The 2014 Belgian Grand Prix (officially the 2014 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, in Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium, on 24 August. It was the 12th round of the 2014 Formula One World Championship and the 58th Belgian Grand Prix held as part of the series. Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo won the 44-lap race starting from fifth position. Nico Rosberg finished second for Mercedes and Williams' Valtteri Bottas was third.
Entering the race, Rosberg led the World Drivers' Championship and Mercedes led the World Constructors' Championship. Although Rosberg qualified on pole position by posting the fastest lap time in the third qualifying session, he was immediately passed by his teammate Lewis Hamilton and the second Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel at the start. He returned to second after Vettel made a driver error at Les Combes corner and took the lead following contact with the right-hand front wing end plate and Hamilton's left-rear tyre on lap two. Rosberg made a pit stop to replace the front wing at the conclusion of lap eight, relinquishing the lead to Ricciardo. Over the course of the remainder of the race, Ricciardo maintained the lead and responded to the faster Rosberg in the final ten laps to achieve his second victory in a row and the third of his career. Following Ricciardo's win, Red Bull was able to celebrate its 50th Grand Prix victory, becoming the fifth team to achieve this feat.
Rosberg was booed by the crowd and received an undisclosed punishment from Mercedes for hitting Hamilton; the two were allowed to race each other with no team orders used. The result kept Ricciardo third in the World Drivers' Championship as Rosberg increased his lead over Hamilton to 29 championship points after Hamilton retired with bodywork damage. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso maintained fourth from Bottas in fifth. Mercedes retained its lead over Red Bull in the World Constructors' Championship with seven races left in the season.
Background
The race was the 12th of the 19 rounds in the 2014 Formula One World Championship and the 58th Belgian Grand Prix Formula One race. It was held at the 20-turn Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium, on 24 August. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought four types of tyre to the race: two dry compounds (yellow-banded soft and the white-banded medium) and two wet-weather compounds (intermediate and full wet). The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race, one was on the straight linking the Bus Stop chicane and La Source corner, and the second was on the Kemmel Straight linking Radillion and Les Combes turns. Following the 2013 race, new debris fences were erected at La Source turn, the barrier on the inside of turn 11 was renewed and track drainage was improved.
Entering the race, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg led the World Drivers' Championship with 202 championship points, 11 ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton in second. Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was third with 131 championship points after winning the preceding four weeks earlier and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fourth with 115 championship points. Valtteri Bottas for the Williams team was fifth with 95 championship points. Mercedes led the World Constructors' Championship with 393 championship points and they were ahead of Red Bull in second with 213 championship points. Ferrari were with 142 championship points and Williams were seven championship points behind in fourth. With 98 championship points, Force India held fifth place.
At the preceding Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton ignored team orders from Mercedes to allow Rosberg to pass him in the final laps. He reduced the World Drivers' Championship deficit to 11 championship points with a third-place finish as Rosberg took fourth. The two discussed how the situation should be diffused in a meeting on the night of 21 August, three days before the Belgian Grand Prix. For his part, Hamilton said he desired a recreation of his best form from earlier in the season and sought to put his recent below-par qualifying performances behind him,
"I had some difficult weekends in the first part of the season, but then a bit of good fortune at the last race in Budapest kept me from damaging my car on the wall during that first lap, so hopefully that was a sign that my fortunes are changing at just the right time.There were so many positives to take from the opening eleven races, but both myself and the team always want more and know we are capable of more. The aim is to put the more difficult times of some of the previous weekends behind us and to recreate the best moments at every race from now on. I love driving at Spa, so there are few better places to start."
Rosberg said he would not underestimate the duel for the championship due to pace of the other teams, "In Formula One you just can't afford to give away any advantage and I know that both the team and myself will be working harder than ever to keep improving and maintain our position right to the very end. On top of that, the battle with Lewis has been so close all season – and it could well stay that way right up to the final race – so every last point will be crucial in that contest, too."
There were 11 teams (each representing a different constructor) each entering two race drivers for the event with a solitary driver change. On the recommendation of Caterham team owner Colin Kolles, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2011 Formula Nippon champion André Lotterer drove in lieu of Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham. At 32 years, 288 days old, Lotterer was the oldest driver to debut in Formula One since Giovanni Lavaggi at the 1995 German Grand Prix and it was his first time in a Formula One car since testing for Jaguar in . Marussia announced that GP2 Series competitor and test and reserve driver Alexander Rossi would be entered in place of regular driver Max Chilton, because of reported "contractual issues" but the organisation who represented Chilton said that he relinquished his role "voluntarily". Chilton's seat was subsequently reinstated following a successful request to the stewards by Marussia, meaning Rossi drove only in the first practice session. In that session, Sauber reserve driver Giedo van der Garde drove Esteban Gutiérrez's car.
