Oscar Piastri emerged as the victor of the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday. The McLaren driver managed to stay ahead of his teammate Lando Norris in a race that was delayed due to heavy rainfall. As a result, Piastri’s lead in the title race now stands at 16 points. Max Verstappen finished fourth in Spa.
The rainfall prior to the start was so severe that the race officials decided to postpone the start of the race. Consequently, the drivers headed into the pit lane. The Belgian Grand Prix eventually began after more than an hour’s delay, at 14:20 UTC. Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the race:
ROUND 1/44: The lap counter starts, and the race begins with a few laps behind the safety car to assess the actual conditions. Visibility is significantly improved, report several drivers. All of them, incidentally, are on intermediate tires.
ROUND 4/44: It’s not a standing start, as one side of the starting grid is wetter than the other, creating unfair conditions. At 14:31 UTC, it’s finally time. We’re off!
ROUND 5/44: Piastri immediately takes the lead thanks to a superb overtaking move on Kemmel Straight. Norris, therefore, didn’t get much joy from his pole position. Behind the duo, Leclerc is keeping Verstappen at bay for the time being.
ROUND 8/44: In the backfield, Lewis Hamilton is on a roll. The Brit, who started from the pits, is overtaking one driver after another in his Ferrari. He overtakes three drivers in a single lap. Up front, Norris is trying to stay within a second of Piastri, although DRS is not yet permitted on the wet track.
ROUND 13/44: While Leclerc has managed to keep Verstappen behind him with great difficulty, the drivers head into the pits for slicks. The first is Hamilton, followed by Piastri, Leclerc, and Verstappen among others. Norris, on the other hand, continues, only to come in a lap later. Not for medium tires like teammate Piastri, but for the hard ones. This promises to be an interesting duel.
Lap 22/44
The race is halfway through and a semblance of calm has returned to the field. At the front, Piastri in Belgium has pulled away from Norris, who on his hard tyres has a few seconds’ margin over Leclerc and Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman can’t get past the Monegasque yet, but also has little trouble from George Russell behind him. Hamilton, the man who was the first to pit, is seventh after all the pit stop chaos.
Lap 30/44
The question is which McLaren driver has made the right choice: Piastri on medium with another stop to go, or Norris who is betting on finishing the race on hard tyres. And what about a potential safety car and its impact on the battle? It might still get exciting. That’s also to be hoped for Verstappen, who after more than two-thirds of the race remains stuck in P4, two seconds behind Leclerc.
Lap 37/44
The entertainment value of the race is visibly declining, with action mainly in the midfield. There, fierce battles are being fought by the likes of Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, and Oliver Bearman for the last point, behind the surprisingly strong Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto. At the front, Verstappen is getting closer to Leclerc, but can the Dutchman still make a bid for a podium spot?
Lap 42/44
Norris has slowly but surely nibbled away at his deficit: only three seconds separate him from Piastri in Belgium. But being ‘there’ is one thing, getting ‘past’ is another. Piastri has things under control and apparently, a second pit stop is not necessary. The final laps have begun. Meanwhile, it’s getting cloudy, but the teams don’t expect any more rain.
Lap 44/44
There’s the chequered flag! Piastri holds on, the Australian stays ahead of his teammate and title rival Norris. Despite starting from pole position, Norris fails to deliver a victory to his mother in her home country. The win in the Belgian Grand Prix means that Piastri extends his lead in the World Championship to 16 points. And Verstappen? He finishes fourth, as Leclerc in the Ferrari simply proves too fast on the straight. An overtaking manoeuvre is therefore not in the cards for the Dutchman.
