2016 FORMULA 1®BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Belgian Grand Prix LIVE
Below you’ll be able to see everything from the Belgian Grand Prix LIVE and as it happens.
Drivers are now getting ready and making their way onto the track for the track parade.
Lewis Hamilton says – “It’s unknown” when asked what he can do from his position and continued to say it’s “tough when starting at the back of the grid”
Nico Rosberg – “The start and strategy will be crucial and pit stops with times.“
Max Verstappen – “It’s amazing to see so many fans here and it motivates me so much more.” he continued to say – “I want to break other records and I think Mercedes are not so far but we have a different strategy and it will be an interesting race.“
Sebastian Vettel – “A lot of dutch people came here and really pushing which is nice. It’s time to go racing. I think we gradually improved it (the car) and hopefully it will be as close as it is yesterday. The tyres will be important today but we will see, we should have good pace.“
Lewis Hamilton will be starting from the PIT LANE
Saying he would be losing about 7-8 seconds in the race by starting from the pit lane, it’s something which he and his team have been thinking about however the team had to split the FIA seal from the gearbox during pre-race part ferme.
Now Mercedes are saying he will be starting from the back of the grid as planned……
Daniel Ricciardo – “My strategy will be better, the supersoft tyre here can work but it is a bit unpredictable and it’s a bit risky starting with that. If I can hold the pace, I will be finishing in front of the Ferrari’s”
Alonso – “When I won my championship, that was the best era of Formula 1, the engines were good, the cars were good and we had Michael too.” he continued to say – “Now, the penalties are a little bit random, you don’t know what to do and it’s not consistent but I hope next year we can go back to how things should be.“
Belgian Grand Prix – Pit Lane
The Pit Lane is NOW OPEN
Drivers are now making their way onto the track.
Confirmation that Hamilton will be starting from the back of the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix, not the pit lane as previously reported, alongside Fernando Alonso.
Jenson Button – “We will hopefully have a good race today.“
All the drivers are now making their way back to their cars and getting ready for the formation lap for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Belgian Grand Prix LIVE
Formation Lap
Lap 1
Raikkonen and Vettel come together – Raikkonen hits Vettel.
Rosberg has a great start and is right out into the lead. Raikkonen suffering with a puncture.
Verstappen loses a little bit of his front wing too.
Vettel starting from last – Vettel saying to his team “What happened there?“
Lap 2
Verstappen now pits and changes the nose of his car.
Hulkenberg up into second place.
Hamilton up into 15th place and Alonso is up to 12th place.
Carlos Sainz’s right rear tyre exploded, he’s spinning and out of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Overheating on the Ferrari, there’s a little fire in the pit-lane on Raikkonen’s car.
Lap 3
Nico Rosberg now sets the fastest lap time of the race.
Virtual Safety Car
Ricciardo is now up into 3rd place.
Grosjean in 5th, Perez in 6th, Palmer in 7th, Magnussen in 8th.
Lap 4
Sebastian Vettel now sets the fastest lap time of the race.
Jenson Button is out of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Rosberg leads the race.
Lap 5
Alonso now up into 10th place and Hamilton is 12th. A good start for the two who started the race from the back of the grid.
Quite a mixed up grid with some of the drivers who would normally be further back now being higher up in the grid and in the points too.
Wehrlein out of the race.
Ericsson out of the race too.
Lap 6
Ricciardo – “Just starting to struggle on the front.“
Rosberg leads the race.
Magnussen goes into the barrier at the top of Eau Rouge – SAFETY CAR
Magnussen walks away with a little bit of a limp and help from the stewards – it was a high impact crash, right into the tyre barrier.
Lap 7
Many of the drivers are now coming into the pits, taking advantage of the safety car.
Hamilton and Alonso both stay out – Alonso now up into 6th and Hamilton up into 7th place…it’s going to be a good race.
Hamilton asks – “Is the driver OK?” after being told about an accident.
Team reply – “Yep, driver OK, it was Magnussen, driver ok.“
Lap 8
Safety Car
Williams are bringing their cars in for a pit stop.
Hamilton and Alonso both stay out – Rosberg still leads.
It’s now Rosberg, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Alonso and Hamilton.
A great start for Alonso and Hamilton who have taken advantage of everything – both up in the points.
Alonso saying -“I have no data, I can’t see anything – there’s nothing.” – no information showing up on his dash.
Lapped cars can now begin to overtake.
Lap 9
Session has been RED FLAGGED
Cars lining up in the pit lane – drivers are getting out of their cars, Hamilton is out of his car and standing in the pit lane, waiting for the race to resume.
Lap 10
Verstappen also out of his car, making his way down the pit-lane to chat to his team on the pit wall. He’s looking through data from the start of the race.
Rosberg is also out of his car and walking down the pit lane.
Verstappen still sat at the pit-wall and looking over the data from the start of the race with the contact between him and Raikkonen.
Alonso is also chatting to his team.
