen becomes the youngest driver since Ricardo Rodriguez back in 1961 to start from the front row.

As for championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver will run a new power unit but thanks to the penalties applied to changing parts with tokens, he will start the Belgian Grand Prix in last place.

Joining Hamilton will be another champion, in the shape of Fernando Alonso. The McLaren also received penalties due to the power unit. Pure irony that the Honda engine let go even before the start of his qualifying lap…

Kimi Raikkonen was third fastest for Ferrari, almost two tenths clear of team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who lost time to a big oversteer moment at the Bus Stop chicane on his final flying lap. Raikkonen also dropped time at the end of his lap, and felt that cost him a shot at pole.

Daniel Ricciardo was fifth for Red Bull, just over three tenths down on his team-mate Verstappen.

Ricciardo endured a poor first run in Q3, but improved enough on his second to make the top six.

Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg took sixth and seventh places respectively for Force India, while fellow Mercedes customer team Williams suffered software problems with both cars in Q3.

This meant it couldn’t run full qualifying mode on the engines, restricting Valtteri Bottas to eighth and Felipe Massa to tenth.

Massa also locked his brakes heavily at La Source on his single Q3 run, and Jenson Button’s McLaren-Honda was able to squeak ahead of him into ninth position.

Button’s place in Q3 came at the expense of Romain Grosjean’s Haas, which ended up missing the cut by 0.265 seconds.

Renault delivered its best qualifying performance of the season so far with Kevin Magnussen P12 and team-mate Jolyon Palmer P14.

They were split by Esteban Gutierrez, who faces a five-place grid penalty for impeding Pascal Wehrlein’s Manor at Raidillon in final practice.

Wehrlein made it through to Q2 was a solid effort, but wound up last in that segment, after a disappointing run in which he went slower than he did in Q1.

Carlos Sainz was just ahead of him for Toro Rossos, also unable to improve on his Q1 best.

Felipe Nasr failed to escape Q1 in the heavily revised Sauber by just 0.048 seconds and wound up P17, a tenth ahead of Manor debutant Esteban Ocon.

Daniil Kvyat endured yet another Q1 exit for Toro Rosso, ending up P19, fractionally ahead of Marcus Ericsson.

Reigning world champion Hamilton recorded P20, completing a lap within the 107% qualifying rule knowing he will start at the back of the grid.

Fernando Alonso’s McLaren-Honda broke down before he could complete an out-lap in qualifying, so he failed to set a time.

Honda found what it described as a “data anomaly” with Alonso’s engine after the final practice session, but elected to send him out without making an engine change.

Belgian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m46.744s
2    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m46.893s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m46.910s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m47.108s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m47.216s
6    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m47.407s
7    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m47.543s
8    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m47.612s
9    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m48.114s
10    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m48.263s
11    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m48.316s
12    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m48.485s
13    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m48.888s
14    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.038s
15    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m49.320s
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m48.949s
17    Esteban Ocon    Manor-Mercedes    1m49.050s
18    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m48.598s
19    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m49.058s
20    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m49.071s
21    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m50.033s
22    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda     No time

Lewis Hamilton scored his 49th Grand Prix win with a dominant drive at Hockenheim. The reigning world champion extends his championship lead by 19 points as team-mate Nico Rosberg suffered a poor start.

With his Mercedes colleague bogged down with wheel spin from pole position, Hamilton took the lead and never looked back. It was his sixth victory in seven races.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished second in his 100th Grand Prix appearance, with his team-mate Max Verstappen completing the podium in third.

Rosberg made a poor getaway at the start, dropping to fourth as Verstappen went round the outside of Ricciardo through Turn 1 to take second behind clear leader Hamilton.

At the first round of pit-stops, Mercedes and Red Bull split strategies, with Rosberg and Verstappen taking the super-softs and Hamilton and Ricciardo the softs tyre – though all the leaders ultimately ended up on three-stop plans.

Verstappen struggled with that tyre compound, allowing Rosberg to close the gap and then pit early to try the undercut.

Red Bull responded by bringing the youngster in early too and he rejoined ahead but Rosberg got in the slipstream on the run down to the hairpin.

Rosberg dived down the inside, with Verstappen moving in the braking zone before then giving him some room.

Rosberg ran deep into the corner, pushing Verstappen wide and then off track. Following an investigation, the Mercedes driver was handed a five-second time penalty to take at his final pitstop.

Hamilton and Ricciardo ran longer before their second pit-stops, and went to super-softs whereas Verstappen and Rosberg had gone for softs.

That helped Ricciardo to close on and pass Verstappen, and when he took more super-softs at the last stops while Hamilton reverted to softs he mounted a charge towards the lead.

Hamilton had enough in hand, though, raising his pace when required to stay clear of Ricciardo and take the victory.

