2014 Formula 1 : Ricciardo wins Belgian Grand Prix

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2014 F1 - Belgian Grand Prix Winner : Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) #3  Redbull racing RB10

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium : August 24, 2014 - Daniel Ricciardo says Red Bull has the top speed to challenge Williams and Ferrari in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel starts from third and Daniel Ricciardo fifth, the pair separated by Fernando Alonso and ahead of both Williams cars. While Spa-Francorchamps was expected to favour Mercedes-powered teams, Ricciardo believes Red Bull has got its set-up right and will be quick enough to battle with the cars around it.

“Through the speed trap we actually look pretty competitive,” Ricciardo said. “[Williams] have probably gone for a bit more higher downforce so obviously that evens us out a little bit in a straight line. So I think we can definitely fight – in terms of racing – with everyone tomorrow. Our straight line speed is in that top part now, so whether it's defending or attacking I think we've got a good chance to do either/or.”

And Ricciardo said the set-up explained part of the large deficit to Mercedes in wet conditions and that it was a hit he was prepared to take in order to be more competitive in race trim.

“An explanation is that we've banked a little bit on a dry race so we've set the car up a little bit more for that. In a nutshell we've taken downforce off it, so that hurt us [in qualifying] but in race conditions I think that should be the right call and that's why we've done it.

“Across both cars we did a bit of experimenting but then Seb was a bit limited [on Friday] – well very limited in the end with his track time – so we got enough data to try and understand what we wanted.

“I think with the way our straight line speed is, especially with the long straights here, we need to have a chance of fighting, whether it's moving forward or defending. That's why we've gone the way we have and I was definitely happy to do that. I think it's important to look towards the race rather than qualifying, so let's see if it works.”
      
2014 Formula 1 : Belgian Grand Prix Race Result

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	44	Winner	5	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	44	+3.3 secs	1	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	44	+28.0 secs	6	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	44	+36.8 secs	8	12
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	44	+52.1 secs	3	10
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	44	+54.2 secs	7	8
7	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	44	+54.5 secs	10	6
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	44	+61.1 secs	4	4
9	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	44	+64.2 secs	13	2
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	44	+65.3 secs	11	1
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	44	+65.6 secs	18
12	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	44	+71.9 secs	12
13	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	44	+75.9 secs	9
14	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	44	+82.4 secs	14
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	44	+90.8 secs	20
16	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	43	+1 Lap	19
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	43	+1 Lap	22
18	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	39	+5 Lap	16
Ret	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	38	+6 Lap	2
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	33	+11 Lap	15
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1	+43 Laps	17
Ret	45	Andre Lotterer	Caterham-Renault	1	+43 Laps	21

2014 Formula 1 : Drivers' Championship Standing

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	220
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	191
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Red Bull Racing-Renault	156
4	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	119
5	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams-Mercedes	110
6	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing-Renault	98
7	Nico Hulkenberg	German	Force India-Mercedes	69
8	Jenson Button	British	McLaren-Mercedes	66
9	Kevin Magnussen	Danish	McLaren-Mercedes	45
10	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Williams-Mercedes	40
11	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	39
12	Sergio Perez	Mexican	Force India-Mercedes	31
13	Jean-Eric Vergne	French	STR-Renault	11
14	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus-Renault	8
15	Daniil Kvyat	Russian	STR-Renault	7
16	Jules Bianchi	French	Marussia-Ferrari	2
17	Adrian Sutil	German	Sauber-Ferrari	0
18	Marcus Ericsson	Swedish	Caterham-Renault	0
19	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Lotus-Renault	0
20	Esteban Gutierrez	Mexican	Sauber-Ferrari	0
21	Max Chilton	British	Marussia-Ferrari	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Caterham-Renault	0
23	Andre Lotterer	German	Caterham-Renault	0

2014 Formula 1 : Teams' Championship Standing

Pos	Team	Points
1	Mercedes	411
2	Red Bull Racing-Renault	254
3	Ferrari	158
4	Williams-Mercedes	150
5	McLaren-Mercedes	111
6	Force India-Mercedes	100
7	STR-Renault	18
8	Lotus-Renault	8
9	Marussia-Ferrari	2
10	Sauber-Ferrari	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0

[Source : F1, CRASH.NET]