On lap 21, Hamilton in 17th implored Mercedes to retire him because of his car's bodywork damage; the team insisted he continue in anticipation of a safety car deployment. Rosberg passed Pérez to take over seventh on lap 22. That lap, Vettel who lapped in the 1 minute and 55 second range to Rosberg's 1 minute and 51 minute laps made his pit stop and emerged in eighth, behind Rosberg and Räikkönen. During lap 23, Magnussen in fourth blocked Alonso from overtaking him three times. That lap, Rosberg passed Button for fourth, only for Button to reclaim the position because Rosberg had a fuel limit issue. On the following lap, Rosberg tried again to pass Button and he was successful that time round. He later passed Alonso on the Kemmel Straight for third on lap 25. That lap, Hamilton overtook Grosjean for 16th and Button lost fifth to Vettel at the Bus Stop chicane. Ricciardo made his second pit stop from the lead at the conclusion of the 27th lap and had the medium compound tyres installed on his car. He exited from his stop 3.7 seconds ahead of Rosberg in third. Bottas took the lead for one lap, before making his own stop at the end of the lap 28 and emerged in fifth. Bottas overtook Vettel for fourth on the outside at Les Combes corner on lap 30. Four laps later, Grosjean retired from downforce-related damage sustained to his Lotus at his second pit stop. After Ricciardo re-assumed the lead earlier, Rosberg's soft compound tyres were worn and he could not match Ricciardo's pace. Mercedes decided to put Rosberg on a third pit stop to get the win from Ricciardo on the final lap. Red Bull responded by providing Ricciardo with a target lap time of 1 minute, 53.400 seconds to prevent Rosberg from overtaking him, which he achieved consistently. Rosberg's pit stop came at the end of lap 34. He passed Bottas and Räikkönen to return to second by lap 36. Hamilton's request to retire was granted on the 39th lap and he entered the pit lane to be pushed into his garage. Around that period, Bottas challenged his compatriot Räikkönen for third on the outside of Les Combes corner but Räikkönen prevented Bottas from completing the pass. Bottas attempted again on lap 40 and got by Räikkönen on the Kemmel Straight.