#F1: @Max33Verstappen beats @OscarPiastri to #BelgianGP #F1Sprint victory.
Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21, celebrates in Parc Ferme after winning the F1 Sprint, Formula 1 Moet & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix 2025, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium. Image credit to Zak Mauger/LAT Images. Verstappen Belgian Sprint Victory, Belgian GP Sprint Results, F1 Belgian GP Sprint Results, 2025 Belgian GP Sprint Results.
Verstappen Belgian Sprint Victory – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen overtook championship leader Oscar Piastri on the opening lap and remained out-front from then onwards to take victory in the Belgian GP 100km F1 Sprint at the Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps as Lando Norris completed the top three in the other McLaren MCL39 entry.
When the 15 lap Belgian GP F1 Sprint began, pole-sitter Piastri got a good getaway into La Source as Norris gained a decent slip-stream on Verstappen.
As they ran down the Kemmel Straight, Verstappen moved to the outside of Piastri after getting into the slip-stream and took the lead into Les Combes whilst behind them Charles Leclerc jumped into fourth doing the same move as Verstappen and overtook Norris.
On the beginning of the second tour, Verstappen held a 0.600 second lead over Piastri with Leclerc third, Norris fourth, Ocon fifth, Sainz sixth, Bearman seventh whilst Hadjar rounded out the Sprint points paying positions.
Even with DRS, Piastri could not get close enough to Verstappen down the straights. The Australian is going to need to nudge up behind the Dutchman in the corners here with a higher downforce setup compared to the Red Bull.
On the third lap, Norris was sticking with Leclerc in the fight for third, but this was all about Piastri and Verstappen out-front. Piastri was half a second back, but he could not get close enough. Even with the DRS open, he was not closing up to the Dutchman. The track had cooled slightly, which will help anyone stuck in dirty air.
On lap four, Norris reclaimed third place after getting into the slip-stream and made the move on the inside of Leclerc with DRS assistance to take the position.
The fifth tour saw Verstappen’s lead at 0.646 seconds over Piastri who was still in DRS range, Norris was a distant third, Leclerc fourth, Ocon fifth, Sainz sixth, Bearman seventh as Hadjar rounded out the top eight.
Second-placed Piastri’s tyres and brakes might be overheating in the dirty air behind race leader Verstappen. While it wasn’t scorching hot out there, it was warm enough when pushing flat out – and Piastri needed to drop back to cool things off before attacking again.
On lap six, Piastri had not dropped back to cool his tyres, he took two tenths out of Verstappen’s lead to get back to half a second or so back from the Red Bull. He confirmed his tyres were okay over the radio.
Piastri had his rear wing open on the seventh lap, but he was still not gaining on the reigning world champion. The gap for the lead remained at around half a second.
Further back, Norris has dropped Leclerc, Ocon was keeping a comfortable gap to Sainz, but Bearman was under all sorts of pressure from Hadjar in the battle for seventh place.
Past half race distance on lap eight, with a bit of fresh air to drive into, Norris had been making gains and was now just 1.1 seconds behind his team-mate Piastri – that gap was two seconds when Norris overtook Leclerc. Piastri was falling back again, nearly eight tenths off of the lead.
On lap nine, Piastri had DRS but so did Norris. Verstappen was towing those two along with him at this stage of proceeding, but Norris was pulling out of the slipstream.
Further back, Bearman was holding on over Hadjar, Haas was another team to gamble on a very skinny rear wing with a low-downforce setup.
With five tours left, Verstappen held a 0.415 second advantage over Piastri with Norris 0.568 seconds off his team-mate in third, Leclerc fourth, Ocon fifth, Sainz sixth, Bearman seventh whilst Hadjar completed the points places.
Piastri with DRS assistance had a look at race leader Verstappen down the Kemmel Straight heading towards Les Combes, but the latter shut the door after running deep into the chicane on the McLaren to remain in the lead.
On the 12th lap, Verstappen got a much better exit that time around and launched down the straight with seven tenths to Piastri. But Norris was only six tenths back, with his DRS open – Verstappen survived, Piastri held on and Norris was told Piastri’s battery was only “mid-level.”
Lap 13 – Piastri was having the hardest task here – balancing between attacking and defending. Verstappen looked comfortable again down the main straight, but Piastri suddenly looked vulnerable – especially as he doesn’t have much battery to defend from McLaren team-mate Norris – but Piastri held on.
Further back on the penultimate tour – Ocon with that skinny rear wing was holding on against Sainz’s Williams, even though his tyres looked like their day was done. Bearman was somehow holding off Hadjar too, with the VF-25 just too fast on the straights for the Frenchman at this stage.
On the final lap – Verstappen held the gap from Piastri and the Australian also from Norris. Those three clean and gone, over six seconds ahead of Leclerc in a distant fourth.
Piastri gained and gained but he was still too far back to make a move. Red Bull’s strategy set-up calls looked to have been spot on.
Verstappen crossed the line to take the Belgian GP F1 Sprint by 0.753 seconds over Piastri as Norris rounded out the top three.
Leclerc finished a distant fourth and in-front of Haas pairing Ocon and Bearman who were fifth and seventh respectively whilst Sainz was sandwiched in sixth.
RB’s Hadjar completed the final points place.
BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly did not start the Sprint due to a water leak issue.
You can see the full Formula 1 Moet & Chandon Belgian Grand Prix 2025 F1 Sprint Race Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 MOËT & CHANDON BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2025 – SPRINT
2025 Belgian GP F1 Sprint – The Top Three
2025 Belgian GP F1 Sprint Winner – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB21 – (8 Points):
“Worked out really well, that is the only real opportunity you’ll get against them so pleased to get it. I couldn’t afford to make big mistakes, I had one tiny lock up in the last corner, but I’m pleased to keep them behind. Keeping faster cars behind, you have to drive beyond the limit of what is possible, it was like 15 qualifying laps!”
2nd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +0.753s – (7 Points):
“I tried my best to snake my way through the straights and not give too much of a tow, but I didn’t have enough straight-line speed. Still a good result, good points. Pretty happy, but a bit frustrated I couldn’t get past. The weather is looking pretty bad for tomorrow which means you don’t want to take off too much wing, but I don’t want to repeat what I’ve just experienced either.”
3rd Place – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team, Mercedes, MCL39 – +1.414s – (6 Points):
“Not a lot going on, a bit of fun at the start with trying to overtake Charles. I could have maybe positioned myself a bit better. [Verstappen] drove a good race, so we’ll have to see what we can do tomorrow. It is tough, I obviously hoped for a bit of battling or something, but the Red Bull was too quick on the straight. We’ll reassess and see what we can do.”
Click here for the 2025 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings
