Oscar Piastri wins Belgian F1 Grand Prix after dominant display over Lando Norris
When it was bucketing down at Spa-Francorchamps before the Belgian Grand Prix, raining felines and canines, and where Formula One's most beautiful track slithers and snakes through the lush greenery and towering trees of the Ardennes Forest, and where there's enough room, time and space for a proper driving test, and may the best revhead win, Piastri sat calmly in the McLaren garage and barely said boo. When the moment came to pounce after an 80-minute delay, he pounced on Norris with a stealthy, catlike opening lap before his real masterpiece: managing severely worn tyres so expertly that he didn't require a second pit stop that would have given Norris the slightest whiff of late hope.
Piastri expects to win. You can see it in his reactions. He took his sixth chequered flag of the season, the most by an Australian, while oozing the aura of someone who isn't remotely surprised because this is the way it's meant to be.
'Nicely f..king done,' he told his garage with a hint of how-do-you-like-them-apples to those believing he'd been losing his grip on the title. Before a shot was fired at the start of the year, before a single ball was bowled, Piastri was prepared to look you fair-square in the eye and pronounce himself a world champion. This year? 'This year,' he said.
There was nothing gobsmacking about Piastri's overtake of Norris on the opening lap. Starting second on a grid that vanished in favour of a rolling start behind the safety car, which was to Norris's advantage, Piastri nevertheless eased up alongside the Englishman at the start of the Kemmel Straight and, well, simply overtook him. 'It was very lively,' Piastri said. 'I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and it was enough. We had it mostly under control. Turns out starting second is not too bad after all.'
Mostly under control. There's Piastri's season in a nutshell and single sentence. There's been a few hiccups and speed humps and roadblocks but he's had it mostly under control. There was no guarantee his medium tyres would hold out over the last 10 laps at Spa-Francorchamps, and his lead of eight seconds over Norris, on sprightlier tyres, was diminishing at a rapid rate, but told by his engineer that a pit stop wasn't an option, he cooly replied: 'I'm happy with that.' He won by 3.4 seconds. In doubt, never in doubt.
'Oscar just did a good job,' Norris said. 'We're pushing each other a lot. It's tough because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are easily. You learn from each other quickly. Nothing more to say. Nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be on top but Oscar deserved it today. It's a good but tough battle we have at the minute. '
Tougher for Norris than Piastri, the nut he cannot crack, the quietly nutty driver whose wry grin and raised index finger says it all. He believes he's No.1. At McLaren. In the world.
Norris has the same Lightning McQueen car and lashings of driving brilliance but Piastri toyed with his greatest rival at Spa-Francorchamps, sneaking up on him, then pawing at him like a cat does a trembling mouse, then devouring him to take a 16-point championship lead into this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.
He just did a good job. Nicely f..king done. Motorsport
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri opened up on the inter-team rivalry fuelling both of their world title charges after another one-two finish at qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. Motorsport
Oscar Piastri has extended his lead at the top of the F1 standings but had to settle for second behind Max Verstappen in the Belgium sprint race.
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