Nico Rosberg has admitted his start to the Belgian Grand Prix cost him his chance of victory over Lewis Hamilton.
The German fell from second to fifth by the first corner and, while Rosberg was able to move back up to second, he was unable to pass his teammate, who now has a 22-point advantage in the drivers' standings.
However, Rosberg is hopeful that he can take the fight to Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix next month.
He told reporters: "Unfortunately I messed up the start. Maybe the extra warm-up lap had an influence on that – we need to find out what exactly happened but, in any case, I definitely have to improve that for Monza.
"Because of this I had to play catch-up, which worked out well to a point. I managed to be second again and also was able to close the gap to Lewis a bit – but I didn't get a chance to come within overtaking distance.
"He deserved the win today and it was also a great result for the team. The car they gave us was awesome here, so thank you to them for that. Hopefully we can have the same level of performance in the next races. I'll be pushing as hard as ever for sure."
Lotus driver Romain Grosjean was able to take third after a tyre blowout cost Sebastian Vettel a podium finish at Spa.
Chris O'Keefe
