Lando Norris braced for rain-hit Belgian Grand Prix after clinching pole
In the other scarlet car, Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 and was set to line up from a lowly 16th – a performance the seven-time world champion described as 'unacceptable'.
Our top three in qualifying 😀🤩😀#F1 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/R81eJmUqtK
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2025
Norris secured his fourth pole of the season and his second in three races in dry conditions, but rain is forecast to hit Sunday's 44-lap race in the Ardennes.
However, Norris has won both of the two races staged in the wet this year – the curtain raiser in Melbourne and the last round in Silverstone three weeks ago – and said: 'It's probably going to rain and at Spa, there is a high chance it could just hit half of the track and not the other half, so we could be in for a chaotic race like Australia or Silverstone.
'Hopefully I can take advantage from being at the front, but I don't expect it to be dry. I expect it to be raining and for there to be more chaos.'
Norris qualified six tenths behind Piastri for Saturday's sprint race. He started third and finished in the same position with Piastri one place above him – allowing the Australian to extend his championship lead from eight points to nine.
Max Verstappen won the first Formula One race staged following Christian Horner's dismissal as Red Bull team principal and the defending champion will start from fourth for Sunday's main event.
Yet in qualifying on Saturday, Norris delivered with his first lap in Q3 to hold a near two-tenth advantage over Piastri heading into the concluding runs and although he failed to improve and Piastri did, it was enough to take the 13th pole of his career as he bids for a hat-trick of consecutive wins.
'Everyone was pretty worried after yesterday but I wasn't even that far off,' said Norris.
'There was nothing to worry about, but people like to make a lot of things up. It was just a couple of little issues that I had.
'I was confident coming into today so it was nice to get back on top.'
At the other end of the grid, Hamilton will have just four drivers behind him when the lights go out on Sunday. His lap was chalked off by the stewards after he ran all four wheels of his Ferrari off the circuit at Raidillon.
Hamilton, who spun in qualifying for the sprint race and then improved only three places from his grid slot of 18th, is without a podium for Ferrari – the deepest he has ever gone into a season without a top-three finish.
'I don't agree (with the stewards' decision), but I'm out,' said the 40-year-old. 'It was another mistake from my side and I have to look internally.
'I have to apologise to my team because it is just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s this weekend. A very, very poor performance.'
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The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Oscar Piastri ‘deserved' Belgian Grand Prix win, admits team-mate Lando Norris
Lando Norris admitted Oscar Piastri showed more commitment than him after his world championship hopes were dealt a blow as he allowed his rival to breeze past him and win Sunday's rain-hit Belgian Grand Prix. 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.'
Daily Mail
17 minutes ago
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Lando Norris blinked to hand advantage to Oscar Piastri in race for the F1 title - it's back to the drawing board for the Brit after Belgian Grand Prix, writes JONATHAN MCEVOY
It's back to the future for Lando Norris. A return to the psychologist's couch. And those championship-denting facts became clear out of the spray at 170mph when he lost the Belgian Grand Prix to Oscar Piastri. Just when you detect a smidgeon of a stiffening to his approach, as with his emphatic win in Austria last month, another reminder comes around the corner that McLaren have a Jackal in their team and that man exploding watermelons is Piastri, not the Briton. In a race delayed for 1hr 20min, for which the dangerous Spa-Francorchamps track was as culpable as cautious FIA officials, Norris's chance of victory lasted a handful of corners and half the Kemmel Straight. The safety car, under which the race finally started, withdrew. Norris, leading after taking pole, made a mistake at La Source, the opening corner. His wheelspin was seized on by Piastri, lying second, and he was all over his quarry as they steeplejacked the famous Eau Rouge corner and then into Raidillon. On to the straight, a fantail of water sprung from Norris's car into Piastri's face. But the Australian, seemingly unhampered by this potential disadvantage, pulled out left and made the pass stick. It was an exhibition of supreme guts. 'Lively,' smiled Piastri afterwards. 'He committed a bit more than me at Eau Rouge,' admitted Norris, the doomed runner-up. 