2014 Belgian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Rosberg leads the Drivers’ Championship with 202 points, 11 ahead of Hamilton in second. Ricciardo is third with 131 points after winning the previous race; Alonso holds fourth with 115 points. Bottas is fifth with 95.

Previous race

Ricciardo won in Hungary for his second career victory, starting from fourth and capitalising on the timing of a safety car triggered by an early Ericsson crash, which shuffled the leaders’ pit stops. Alonso finished second, Hamilton third — closing the gap to Rosberg to 11 points after the German had also benefited from the safety car timing but fell to fourth. Hamilton had been asked by Mercedes over the radio to allow Rosberg past in the closing laps; Hamilton declined, saying: “I’m not slowing down for Nico. If he gets close enough to overtake, he can overtake me.” Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda said after the race he agreed with Hamilton’s decision.

Between-race developments

Hamilton and Rosberg met to discuss the situation on 21 August, three days before the Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton has said he wants to recreate the form of the season’s opening rounds: “I love driving at Spa, so there are few better places to start.”

Entrants

André Lotterer, three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 2011 Formula Nippon champion, makes his Formula One debut this weekend at Caterham, replacing Kobayashi. At 32 years and 288 days, Lotterer is the oldest Formula One debutant since Giovanni Lavaggi at the 1995 German Grand Prix; it is his first time in a Formula One car since testing for Jaguar in 2002. Marussia entered Alexander Rossi in place of Chilton, but Chilton has since been reinstated as their race driver following a successful request to the stewards; Rossi will participate only in FP1. Van der Garde drives Gutiérrez’s Sauber in FP1.

Track changes

Following the 2013 race, new debris fences were erected at La Source, the barrier on the inside of turn eleven was renewed, and track drainage was improved.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the yellow-banded soft compound and the white-banded medium, plus intermediate and full wet tyres.

Practice

Rosberg led FP1 with a 1:51.577, just ahead of Hamilton. Alonso stopped briefly at Eau Rouge with engine problems; Räikkönen spun at La Source before his ERS overheated; Button’s DRS was stuck open; Vettel’s session ended early with an exhaust failure; Ericsson spun at La Source.

Hamilton set the day’s fastest lap in FP2 at 1:49.189 on soft compound tyres. Maldonado ran off at Rivage, lost control and struck the inside barrier, triggering a red flag — he was transported to the medical centre but released with no injuries. A gearbox fault caused Gutiérrez to spin at Blanchimont, prompting a second stoppage. After FP2, Vettel changed to a previously used engine — his fifth unit of the season — to avoid a grid penalty.

Heavy overnight rain left the circuit damp for FP3. Bottas went fastest on a drying track in the closing stages.