2015 F1 Round 11 Belgian Grand Prix – Hamilton wins as Vettel tyre failure puts Grosjean on podium

Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix on August 23, completing 43 laps in 1:23:40.387. Rosberg was second, 2.058 seconds behind, with Grosjean third.

Rosberg and Bottas made poor starts, allowing Pérez and Ricciardo to move in behind Hamilton. Pérez briefly passed Hamilton on the Kemmel Straight, but Hamilton regained the lead under braking for Les Combes.

Rosberg recovered some of the gap after the first pit stops. On lap 21, Ricciardo’s Red Bull stopped with a mechanical problem and the virtual safety car was deployed. The gap between the two Mercedes cars narrowed at this point.

Hamilton controlled the lead from there to take his 39th Grand Prix victory. Rosberg finished second, giving Mercedes another one-two finish.

Grosjean kept pursuing Vettel, who had been running third, in the closing stages. Near the finish, Vettel’s Ferrari lost pressure in its right-rear tyre. He lost his podium chance and retired, promoting Grosjean to third.

Kvyat switched to soft tyres late in the race and made a series of overtakes to finish fourth. Pérez was fifth, Massa sixth, Räikkönen seventh and Verstappen eighth.

At one of his stops, Bottas was fitted with three soft tyres and one medium, earning a drive-through penalty. He finished ninth, with Ericsson tenth to take the final point for Sauber.

Hülkenberg could not start because of a pre-race power problem, while Maldonado retired on lap two. Sainz started late from the pit lane and also retired, on lap 36. Alonso and Button both finished outside the points.