Formula 1: McLaren’s Oscar Piastri wins Belgian Grand Prix after outpacing Lando Norris in the wet

Oscar Piastri delivered a decisive win at the Belgian Grand Prix, pulling off a brave early overtake on team mate Lando Norris in damp conditions and managing his tyres under pressure to secure his fourth win of the season. The result puts the McLaren driver firmly back in control of the Championship, with a 16-point lead over Norris.

The start was delayed due to rain, and the race began behind the Safety Car. Once racing got underway, Norris initially led the pack, but Piastri capitalised on a small error, sweeping past on the Kemmel Straight. From there, the Australian steadily built a lead, even as Norris closed in late on.

“How is the gap looking?” Piastri asked over team radio on lap 43. At that stage, Norris was just over three seconds behind and closing. However, a lock-up into La Source effectively ended his chances of a final-lap showdown.

“It’s going to be close, but if Piastri just can keep this pace, he may well just hang on,” observed former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer.

Piastri was told to go to the end on his medium tyres, while Norris, on a different strategy with hards, pushed hard in the final stint. Despite the looming threat of rain in the final laps, Piastri kept his cool, setting two personal bests in the final stages and finishing over five seconds clear of his teammate.

Behind them, Charles Leclerc held on to third ahead of Max Verstappen, who crossed the line exactly where he started, in fourth.

George Russell took fifth for Mercedes, followed by Alex Albon in sixth, who defended strongly against Lewis Hamilton. The Ferrari driver had started from the pit lane and climbed to seventh with a strong recovery drive.

The top ten was completed by Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly, each making the most of race incidents and tyre calls to score valuable points.

Leclerc, under pressure from Verstappen late in the race, had asked to be left alone over the radio. “Leave me alone please,” he said, as he defended third place with gritty determination.