Daniel Ricciardo steered his RB10 clear of incidents and controversies to the dance of the chequered flags for Red Bull Racing's 50th overall race victory and the driver's third at the thrilling Belgian Grand Prix. However, his brilliant drive to victory from fifth was slightly overshadowed by the ongoing Mercedes' team mate rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
The Mercedes drivers made contact as early as the second lap when Rosberg tried to overtake the other silver arrow on the outside of Les Combes corner, which punctured the left rear tyre and damaged Hamilton's car and eventually caused the Brit to retire from the race.
Rosberg sustained damage to his right front wing endplate, which was fixed during his first pit stop but in doing so handed the advantage to Ricciardo.
The Red Bull driver seized his opportunity and, despite a late fight back from Rosberg, took his second consecutive victory, while the German finished second to negative response from attendees at the track.
Meanwhile upcoming star, Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas made it to the podium for the fourth time this season after finishing third - ahead of an equally impressive compatriot Kimi Raikkonen and defending champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Red Bull respectively. Fernando Alonso's managed a decent seventh after inheriting a five-second penalty after certain electrical problems prior to the formation lap.
Starting the race at fourth, Alonso remained on the jacks as the rest of the grid departed for the formation lap, with Ferrari mechanics returning to resume work on his car. The Spaniard's F14 T eventually got going before the last car had crossed the line, allowing Alonso to keep his fourth starting position, but slapped with a five-second penalty for his first pit stop.
Hamilton who started second, had a cleaner start to the race while Rosberg dropped down to third after Vettel caught up by the first corner. Vettel was well in place to claim top spot at Les Combes corner before running out of track after a misjudged braking.
Post incident, Hamilton limped back to the pits to have his tyres changed while also carrying damage to his car. The man who took maiden position by the first corner, re-emerged 70 seconds behind the leaders. Hamilton's requests to retire in a bid to save his power unit were turned down on several occasions during the course of the race. Eventually, the Brit parked his W05 in the garage for good on the 38th lap.
Rosberg had a slightly busier day after threats from the Red Bull guys - who had passed Alonso on lap four. The ever bold Ricciardo found a way to slip past his team mate after Vettel ran wide at Pouhon. The flawlessly executed move was crucial for the Australian's victory charge as it allowed him to unleash the full potential of his bull.
Rosberg pitted on lap eight for a new front wing and fresh tyres, but his pursuit at Vettel, who had leap-frogged him in the first stops, wasn't fruitful after Rosberg locked up at the final chicane and flat-spotted a tyre. This allowed Bottas in the Williams to pass him later. Ricciardo and Bottas held out until laps 27 and 28 respectively to make their second pit stops, and made it till the end of the race. Rosberg pitted for fresh soft tyres on the 34th lap and easily found a way back to second, and managed to hold until the end of the race.
Although Rosberg was reeling in close to Ricciardo on each passing lap, the latter started to pick up its pace and crossed the end of 44 laps to a deserving victory.
At the end of the race Rosberg's lead in the Drivers' Championships has been extended by 29 points from Hamilton to 220 from 191 points while Ricciardo is third at 156 points. On the Constructors' board, Mercedes continue to lead with 411 points ahead of Red Bull and Ferrari with 254 and 160 points respectively as the high octane racing action returns at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix in a fortnight.
