Cool heads in race chaos

German Nico Rosberg steered clear of the chaos unfolding behind him and cruised to an unchallenged win in a disrupted Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

His Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton, the world championship leader, finished third from the back row of the grid, behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

Rosberg started on pole and kept the lead after his main rivals, fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen and the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, collided at the first corner.

That allowed Rosberg to run away at the front and he crossed the line 14.1 seconds ahead of Ricciardo.

The race was briefly halted with nine of the 44 laps completed after a massive crash for Kevin Magnussen, who lost control of his Renault as he crested the fearsome Eau Rouge.

The Dane, who was taken to hospital for routine checks after suffering a cut to his left ankle, slammed violently into the barriers, prompting officials to first deploy the safety car and then the red flag as marshals worked to repair the damage.

“In general, yes, I had everything under control,” Rosberg told reporters. “I just had an awesome car and Lewis wasn’t there to battle it out, which made it a less difficult weekend.”

Sunday’s win was the 20th of the Rosberg’s career and sixth of the season. But it was the 31-year-old’s first since June’s European Grand Prix, reigniting his title challenge after a run of lacklustre races in which he steadily lost ground to Hamilton.

The Briton, winner of six of the last seven races leading up to the Belgian round, still leads the championship but by a narrower nine-point margin with eight of a record 21 races still to run.

The triple champion, who had gone into the weekend gunning to become only the third ever driver to score 50 career wins, was happy to come away with a podium finish.

Nico Hulkenberg, who ran as high as second at one stage, finished fourth for Force India. Team mate Sergio Perez was fifth, on a strong day for the Silverstone-based team that took them ahead of Williams into fourth in the constructors’ standings.

Vettel fought back to finish sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso who also enjoyed a strong race having started dead last.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who had fallen one lap behind the leaders after the opening lap tangle, was ninth with Red Bull’s Verstappen finishing a disappointing 11th.

***

Christmas came early for world championship leader Lewis Hamilton as he fought his way from the back of the grid to finish an unexpected third in Sunday’s Belgian Formula One Grand Prix.

“It’s like on Christmas Day, I never expect anything,” the Briton told reporters. “When you find you’ve got some gifts from people that love you, it’s a surprise.”

Hamilton started the race 21st after being hit with a 55-place grid penalty for exceeding his permitted allocation of engine components.

He played down expectations after qualifying on Saturday, saying that making it into the Top10 points-scoring positions would be a tough ask while his Mercedes team predicted an eighth-place finish.

But circumstances fell into place for the 31-year-old on Sunday.

Hamilton made a clean start and rose through the field to fifth on durable medium tyres as drivers peeled off into the pits under the safety-car period prompted by Kevin Magnussen’s massive crash.

The subsequent red-flag stoppage allowed the Briton to take on fresh tyres without any penalty before he capped his progress up to the final podium spot with some spectacular overtaking moves.

“That was perfect for me,” said Hamilton, winner of six of the last seven races leading up to Spa.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting that and there have been races I’ve done where I’ve needed something like that and it’s not happened. It’s been a real tough, tough fight from the back.” Hamilton suffered reliability woes early in the season and has long been aware he would have to take a hefty engine-related penalty.

Mercedes opted to take the hit this weekend at the 7km long Spa circuit and fitted three new power-units beyond his permitted allocation, expanding the pool of engines he can use over the final eight races.

Hamilton has been relaxed all weekend despite the prospect of starting near the back and was upbeat after Sunday’s race, even though victorious Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg cut his championship lead to nine points.

“To come out with a clean race like I did and only lose 10 points and have three new engines, it’s a super bonus,” said the Briton.