Oscar Piastri took his second win of the season, edging out teammate Lando Norris in a race marked by a lengthy rain delay and risky strategies. The Australian driver consolidated his championship lead.
Spa-Francorchamps confirms itself once again as an unpredictable and spectacular stage. The thirteenth round of the World Championship F1 2025, as well as the Belgian GP, opened with almost an hour and a half delay, in pouring rain, and then transformed into a race with a fast pace. The winner was Oscar piastri, author of a mature and surgical performance, which allowed McLaren to score a very precious one-two with Lando Norris second. Third Charles Leclerc on Ferrari, in a race that saw the Reds once again come close to victory but still remain without any successes this season.
A troubled start
The Belgian weekend was affected by bad weather from the start. Persistent rain forced Race Direction to postpone the start, with a first formation lap completed behind the Safety Car, followed by a Red flag and a long wait in the pits. Only at 16 pm was the decision made to start the race with rolling start, still behind the Safety Car, taking advantage of the progressively improving asphalt.
on the go, Norris, started from pole, lost the lead immediately: he mismanaged the initial phase, allowing Oscar Piastri to stay in his slipstream. The Australian made perfect use of DRS on the Kemmel Straight to overtake his teammate and take the lead, a position he never relinquished.
From then on, the Australian maintained a firm lead of the race, setting a pace that allowed him to manage every phase, including tyre changes and tyre degradation.
Decisive first stages and Hamilton's comeback
Behind them, Charles Leclerc got the better of Max Verstappen in the early stages, taking advantage of an excellent speed on the straight thanks also to the difference in setup, while Lewis Hamilton, starting 16th, began a comeback built on strategy. Ferrari opted for a early pit on slick tyres which proved to be effective, allowing the seven-time world champion to gradually climb back up to the seventh final position, after overcoming a long list of rivals.
McLaren's Double Strategy: Norris's Gamble
The turning point of the race came on lap 12, when Hamilton was the first to switch to medium-compound slicks. The move proved to be a winning one, allowing the seven-time world champion to move up to seventh place.
Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen made their pit stops on lap 13, opting for the medium mix, while Norris he stayed out one more lap, then mounted the Hard, hoping to complete the race with just one pit stop.
This choice created an interesting tactical dynamic: Piastri had to manage the degradation of the Mediums, while Norris tried to nibble away tenths of a second with a more consistent pace in the final stages. By lap 33, the Briton had managed to reduce the gap to under seven seconds, but a blockage at the Source on lap 43 definitively extinguished his chances of victory.
Leclerc holds off Verstappen in a "monotonous" but intense race
While the McLaren duel in front monopolised the scene, behind them a long battle took place between Leclerc and Verstappen for the third step of the podium. The Monegasque, despite struggling in the middle stages with an unstable rear end, held firm thanks to the low aerodynamic drag of his SF-25, resisting the Dutchman's attempts even on the most technical sections like Pouhon and Bus Stop.
Behind, George Russell finished fifth with a Mercedes in difficulty in the second part of the race, while Alexander albon brought Williams to sixth place, tenaciously defending itself from Hamilton's attacks. Completing the points zone Liam Lawson. (Racing Bulls), Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine). Out of the top ten, a Sunday to forget for Aston Martin and Williams, with Alonso and Sainz far from the positions that count.
Arrival order
Here is the finish order for the 1 F2025 Belgian GP:
The next F1 race will be held next weekend in Hungary.
