Nico Rosberg praised his team for giving him the car to be able to dominate the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, his sixth victory of the season and his first Formula 1 win at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS driver did everything he needed to do with team-mate Lewis Hamilton starting at the back of the field following his numerous engine changes, with Rosberg running strongly on both the Soft and Medium compounds during the race.
Just nine points separate the two drivers in the championship standings heading into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, where Rosberg expects Hamilton to be battling the German for the race victory.
“I am so happy to win here in Spa at this legendary track,” said Rosberg. “It wasn’t an easy weekend for us. We had to work a lot on the set-up – but in the race it was perfect.
“The stints on the medium tyres were really good and I felt really comfortable at the start on the softs too. Our car was really great today, so thank you to the team for all their hard work in getting it spot on.
“It’s great for the team that Lewis was able to recover to finish in third place, so overall a great result for us. Now, it’s only a few days until Monza. The penalties for Lewis made things easier for me today – but he will be back in the battle for the win again next weekend, which will be exciting.”
