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November 14, 2025
Formula 1 championship leader Oscar Piastri held off a late charge from his McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris to claim victory in tense rain-delayed F1 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps.
The build-up to Sunday’s main event promised drama, but few expected such extreme conditions. A massive rainstorm drenched the Spa circuit in the early afternoon forcing the race start to be postponed by a staggering 80 minutes as marshals and team strategists scrambled to adapt their plans to the shifting weather.
The 44-lap race finally began behind the Safety Car, the spray so impenetrable that drivers reported near-zero visibility during the formation laps.
The race director had no choice but to delay the green flag until it was safe—a prudent decision in the eyes of most but one that drew criticism from some camps who had gambled on a wet setup including Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
As the rain eased and marshals worked to remove the worst of the standing water, the drivers began four laps behind the Safety Car before a long-awaited rolling start released them to race conditions with Lando Norris leading from pole trailed closely by Oscar Piastri.
As the field barreled through the treacherous Eau Rouge and Raidillon complex on the opening lap, Piastri stuck to Norris’s rear wing taking a calculated risk through the high-speed corners with barely a lift.
Using the slipstream advantage perfectly along the Kemmel Straight, Piastri completed a clinical overtake long before the braking zone at Les Combes. This singular act of bravery set the tone for what would ultimately prove to be the winning maneuver.
With weather conditions steadily improving and the circuit drying out attention soon shifted to tyre strategy.
Piastri made his pit stop on lap 12 to switch from intermediates to the medium compound slick tyres—a move indicative of McLaren’s faith in his tire management and in the forecast’s promise of continued dryness.
Norris by contrast opted to extend his stint on the intermediates by a lap before pitting for the more durable hard compound—a bold strategy to help him launch an attack in the final laps.
Piastri’s strategy proceeded to give him a nine-second advantage over his teammate, a lead he carefully managed throughout the middle stages of the race amid mounting pressure from behind.
As the race entered its latter phases, Norris’s harder tyres began to offer an advantage and he went on to reduce the gap to his teammate to as little as three seconds as the Grand Prix reached its climax.
Ultimately, Norris’ late push was stymied by a trio of small errors in braking and corner entry particularly on the penultimate lap at La Source which halted his momentum as Piastri proceeded to take the checkered flag 3.4s ahead as the 2025 F1 Belgian GP winner.
Full 2025 F1 Belgian Grand Prix Race Results
F1 Belgian GP Sprint: Max Verstappen holds off McLarens for 1st Red Bull win after Horner sacking
Behind the McLaren duo, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc practically spent the entire race pressed by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who was deeply frustrated by a setup tailored for wet conditions that went unrewarded after the delayed, dry restart compromised his chances.
While Verstappen harried the Ferrari, Leclerc’s composure and pit stop timing enabled him to maintain a slim but vital advantage, culminating in a podium finish twenty seconds adrift of the victor but crucial for Ferrari’s morale and championship ambitions.
Verstappen finished a close fourth visibly irked as he spent nearly forty laps staring at the Ferrari’s rear wing without finding an opportunity to capitalize on his car’s superior pace.
Further down the order, George Russell ever the opportunist quietly ascended to fifth in his Mercedes following a measured drive through changing conditions.
Williams’ Alex Albon claimed an impressive sixth place, holding off a hard-charging Lewis Hamilton who carved his way through the field to finish seventh after starting from the pit lane.
Rounding out the points were Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
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