Oscar Piastri passes Lando Norris to win F1 Belgian GP after a delayed start, as Charles Leclerc kept Max Verstappen at bay to third.
The start of F1 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps was delayed due to visibilities after they held a formation lap behind the safety car. They waited for more than a hour to get going on the intermediate tyres. Four cars started from the pitlane after electing to change aero and take new power unit elements.
Williams’ Carlos Sainz led the pack of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. They had it mitigated after a rolling start after more than 1.5 hours delay. It was McLaren’s Lando Norris leading behind the safety car from Oscar Piastri.
The laps started to get ticked, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Williams’ Alexander Albon, Mercedes’ George Russell, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar & Liam Lawson and Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in the Top 10.
After couple of laps behind the safety car, the race got going eventually. It didn’t take long for Piastri to take the F1 Belgian GP lead at Les Combes after the Brit used up his deployment to be left with nothing by the end of the straight, as the Australian took the outside line at ease.
Leclerc managed to hold off Verstappen, as Albon had Russell on his tail. In a couple of laps time, the Brit managed to clear the Thai at the straight to be fifth. Tsunoda held onto seventh from Hadjar, who had Lawson on his tail, while Bortoleto rounded out the Top 10 points places.
Hamilton was the driver on charge after clearing Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, followed by Sainz in the final corner. He got through Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at Turn 5 and got Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg at the final corner. He was up to 13th after passing Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
At the front, Piastri created a good gap on Norris, as Leclerc had to keep Verstappen at bay for multiple laps. At the far end, Lawson cleared Hadjar for eighth, while Haas’ Oliver Bearman passed Esteban Ocon for 11th. Lap 12 saw gamble for multiple outside the Top 10 to switch to dry tyres.
It was Hamilton in the lead of that pack followed by Hulkenberg, Gasly and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. A lap later, Piastri pitted from lead but Norris was forced to stay out. Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell and Albon pitted, but Tsunoda had to stay out due to Verstappen.
Norris opted for the hard tyre on Lap 14 but he maintained second from Piastri. It was Leclerc in third still ahead of Verstappen, Russell and Albon, who were closely packed together. Hamilton climbed up to seventh after passing Lawson, as Hulkenberg was up to ninth from Bortoleto in the Top 10.
Gasly was up to 11th from Tsunoda, who dropped places after late stop, as Hadjar did as well. The Top 10 stationed as such but Sauber went for team orders to allow Bortoleto ahead of Hulkenberg in their chase of Lawson for eighth. They did at the long straight at Turn 5.
It was a fight of strategy at the front as Piastri ran the medium, while Norris was on the hard. The Brit had a moment in the chase but shook that off soon. Sauber decided to pit Hulkenberg from 10 in a strange move, which allowed Gasly to move up to 10th without pitting.
He still managed to keep Tsunoda and Bearman off by just. At the front, Norris brought the lead under three seconds but a mistake at Turn 1 disrupted his rhythm on the penultimate lap. He gave up which meant Piastri had the win F1 Belgian GP win his pocket by 3.415s over Norris.
Leclerc was third in the end ahead of Verstappen, as Russell was fifth from Albon, who managed to keep Hamilton at bay by 0.753s margin. Lawson was eighth from Bortoleto, as Gasly rounded out the Top 10 by scoring one point. Bearman managed to clear Tsunoda for 11th.
He was just 0.431s behind Gasly, as Tsunoda lost to Hulkenberg on the final lap to be 13th behind the German. Stroll was 14th from Ocon, who kept Antonelli at bay along with Alonso. Sainz ended up 18th from Colapitno and Hadjar – as all the 20 cars saw the chequered flag, with Hadjar a lap down.
