The Belgian Grand Prix again provided drama, with heavy rain delaying the start before Oscar Piastri romped to victory ahead of team mate and title rival Lando Norris.<\/p>\n
After seeing his championship lead slashed in recent weeks, Piastri extended the margin back up to 16 points<\/a>, completing a Lap 1 overtake on Norris<\/a> to put himself on the path to the top step of the podium.<\/p>\n With plenty of storylines throughout the field, here is our round up of everything that happened at Spa-Francorchamps…<\/p>\n Piastri beats Norris as wet weather hits Spa<\/p>\n Piastri<\/a> lost the lead of Saturday\u2019s Sprint to Max Verstappen<\/a>, with the Red Bull<\/a> driver completing a textbook slipstream move along the Kemmel Straight and into Les Combes. On Sunday, in wet conditions and from a rolling start, Piastri executed a mirror-image move on team mate Norris<\/a>.<\/p>\n After a single lap behind the Safety Car, the start was postponed, resulting in an 80-minute wait, and three further laps behind the Aston Martin Vantage<\/a> before racing would commence.<\/p>\n Once Piastri had made his move after the rolling start, the only jeopardy came when changing to slick tyres. Like the majority of the field, the Australian saw medium rubber fitted to his McLaren. But Norris opted for a set of hard Pirellis, covering the possibility that Piastri would need another stop to reach the chequered flag.<\/p>\n However, the Australian managed his own tyres perfecly right to the chequered flag, whilst some minor errors from the chasing Norris prevented the Briton from launching an effective attack of his own late on.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a bit disappointed it was a rolling start because I thought that was going to take away some opportunity,\u201d said Piastri after the race.<\/p>\n \u201cI got a good exit out of Turn 1, was able to stay close and when I was that close I knew that I\u2019d just got lift a little bit less than Lando did and try and keep it on the track.<\/p>\n \u201cA bit lively up over the hill, but managed to make it stick and from there the tow helped me out. I\u2019m proud of my first lap.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton redeems his disastrous weekend, while Leclerc claims his fifth podium of 2025<\/p>\n Lewis Hamilton<\/a> was trapped in a nightmare for the majority of his Belgian Grand Prix weekend, struggling towards the foot of the order while watching his Ferrari<\/a> team mate, Charles Leclerc<\/a>, challenging at the front.<\/p>\n Out in the first phases of both Sprint Qualifying and Qualifying, Hamilton had also failed to make meaningful progress in the Sprint. In contrast, Leclerc started the Sprint from fourth, and qualified for the Grand Prix in third.<\/p>\n Ferrari brought what is expected to be the team\u2019s final major upgrade of the 2025 season to Belgium \u2013 a new rear suspension assembly \u2013 with opinions split on the benefits.<\/p>\n But the Grand Prix saw a masterful call from Ferrari to pit Hamilton for slick tyres first, yielding a significant undercut that catapulted the pit lane starter into the points-paying positions, where he remained.<\/p>\n Similarly strong in the Grand Prix, Leclerc appeared comfortable, leading Verstappen for the entire 44-lap duration to return to the podium for the third time in five weekends.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m happy to have come from all the way back there, recovered and got into the points,\u201d said Hamilton. \u201cThe team did a great job as they always do throughout the weekend and they did a great job with the strategy so big thanks to them and I’ll try and do a better job for them next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n Verstappen secures his first Sprint win of the season<\/p>\n When fitting the slimmest of rear wings to his Red Bull for Sprint Qualifying, Verstappen made his gameplan clear \u2013 sacrifice speed in the twisty middle sector, but blitz the straights.<\/p>\n Starting Saturday’s Sprint from second, the Dutchman\u2019s plan went perfectly, as he dropped back from Piastri on the entry of Eau Rouge in order to slingshot past the McLaren driver<\/a> before the entry of Les Combes.<\/p>\n The incredible straight line speed of the Red Bull then made it impossible for Piastri to get close, even with DRS open.<\/p>\n Cautious of rain on Sunday, Red Bull ran a more draggy rear wing for the Grand Prix, a decision that gave pace in the early damp conditions, but limited his ability to challenge Leclerc in the dry.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday was a positive result for us, but it is not a realistic result, because we are way slower,\u201d said Verstappen. \u201cBut today, I tried. All in all, with the decision making and the set up that we chose with the wing didn\u2019t help.<\/p>\n “But nevertheless, P3 was probably the maximum possible with the ideal scenario and, unfortunately, this didn\u2019t happen today.\u201d<\/p>\n Have Mercedes taken a \u2018big step backwards\u2019?<\/p>\n On a weekend in which Ferrari secured a podium result \u2013 strengthening their hold on second place in the Teams\u2019 Championship \u2013 their rivals Mercedes<\/a> appeared to be facing a particularly tough time.<\/p>\n