...and a bonus for Williams

New York Times

2 days ago

Follow live coverage as Spa hosts Round 13 of the 2025 Formula One world championship and the Belgian Grand Prix weekend Getty Images Getty Images
Speaking of the midfield, Carlos Sainz brought home Williams' best sprint race finish — coming home in sixth. Getty Images
A decent bounty of points for Haas today with Esteban Ocon in fifth and Oliver Bearman in P7.
All counts for a lot when you are in the battle in the midfield.
Comfortable stuff for Max Verstappen. Besides that one moment going a bit deep at the final chicane, he didn't miss a beat.
Make that 12 wins in sprints now for the Dutchman, 10 more than any other driver.
Thibaut Courtois waves the checkered flag and Max Verstappen crosses the line in front of Oscar Piastri, with Lando Norris in third.
A sharp overtake on Lap 1 sealed it, and that was job done.
A very welcome sprint race win for the four-time defending world champion and his Red Bull team.
LAP 13/15 — Just two laps to go. Max Verstappen holding off Oscar Piastri, who's holding off Lando Norris.
Boy this is close at the front…
LAP 10/15 — Some smart defence from Max Verstappen. He reports on the radio he 'can't break on the peak' and made a mistake into the Bus Stop, going a bit deep.
That let Oscar Piastri get the closest yet into Les Combes, but Verstappen weaved a bit (fairly!) and placed his car perfectly to ensure the McLaren couldn't try a move.
Just 1.3 seconds separating the top three right now…
Here is the Lap 1 move that got Max Verstappen ahead of Oscar Piastri and into the lead of this sprint race...
LAP 8/15 — Fair play to the two Haas drivers. Esteban Ocon is still sitting in P5, and Oliver Bearman P7.
Only modest points on offer in the sprint race, but that would still be a double-points finish if they can hold on.
LAP 7/15 — Oscar Piastri still can't get close enough on the run from La Source to Les Combes.
Lando Norris is making some tiny gains on the lead duo, but hardly enough to seriously get in the fight. Getty Images
LAP 6/15 — That's third place for Lando Norris, sweeping past Charles Leclerc. A very easy move with DRS.
He's got two seconds to make up to Oscar Piastri though, which will be tough.
Piastri still hasn't gotten close enough to try a move back on Max Verstappen yet.
The higher top-end speed of the Red Bull is going to protect Verstappen a lot.
LAP 4/15 — It took a little while but Lando Norris is back past Charles Leclerc.
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri has set the fastest lap of the sprint race so far. He is just seven-tenths behind the leader.
And Pierre Gasly has joined the race in an extremely orderly fashion, as his extra practice session begins — because he's not in a race here. Getty Images
LAP 2/15 — Zero surprise to see Max Verstappen sweep into the lead. The skinnier wing on the Red Bull meant he was always going to be able to have a run on Oscar Piastri down to Les Combes.
Now a question of whether he can hold on against the McLaren, which should be gaining ground in the middle sector and onwards.
LAP 1/15 — Lights out. Away we go! Solid start from Oscar Piastri, but once through Raidillon, Max Verstappen finds a way past Piastri on the opening lap.
Charles Leclerc does the same on Lando Norris for third too.
Boom.
All drivers are starting the race on mediums except for Franco Colapinto, who is on softs from the pit lane.
Franco Colapinto will start from the sprint lane, after he has a rear wing change following sprint qualifying yesterday.
And it is now confirmed Pierre Gasly will not race due to that water leak in his Alpine — although he might join the race later for a few laps of grand prix qualifying and race prep.
That means there will be just 18 cars on the grid for the start, and in effect 19 in the sprint race.
Five minutes until lights out for the sprint race in Belgium.
LET'S GO… Getty Images
An update from Alpine on Pierre Gasly...
💬 'Pierre will not start today's Belgian Grand Prix sprint race from the grid due to a suspected water leak on his car. The team will look to rectify the issue as soon as possible ahead of the start.'
As a side note, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is here on the grid — a huge F1 fan, and huge in real life! Getty Images
Here is how the grid will line up for today's sprint — and yes, it will be interesting to see how this grid differs to the one starting tomorrow's grand prix… 1: OSCAR PIASTRI (MCL)
> 2: Max Verstappen (RBR)
Max Verstappen (RBR) 3: Lando Norris (MCL)
Lando Norris (MCL) > 4: Charles Leclerc (FER)
Charles Leclerc (FER) 5: Esteban Ocon (HAS)
Esteban Ocon (HAS) > 6: Carlos Sainz (WIL)
Carlos Sainz (WIL) 7: Oliver Bearman (HAS)
Oliver Bearman (HAS) > 8: Pierre Gasly (ALP)
Pierre Gasly (ALP) 9: Isack Hadjar (RB)
Isack Hadjar (RB) > 10: Gabriel Bortoleto (SAU)
Gabriel Bortoleto (SAU) 11: Lawson (RB) / 12: Tsunoda (RBR)
13: Russell (MER) / 14: Alonso (AST)
15: Stroll (AST) / 16: Albon (WIL)
17: Hülkenberg (SAU) / 18: Hamilton (FER)
19: Colapinto (ALP) / 20: Antonelli (MER) Luke Smith
Anthoine Hubert's mother is here on the grid with Pierre Gasly, who was a close friend of the late French driver.
Gasly has stayed close to the family and arranges a yearly track run in memory of Hubert, who died at Spa in 2019 aged 22.
Gasly also has 'Anthoine H.' on his cap this weekend.