Lewis took his second Belgian Grand Prix win, the 39th of his F1 career and sixth of 2015. Nico completed a seventh Silver Arrows 1-2 of the season with his 36th career F1 podium finish. An 80th career F1 podium for Lewis sees him move level with Ayrton Senna in P4 in the all-time standings. Both Lewis and Nico ran a two stop strategy of option / prime / option.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: I'm very proud of the team after today's result - and especially to get a 1-2 finish at Spa, which is such a difficult and demanding circuit to master. Lewis did a perfect job - he got off the line well, defended cleanly his position from Perez up the hill and then drove a beautifully controlled race. He had the pace when he needed it, coped comfortably with all the challenges during the afternoon and scored a really impressive win. Nico obviously was hampered after his start, which we need to analyse, but then worked his way calmly back through the field. He kept Lewis honest all the way but couldn't quite close the gap. Congratulations to our boys, too, on four clean and impressive stops; they're doing a stunning job in the pits this year and we aim to continue that way for the remaining races. We will savour this win but need to keep our heads down and carry on working hard for Monza."
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): We're all very happy indeed with that result and a fantastic performance all round from the team. It's always great to win at one of the legendary circuits on the Formula One calendar and this was one which Mercedes hadn't conquered in the modern Silver Arrows era, so it's good to be able to tick it off the list. It was a quite amazing weekend from Lewis - from an incredible pair of laps in qualifying to a controlled drive to victory in the race. Nico, too, had a very strong weekend. Of course, I'm sure he'll be disappointed to finish second - but he was in touching distance throughout. Congratulations also to Lotus. It's extremely pleasing to have an all-Mercedes- powered podium and no doubt a big boost for a team who have not had the easiest of times recently, so well done to them.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "Dany drove a very strong race to finish fourth from his starting grid position of twelfth. He produced some very strong overtaking manoeuvres and the strategy worked very well, so we were able to score some very useful points. It's a shame for Daniel; he had a great start to move up to third. He was running a similar strategy to Dany and I'm sure he would have been challenging for the podium. It was a lost opportunity but overall a reasonable weekend for the team."
Matthieu Dubois, Renault: "Today's race was very eventful. Unfortunately Daniel had a technical problem that caused a power shutdown and he stopped on track. We need to investigate fully why this happened as it is a missed opportunity. Daniil had a solid race to get back into fourth position. We have a lot of work to do for the rest of the season to get things straight, but equally a lot of motivation to do so."
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Felipe Massa finished sixth and Valtteri Bottas ninth in the Belgian Grand Prix. Both cars struggled at the start and lost positions during a difficult first stint. An error at the first round of pitstops for Valtteri resulted in him being awarded a drive-through penalty and the rest of the race was damage limitation, so a good result to get back into the points. Felipe struggled for pace in the first stint but after the pitstops battled hard to finish sixth.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: I am clearly disappointed with what has happened to Valtteri. As a team we have made a mistake, and on behalf of the team I am very sorry that we cost him what could have been a podium position. There will be an investigation into the processes in place to understand what happened fully, and to put in place a procedure to stop this happening again. The rest of our race was dictated by the lack of pace in the first stint and from then on we had to fight our way back. The big difference at this race was that there were five teams all with very similar race pace. Unfortunately though, because so many cars were close in performance, the result was dictated primarily by what happened in the first stint when we were struggling. After that we had the pace on the prime tyre and as a result still managed to finish with both cars in the points. We have gained on Ferrari and lost very few points to Red Bull which is positive considering the day we have had.
Maurizio Arrivabene: "Of course we didn't have the best week-end of the season. We chose an aggressive race strategy for Sebastian, which was going well according to plan, until unfortunately a tyre burst suddenly with two laps to go. As for Kimi, he started from sixteenth on the grid and finished seventh, well into the points. This shows a great reaction and stamina from the team. Now, with Spa already behind us, we focus on the next race in Monza."
As predicted, the flat-out sweeps of Spa-Francorchamps proved difficult for the McLaren-Honda package, and we finished 13th (Fernando Alonso) and 14th (Jenson Button).
Both drivers made quick getaways, jumped a handful of cars, then ran to the flag using a three-stop strategy. An ERS deployment issue affected Jenson's progress, meaning he lost touch with his team-mate. Fernando was able to make a little more initial headway, but an overall lack of pace meant he was also unable to outpace the cars around him.
Eric Boullier, Racing director: "Of all the circuits on the current Formula 1 calendar, to this one is our car indubitably least suited.
"That being the case, it would be disingenuous indeed if we were to move to look askance at our finishing positions here today.
"Granted, to finish 13th and 14th on a circuit that has hosted 14 McLaren grand prix wins is unpropitious in the extreme, but splenetic we are not. Moreover, working shoulder to shoulder with Honda, we'll work as assiduously as is humanly possible in an effort to make the progress necessary to toil our way back to the front."
Yasuhisa Arai, Honda R&D senior managing officer - chief officer of motorsport: "Obviously, it was a difficult race, even with the updates we brought to Spa.
"First of all, I must thank Fernando and Jenson for their professionalism throughout the weekend. It's most disappointing to us that we couldn't meet their expectations, or those of the team and the fans, who had been waiting for the updates to produce results.
"We came to Spa knowing the difficulties of managing the ins and outs of the energy. We will look over the data from the weekend - including our gap to the other teams - and prepare for Monza."
