Belgian GP red flagged after huge Magnussen crash

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A huge crash for Kevin Magnussen has caused the Belgian Grand Prix to be stopped in order to allow barrier repairs.

Magnussen lost control of his Renault at the top of Radillon, overcorrecting as the rear of the car stepped out and getting pitched into a high-speed spin. The rear of the car clipped a barrier before Magnussen went head-on into another tyre wall, heavily damaging his car.

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Magnussen's headrest flew off in the impact, but the Dane was able to climb out of the car unaided, though he limped away from the wreckage. While the safety car was immediately deployed, the barrier was heavily damaged in the incident and needs extensive repairs.

The race was stopped on lap 10 to allow repairs to be carried out, leaving drivers free to change their tyres during the red flag period. The move benefits race leader Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo who were running first and second, while third-placed Nico Hulkenberg had already stopped for new tyres.

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton also benefit from the stoppage, with the pair - who started from the back row - running fourth and fifth having not stopped before the race was red flagged.

Magnussen joins Marcus Ericsson, Carlos Sainz, Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein in retiring from the race after a chaotic start.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.