Australian rarely challenged for sixth win of season
Lewis Hamilton charges through field for seventh place
Oscar Piastri won the Belgian Grand Prix with a dominant drive at Spa for McLaren, comfortably beating his teammate Lando Norris into second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into third. Max Verstappen was fourth for Red Bull in the team’s first race without their recently dismissed team principal Christian Horner, while Lewis Hamilton made the most of the changeable, wet-dry conditions to move from 18th on the grid to finish seventh.
After a delayed start of almost an hour and a half due to heavy rain in the Ardennes mountains, when racing finally began in earnest Piastri pounced to take the lead from Norris with an opportunistic and decisive move into Les Combes. Having hit the front he was absolutely relentless in grinding out a victory and even a counter-tyre strategy from Norris could not bring him quite back into contention.
The victory was another combative statement of intent from Piastri, demonstrating that even when he is on the back foot he retains a steely determination. He was outpaced in qualifying by Norris, but once he had retaken the lead from second on the grid he was in assured control from the front, with the same measured, calm confidence that is almost disarming as it becomes ominously clear to his rivals that the 24-year-old Australian has all the traits of a world champion in waiting.
