Oscar Piastri holds off Lando Norris to win rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix and extend championship lead

RTÉ News​

3 days ago

Lando Norris' world championship bid was dealt a blow in Belgium after he allowed rival Oscar Piastri to breeze past him and win Sunday's rain-hit Grand Prix race.
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.
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.
At one point, there were fears the race - initially pencilled in for a start time of 3pm locally (2pm Irish time) - 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 British driver 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.
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 Norris - with the championship momentum swinging back to Australia.