MOTORSPORT: Win No 3 for Ricciardo

It’s open warfare now between Rosberg and Hamilton
Daniel Ricciardo has won his third grand prix – this time from the front, holding off charging Formula One World Championship leader Nico Rosberg in the closing laps.

Unlike his previous victories in Canada and Hungary, where the 25-year-old West Australian grabbed the lead towards the finish, Ricciardo had control of the Belgian Grand Prix at the glorious Spa-Francorchamps circuit from the eighth of the 44 laps.

Although he had qualified only fifth, Ricciardo whipped past four-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel as he took charge for his second consecutive victory.

While Rosberg’s Mercedes made up a lot of ground in the final laps, the Aussie and his Red Bull-Renault had a little in reserve to take the chequered flag 3.383 seconds ahead.

It’s his third win in the past six races in his first season with the world champion team, while Vettel has not had a victory this season.

This latest triumph for Ricciardo will be largely overwhelmed in the eyes of most other than Australians by the contact between Mercedes teammates Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton that denied them an almost certain quinella at Spa.

Rosberg clipped the rear of Hamilton’s car at the Les Combes chicane on the second lap, puncturing one of the 2008 world champion’s tyres and forcing him into an early pitstop from which he never recovered and ultimately he retired five laps from the end.

Hamilton claimed Rosberg admitted in a team meeting after the race deliberately driving into him and Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff said that, while that was an exaggeration, Rosberg’s action had been “absolutely unacceptable”.

While there were mutterings from within the Mercedes camp of internal discipline against Rosberg, the team is unlikely to penalise the driver now leading his teammate in the world championship by 29 points with seven races remaining.

Ricciardo is third in the championship but still 64 points behind Rosberg and 35 in arrears of Hamilton.

Ricciardo is the only driver other than the Mercedes pair to have won in the 12 GPs so far this season.

Rosberg’s move on Hamilton in Belgium was seen as desperate and clumsy after he had been outgunned at the start by his teammate, but Hamilton seemed to be uncharacteristically slow through the chicane where they came into contact.

Mercedes has always insisted its drivers are free to race each other but that they should not collide and even after this latest incident Wolff said: “We owe it to ourselves and everybody out there to let them race.

“[But] today that philosophy has ended in Mercedes losing many valuable points and we don’t want to end up in Abu Dhabi [the final race of the season and this year carrying double points] with a season where we lost the championship, be it constructors’ or drivers’, because we were too much race fans.

“Racing accidents can happen, racing accidents among teammates shouldn’t happen.

“Racing accidents on lap number two of a 44-lap race with a dominant car should be a no-no-no.

“You don’t try to overtake with the knife between your teeth in lap number two and damage both cars.

“This is a decisive moment in the battle between the two of them and for the team.”

Niki Lauda, the triple world champion who is the frontman for the Mercedes team, had publicly attacked Rosberg even before the team meeting after the race.

“If these things happen at the end of the race, when they are fighting for the win, then you discuss it, but in the second lap to hand the victory to Red Bull …,” Lauda said.

“We lost the whole race. We could have been first and second … he [Rosberg] provoked it, no question.

“I thought they were clever enough to know that, but obviously they aren’t.

“Why on the second lap? If he [Rosberg] wants to pass him [Hamilton] he can pass him on the slipstream easily one lap later without danger and without risk.”

Hamilton claimed after the post-race meeting that Rosberg “basically said he did it on purpose”.

“He said he could have avoided it. He said, ‘I did it to prove a point’,” Hamilton said.

“I was gobsmacked.

“When a car is less than half a car’s length alongside you it’s not your job to leave extra room.

“There are a lot of things going on in my mind and you get to thinking maybe it’s just not my year.

“I just have to regather my thoughts and attack like crazy in the next two races [in Italy and Singapore].

“Who knows whether some fortune will come my way. I’m just going to give it everything I can.”

Rosberg made no apology for his action, although he regretted that the pair touched.

“I see it as a racing incident,” Rosberg said.

“I was quicker at the time and there was an opportunity [to overtake].

“I was so much quicker. The opportunity was there.”

Wolff said the point Rosberg had wanted to make was that he was prepared to hold his line.

“He didn’t give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space – and that Lewis didn’t leave him space,” Wolff said.

“So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion amongst ourselves, but it wasn’t deliberately crashing. That is nonsense.”

There was plenty of other heat at Spa, especially in the dicing between Vettel, McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in the closing laps.

While Vettel came out on top in that battle, finishing fifth behind the third-placed Williams of Valterri Bottas and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, the young Magnussen was magnificent against three world champions – even though he incurred a 20-second penalty post race that dropped him to 12th.

Raikkonen is a Spa specialist and this was the first time since his return to Ferrari that he had upstaged Alonso.

Bottas’ podium was his fourth in the past five race and him and the Williams-Mercedes will be well suited to the next track in the championship, Italy’s Monza.

Triple Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer acquitted himself well throughout practice and qualifying with lowly Caterham in his debut at 32 but his race lasted only two laps before he lost power, while American Alex Rossi missed out on making his F1 race debut when Max Chilton’s management came to terms with the Marussia team.

Power 51 points clear heading to IndyCar finale
Australia’s Will Power tightened his grip on the IndyCar title even further today, despite seeing a race victory slip away from him at Sonoma in California.

Power will take a 51-point lead over Penske teammate Helio Castroneves into next weekend’s finale at Fontana Speedway, also in California -- and an 81-point advantage over Frenchman Simon Pagenaud.

The Fontana race carries a maximum 104 points.

Power started on the pole at Sonoma and led 33 of the 85 laps, the most of any driver, but he wound up 10th after a spin on lap 40 that dropped him to 20th.

“It took me by surprise when I spun, but that's just racing,” Power said.

“I tried to save fuel towards the end, just going for points.

“I would have liked to have had a better finish, but the team will look to Fontana working towards the championship."

Castroneves was involved in contact on the opening lap, never ran in the top 10 and finished 18th.

New Zealander Scott Dixon won the race for Chip Ganassi Racing.