McLaren’s Oscar Piastri secured his sixth victory of the season at the Belgian Grand Prix, expertly navigating a strategic race to establish a 16-point lead in the championship standings over his teammate Lando Norris. In a closely contested battle for third place, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc edged out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in a tight finish.
Anticipating heavy rain prior to the race, the weather conditions deteriorated during the formation lap, leading to limited visibility and the decision to red-flag the session. After a delay of approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes under sheltered conditions, the race resumed behind the Safety Car on intermediate tires.
“I knew that lap one was going to be probably my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn 1 and lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and that was enough. The rest of the race we managed really well,” Piastri said. “Struggling a little bit at the end, maybe the Medium wasn’t the best for the last five or six laps, but we had it mostly under control, which is what I wanted. I was pretty disappointed with myself after yesterday but turns out starting second at Spa is not too bad after all.”
Following the Safety Car period, Norris took the lead at the restart, but experienced a slight slide exiting La Source, allowing Piastri to seize the opportunity. The Australian driver overtook Norris by drafting him up the hill to Raidillon, then powered past on the Kemmel straight as they approached Les Combes, taking the lead.
Leclerc maintained third position, with Verstappen pressuring him throughout. Despite the challenge from Verstappen, Leclerc’s strong positioning allowed him to hold his ground. Behind them, Aston Martin’s Alexander Albon had a solid start from 5th but faced intense pressure from Mercedes’ George Russell, who eventually overtook him early on and moved into sixth place ahead of Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull.
“It was a tough race. Difficult conditions at the start and then just trying to manage the Inters firstly because it was drying relatively quickly, but you can kill the Inters in a lap or two if you really want around here,” Piastri said. “So that was a bit tricky. And then I felt good on the Mediums for about five laps, and then when I could see that the Hard on Lando’s car was not worse than the Medium, I was a bit nervous considering we had nearly 25 laps to go at that point. So, I had to be a bit careful, but it held on in the end much better than I feared. I had to manage a bit, but nothing special.”
Conditions improved rapidly, and by lap 12, Lewis Hamilton, who had started from the pit lane and advanced to 14th, was the first to switch to slick tires, fitting medium compounds. The leaders quickly followed suit, pitting for medium tires on the same lap. Norris, meanwhile, was forced to continue on his intermediate tires due to his close proximity to his teammate, which proved costly. Norris made a strategic decision to switch to hard tires on lap 14, rejoining in second behind Piastri. Leclerc remained third, with Verstappen close behind in fourth, and Russell in fifth. Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar from Red Bull experienced later pit stops that resulted in significant time loss, dropping them down the order.
“I don’t know. It’s hard. I didn’t have the best Turn 1, so hard to know how much that played a part. At the same time, Oscar came past me pretty easily,” Norris said. “So even if I had a better Turn 1, his run and the slipstream probably still would have got me. Not too disappointed. Of course disappointed to finish second. When you saw Saturday and you saw today, then P1 didn’t look the best place to begin with. I also didn’t get the best Turn 1, so I need to look at what I could have done better.”
As the race progressed, Piastri managed his medium tires, but began to experience degradation, making it increasingly challenging to maintain his lead. Norris gradually reduced the gap from over nine seconds to just over five laps remaining, benefiting from his alternate strategy. Similarly, Verstappen started closing in on Leclerc, reducing the gap from 2.3 seconds to 1.2 seconds as racing toward the finish.
Despite their efforts to mount a late challenge, neither Norris nor Verstappen could mount enough of a push before the checkered flag. Norris’s attempt to gain ground was halted by a late lock-up, costing him over a second, and he finished more than three seconds behind Piastri. Leclerc managed to preserve his position, extending his gap to Verstappen to 1.5 seconds in the final laps.
The race concluded with Russell finishing fifth, followed by Albon and Hamilton. Liam Lawson achieved strong points for Racing Bulls with eighth place, while Gabriel Bortoleto finished ninth, just ahead of Pierre Gasly in tenth.
Photo/OscarPiastri/X
