| 2016 Belgian Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 13 of 21 in the2016 Formula One World Championship
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 Layout of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit | |||||
| Race details[1] | |||||
| Date | 28 August 2016 | ||||
| Official name | 2016 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix[2][3] | ||||
| Location | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Stavelot,Belgium | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 7.004 km (4.352 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 44 laps, 308.052 km (191.415 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Partially cloudy and dry | ||||
| Attendance | 233,730 (Weekend)[4] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:46.744 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | |||
| Time | 1:51.583 on lap 40 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Mercedes | ||||
| Second | Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer | ||||
| Third | Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2016 Belgian Grand Prix (formally known as the2016 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix)[1] was aFormula Onemotor race held on 28 August 2016 at theCircuit de Spa-Francorchamps inSpa,Belgium. It was the thirteenth round of the2016 FIA Formula One World Championship, and marks the seventy-second running of theBelgian Grand Prix and the fifty-ninth time the race was held at Spa-Francorchamps.
Mercedes driver anddefending race winnerLewis Hamilton entered the race leading the World Drivers' Championship by nineteen points ahead of teammateNico Rosberg. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes held a lead of 159 points.Red Bull Racing was lying second, having passedFerrari in the standings at theprevious round in Germany.
Nico Rosberg won this Grand Prix, withDaniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton, second and third respectively. Hamilton received a multi-grid penalty before the start of the race. Hamilton retained the championship lead, with Rosberg closing the gap to nine points.Red Bull'sMax Verstappen and bothFerraris were involved in an incident at the start of the race.
Therace was stopped on lap 9 afterKevin Magnussen crashed heavily at Raidillon, suffering a 12.5g impact, causing structural damage to the armoured collision barrier and tyre wall which required repairs, before the race could resume undergreen flag conditions. Magnussen suffered a cut on his ankle but no serious injury.[5]
Esteban Ocon made his Formula One début, replacingRio Haryanto atMRT.[6] Haryanto stayed with the team, filling a testing and reserve role.[7]
Tyre supplierPirelli provided teams with super-soft, soft and medium compounds for the races. Drivers were also supplied with two sets of "prototype" soft tyres for use in the Friday practice sessions, which were designed to provide similar lap times and performance to the existing soft compound whilst being more durable when striking kerbs and going beyond track limits.[8] The prototype tyres were introduced to allow Pirelli to gain data on their performance ahead of their competitive début inMalaysia, where they will replace the existing soft compound.
BothHonda andMercedes introduced upgrades to their power units for the race, whileSauber brought their first updates of the season for theC35 chassis.[9]
Lewis Hamilton,Marcus Ericsson andFernando Alonso took grid penalties for exceeding their season allocation of engine components; Hamilton received fifteen places for using his sixth turbocharger and associated Motor Generator Unit, while Ericsson was demoted ten places for replacing his turbocharger,[10] and Alonso thirty-five places for introducing his sixth complete power unit. Hamilton received a second set of penalties when Mercedes introduced a seventh turbocharger and MGU-H ahead of the second free practice session;[11] and a third set for further changes ahead of the final practice session, thereby guaranteeing that he would start the race from last place. Mercedes deliberately took the penalties as they sought to stockpile new components for the remainder of the season, deeming the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to be a venue where the potential for overtaking offset the penalties.[12]
Esteban Gutiérrez received a five-place grid penalty for dangerous driving during the final practice session whenPascal Wehrlein was forced to take evasive action and cross the grassy verge inside Raidillon to avoid contact.
On race day, Mercedes removed a seal on the gearbox of Hamilton's car so he could take a new gearbox at the next race, giving the world champion an additional five place grid penalty. The penalty was initially incorrectly issued and originally designated Hamilton to start from the pit lane.[13]
Notes:
At the startNico Rosberg got away well,Max Verstappen got a poor start and was passed by bothFerraris ofSebastian Vettel andKimi Räikkönen, going into La Source Verstappen tried to come back at both Ferraris only to hit Räikkönen who in turn then hit his teammate Vettel spinning him round, all three had to come back to the pits for repairs. At Les CombesJenson Button was hit byManor'sPascal Wehrlein taking them both out of the race.Carlos Sainz suffered a tyre failure and pulled off the track causing avirtual safety car, at this pointFernando Alonso had made it up to 12th with all the chaos andLewis Hamilton was up to 15th. The race restarted but soon afterKevin Magnussen suffered a crash when his car spun and smashed into the tyre wall at Raidillon, Magnussen limped out of the car but did require medical attention for an injured ankle, the race was initially neutralised under thesafety car before being stopped two laps later so they could repair the tyre barrier. At the restart Hamilton was able to pass Alonso but then it took him several laps to get past theForce India ofNico Hülkenberg. Rosberg won the race followed byDaniel Ricciardo with Hamilton finishing third.[17] Hamilton became the first ever driver to have claimed three podiums from 20th on the grid or lower.[18]
Kevin Magnussen had been taken to hospital as a precaution but tweeted that he was fine and he would be racing at the next Grand Prix in Italy.[5]
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| Previous race: 2016 German Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2016 season | Next race: 2016 Italian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2015 Belgian Grand Prix | Belgian Grand Prix | Next race: 2017 Belgian Grand Prix |
