Belgian Grand Prix: Lando Norris edges out McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to claim pole
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Rhyl Journal
31 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
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.'
Rhyl Journal
31 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Oscar Piastri ‘deserved' Belgian Grand Prix win, admits team-mate Lando Norris
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. '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. Oscar enjoyed that one 💪#F1 #BelgianGP — Formula 1 (@F1) July 27, 2025 '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.'
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Lewis Hamilton makes amends for disastrous F1 Belgian GP weekend as Lando Norris loses ground after 80 MINUTE delay
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) OSCAR PIASTRI rained on Lando Norris' parade to win a sodden Belgian Grand Prix. The fearless Aussie driver left pole-sitter Norris for dust after just one lap to take the lead and see out a largely uneventful race in Spa. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead ahead by winning the Belgian GP Credit: Reuters 4 Lando Norris suffered a lap-one horror show as Piastri swept past the pole sitter Credit: AFP 4 Lewis Hamilton made a small amends to his disastrous weekend Credit: AP It means Piastri stretched his lead at the top of the table to 16 points from just eight ahead of the weekend, having also finished second in the sprint race, ahead of the third-place Brit. Charles Leclerc sealed the third and final podium spot today after a fierce battle with Max Verstappen, who had to settle for fourth, while George Russell came in fifth. Lewis Hamilton put in an absolute shift to finish in seventh from 18th after starting in the pit lane due to taking on a new power unit in his Ferrari. The race was delayed by a whopping one hour and 20 minutes after Spa was hit with its usual downpour, that even KO'd the race in 2021. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL ROSSED THE LINE Nico Rosberg in frosty exchange with Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner The safety car zipped around the track with the drivers following behind, with their cars spraying out water like sprinklers. After four laps it was a rolling start which got things underway as Norris held onto the lead with teammate Piastri snapping at his heels. The ruthless Aussie nearly smashed into the back of Norris on lap five but missed by a whisker before nipping past him to take the lead. Ferrari's Hamilton made a huge statement after what he described as a 'weekend to forget', charging into 13th from 18th after a blistering opening ten laps, before becoming the first driver to gamble on slick tyres on lap 12 - a decision which rewarded him with a big jump up the order to P8. BEST ONLINE CASINOS - TOP SITES IN THE UK Meanwhile, Verstappen was in hot pursuit of Monegasque driver Leclerc in the battle for third and nearly nudged ahead. Race leader Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen all pitted though as Norris momentarily regained the lead. Nico Rosberg in frosty exchange with Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner after Red Bull sacking The Brit stuffed up his pit stop though and lost a huge chunk of time staying out an extra lap as Piastri pulled clear. Seven-time world champion Hamilton worked tooth and nail and was running in seventh, right behind Alex Albon, halfway through the race. There was a tyre conundrum between the two McLarens as the race progressed, with Piastri asked to make a call on whether to make another pit stop or try to see it out until the end. The 24-year-old was on the medium tyres while Norris was on the more robust hard tyre and 15 laps, as dreary as talking about tyres, followed. Norris was the culprit of a silly mistake as he locked up at Turn 1 and lost more than half a second and it looked like game over to catch up with Piastri. The 25-year-old had other ideas though and was closing the gap into the dying laps, with five seconds separating them at the end. Piastri said on team radio after: "Nicely f***ing done" Meanwhile, Hamilton added over the team radio. "Sorry about this weekend and losing you points"
