Piastri wins wet-dry Belgian GP after late pressure from title rival and McLaren team mate Norris

Oscar Piastri claimed victory in the Belgian Grand Prix, holding off McLaren team mate and title rival Lando Norris in a wet-dry affair at Spa-Francorchamps to extend his Drivers’ Championship lead to 16 points.

Heavy rain ahead of the 44-lap race delayed proceedings by almost 80 minutes but once racing got underway on Lap 5, the crucial moment came immediately as Piastri got a better run on his team mate and polesitter through Eau Rouge.

The Australian’s run was so great he completed the pass along the Kemmel Straight well before the braking zone of Les Combes and thereafter managed a margin of roughly one second in the early running.

With the circuit having substantially dried and with track position, Piastri pitted on Lap 12 for the medium tyres with Norris forced to complete another lap, and after making his own stop the following tour for hard rubber, the Briton found himself nine seconds adrift.

Despite having to manage his softer compound, Piastri maintained a healthy gap which only reduced in the final laps to as much as 3.1s, but a small mistake from Norris at La Source on the penultimate lap meant the margin extended to 3.4s at the chequered flag.

The two title challengers were well clear of Charles Leclerc in third, the Ferrari driver finishing 20s behind Piastri but having held Saturday’s Sprint winner Max Verstappen at bay throughout, the Red Bull man just 1.5s away from another rostrum.

Mercedes’ George Russell enjoyed a lonely race for P5, having passed Alex Albon early on, with the Williams driver surviving constant pressure from Lewis Hamilton in the second half of proceedings to claim sixth.

Hamilton had climbed 11 places in his Ferrari after a pit lane start and was one of the first to switch from the intermediate tyres at the crossover point to eventually finish seventh.

Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls and Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto claimed 8th and 9th respectively, with Pierre Gasly’s Alpine taking the final point on offer in P10 after heading a DRS train for much of the race.

This was headed by Haas’ Oliver Bearman, with Nico Hulkenberg P12 after making a second stop having been running in the points, while Yuki Tsunoda lost two places in the closing stages.

The Red Bull driver finished ahead of Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Esteban Ocon (Haas), Kimi Antonelli, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz - the Mercedes, Aston Martin and Williams drivers all starting from the pit lane.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar completed the order as all drivers reached the chequered flag as there was no caution period once racing had got underway after the delayed start.

AS IT HAPPENED

With Saturday’s Sprint having been held in sunshine and optimal conditions, drivers and teams were thrown a huge curveball on Sunday afternoon as heavy rain hit the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit less than 30 minutes before the start of the scheduled 44-lap race.

Unsurprisingly, the race started behind the Safety Car with polesitter Norris leading the field away from McLaren team mate Piastri with all drivers on the intermediate Pirelli tyre and searching for grip amongst the standing water.

Several drivers started from the pit lane after power unit and set-up changes, including Sainz, Hamilton, Antonelli and Alonso, with the quartet joining the back of the Safety Car queue as the formation lap got underway.

But with less than a lap completed, Race Control took the decision to red flag proceedings due to the large amounts of spray with Norris reporting, “I can’t see a lot behind the Safety Car”, as all drivers entered the pit lane.

After nearly an 80-minute delay and suspension of the starting procedure following another heavy spell of rain, the field took to the track again behind the Safety Car under bright skies and the race officially got underway.

After four laps behind the Safety Car and with standing water at a minimum, racing finally commenced on Lap 5 with Norris leading Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen into La Source at the rolling start.

Up Eau Rouge Piastri was nailed to the back of his team mate and comfortably moved ahead along the Kemmel Straight, completing the move well before the braking zone into Les Combes.

The Australian pulled a margin of one second by the end of the lap, while further behind, Russell moved up to fifth at the expense of Albon and Stroll dropped behind both Sainz and Hamilton down to 18th.

As the two McLarens began to clear out at the head of the field, Verstappen started to mount pressure on Leclerc for P3, while the second Ferrari of Hamilton passed Sainz for 16th into the final chicane on Lap 7 as Antonelli ran deep behind.

