SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — Oscar Piastri’s decisive early pass proved to be enough for a vital victory over teammate and title rival Lando Norris at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Piastri turned in a flawless race to win by a comfortable 3.41 seconds despite Norris having a tyre advantage in the closing stages.
The win, the sixth of his season and eighth of his career, extended Piastri’s title lead to 16 points and denied Norris, who had started from pole, a third straight win.
“Let’s go!” Piastri said over his radio post-race. “Nicely done. Nicely f—– done.”
Charles Leclerc took a morale-boosting podium for Ferrari ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen, albeit in a distant battle behind the dominant McLaren pair.
Heavy rain before the start delayed the race by 90 minutes but the sort of wet-weather classic so often produced in similar conditions in Belgium never materialised, with the track ready for dry tyres by the 12th lap.
One formation lap had taken place ahead of the scheduled start at 3 p.m. local time, but driver feedback meant the FIA deemed the conditions undriveable.
A long and frustrating wait followed before the racing got going just before 4:30 p.m. local time.
After several laps behind the safety car, Norris had led the pack into Turn 1 after a rolling start, but his teammate soon proved why pole position is often seen as a poisoned chalice at Spa-Francorchamps.
Piastri stalked Norris through Turn 1 and then used the long run up through the famous Eau Rouge corner to slingshot himself ahead at the Kemmel Straight.
It was an exact reversal to what had happened to Piastri at the beginning of Saturday’s sprint race, when he started on pole but lost the lead to Max Verstappen on the opening lap.
Verstappen was the last person to win the Belgian Grand Prix from pole, doing so in 2021, when just two laps were completed behind the safety car before the rain was called off due to heavy rain.
Norris had appeared to give himself a chance to make something happen at the end, opting for the more durable hard compound when it came time to switch to dry tires — Piastri had gone onto the medium.
But a grandstand finish never materialised, with Piastri bringing his car home for a comfortable win, even though Norris had at one point started slashing away at the lead out in the front.
McLaren were on a different planet in terms of pace, with Leclerc finishing 20 seconds behind in third position.
Verstappen took fourth, ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.
After qualifying a superb fifth on Saturday, Alex Albon claimed sixth position for Williams, his best result since Imola.
Lewis Hamilton had cut a dejected figure after being eliminated from Q1 on Saturday, but he provided entertainment early in the contest from the back end of the grid.
The seven-time world champion used the combination of his skill in the wet and his quicker car to carve through the lower order early on with a series of beautifully executed moves.
Hamilton then was the first to switch from the intermediate wet tyre to dries on Lap 12, allowing him to emerge seventh once everyone else had done the same, although he could not get past Albon late on.
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson took a superb eighth ahead of Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, who had been allowed past teammate Nico Hulkenberg when quicker at a crucial part of the race.
After failing to start Saturday’s sprint from a promising position Pierre Gasly snatched a point for Alpine.
Yuki Tsunoda’s best qualifying performance for Red Bull came to nothing, with the Japanese driver staying out a lap too late as the track switched from wet to dry and dropping down the order as a result.
Formula 1 will race next week at Budapest’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the final event before a four-week summer break.