Oscar Piastri achieved a controlled victory over teammate Lando Norris on a rain -delayed Belgian Grand Prix to expand his championship leader.
Lights out on circuit The Spa-Francorchamps was delayed for 80 minutes after heavy rain had held the circuit, the dangerous lowering of visibility, and racing control ran out the first four laps behind the safety car as a precaution when the action finally started.
Despite rapidly drying circumstances, a rolling restart was mandatory, whereby pole-getter Norris took control of the field at the end of round 4.
Norris’s wrist benefit did not last long when the race finally started. Mark Thompson/Getty images
Piastri stacked the pressure from the moment that Norris put down his foot and the sister car all the way to the Start-Finish Straight stated that the resumption of racing in round 5. They were closely agreed in La-Bron, but a click on outcome for Norris gave Piaastri an invitation to make the pass for the leadership.
The Australian slipped the Brit through Eau Rouge and on the Kemmel Straight, his momentum strong enough to get him comfortable around his teammate, long before they are the brakes for Les Combes. It was a decisive movement on a drying track, who earned Piastri Pit Stop priority above his teammate at the approaching switch to slippery tires.
The first drivers were led by Lewis Hamilton, who became 14th after starting Pit Lane. His sectoral times were immediately impressive and Piastri led most of the field during the next Tour.
Norris, at 1.5s on drift too close to double the team, was forced to wait another round before moving to Slicks. Not helped by a slow change of his top-left wheel, he ended his out-lap 9.1s of the leadership.
But the Brit had a potential bait in his sleeve. With nothing to lose, he selected the hard tire in an attempt to reach the checkered flag without having to make a second stop. It put his teammate under pressure to try to stretch his mediums 32 rounds to the end, where Norris was told that Piastri should manage his pace to reach the finish. Pirelli estimated that his medium -sized band had a lifespan of 20 laps.
Piastri maintained a lead of about 8s – partly helped by a Norris snap of upset by Pouhon in round 27 – to round 32, when the Brit started to nibble his shortage considerably, making it back to about 7s.
Another error, this time a lock-up at La-Bron, left him more than 8s on drift on round 34. Norris was coached via radio to be less aggressive on the brakes when his hard tires began to wear, while Piaastri and his engineer both agreed that the medium-sized band would reach the finish.
The Brit continued to win and with five laps to go the opening was cut to 5s. But the consistency of Piastri and the mistakes of Norris ensured that the race no longer had any laps before the opening could be completely closed. A final mistake at La -Bron brought Norris’ attack to bed and Piastri took the checkered flag with 3.4 seconds.
“I knew that round 1 would probably be my best chance to win the race,” he said. “I got a good exit of turn 1 and lifted so little if I dared through Eau Rouge, and that was enough.
“I was pretty disappointed about myself after yesterday, but it turns out to be second at Spa is not too bad.”
The victory extends the title of Piastri to 16 points.
Norris has credited his teammate for the victory and said he tried everything he could to regain the lead after the first round.
“Oscar just did well,” he said. “He committed a little more by Eau Rouge and had a slipstream and got the run. He did better in the beginning, and that was it.
“There was nothing left that I could do after that point. I would like to be at the top, but Oscar earned it today.”
Charles Leclerc held his starting position to finish third and to collect his fourth trophy in six races. Leclerc kept Max Verstappen Ably in the opening phase of the race in a boost for Ferrari’s bad reputation of wet weather, and he gradually opened a margin once on slicks to secure the place.
“I knew that the first part of the race was the most difficult for us because we might not have had the downforce that McLaren or Max had, because they put the qualification in danger to get better in the rain today. Fortunately it dried up quite quickly and then the pace was good.”
Verstappen finished fourth in front of George Russell, who still had an anonymous race in a Mercedes that was cut in pace on the drift of the front teams.
Alex Albon finished sixth, his best result since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix of May, after he had relegated a place of Russell on the second race round with a slipstream to Les Combes.
Hamilton finished a great seventh, in 11 places after starting Pit Lane, thanks to an inspired early call to be the first driver on Slicks. The Brit had already shown a strong pace during the wettest phase of the race on the intervening tire to rise to the 13th, but the early stop beat him six places and deep in points, although his linear speed deficit to Albon ensured that he could not rise further.
Hamilton Scyhed on the back in the wet. Ryan Piersse/Getty images
Liam Lawson finished eighth for his second point score result in three rounds for Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto in the ninth.
Pierre Gasly completed the top 10 and led home Oliver Bearman in a close battle for the last point.
Nico Hulkenberg finished 12th after a late second pit stop had dropped the order from the 10th, although he could not restore the place, not even with fresher rubber.
Yuki Tsunoda ended a frustrated 13th after the start of the seventh but lost while he was kept outside an extra round before he switches to slicks to prevent double stacking behind Verstappen. The delayed stop dumped him out of the points, from which he could not recover in the top 10.
Lance Stroll was 14th for Esteban Ocon, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto and Isack Hadjar.
Result
#Piastri #originates #Belgian #victory #Racer