Oscar Piastri ‘deserved’ Belgian Grand Prix win, admits team-mate Lando Norris

The start of the 13th round in Spa-Francorchamps was delayed by one hour and 20 minutes due to heavy rain in the Ardennes.

But when it eventually got under way – following four precautionary laps behind the safety car – Norris was found wanting when a sloppy exit at the opening La Source corner provided Piastri with a race-winning opportunity too good to turn down.

Despite being in Norris’ spray, Piastri held his nerve and kept his foot on the accelerator at 170mph up through Eau Rouge and into Raidillon before jinking to his left and sailing clear of his McLaren team-mate on the Kemmel Straight.

It was brave and superb in equal measure from Piastri but one Norris will be disappointed after seeing the his rival’s championship advantage increase from nine points to 16 ahead of the final round before the summer break in Hungary next weekend.

“Oscar just did a good job, and there is nothing more to say,” said Norris. “He committed a bit more through Eau Rouge and had the slipstream and got the run so I cannot complain.

“He did a better job at the beginning and there was nothing more I could do after that point. I would have loved to have been on top but Oscar deserved it today. And I will review my things.”

At one point, there were fears the race – initially pencilled in for a start time of 3pm locally – could be abandoned after it was suspended following the formation lap due to poor visibility. Max Verstappen described the decision as “silly” and “too cautious”.

However, there have been 49 fatalities at this track in the last 100 years – most recently Dutch 18-year-old Dilano Van ‘t Hoff in 2023. And race director Rui Marques could be excused for taking that grizzly statistic into his consideration.

The drivers returned to their respective garages, and as the rain lashed down, memories were cast back to the event in 2021 – one which was abandoned after only two laps behind the safety car.

But the grey skies parted, the sun broke through, and at 4.20pm, pole-sitter Norris emerged on track, albeit behind the safety car, to huge cheers from the record-breaking crowd.

With visibility quickly improving, the safety car peeled in after four laps, and Norris bunched up the pack before attempting to put distance between himself and Piastri.

The advantage was in Norris’ hands with Piastri having to navigate his team-mate’s rain-lashed spray. But a scrappy exit at La Source from the Briton provided Piastri with the momentum and he soared past Norris and into the lead.

Piastri was 1.5 seconds quicker than Norris on the first racing lap leaving the Englishman – who arrived here hoping to claim a hat-trick of wins – facing a mammoth task.

“I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race,” said Piastri after he claimed his sixth win of the season so far, two more than Norris.

“I got a good exit from the first corner and lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and it was enough.

“I was disappointed it was a rolling start because I thought that would take away some opportunity. But when I was that close, I knew I was going to lift a little bit less than Lando did, and then try and keep it on the track. It was lively up the hill but I managed to make it stick.

“When I watched the onboard replay back it didn’t look as scary as it felt in the car but I knew I had to be committed to pull it off.”