Hamilton’s charge continued, passing Colapinto around the outside into Les Combes and Hulkenberg at the final chicane on Lap 8, with Gasly his next victim on the following tour into Stavelot.

By Lap 10, Piastri’s margin to Norris sat at 1.7s, the race leader reporting that slick tyres would be needed soon, with Leclerc 5.5s adrift in his battle with Verstappen as the Ferrari driver struggled for rear grip.

But having added downforce compared with the Sprint, Verstappen struggled to gain a run on Leclerc along the Kemmel Straight despite much better exits from La Source.

Hamilton became the first driver to take the plunge for slick tyres, pitting at the end of Lap 11 from P13 and the Briton was joined by Gasly, Hulkenberg and Alonso as all drivers switched to the medium compound.

The following lap, Piastri pitted from the lead for the medium tyre as Norris continued on another lap, but behind the majority of drivers also stopped, only Tsunoda, Hadjar and Ocon staying out on their used intermediates.

Ocon soon became a roadblock for Leclerc, Verstappen and Russell, the trio passing the Haas driver at high speed through Blanchimont as Norris pitted at the end of the lap.

The decision was made to switch to the hard tyre in the hope of running to the end of the race, but the Briton lost time with a small problem fitting the front-left tyre and found himself 9.1s adrift of Piastri once up to speed.

Behind, Leclerc still headed Verstappen, Russell and Albon, with Hamilton now up to P7 as less than four seconds covered the group, with Lawson, Hulkenberg and Bortoleto completing the top 10.

The two Kick Saubers swapped positions on Lap 20 at the end of the Kemmel Straight, while behind, Antonelli demoted Colapinto for P15 as Hadjar made a second stop on Lap 21, swapping the medium tyre for hards.

At the halfway point, Piastri led Norris by 8.1s but was unsure whether he could manage his medium tyres without stopping again, claiming over the radio “I think it will be tough to get to the end”.

Outside the top 10, Gasly was several seconds away from the points but had a DRS train behind him in P11 consisting of Tsunoda, Bearman, Alonso and Antonelli.

Norris lost a further second in his pursuit of Piastri, running wide at Pouhon on Lap 26, while Antonelli moved ahead of Alonso for P14 into Les Combes the next lap as Sainz in P19 received a black and white flag for track limits at Eau Rouge.

Sainz had recently pitted for a set of hard tyres along with Colapinto, as the pair joined Hadjar at the back of the field as the only drivers to have made two pit stops.

Alonso was the next to stop at the end of Lap 29, with drivers struggling to manage the medium tyres on an almost completely dry circuit, with Antonelli and Hulkenberg also feeling the need to come into the pits over the following laps.

Hulkenberg, who had pitted from P10, moved up to 14th at the expense of Ocon along the Kemmel Straight and quickly closed a gap of more than six seconds to Stroll in front.

Antonelli was next to challenge Ocon after sweeping around the outside at Les Combes, but the Frenchman was able to move back ahead through the following bend as Alonso came to challenge the pair behind.

Out front, the gap between the leading pair began to close rapidly as Norris reduced the gap to just 5.5s at the start of Lap 38, and which came down to 3.8s on Lap 41, with Piastri told to potentially expect drops of rain at La Source over the remaining laps.

A deep moment into La Source on the penultimate lap all but ended Norris’ charge having brought the gap down to 3.1s, eventually finishing 3.4s behind Piastri who extends his Drivers’ Championship lead to 16 points.

Leclerc was 20s adrift in third but having held off Verstappen, with Russell a lonely fifth from Albon and Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion having moved up 11 places.

Lawson, Bortoleto and Gasly completed the top 10, with Bearman just missing out on the points after passing Tsunoda, who also lost a further position to the charging Hulkenberg on fresh rubber.

Stroll, Ocon, Antonelli, Alonso, Sainz, Colapinto and Hadjar completed the order as all drivers finished in a race which featured no further cautions after the delayed start.

Key quote

"I knew that Lap 1 was going to be probably my best chance of winning the race, and I got a good exit out of Turn 1 and lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and then it was enough," said Piastri.

"The rest of the race we managed really well, struggling a little bit at the end, maybe the medium wasn’t the best for the last five or six laps through last 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."

What's next

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