Rosberg appeared to be held for longer than five seconds for his penalty at his final stop and rejoined fourth, losing all hope of rescuing a podium.

Ferrari had a difficult race with Sebastian Vettel fifth, 32.5 seconds adrift at the chequered flag with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen 4.4 seconds further back after they swapped positions at the start.

It meant the Scuderia have dropped behind Red Bull, which scored its first double podium since Hungary last year, to third in the constructors’ championship, 14 points adrift.

Nico Hulkenberg was seventh ahead of Jenson Button with Valtteri Bottas ending up ninth after a long final stint on the soft tyre.

Sergio Perez snatched tenth from Fernando Alonso with three laps to go.

Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr were the only two retirements, with the former pulling into the garage with suspected damage after being hit by Jolyon Palmer at the start.

So the sport takes a summer break. Lewis Hamilton has been on a winning form, overcoming a deficient to Nico Rosberg to lead by 19 points. The action resumes in late August at magnificent Spa.

German Grand Prix, race results after 67 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h30m44.200s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    6.996s
3    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    13.413s
4    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    15.845s
5    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    32.570s
6    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    37.023s
7    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m10.049s
8    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
9    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
10    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
11    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
12    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
13    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
14    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
15    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
16    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1 Lap
17    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
18    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    2 Laps
19    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    2 Laps
20    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
–    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    Retirement

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    217
2    Nico Rosberg    198
3    Daniel Ricciardo    133
4    Kimi Raikkonen    122
5    Sebastian Vettel    120
6    Max Verstappen    115
7    Valtteri Bottas    58
8    Sergio Perez    48
9    Felipe Massa    38
10    Nico Hulkenberg    33
11    Carlos Sainz    30
12    Romain Grosjean    28
13    Fernando Alonso    24
14    Daniil Kvyat    23
15    Jenson Button    17
16    Kevin Magnussen    6
17    Pascal Wehrlein    1
18    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
19    Esteban Gutierrez    0
20    Jolyon Palmer    0
21    Marcus Ericsson    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    415
2    Red Bull-Renault    256
3    Ferrari    242
4    Williams-Mercedes    96
5    Force India-Mercedes    81
6    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    45
7    McLaren-Honda    42
8    Haas-Ferrari    28
9    Renault    6
10    Manor-Mercedes    1
11    Sauber-Ferrari    0

Nico Rosberg strikes back on his Mercedes team-mate and title challenger Lewis Hamilton to take pole position at Hockenheim.

This P1 is significant in terms of the championship. Just six points the difference following Hamilton’s victory in Hungary last weekend. Rosberg was under pressure in Q3 following an electronic issue that forced him to abort his first flying lap.

It seemed Lewis Hamilton had the edge after setting the quickest time in Q1 and Q2. The championship leader was on provisional pole in Q3 with a margin of six tenths of a second over the others.

Rosberg took to the track on super-softs after the electronic issue was resolved and grabbed his fifth pole position of the season by just over a tenth of a second.

Hamilton responding to his team-mate’s lap time. He was tenth of a second quicker in the first sector but locked up at the Turn 6 hairpin and fell up short. Still lines up second on the grid.

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo relegated team-mate Max Verstappen to fourth on his final run, having been behind on first-run times.

Ferrari locked out the third row, with Kimi Raikkonen outpacing Sebastian Vettel by almost two tenths to win the intra-team battle.

Force India and Williams had a very close battle for the final four places in the top ten, with the four cars covered by just 0.105 seconds.

Nico Hulkenberg won the battle ahead of Valtteri Bottas, with Sergio Perez ninth ahead of Felipe Massa.

Esteban Gutierrez was the fastest driver in Q2 to be eliminated, ending up P11, after briefly breaking into the top ten with his final run before being eliminated by Massa’s late improvement.

McLaren driver Jenson Button was P12 ahead of Toro Rosso driver Carlos Sainz, who is under investigation for impeding Massa at Turn 2.

Fernando Alonso was P14 after running wide over a kerb and shedding some small parts of his front wing in the stadium section – although he also complained about being held up by Vettel’s slow Ferrari.

Romain Grosjean, who lost most of final practice to a gearbox problem that will lead to a five-place penalty, was P15 ahead of Jolyon Palmer, the Renault driver making his first Q2 appearance since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was the surprise driver to be eliminated in Q1 thanks to late improvements from the Renaults and Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein.

Palmer’s final lap put him into Q2, with Kevin Magnussen taking P17 with a lap less than a tenth slower than his team-mate.

Despite not believing he could have gone any quicker after his second run, Wehrlein used a third set of super-softs to take P18 with what he described as a “great” lap ahead of the baffled Kvyat.

The Sauber pairing of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson complete the final row, with the former just over a tenth faster than his team-mate.

