The race started an hour and a half late due to bad weather in the Ardennes, but once it got underway it produced as much excitement as could be expected even before the start. The Spa-Francorchamps GP saw Oscar Piastri win ahead of teammate Lando Norris in pole position and edged out at the start, going on to seal yet another McLaren one-two. On the third step of the podium was a robust Charles Leclerc, who despite the pressure exerted by Max Verstappen (Red Bull), managed to retain the position obtained in qualifying.
Fifth place for George Russell (Mercedes), while Andrea Antonelli's difficult period continued, the youngster only finishing sixteenth and never able to make any overtaking moves to get himself away from the back of the pack. While in the previous days for Williams it had been Carlos Sainz who stood out, this Sunday it was Alex Albon who did so, finishing sixth ahead of Lewis Hamilton who was good with his team at guessing the strategy when the track was drying out. First to switch to medium tyres, he immediately recovered ten positions and stayed there until the checkered flag.
Eighth place went to Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), followed by the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, favored by team orders in the closing stages of the race, and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) had a bad race, only finishing thirteenth, and so did the two Aston Martin drivers with Lance Stroll finishing fourteenth and Fernando Alonso seventeenth.
For the full report here is the link to Motorsport.com.
"I thought the rolling start would take away my opportunity, but I came out of Turn 1 well and lifted off a little less than Lando. The medium tyre turned out to be optimal," were the winner's words.
"Oscar did a good job and was able to take advantage of the slipstream at Eau Rouge and he deserved the win. I am happy for the team. It's the first one-two in Belgium in many years," said the day's runner-up.
"Verstappen was two seconds away for the whole race, so it wasn't easy. Initially it was hard because we didn't have downforce, but then the track dried out and the pace improved. I am satisfied with how I handled myself. In conditions like that, the pressure is high and it's easy to make mistakes, so at one point I told my engineer not to talk to me," was the Monegasque driver's analysis.
