Ricciardo romps to victory in Spa thriller

Daniel Ricciardo produced a stunning drive to hold off a late charge from Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and claim his third race win of the season in a Belgian Grand Prix full of drama.

The Red Bull driver made the most of a controversial clash between the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton on lap two to move into contention for the victory, having started from fifth on the grid.

Once the Australian surged into the lead, having earlier worked his way around team-mate Sebastian Vettel, he went on to open up a healthy advantage.

However, pressure built in the closing stages as Rosberg rapidly closed down a 20 second buffer, making the most of his soft tyres, but Ricciardo held on to take his third win in six races.

Rosberg came home in second with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas enjoying another strong run to complete the podium in third.

Title rival Hamilton was unable to recover from a puncture he picked up from his clash with Rosberg and retired from the race, which has seen him fall 29 points behind his team-mate in the championship standings.

There was drama even before the race began when Fernando Alonso was late to get away from the line for the formation lap with Ferrari mechanics working on his car. The Spaniard received a five second stop/go penalty for the incident.

It proved to be frantic start as Hamilton leapt into the lead on the run down to La Source while Vettel slotted into second ahead of Rosberg.

On the way to Les Combes, Vettel challenged Hamilton for the lead but was forced to back out of the move and run wide over the run-off area, rejoining behind Rosberg in third.

Meanwhile, Ricciardo held fourth ahead of Alonso and Williams‘ Bottas.

Controversy reigned on the following laps as Rosberg clipped the left rear tyre of Hamilton at Les Combes, which left the Brit with a puncture, dashing his hopes of victory.

The 2008 world champion trundled into the pits for a new set of tyres and rejoined at the back of the pack.

Worse luck beset Caterham F1 debutant Andre Lotterer as he retired at the end of lap three.

At the front Rosberg was also struggling with Vettel all over the back of the Mercedes while Ricciardo grabbed third from Alonso.

A mistake from Vettel just a couple of laps later at Pouhon allowed Ricciardo to move to second before he inherited the lead when Rosberg made his first stop.

Ricciardo continued to show the way after his first stop but the real man on the move was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who took advantage of an early stop to find himself in second after the strategies played out.

The Red Bull driver seemed in control with a clear track in front him as he extended his advantage to 15 seconds by lap 26 with Bottas his nearest challenger after passing Rosberg before Raikkonen made his second stop.

A flat-spotted front left incurred while trying to pass Vettel at the Bus Stop chicane forced Rosberg to pit again, while his team-mate Hamilton remained in 16th position.

The race continued to fall into place for Ricciardo when he reclaimed the lead after the second round of pitstops for the front runners.

Bottas’ second stop briefly dropped him to fifth before he recovered to third.

Mercedes decided to throw the dice with Rosberg in a bid to catch Ricciardo, with the German pitting for soft tyres.

The fresh rubber allowed Rosberg to surge back up to second taking more than two seconds a lap out of Ricciardo’s lead in the closing stages.

Despite the charge, the Aussie just had enough time in hand to take the chequered flag to complete a hugely impressive drive to his third win in six races.

Rosberg came home in second ahead of Bottas, who scored another strong podium for Williams.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen secured his best finish of the season in fourth ahead Vettel, who came through a titanic battle for fifth in the final laps.

McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen was sixth ahead of team-mate Jenson Button and Alonso.

Force India’s Sergio Perez and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat claimed the final points paying positions.

Belgian Grand Prix Results

Championship Points