'There was nothing I could do beyond that point.' The outcome was settled there and then, Piastri extending his championship lead to 16 points. Norris talked over the radio of a battery recharging problem. Perhaps, but it sounded too easy an excuse, a possible fact beside the point. At the deciding moment, he had blinked. Piastri had shown pluck in excelsis, and the disparity was all too predictable. On Thursday, in Norris's press dealings, you did not need to be Freud to read a vulnerability in him. That was not evident when he was in charge in Austria. His mind was laser focused then. This time he eschewed the value of 'momentum', as if running scared of it, or at least pushing it out of his mind. Well, momentum is a useful friend as Max Verstappen discovered when he won 22 of 23 races three years ago. It adds up to points at the very least. Piastri's heist gave him the right to go from intermediate tyres to slicks before Norris. Needing to try something different, Norris, alone of all the field opted for hard tyres. Piastri and the rest were on mediums. The cunning plan was that Norris could go to the end and that Piastri would need to stop. Baldrick might have dreamt it up for all it came to pass. Neither stopped again. The difference between tyre compounds is among the most overrated, over-analysed, wrongly read hokum in Formula One. Nobody knows for certain what tyre will be fastest or last longest. Most expert predictions as useful as a manifesto pledge. Anyway, Norris now has to pick himself up for Budapest next Sunday, the last stanza before the summer break. As it stands, it hard to resist the belief Piastri will claim his maiden title. His record of six wins to Norris' four buttresses this expectation. For the record, Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari, a place ahead of Max Verstappen, Red Bull's winner of the sprint race on Saturday. Elsewhere, a day of restoration for Lewis Hamilton. The rest of his weekend was dispiriting: he spun in sprint qualifying, finished it 15th, had a time deleted in qualifying proper, and started from the pits in 18th place. But, hurrah, he managed a fine seventh place, his performance echoing old virtuosities. Yes, he was powered by a new Ferrari engine, but in wet conditions he was quicksilver. He was first on to slicks and made immediate good use of them. At one point, he was one second faster than the next man. He pulled off overtakes with dexterity and looked an outside bet for a podium, which would have been his first in red. But his pace was blunted as the track dried and the race lengthened, but still an afternoon in the sun for him. As for the delay, Portuguese race director Rui Marques was, in a harsh assessment, something of a Nervous Nellie. The race could have started earlier than it did, and he deployed a safety car for too long when it eventually crawled into action. But, in fairness, Spa, an especially Eau Rouge, is a hazardous conundrum. Forty-nine fatalities in 100 years at this track attest to this. And then you add in the Ardennes' capricious weather. Not easy. In fact, Spa is the most overrated circuit in the world whatever its many disciples may contend. But that's a debate for another day. For now, all hail Oscar the brave.
Rhyl Journal
18 minutes ago
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Oscar Piastri breezes past Lando Norris to claim Belgian Grand Prix victory
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. OSCAR MAKES IT SIX GRAND PRIX VICTORIES THIS SEASON! 🏆#McLaren | #BelgianGP 🇧🇪 — McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 27, 2025 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. Norris crossed the line 3.4 seconds behind Piastri with Charles Leclerc third for Ferrari. Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished fourth, one place clear of Mercedes driver George Russell with Alex Albon an impressive sixth in his Williams. Lewis Hamilton started 18th and finished seventh following a string of fine moves in the early inclement conditions. .@LewisHamilton drives from the pit lane to the points in P7, amazing work! 👏 — Scuderia Ferrari HP (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 27, 2025 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. 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 16:20, pole-sitter Norris emerged on track, albeit behind the safety car, to huge cheers from the record-breaking crowd with 389,000 spectators over the last three days. 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's hands with Piastri having to navigate his team-mate's 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 and improbable task. Further back and Hamilton, armed with a new engine, passed both Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto in only a handful of corners before breezing clear of Nico Hulkenberg on lap eight for 14th. That became 13th a lap later following a fine move on Pierre Gasly. On lap 11, Hamilton, who had described his Q1 elimination on Saturday as 'unacceptable', was then the first of the major players to move to the slick tyres. A slingshot manouvere on Liam Lawson in the moments after he left the pits promoted him to a net seventh when it all shook out. Oscar enjoyed that one 💪#F1 #BelgianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) July 27, 2025 In came leader Piastri for dry tyres on lap 12, with Norris in on the next lap. Norris took on the hardest tyre compound – the only driver to do so – in the hope that Piastri's medium rubber would not make it to the end. But in a blow to Norris, Piastri's rubber lasted all 44 laps as he claimed his sixth win of the season – two more than the Briton – with the championship momentum swinging back to the Australian. Norris said: 'Oscar just did a good job and there is nothing more to say. He committed more through Eau Rouge and got the slipstream so there is nothing to complain about. He did a better job at the beginning and there was nothing more I could do after that point.' Piastri said: 'I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit from the first corner and lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge. 'I was disappointed it was a rolling start because I thought that would take away the opportunity. But when I was that close I knew I would lift a little bit less than Lando did. It was lively up the hill, but I managed to make it stick.'
