Ricciardo takes another win as Kimi shines

So the 2014 seasons return from the summer break opens with a bang with some sensational racing, a brilliantly crafted victory and a controversial clash between the title rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton which you can read about here. It was a fine way to start the second half of the season with Daniel Ricciardo taking his second consecutive victory and third in six races with another brilliant drive.

He had a scruffy opening lap but settled down and was soon ahead of Alonso and slipped by Vettel when his Red Bull team mate ran wide. Once through he chased down the damaged Rosberg and took the lead when the Mercedes pitted.

From there it looked like the race was his, there were brief moments when it appeared that Kimi Raikkonen or Valtteri Bottas might be in range and I’m sure there were nervous moments when Nico Rosberg closed him down by several seconds a lap towards the end, but he held something back and took the win.

It puts Ricciardo only 64 points back from Rosberg, that’s under three race wins away. I’m pretty sure it won’t happen but at the moment with the way things are at Mercedes you do wonder if they could manage to throw the drivers championship away. Whatever though, Ricciardo is driving a fantastic season and in my opinion took his best win of the year so far; lead from the front and never looked troubled.

Rosberg started from pole position but fell to third at the start. He passed Sebastian Vettel as the Red Bull ran off the road during the first lap and was second behind Hamilton as lap 2 started. He went for the lead at Les Combes but hit his team mate causing Lewis a puncture and himself a broken front wing in what was a clumsy manoeuvre but one which he and the stewards labelled a racing incident. He half heartedly stuck his front wing alongside and then just left it there knowing Lewis would stick to the racing line.

He stopped early on lap 8 to change his front wing and had to make a three stop strategy work for him to get him back onto the podium. It says a lot about the Mercedes advantage that another lap or so and he might have won. 

Hamilton circulated at the back as he tried to recover, but his car was damaged from the flailing carcass of his tyre. He retired five laps from the end way off a points finish. Understandably there is a lot of friction at the Mercedes team right now.

Bottas completed the podium with third for Williams including a great move on Vettel at Les Combes, showing Rosberg how it should be done by being almost fully alongside his opponent. Bottas and Ricciardo really are the drivers of the season so far. Bottas’ team mate Felipe Massa suffered more poor luck with debris from Hamilton’s car clogging his front wing meaning he was seconds off the pace because of a major loss of downforce. Once the team cured it at his second pit stop he was the fastest car on track, another case of what might have been.

My drive of the race though has to go to Kimi Raikkonen. What a great drive from someone who is still not comfortable in the car. James Allison, Ferrari technical director, has basically admitted the car will not suit Kimi this year and there’s nothing they can do about it, so to keep his foot flat to the floor at a circuit like Spa was a tremendous performance.

He made a two stop strategy work including his last stint being longer than anyone else at 23 laps on the medium compound, over half the race distance. He started eighth and was around sixth when he pitted fairly early on lap 8, after Rosberg the first major player to pit. He then put in a number of fastest laps to undercut a lot of the front runners. In fact he ran second before Rosberg got him and then Bottas worked his way by, but they had to work for it. It was a great drive and a reminder that he can still deliver.

Vettel started third and in front of Ricciardo for the second consecutive race. Of course as is the way in 2014 he could not keep up the pace during the race. He can’t seem to make the tyres last as well resulting in a three stop strategy.

The opening half a lap when he challenged for the lead was like old times but then two mistakes dropped him back and it was only a fight past Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button that earned him a top five result.

But that scrap was fantastic in the dying laps. Magnussen had been defending brilliantly from Alonso for what felt like the majority of the race. The Ferrari driver had earned a five second penalty for his team coming back on the grid after the 15 second warning had been sounded as the cars were about to leave for the formation lap. This left him fighting for the top six rather than a podium.

As always though Alonso is relentless and was trying all sorts to get by the McLaren, but Magnussen matched him and coming onto the Kemmel Straight closed the door firmly on the Ferrari, but it forced Alonso onto the grass. It also let Button attack, he swept past Alonso then immediately attacked Magnussen who eased him onto the kerbs which let Alonso back through then set him up for Vettel too.

Vettel then dispensed with Alonso then Magnussen and cruised off but the McLaren Ferrari battle raged on. Eventually McLaren won, Magnussen heading Button. Unfortunately for Magnussen the stewards judged him too aggressive towards Alonso and penalised a drive through penalty which equated to 20 seconds. This means he ends up only 12^th and results in Button finishing sixth with Alonso behind in seventh.

Perez seemed to have a quiet race as he rose up from 13^th to eighth while Daniil Kvyat impressed again with another points visit to take initially 10^th which became ninth. Nico Hulkenberg grabbed a point for tenth after Magnussen’s penalty after a quiet weekend.

Andre Lotterer, making his debut for Caterham in place of Kamui Kobayashi only lasted a lap unfortunately. He may make another appearance but it seems Kamui’s seat is to be rented out to whoever can afford it in future races.

All of this means Rosberg now holds a 29 point lead in the championship with seven rounds left to run. It's going to be interesting how Mercedes react to their driver situation.

Should they look over their shoulder at Ricciardo? They surely don't want him to be winning any more right now as that'll complicate matters still further. 

Monza is next up with its fast straights and mostly slow corners so I think the most likely challenger will definitely be Williams. I think they really do stand a good chance of victory there. Never discount Red Bull though, particularly Ricciardo in his present form. He just seems to be in the right place at the right time this year and is maximising every opportunity that comes his way.

All eyes though will be on the Silver Arrow squad. Their drivers have committed the cardinal sin of hitting each other in combat, that is unacceptable. But how will they handle it? Surely they cannot pick a side? 

Whatever happens, Italy is going to be a sensational atmosphere, Williams and Red Bull battle it out for best of the rest and maybe a shot at victory, Ferrari back on home turf; can Kimi maintain this good form and will Alonso pull off a miracle result? And just how will Lewis react to Nico? It could all kick off in Italy.

all photo's taken from autosport.com