A rainy Belgian Grand Prix was won by championship leader Oscar Piastri, ahead of Lando Norris in second and Charles Leclerc in third.
Photo: Sam Bagnall
Drivers, as usual, took to the formation lap, though this time it was behind the safety car. The actual start of the race was delayed due to poor visibility. We had to wait about an hour and a half for the race to resume, during which the track began to dry. Race control then decided to start the race—not from a standing start, but with a rolling start.
Lando Norris, who started from pole, lost the lead right after the start on the Camel Straight when he was overtaken by his teammate. Oscar Piastri maintained his lead comfortably until the end, further extending his lead in the championship. Norris, now second overall, trails the Australian by 16 points.
The Italian team from Maranello brought a significant upgrade to Spa in the form of a new rear suspension. The result was a third-place finish for Charles Leclerc, though the other side of the garage didn't see the same success. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton made a mistake in the sprint qualifying session, locking his rear tires and spinning in the Bus Stop chicane, which prevented him from making it out of Q1. Another major error came during qualifying for the main race, where he again failed to advance past Q1 after exceeding track limits at Raidillon. He qualified 18th but started the race from the pit lane on Sunday due to an engine change.
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| Photo: Andy Hone |
In the race itself, Hamilton delivered a strong comeback drive. On the wet track, he climbed from 18th to 13th and used an undercut strategy to finish in seventh place.
As for Red Bull, this was the first race weekend in 20 years without Christian Horner present. Laurent Mekies led the team in his place. He had something to celebrate in the sprint, as Verstappen held off pressure from the McLarens to claim the win. In the race, however, the Dutchman couldn’t get past third-placed Leclerc and had to settle for fourth. Yuki Tsunoda achieved his best-ever starting position with Red Bull after qualifying seventh on Saturday, and finished the race in twelfth.
Special mention goes to Alex Albon, who once again delivered a great result for Williams, bringing home 8 points with a superb sixth-place finish. Notably, he successfully defended against intense pressure from Lewis Hamilton, who tried hard to overtake him toward the end of the race.
Liam Lawson also had a solid performance, finishing eighth. Behind him in ninth was Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, while Pierre Gasly rounded out the points in tenth place for Alpine.