Belgian Grand Prix: The F1 Race Seen from the Pits

Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo – Winner

Sebastian Vettel – 5th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: A phenomenal performance to achieve our 50th victory today. Of all the tracks to win on, Spa was one of those we least expected it! Daniel drove incredibly throughout the race. It was very tight with Nico at the end, but he managed to stay ahead until the checkered flag. Sebastian, after a great start, fought with Bottas. We didn’t want to be overtaken in the pits, so we stopped quite early to ensure we stayed ahead. But then we suffered with our pace. So whether there was damage to his car or not, it wasn’t Seb’s fault today. We really need to look at that closely.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Mercedes

Nico Rosberg – 2nd

Lewis Hamilton – Retirement (withdrawal)

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): « We got off to a good start, with Lewis taking the lead and Nico moving into second position. However, one lap later, the incident between the two at turn 5 effectively ruined our afternoon. It’s really a shame, as the car seemed strong all weekend and we were in an excellent position to potentially secure a one-two finish. We decided to continue the race with Lewis in case there was a safety car […]. But, in the end, it never came, and with his floor heavily damaged by tire debris from the second lap, the condition of the car deteriorated as the race progressed.

For Nico, it was about damage limitation. Our calculations confirmed that we needed to change his front wing to have any chance of making it to the podium – but obviously, it cost him time. As he was quickly closing the gap, a lock-up and a flat spot on his second set of tires cost him an opportunity. Overall, it’s a huge disappointment after all the hard work done by the team to come back with a result that doesn’t match our potential.

Find all the statements about the Mercedes drivers’ race here, here and there.

Williams

Valtteri Bottas – 3rd

Felipe Massa – 13th

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance: « Valtteri achieved a brilliant result today, delivering a mature drive and overtaking cars when needed thanks to the impressive chassis and power unit package. The strategy worked perfectly for us as well: we stuck to our plan and it paid off.

Felipe really didn’t have any luck, picking up a lot of debris from Hamilton’s tire, and they stayed under his car for 20 laps, which probably cost him 40 seconds in total, compromising his pace and strategy. […] It wasn’t an easy weekend. So finishing with a car on the podium is a good result, and we look forward to being in Monza.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Ferrari

Kimi Räikkönen – 4th

Fernando Alonso – 8th

Marco Mattiacci, Team Director: « We are very happy for Kimi: today, he finished close to the podium and achieved his best result of the season, a result that allows us to maintain our third place in the constructors’ standings.

Unfortunately, Fernando’s race was compromised by an issue at the start. Without that, I firmly believe the podium was within his reach. We know we missed a great opportunity, but we will learn from this incident to pay obsessive attention to our procedures […].

The next race will be complicated because top speed is a strong point of the teams with a Mercedes engine. We will try to defend ourselves with every possible means, as the efforts made within the team to improve the car are encouraging signs.

– Read the drivers’ statements

McLaren

Kevin Magnussen – 6th

Jenson Button – 7th

Eric Boullier, Racing Director: Before I say anything else, I have to pay tribute to Formula 1, which produced a magnificent afternoon of entertainment here in Belgium today. On the most challenging track on the Formula 1 calendar, there were very tight battles throughout the field. The spectacle must have been fantastic on television.

Throughout the race, Jenson and Kevin fought, and it was great to see them battle with the Red Bulls and Ferraris. They both drove very well, showcasing all their talents, and even though they fought wheel to wheel, they never touched.

Now, we are heading to Monza, another circuit with low aerodynamic downforce, where we hope to capitalize on our strong development program and score many valuable points for the world championship.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Sahara Force India

Sergio Perez – 9th

Nico Hülkenberg – 11th

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: Considering the issues we had in qualifying yesterday, it’s good to see the team bounce back today and score points. The two-stop races for Sergio and Nico went as planned, without major problems, but starting outside the top 10, we knew we would have a challenging task this afternoon. Both our drivers found themselves in midfield traffic, which made it difficult to show our pace, especially at the start of the race. Sergio delivered a mature race and scored some points while Nico was close to the final point [which he secured following Magnussen’s penalty, Ed.]. We remain in a good position in the championship and hope Monza will give us a better opportunity to demonstrate our potential.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Toro Rosso

Daniil Kvyat – 10th

Jean-Eric Vergne – 12th

Franz Tost, Team Principal: « Firstly, congratulations to Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull for another victory. Daniel’s race was very exciting, so great job! On our side, Daniil scored [two points] which is very important for the team and the constructors’ championship. Unfortunately, our race performance wasn’t at a level allowing us to fight and beat the teams ahead of us. Both our drivers did a very good job, always pushing to the maximum. We leave this magnificent circuit with a [ninth] place and we are eagerly looking forward to our home Grand Prix in Monza. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Sauber

Adrian Sutil – 14th

Esteban Gutierrez – 15th

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: « All team members had an error-free race. However, it’s disappointing to see that on a circuit where power and top speed are crucial, we were simply not fast enough. For the upcoming races, it will be important for us to build on the recent improvements made to the chassis in the last races. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

Marussia

Max Chilton – 16th

Jules Bianchi – 18th

John Booth, Team Director: « This is not the result we were hoping for today, however, overall, it remains a positive race. Max’s race started off pretty well, even though we were not able to benefit from the undercut against Ericsson because we stopped on the same lap. We knew our best chance was to review our strategy and have a longer second stint on mediums, allowing Max to attack the race with fresher soft tires, which he managed to do in the final lap of the race.

For Jules, his day was almost over at the exit of turn 1. With the puncture, he lost a little over 50 seconds; however, he didn’t give up and had a fantastic first stint on the soft tires, significantly reducing the gap and lapping at the same pace as the Saubers. In the end, the one-stop strategy to protect against a safety car intervention didn’t pay off, and combined with the blue flags you get when you’re that far back, it meant he wasn’t able to climb back up.

Overall, there are positive points to take away in terms of the pace and balance seen on the car this weekend. Everyone is looking forward to being at Monza and tackling the challenges of a fantastic and historic new circuit.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Caterham

Marcus Ericsson – 17th

André Lotterer – Retirement (engine)

Cedrik Staudohar, Track Support Manager of Renault Sport F1: « We had a very smooth race with Marcus, and he was ahead of Chilton for most of the Grand Prix. We tried to give him as much power as possible at the end, but the tire degradation was too high, and Max managed to pass. André’s race was very short – his car lost power on the second lap, possibly after going too hard on the curb. We will need to look at this in more detail tonight. Overall, despite everything, it’s a positive weekend that gives us a good foundation for the second part of the upcoming season. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – Retirement (loss of grip)

Pastor Maldonado – Retirement (engine)

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director: The race was very difficult. Romain suffered damage in the first corner, which meant we had to change the front wing. We opted for hard tires and from there, he put in a very solid stint, trying to climb back up the rankings. Unfortunately, he picked up some debris on the track after his last pit stop, which made the car very difficult to drive. He alerted us over the radio that the car’s behavior was dangerous, so the only sensible thing to do was to return to the pits and retire.

Pastor for his part suffered from what seems to be an exhaust problem. We will therefore have to study the data from both cars to understand exactly what happened in order to bounce back better.

– Read the drivers’ statements