Lewis Hamilton finishes third behind team-mate Nico Rosberg in Belgium despite starting from the back as Brit takes advantage of red flag 

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Nico Rosberg claimed his sixth win of the season with an easy victory at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The German crossed the line comfortably clear of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo as Lewis Hamilton came from the back row to take the final step on the podium following a breathless race at Spa.

Rosberg was barely aware of the chaos that raged behind him as he streaked away from pole position to take maximum points, and reduce Hamilton’s championship lead to nine with eight races to go.

Nico Rosberg won the Belgian Grand Prix in comfortable fashion, but the rest of the drivers did not have such an easy day

Rosberg claimed his sixth win of the season and closed the gap on Lewis Hamilton at the top of the driver's standings

Rosberg continued Mercedes' dominance and also took a substantial chunk out of Hamilton's lead 

Hamilton took advantage of the red flag to finish third after starting from the back of the grid in Belgium

Daniel Ricciardo finished second on the grid but was comfortably behind eventual winner Rosberg

Kevin Magnussen was lucky to escape a high-speed crash after losing control of his Renault on lap six

Hamilton's start at the back of the grid was compounded by the chaos that ensued from turn one

Fans required two pairs of eyes as the lights went out at the start. One trained on the battle between Rosberg and Max Verstappen at the front and another to keep tabs on Hamilton’s progress.

From the same position in China in April, Hamilton charged through the backmarkers only to get caught up in the turn one chaos. Wisely, he backed off here, taking a watching brief as carnage ensued in front of him.

The vast majority of the sell-out crowd at Spa only had eyes for one man. The long queues into the circuit on Sunday morning had a distinctly orange glow, with Dutch and Belgians alike out in force to cheer on Red Bull’s teenage sensation.

They were quickly silenced. Verstappen’s horribly slow start allowed Rosberg to cruise away in front and the 18-year-old was swallowed up by both Ferraris from the second row.

Max Verstappen's poor start allowed Rosberg to cruise in front, and that is where he stayed for the rest of the race

There was drama from the very first corner as Sebastian Vettel spun and collided with Kimi Raikkonen

He has made enough stunning overtakes this season to fill an entire highlights package on his own but not this time.

He and Kimi Raikkonen have had their differences this season – most entertainingly in Hungary – but the Finn afforded him sufficient room on the inside here.

The problem was Raikkonen’s team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, charging around the outside. Raikkonen suddenly had nowhere to go as the trio bottlenecked, and he made contact with both Vettel and Verstappen.

They were all forced to pit with damage to their cars, returning towards the rear of the field.

Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein collided on the opening lap and eventually had to retire because of the incident

The casualties didn’t end there. Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein came together later on the opening lap, eventually forcing both to retire.

Carlos Sainz was next to bow out after a puncture on his Toro Rosso and both Mercedes were making serene progress.

Rosberg led Nico Hulkenberg by five seconds after just a couple of laps, with Hamilton already on the cusp of the top 10.

He was firmly inside it after Kevin Magnussen’s spectacular exit on lap six. Both he and Renault team-mate Jolyon Palmer were in the points when the Dane crashed out from eighth.

23-year-old Magnussen managed to walk away from the crash - albeit with a limp - but his car suffered significant damage

Magnussen took too much kerb as he made his way through Eau Rouge at close to 200mph. The back ened of his Renault slid out before smashing into the barriers as Magnussen hobbled away nursing an ankle injury.

The resulting safety car sparked a flurry of pit-stops before the race was red-flagged on lap nine.

Incredibly, as the 17 drivers filed back to the pits for a breather, Alonso and Hamilton found themselves fourth and fifth respectively having successfully avoided the flying debris.

After a 17-minute delay, the pair re-emerged on the quicker soft tyres, with Rosberg one of four drivers to switch to the mediums as the race re-started.

Verstappen and Raikkonen fought for every inch at Spa. The Finn grew frustrated, shouting: 'this is f****** ridiculous now!'

As at the start, Hamilton took a watching brief, backing off initially before breezing past Alonso on the Kemmel straight three laps later.

Hulkenberg was the next man up the road and Hamilton claimed third from the German on lap 18. But, despite being on the slower tyre, Rosberg was now nine seconds up the road.

At the back, Raikkonen and Verstappen’s tussle continued. The Finn was forced wide on lap 11, prompting furious radio messages to the Ferrari pit-wall: ‘Come on this is f****** ridiculous now!’ He was finally freed when Verstappen pitted on lap 17 as his miserable afternoon went from bad to worse. He finally finished just out of the points in 11th.

Hamilton was forced to stop on lap 21, his tyres feeling the effect of having to follow the Force India so closely.

Hamilton's chances of an incredibly unlikely victory were seemingly ended after he was forced to stop on lap 21

It was an earlier stop than anticipated and his chances of securing an unlikely victory were, like his rubber, quickly sliding away.

He retained third position when Hulkenberg and Alonso stopped on lap 23, the pair making contact as they came out from their respective pit boxes side-by-side.

Ricciardo too was struggling to make his tyres last and came in for a fresh set a lap before race leader Rosberg who led by 10 seconds after that round of stops. Hamilton was suddenly on the Australian’s tail, closing to within a second of the Red Bull with 13 laps remaining.

He made his third stop on lap 32, Mercedes strapping on the medium tyres to get him to the end despite the world champion’s reservations.

Hamilton questioned Mercedes' judgement to strap on the medium tyres during his third stop on lap 32

Ricciardo decided not to stop and replace his tyres and his decision paid off as he finished 13 seconds ahead of Hamilton

‘I'm not sure that's the right idea,’ said Hamilton. ‘No we think it is. It's a good tyre. It's looking good,’ race engineer, Pete Bonnington, reassured him.

He emerged in fourth, behind Hulkenberg again, but made lighter work of passing him this time, doing so on lap 34.

The onus was now on Ricciardo who was 19 seconds up the road. Would he stop again or try and get his medium tyres to do 20 laps and carry him to the end of the race?

It was the latter. Hamilton gained but not quickly enough and Ricciardo took second by 13 seconds.

Hulkenberg and his team-mate, Sergio Perez, followed Hamilton home in fourth and fifth respectively to complete a fine day for Force India.

Amid the chaos, Force India enjoyed a fine day in Belgium with Nico Hulkenberg finishing fourth and Sergio Perez fifth