So a top result for Nico Rosberg in front of his home fans. This result marks 30 years since his father Keke recorded his last pole position. At exactly the same circuit too.

Qualifying standings, German Grand Prix:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m14.363s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m14.470s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m14.726s
4    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m14.834s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m15.142s
6    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m15.315s
7    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m15.510s
8    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m15.530s
9    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m15.537s
10    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m15.615s
11    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m15.883s
12    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m15.909s
13    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m15.989s
14    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m16.041s
15    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m16.665s
16    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m16.716s
17    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m16.717s
18    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m16.876s
19    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    1m16.977s
20    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m16.086s
21    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m17.123s
22    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m17.238s

Lewis Hamilton achieved his fifth Hungarian Grand Prix victory and becomes the new leader of the Formula 1 world championship.

From second on the grid behind his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, Hamilton took the race lead into the first corner and controlled it from there onwards.

By scoring his fifth victory in six races, Hamilton has turned a 43-point deficit into a six-point advantage.

Rosberg had to settle for runner-up, 1.9 seconds behind, with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo just managing to hold off Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari for the final podium spot.

Ricciardo’s team-mate Max Verstappen did the same to the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen in a scrap so close The Iceman clipped the young teenager’s car at one stage.

Neither Mercedes had made a supreme getaway from the front row and the Red Bulls both attacked.

Ricciardo was ahead around the outside but Hamilton kept both the Australian and Verstappen’s inside line attack at bay. Rosberg then repassed Ricciardo around the outside of Turn 2.

At first the Red Bulls stayed close to the Mercedes, with Verstappen complaining he was “driving like a grandma” behind Ricciardo.

But the the main loser in the first round of stops, dropping behind Vettel as Ferrari used an undercut and also Raikkonen, who started P14 on softs and ran 29 laps in his first stint. The time spent behind The Iceman left Verstappen out of the podium fight.

Just before the midway point Hamilton was warned by his team to pick up the pace otherwise Rosberg would pit first at the second round of stops to fend off the threat being posed by Ricciardo.

“I’m driving to the best of my ability,” responded Hamilton, who then managed a surge to put 2.8 seconds between himself and Rosberg.

It was enough for Hamilton to take precedence as another set of softs was fitted after 41 laps, with Rosberg following a lap later, and both stayed ahead of the early-stopping Ricciardo.

On lap 53 of 70, with Hamilton held up by the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez – earning a middle-finger salute from the reigning champion when he finally passed and a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags – Rosberg closed to 0.6 seconds.

Hamilton then edged away, only for the gap to fall to 0.6 sseconds again after 62 laps following a small lock-up at Turn 12, but it was as close as Rosberg managed to get.

Vettel steadily closed in on Ricciardo for third to no avail, while Raikkonen found himself chasing Verstappen as their alternate strategies played out, attacking repeatedly on fresh super-softs but ended up frustrated.

Behind the top six was Fernando Alonso, followed by  Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg.

McLaren’s Jenson Button was the only retirement after a miserable race including an early loss of hydraulic pressure affecting his brakes.

A drive-through penalty for unauthorised radio communication while addressing the problem and finally an oil leak. A terrible race for the 2009 champion.

So a change in the championship between the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton has a six-point lead over Rosberg, and yet it is Nico’s home race coming up at Hockenheim. Expect strong support for the German driver next weekend.

Hungarian Grand Prix, 70 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h40m30.115s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1.977s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    27.539s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    28.213s
5    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    48.659s
6    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    49.044s
7    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
8    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
9    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
10    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
11    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
12    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1 Lap
13    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
14    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
15    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1 Lap
16    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
17    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
18    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    2 Laps
19    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
20    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    2 Laps
21    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    Retirement

Drivers’ standings:

1    Lewis Hamilton    192
2    Nico Rosberg    186
3    Daniel Ricciardo    115
4    Kimi Raikkonen    114
5    Sebastian Vettel    110
6    Max Verstappen    100
7    Valtteri Bottas    56
8    Sergio Perez    47
9    Felipe Massa    38
10    Carlos Sainz    30
11    Romain Grosjean    28
12    Nico Hulkenberg    27
13    Fernando Alonso    24
14    Daniil Kvyat    23
15    Jenson Button    13
16    Kevin Magnussen    6
17    Pascal Wehrlein    1
18    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
19    Esteban Gutierrez    0
20    Jolyon Palmer    0
21    Marcus Ericsson    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    378
2    Ferrari    224
3    Red Bull-Renault    223
4    Williams-Mercedes    94
5    Force India-Mercedes    74
6    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    45
7    McLaren-Honda    38
8    Haas-Ferrari    28
9    Renault    6
10    Manor-Mercedes    1
11    Sauber-Ferrari    0

Next race: German Grand Prix, Hockenheim. July 29-31.