Despite what felt like a very uneventful weekend, there are plenty of things we can take away from this year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

For starters, all this talk about Ferrari challenging Mercedes, Williams catching up to Ferrari, McLaren going for Ferrari-like power output and so on, was put to rest by the world champs themselves.

We need to remember that all that talk is just… talk. Mercedes once again looked unstoppable during the race, despite Rosberg having an awful start off the line and having to fight back from 5th place.

Even so, the race ended with Lewis on top of everyone else, and his teammate surprisingly close, after the Virtual Safety Car helped him close the gap during the final laps.

Third place went surprisingly to Lotus‘ Romain Grosjean who needed Sebastian Vettel’s rear right tire to burst in order to get on the podium. Grosjean was closing in on Vettel and trying to overtake at the end of the race, yet on the final lap, it just seemed like the Frenchman gave up as Sebastian was hanging in there on a one-stop strategy.

Of course, the strategy didn’t pay off as the tire burst, but the fact that it did so on the very last lap meant that Ferrari kind of almost pulled it off – which personally I admire.

Red Bull looked primed for yet another great race, showing surprising pace and straight-line speed, however Ricciardo lost the electrics on his car and had to bow out on lap 20. Daniil Kvyat made it to P4 though, a really strong result for the Russian.

Perez, the man who made an unbelievable start, showed great form and actually led the race at one point. Heavy tire wear prevented him from finishing on the podium, but he still managed to come in 5th which isn’t anything to laugh at.

Williams kind of surprised us all (in a bad way), showing a lack of pace on a track that should have suited their car perfectly. Massa finished P6 while Bottas a very disappointing P9.

10 Random Things We’ve Noticed

– Despite their excellent result, Mercedes’ start woes continued as it wasn’t just Rosberg that set himself off badly, but also Lewis, almost losing out to Sergio Perez at the end of the first straight.

– By the way, should Perez have went for it on lap 1 against Hamilton? He had the speed, yet he didn’t risk braking too late into the corner. If he would have, it’s conceivable that he could have taken P1 away from the world champion on the first lap. Of course, it doesn’t mean that he would have kept it but still, it would have been something!

– Oh man, wow! I can’t believe that Williams screwed up Bottas’ tire compound! They gave him a hard right rear to go with his three soft tires. That was priceless! Actually the price for that was a drive-through penalty so there. Still hilariously sad.

– Awesome move by Max Verstappen on lap 11 to get by Eriksson. He fought really hard for the inside line.

– That Force India of Sergio Perez is simply flying in a straight line. It looks ages quicker than both Williams cars. Basically it looks quicker than anything out there except for the factory Mercedes cars.

– On lap 17 Rosberg was unexpectedly closing in on Hamilton.

– Hey, Grosjean claimed P3, though only with the help of Vettel’s Pirelli blowing up.

– Such a shame to see Ricciardo retire. He was running a really strong race and that Red Bull looked amazing considering that we’re at Spa.

– Speaking of the Red Bull, it’s obvious that Renault has really stepped up their game lately. That car looked very capable even in a straight line and I think that Red Bull’s low downforce set-up worked great. Hopefully they can start being more aggressive on very fast tracks.

– All that talk about McLaren taking the world by storm with their upgraded engine… and in the end it was all for nothing. Sure, Button had issues during the race but Alonso didn’t and still only managed to edge out the Marussias.

Spa-Francorchamps Race Results

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Romain Grosjean, Lotus
4. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull
5. Sergio Perez, Force India
6. Felipe Massa, Willaims
7. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
8. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams
10. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
11. Felipe Nasr, Sauber
12. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
13. Fernando Alonso, McLaren
14. Jenson Button, McLaren
15. Roberto Merhi, Marussia
16. Will Stevens, Marussia

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