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Motorsport

F1 Belgian GP: Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris after lengthy rain delay

Oscar Piastri Lando Norris McLaren Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Mercedes Ferrari Charles Leclerc Albon Williams Cla (Person)

Oscar Piastri led home Lando Norris for his sixth win of the 2025 Formula 1 season as McLaren scored another 1-2 at a wet-to-dry Belgian Grand Prix.

On diverging strategies, Piastri made a one-stop from intermediates to medium tyres work to keep a chasing Norris at bay on a drying track, with Charles Leclerc beating Max Verstappen to third.

The start procedure for F1's Belgian Grand Prix was suspended due to poor visibility reported by many drivers on the formation lap.

Fresh showers further hampered the organisers' efforts to improve track conditions, but after a break in the weather a lengthy effort was made to remove standing water.

Race control eventually commenced over an hour after the original start time, at 16:20 local, with four laps behind the safety car followed by a rolling start.

As the field was released on lap 5 of 44, Norris suffered a slide out of La Source, with allowed Piastri to stick to his team-mate's gearbox with a brave run through Eau Rouge and Raidillon, before easily drafting past on the Kemmel Straight to take the lead into Les Combes.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images)

Further back, George Russell got past fifth-starting Alex Albon in the same corner on the following lap. Norris stuck with Piastri as the pair broke clear from third-placed Leclerc, who soon started holding up Verstappen with a lower downforce setup on his Ferrari.

The biggest early mover was Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pitlane with a brand-new Ferrari engine and scythed through the midfield from 16th to 13th in the space of four laps. The seven-time world champion also led the first gamblers for slicks, coming in for mediums on lap 12 as did Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton immediately set a fastest second and third sector, prompting leader Piastri to come in on lap 12 followed by Leclerc and Verstappen, while Norris continued for one more lap to put him at a disadvantage to Piastri, compounded by a slower pitstop that saw him emerge eight seconds behind.

To keep Norris' win chances intact, his team decided to put him on an alternate strategy on hard tyres instead, aiming to go to the end on the much more durable C1 tyres compared to Piastri's medium C3s.

As the crossover to slick tyres shook out, there were no changes in position for the top six, but Hamilton's early move worked out beautifully as he vaulted up to eighth, which became seventh after passing Liam Lawson.

Norris stabilised the gap to Piastri on eight seconds, with the Australian now being challenged to make his set of mediums last until the end of the race as well. Meanwhile, Verstappen's challenge for Leclerc's podium spot started to fade around the halfway mark as he struggled to stay within two seconds of the Ferrari, with Russell, Albon and Hamilton further behind.

An uneventful second half of the race turned into a battle of diverging strategies, with Norris starting to turn up the wick on his intrinsically much slower but more durable hards, while Piastri was now fully committed to trying to nurse his mediums to the end. The net result of those two different approaches were relatively similar lap times between the pair. Norris was slowly making inroads on his team-mate, but it soon became apparent he would only be in the hunt if the Australian was forced to pit a second time.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren (Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images)

But while Piastri battled degradation, he managed to keep a five-second buffer until the end, aided by Norris going over the limit on several occasions in a desperate bid to bridge the gap. Piastri crossed the line 3.4 seconds ahead in another McLaren 1-2 victory.

Underlining McLaren's domination in mixed conditions, Leclerc finished third over 20 seconds behind Piastri, with Verstappen a close fourth after being unable to threaten the Monegasque. Russell was another 13 seconds behind Verstappen in fifth in what was a decent result but a worrying performance for Mercedes in the face of Ferrari's improvements.

Hamilton couldn't quite round off a commendable comeback race by overtaking Albon's Williams for sixth, with the Anglo-Thai driver expertly defending his position while Hamilton was stuck in DRS range. Lawson took eighth for Racing Bulls after a lonely afternoon, while Gabriel Bortoleto was being allowed past Sauber team-mate Hulkenberg as he proved quicker on the day and took ninth.

Hulkenberg opted for a second pitstop instead, giving up 10th position but the German was unable to make that call pay off. Gasly was promoted into the final points position in 10th, with Hulkenberg stuck in 12th behind Haas' Oliver Bearman.

While Hamilton moved up, it was a long afternoon for fellow pitlane starters Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Alonso and Carlos Sainz, who finished at the rear of the field. All 20 drivers made it to the finish line, with Isack Hadjar the only driver to be lapped after facing an undiagnosed problem with his Racing Bulls machine.

In the championship Piastri's sixth win of 2025 extends his lead on Norris to 16 points, with Verstappen now 81 points adrift in third. Well behind the dominant McLarens, Ferrari strengthened its hold on second place in the constructors' place against Mercedes and Red Bull.

F1 Belgian GP - race results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Chassis	Engine
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81	44	-			1	25		McLaren	Mercedes
2	L. Norris McLaren	4	44	+3.415 3.415	3.415		1	18		McLaren	Mercedes
3	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	44	+20.185 20.185	16.770		1	15		Ferrari	Ferrari
4	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	44	+21.731 21.731	1.546		1	12		Red Bull	Red Bull
5	G. Russell Mercedes	63	44	+34.863 34.863	13.132		1	10		Mercedes	Mercedes
6	A. Albon Williams	23	44	+39.926 39.926	5.063		1	8		Williams	Mercedes
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	44	+40.679 40.679	0.753		1	6		Ferrari	Ferrari
8	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	44	+52.033 52.033	11.354		1	4		RB	Honda
9	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5	44	+56.434 56.434	4.401		1	2		Sauber	Ferrari
10	P. Gasly Alpine	10	44	+1'12.714 1'12.714	16.280		1	1		Alpine	Renault
11	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	44	+1'13.145 1'13.145	0.431		1			Haas	Ferrari
12	N. Hulkenberg Sauber	27	44	+1'13.628 1'13.628	0.483		2			Sauber	Ferrari
13	Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing	22	44	+1'15.395 1'15.395	1.767		1			Red Bull	Red Bull
14	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	44	+1'19.831 1'19.831	4.436		1			Aston Martin	Mercedes
15	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	44	+1'26.063 1'26.063	6.232		1			Haas	Ferrari
16	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	44	+1'26.721 1'26.721	0.658		2			Mercedes	Mercedes
17	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	44	+1'27.924 1'27.924	1.203		2			Aston Martin	Mercedes
18	C. Sainz Williams	55	44	+1'32.024 1'32.024	4.100		2			Williams	Mercedes
19	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	44	+1'35.250 1'35.250	3.226		2			Alpine	Renault
20	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6	43	1 lap			2			RB	Honda
View full results