Sahara Force India scored ten points today as Sergio Perez raced to fifth place in the Belgian Grand Prix. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg was unable to take the start following a loss of power on the parade lap to the grid.
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director: "We leave Belgium with mixed feelings after what turned out to be a very eventful race. Sergio delivered a battling performance and extracted all he could from the VJM08. He was able to challenge for the podium positions at the start of the race and to finish with a fifth place, his best result of the year so far, confirmed the good pace he has shown all weekend. He didn't put a wheel wrong all day and was able to keep some very competitive rivals behind with an intelligent and defensive drive. There are many regrets about what could have been had Nico had a clean weekend. Unfortunately, he suffered a loss of power on the way to grid and we were unable to rectify the problem before the start. It's something we will thoroughly investigate with Mercedes. It's a shame as he would have surely had a competitive race. The battle for fifth in the championship remains open and we're already looking forward to the next round at Monza to reclaim the position."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "We didn't have a good start to the race because an electrical problem related to the engine on Carlos' car meant we had to bring the car into the garage before the race had even started. We fixed the issue with the cable and he was able to re-join the race, but he was already a couple of laps behind. We decided to continue the race because in Spa you never know what can happen, and maybe a Safety Car or some rain could've helped us, but unfortunately this never happened, so with 11 laps to go we called him in to save some engine mileage. I'd like to apologise to Carlos for this, as it's now the fourth race in a row where he can't finish a race because of technical problems. Max, who was starting at the back of the grid due to the 10-place grid penalty, drove a fantastic race. To finish in P8 and to fight with a Ferrari for P7 shows how competitive the car was and how good Max was driving. Without the problem on Carlos' car, I think we would've been in a position to score more points than what we've actually done today."
Cedrik Staudohar (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): "It was in part a difficult race. We suffered a loss of power on the formation lap with Carlos due to a loose connector in the engine. Once it was fixed in the garage he could get going again, but as he was two laps down, the race was effectively over. We have to apologise to the team and ensure that this won't happen again. Max had a good recovery from his grid penalty with some strong moves on track to score points. On such a long circuit, it's a great achievement."
Lotus F1 Team returned to the Formula 1 Grand Prix podium for the first time since the US Grand Prix in 2013 thanks to a superb drive from Romain Grosjean in today's Belgian Grand Prix. Despite a five-place grid penalty, Romain delivered an exceptionally measured performance including setting a race fastest lap. Romain's joy was tempered by a second lap retirement for Pastor after his car lost drive. The cause is currently being investigated. Romain's result means Lotus F1 Team return to fifth position in the Constructors' Championship.
Romain started from P9 on the grid on his qualifying soft tyres, changing to new soft compound tyres on lap 9 and scrubbed mediums on lap 21. Pastor started from P7 on the grid but was forced to retire on the second lap after his car lost drive.
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "What an amazing job from Romain today and we all thank all the hard work of everyone at Enstone and here at the circuit in Belgium. It's no secret that it's been a tough season for us in some ways, but we certainly know how to pick our moments to bounce back. Our joy for Romain and the team is a little bittersweet because of the retirement for Pastor, who started his race ahead of Romain so could have finished equally strongly. We will do everything we can to get both cars in strong positions in Monza."
Nick Chester, Technical Director: "That was quite a race from Romain and the team! We were buoyed after yesterday's P4 qualifying performance then today he drove a fantastic measured race. He drove brilliantly and made all the correct decisions with some fabulous overtaking. He looked after the tyres when he needed to and pushed when he needed to. It was the perfect race from him. We haven't looked at everything on Pastor's car yet but we know there was a big excursion over the kerbs which appears to have caused some damage to the power box so a big shame as he should also have achieved a strong result here."
Scoring one point at the Belgian Grand Prix was the maximum the Sauber F1 Team could achieve. Marcus Ericsson put in a flawless performance, moving up to P10 at the very end of the race due to a puncture on Sebastian Vettel's car. Felipe Nasr finished in P11. The Brazilian struggled with braking issues.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "It was a difficult race weekend, and we expected a bit more from it. During the race it was important for us to get through flawlessly. Despite having some issues, we still managed to score one point with a bit of luck at the end. With the Italian Grand Prix another highspeed track is waiting for us in Monza."
The Manor Marussia F1 Team started the second half of the season as it means to go on, with a solid and reliable weekend in Spa translating into a clearly improved race performance and a further two-car finish to add to its burgeoning tally.
Today it was Roberto Merhi who gained the upper hand in the 2015 Formula 1 Shell Belgian Grand Prix, which was reduced from 44 laps to 43 after a stall by Hulkenberg necessitated an additional formation lap. The Spanish driver crossed the line in 15th position, directly behind the McLarens of his countryman Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Will Stevens took 16th place, after a closely-fought race between the two team-mates.
John Booth, Team Principal: "It's good to start the second half of the season on a very positive note, with a straightforward and solid weekend, and a two-car finish to show for it. Both drivers did a creditable job throughout and particularly in the race, making the most of good pace. This, together with the strategic calls from the pit wall, enabled us to keep in touch with the McLarens. We are where we are at present, but Roberto and Will are pushing hard to make the most of every opportunity that comes our way - including pushing each other - so the improvement is continual and this can only aid our development for next year."
