After the traditional summer break deprived fans of Formula One action for four weeks, August brought just one race in the form of the Belgian Grand Prix.
The break would be vital for Nico Rosberg to try and fight back after his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s run of six wins in seven races and having the championship lead going into the race weekend. Hamilton led the championship with 217 points, 19 clear of his rival.
The title battle took a massive swing towards Rosberg’s favour as Mercedes decided to use the Spa circuit for damage limitation and to introduce new engine components into Hamilton’s pool for the remaining rounds of the season.
Hamilton was given a 60-place grid penalty for the changes, with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso joining him in using a calculator to find his same penalty total of 60 positions.
The Brit set the 21st slowest time in qualifying, while Alonso needed a visit to the stewards to take part in the race after not taking part in the session. Rosberg took a comfortable sixth pole of the year ahead of Max Verstappen, who wowed the Orange crowds supporting him with a maiden front row start for Red Bull.
When the five lights extinguished on the grid the next day, Rosberg got away well in the lead, but the Belgian-born driver at his home race caused controversy throughout the race. Verstappen was involved in a Lap 1 collision with the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, with all three drivers having to pit at the end of the lap.
Verstappen and Raikkonen were still scrapping for position after this as they looked to recover the best position possible, with the former’s driving tactics being scrutinised after heavily defending. He blocked an attempted move from Raikkonen on the Kemmel Straight and the Ferrari driver had to cut the corner at the end of the straight at one point to avoid another piece of contact with the then-18-year-old, who also failed to stay on track at the time.
Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein and McLaren’s Jenson Button were early retirements after a collision.
Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz suffered a rear tyre problem which produced a Virtual Safety Car period, while Renault’s Kevin Magnussen had a violent incident, spinning and flying into the barriers after going up Eau Rouge. The Dane’s headrest forced itself out of the car such was the energy of the crash, which luckily only saw him sustain a cut ankle.
This damaged the barrier, caused a red flag on Lap 10, and promoted Alonso and Hamilton up to fourth and fifth at one point. Hamilton quickly carved his way into third by passing Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, but Rosberg already had a comfortable 3.4s lead over Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo by Lap 19 of 44.
Hamilton used a three-stop strategy during the race, something he questioned over team radio, but it could not help him progress further up the order despite setting the fastest lap of the race.
Rosberg took his first race victory since June ahead of Ricciardo and Hamilton and the race celebrations was the second consecutive race to see the Australian’s shoey antics on the podium as it became a permanent feature whenever the smiling assassin finished in the top three.
Hamilton’s recovery meant that he continued to lead the Drivers’ Championship at the end of August, with 232 points compared to his teammate’s 223. Daniel Ricciardo was comfortable in third in the standings on 151.
Mercedes continued their Constructors’ Championship dominance by extending their points tally to 455 points, now standing 181 clear of Red Bull and 203 ahead of Ferrari.
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