Oscar Piastri emerged victorious in a Belgian GP that saw a battle between the two McLaren drivers.
Ahead of the race, the famous Belgian weather hit Spa prior to the start of the Belgian GP. The race would start behind the Safety Car, following a thrilling Saturday qualifying session.
This suited pitlane starters Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli and Fernando Alonso, as they now had an opportunity to catch the back of the pack.
With visibility a commodity, Race Control took the decision to abandon the start, bringing out the red flag.
After an hour’s delay, the race got underway, the cars taking to the track with a rolling start behind the Safety Car.
Lights out and a change of the lead at the Belgian GP
After two laps, the race finally got underway. Spray erupted from the cars as they hit the pit straight at full speed for the first time.
The field behaved going into La Source, bunching up into the tight hairpin. Lando Norris ran wide out of La Source, putting himself at risk out of Eau Rouge.
Taking advantage of the slipstream, Piastri charged past Norris to take the lead. Immediately pulling away, Norris complained of no battery power. McLaren reassured Norris the power was coming back, but he was now 1.1 seconds behind.
George Russell relieved Alex Albon of fifth place on lap 6, while further back Lance Stroll lost two places as Sainz and Hamilton began their push for points.
Verstappen and Leclerc were now locked in a battle for fourth. Putting the Ferrari under massive pressure, Verstappen’s extra downforce from his ultra-slim wing started to pay dividends. Not able to pass, the two battled for many laps.
Hamilton was now on a charge, passing Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto in quick succession. By Lap 9, he was up to 14th and challenging Pierre Gasly, passing him one lap later.
Intermediate to dry cutover
By lap 10, the drivers were preparing to switch to dry tyres, despite the spray. But with 18 seconds needed for a pitstop, none of the top drivers elected to pit.
Verstappen was growing impatient behind Leclerc. The Red Bull climbed all over the Ferrari, with Leclerc complaining his tyres had gone.
Hamilton became the first driver to gamble on dry tyres on lap 12, pitting from 14th. He rejoined on medium tyres, the rest of the grid glued to his outlap times.
Piastri responded one lap later, leaving Norris out, with Leclerc and Verstappen following in the championship leader.
A domino effect followed, with the rest of the field pittng on lap 13 to 14. Norris pitted at the end of the next lap, losing two seconds in one sector. He fitted hard tyres, now six seconds behind his team-mate. Piastri would need to look after his tyres whereas Norris could push until the last lap of the Belgian GP.
Hamilton, after starting off the domino effect, now found himself seventh. Verstappen had a poor pit stop and was now locked in a battle with George Russell. The gap remained at around a second, but Russell was unable to pass.
Multiple drivers swapped fastest laps, with Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen all setting the timing screens alight.
Managing vs pushing at the Belgian GP
Piastri revealed the first symptoms of degradation were encroaching on his tyres, the Australian undure if he could get his car to the end. Other medium tyre runners also began to complain of rapidly degrading medium tyres.
Norris’s charge slowed with a wide moment on the track on lap 27, losing nearly two seconds to Piastri. He resumed, but could not afford another moment. He started to close once again, taking a second out of his championship rival in the next three laps.
Alonso demonstrated the precarious nature of the medium tyres, pitting on lap 31 for a new set of medium tyres. Antonelli followed him in one lap later.
McLaren and Piastri made the call to go to the end on lap 34, with just ten laps to go. The 1.3 seconds Norris lost earlier could now prove critical. Two further mistakes from Norris extended the gap between the McLarens to eight seconds once again.
Closing stages of Belgian GP
As the laps counted down, Norris closed the gap to Piastri once again,. closingh to within five seconds on lap 39.
Verstappen and Hamilton both pushed hard to make progress in their respective battles. The Red Bull had been stuck behind Leclerc all afternoon, while Hamilton was frustrated behind Albon. Despite their best efforts, both struggled to pass their targets.
With two laps to go, Verstappen was now within a second of Leclerc, as pockets of rain started to fall around the circuit.
Although Norris closed to within three seconds, he dropped back once again, allowing Piastri to cruise to victory. Norris was second, Leclerc third, Verstappen fourth, Russell fifth, Albon sixth, Hamilton seventh, Lawson eigeth, Bortoleto ninth, with Pierre Gasly completing the top ten.
Provisional Classification
- Oscar Piastri
- Lando Norris
- Charles Leclerc
- Max Verstappen
- George Russell
- Alex Albon
- Lewis Hamilton
- Liam Lawson
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Pierre Gasly
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Oliver Bearman
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Lance Stroll
- Esteban Ocon
- Kimi Antonelli
- Fernando Alonso
- Carlos Sainz
- Franco Colapinto
- Isack Hadjar