Practice
Per the regulations for the 2014 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday and one 60-minute session on Saturday. In the first session, held in dry weather, Rosberg was fastest with a lap of 1:51.577, almost a tenth of a second quicker than his teammate Hamilton in second. Ferrari's Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen were third and fifth, separated by Jenson Button's McLaren in fourth. Force India's Sergio Pérez led McLaren's Kevin Magnussen, the other Force India of Nico Hülkenberg, Ricciardo and Bottas in positions six to ten. During the session, Alonso briefly stopped at the edge of Eau Rouge corner with engine problems, and his teammate Räikkönen spun leaving the La Source hairpin before his car's energy recovery system overheated. Button's DRS was lodged open, Vettel's session ended early with a temperature-related exhaust failure and Marcus Ericsson spun his Caterham at the La Source hairpin.
Hamilton set the day's fastest lap on the soft compound tyre during a qualifying simulation in the second session at 1:49.189. Rosberg was 0.604 seconds slower in second and Alonso was third. Felipe Massa of Williams was fourth, Button fifth and Bottas sixth. Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Hülkenberg followed in the top ten. Just after eight minutes into practice, Pastor Maldonado ran onto the grass on the outside exiting Rivage corner and heading into Pouhon turn. He lost control of his Lotus, speared across into a barrier on the inside, causing a red flag. The right-rear wheel was deranged from Maldonado's car and track marshals cleared debris. He was transported to the circuit's medical centre for a pre-cautionary check-up and was later released with no injuries found. A gearbox fault caused Gutiérrez to spin soon after at Blanchimont corner, prompting a second stoppage since he was unable to continue driving.
After the second session, Vettel, whose ignition failed in one cylinder breaking the exhaust and overheating the kinetic motor–generator unit, changed his engine, his fifth of the season. He avoided incurring a ten-place grid penalty because he reverted to an old engine used in the preceding Hungarian Grand Prix. Heavy overnight rain made the circuit damp and little on-track activity occurred in the final session's first half an hour. Wet and intermediate tyres were used before the dry soft and medium tyres for the rest of the session as teams prepared for qualifying. Bottas was fastest on the drying track with a lap of 1:49.465 late in the session. Ricciardo, Rosberg, Räikkönen, Hamilton, Alonso, Kvyat, Button, Massa and Toro Rosso's Jean-Éric Vergne completed the top ten.
Qualifying
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into three parts. The first part ran for 18 minutes, eliminating cars that finished the session 17th or below. The 107% rule was in effect, requiring drivers to reach a time within 107 per cent of the quickest lap to qualify. The second part lasted 15 minutes, eliminating cars that finished 11th to 16th. The final 12-minute session determined pole position to tenth. Cars who progressed to the final session were not allowed to change tyres for the race's start, using the tyres with which they set their quickest lap times in the second session. Heavy rain returned 40 minutes before qualifying commenced and accompanied a hailstorm, making the circuit slippery. Although it later stopped, uncertainty over the weather caused teams to use wet-weather tyres. Rain returned at the conclusion of the first session and it remained for most of the following session before turning sunny for the final session.
Rosberg was fastest in the first and third sessions and took his fourth pole position in succession, his seventh of 2014, and the 11th of his career with a time of 2:05.591. He was joined on the grid's front row by his teammate Hamilton whose front left brake disc was grazed, causing his car to jerk; Hamilton lost time by changing his braking points. Vettel and Alonso took third and fourth after their first timed laps of the final session and both drivers could not better the two Mercedes. Ricciardo qualified fifth after running wide at Blanchimont corner on his final lap. A loss of time in the first third of the lap caused Bottas to start from sixth. An understeer from flat-spotting his front tyres at the La Source hairpin in the second session put Magnussen seventh. Multiple driving errors from Räikkönen left him eighth. Ninth-placed Massa had a grazed front right disc in the track's heavy braking zones. Traffic on his warm-up lap comprised his tyre warming and slowed him. Button took tenth after locking his brakes cresting a hill into Les Combes corner.