
F1, Belgium GP 2025: McLaren's Oscar Piastri takes dominant sprint pole
Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen will join Piastri on the front row for the first race since Christian Horner was dismissed as team boss and replaced with Laurent Mekies.
Piastri lapped the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with a best time of one minute 40.510 seconds, 0.477 seconds quicker than Verstappen and 0.618 clear of Norris.
The Australian is eight points clear at the top after 12 of 24 rounds.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starts fourth but teammate Lewis Hamilton will line up 18th after a difficult afternoon for the seven times world champion, whose most recent win came at the same circuit last year with Mercedes.
ALSO READ | Verstappen says, Horner's exit has no impact on his future plans
The Briton spun on his last flying lap while on course to go through, with the suspicion falling on a failure of the car's rear axle.
George Russell, who finished first last year for Mercedes but was then disqualified for an underweight car, also struggled and qualified 13th.
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India Today
3 minutes ago
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Watch: Oscar Piastri's heart-stopping move that won him Belgian Grand Prix
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First Post
33 minutes ago
- First Post
Oscar Piastri wins rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix, extends Drivers' Championship lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris
Oscar Piastri extended his lead in the Formula 1 2025 Drivers' Championship by 16 points after winning the Belgian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris. read more Oscar Piastri passed McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris with a bold early move to win the rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix and extend his Formula One lead to 16 points on Sunday. Charles Leclerc was a distant third for Ferrari as reigning champions McLaren celebrated their sixth one-two finish in 13 races and the third in a row The race at Spa-Francorchamps was red-flagged after an initial formation lap and delayed by an hour and 20 minutes due to the weather, with standing water and heavy spray affecting visibility. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Piastri was in no mood for hanging around when the racing got going with a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car to check conditions. The Australian slipstreamed Norris through the daunting Eau Rouge and then scythed past down the Kemmel straight into Les Combes in a move of total commitment in the treacherous conditions. 'I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn One, lifted as little as I dared out of Eau Rouge,' he said. 'The rest of the race we managed really well. I struggled at the end. Maybe the mediums were not the best for the last five or six laps. We had it mostly under control.' The win was his sixth of the season, making the 24-year-old the first Australian – on a list that includes past world champions Jack Brabham and Alan Jones – to triumph so many times in a single campaign. Norris had a slight battery issue, the Briton asking over the radio why he had 'no pack' before his race engineer assured him it was coming back, but he was not looking for any excuses afterwards. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Oscar just did a good job. Nothing more to say. Committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run,' he said. 'So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today.' TWO-HORSE RACE Piastri now has 266 points to Norris' 250. Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen is third but 81 points off the lead and the championship more than ever a two-horse race with Hungary up next weekend before the August break. McLaren lead the constructors' standings with 516 points to Ferrari's 248 while Mercedes fell further behind their Italian rivals on 220. Piastri pitted on lap 12 of 44 to switch from intermediates to medium tyres on a drying track and Norris followed a lap later, but opting for the hards and rejoining nine seconds behind. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Briton might have hoped Piastri would have to pit again but the Australian made the tyres last to the chequered flag on a one-stop strategy. Piastri crossed the line 3.415 seconds clear of Norris, who had been chasing a third win in a row and managed to reduce the gap in the final laps before late mistakes left the ever-calm Australian under no pressure. Saturday sprint winner Verstappen finished fourth in his team's first grand prix since the dismissal of team boss Christian Horner, with George Russell fifth for Mercedes. Williams' Alex Albon held off Ferrari's seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton – last year's winner with Mercedes – to secure sixth. Hamilton had been one of four drivers due to start from the pit lane but given a big boost by the switch to a rolling getaway and a fresh engine installed overnight. The Briton was also the first to make the decision to switch to slicks and pit, gaining six places. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls with Gabriel Bortoleto ninth for Sauber and Pierre Gasly securing the final point for Alpine.