The barrier is now in place and it looks like we’ll be racing again. (Approx 7 minutes)
Drivers are now getting back in their cars.
The race has resumed.
Lap 11
Alonso is right behind Rosberg, it seems like the new upgrade is working well.
Rosberg still leads the race.
Lap 12
Rosberg sets the fastest lap time.
Hamilton has made his way past Alonso and is up into 4th.
Verstappen pushes Raikkonen off-track.
Lap 13
DRS is now enabled.
Raikkonen was about to overtake and Verstappen quickly moved over to block his place – is he pushing it to the limit?
Lap 14
Hamilton is now closing the gap to Hulkenberg who is in 3rd position – a wonderful race so far!
Lap 15
Kevin Magnussen has a left-ankle injury.
Vettel down in 10th place with Grosjean in front and Kvyat in 8th.
Lap 16
Rosberg still leads the race, Ricciardo in 2nd and Hulkenberg in 3rd followed closely by Hamilton in 4th.
Vettel now makes his way up into 9th place.
Ricciardo is slipping back ever so slightly and Rosberg is now out of DRS threat from the Red Bull driver.
Lap 17
Verstappen comes in for another tyre change.
Hamilton has dropped back slightly from Hulkenberg.
Vettel gets past Kvyat and is now up into 8th place after a dreadful start to the Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton now up into 3rd place.
Lap 18
Hamilton now up into 3rd place, making his way past Hulkenberg – a wonderful place for him to be in and we’re not even halfway through the race!
Lap 19
Raikkonen and Grosjean come together – wheels touch.
Raikkonen behind in 13th place and Grosjean in 12th place.
Lap 21
Raikkonen makes his way past Grosjean.
Lap 22
Hamilton pits for a tyre change.
He drops down into 9th place, just ahead of Raikkonen.
Rosberg being told to push as team are “happy with the tyre.“
Lap 24
Verstappen in 11th place.
Alonso and Vettel both come into the pits for a tyre change.
Alonso and Hulkenberg fighting for places down the pit lane with a little bit of contact too.
Lap 25
Raikkonen is now in the pits along with Perez – both changing their tyres.
Rosberg still leads the race after being told to push on his tyres.
Vettel behind Verstappen, Vettel is in 9th place and Verstappen is in 8th – battle between the two.
Lap 26
Vettel gets past Verstappen with Verstappen now fighting back and regaining his place, he has just a little bit more speed than the Ferrari.
Rosberg pits for a tyre change. A very good pit stop – could this tyre take him to the end of the race?
Ricciardo in 2nd place and Hamilton in 3rd.
Lap 27
Vettel overtakes Verstappen and now makes his way past, it looks like Verstappen is struggling slightly with his car.
He has a little bit of damage too.
Lap 28
Verstappen pits for a new set of tyres.
Alonso now has some pressure on him from Massa who’s closing the gap.
Lap 29
Perez overtakes Massa, the two came very close together!
Hamilton is now closing the gap to Ricciardo – Ricciardo is feeling the pressure slightly but Hamilton will have to pit again.
Rosberg still leads the Belgian Grand Prix.
Lap 30
Ricciardo being told to “watch that left rear tyre.“
Verstappen makes his way through the grid after his pit stop, he’s now up into 13th place.
Lap 31
Perez now gets past Alonso and is up into 5th place, Alonso is in 6th place – still in the points and a great upgrade from the McLaren team.
Lap 32
Vettel is now becoming a threat to Felipe Massa.
Lap 33
Hamilton now pits, this will be his final stop.
3rd is looking promising for the driver.
Vettel now makes his way past Massa however he loses grip and allows Massa to regain the place. He pushes him to the limit, being a little aggressive.
Hamilton – “I’m not sure that’s a good idea (tyre)“
Mercedes – “It’s looking good to us Lewis.“
Lap 34
Hamilton gets past Hulkenber and is back into 3rd position.
Vettel now make his way past Massa and is up into 7th place.
Lap 35
Vettel now closing the gap to Fernando Alonso.
Vettel gets past Alonso and is up into 6th place.
Alonso in 7th place.
Lap 36
Raikkonen in 10th place with Bottas and Massa and Alonso in front.
Verstappen down in 11th place.
Rosberg still leads the race with Ricciardo in 2nd and Hamilton in 3rd.
Lap 40
5 laps remaining.
Rosberg still leads the race, Ricciardo is still in 2nd and Hamilton is back into 3rd place after his pit-stop / tyre-change and is closing the gap to Ricciardo but 3rd looks like the best bet, at the moment.
Hamilton now sets the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 41
4 laps now remaining and there’s little battles for places everywhere. Raikkonen is closing the gap to Massa.
Lap 42
Raikkonen now makes his way past Massa.
Lap 44
Last lap of the Belgian Grand Prix Live!
Rosberg WINS the Belgian Grand Prix
Ricciardo in 2nd and Hamilton in 3rd!
All the race reaction from teams and drivers to come soon!
The Formula 1 Girl 🙂
xxx