Oscar Piastri got back to winning ways, claiming his 6th victory of the season in the Belgian GP. After a late start to the race due to torrential rainfall, a standing start was suspended. In the rolling start, Norris had a slight oversteer, and that was enough for Piastri to take the lead. The tow alongside some battery issues meant the Aussie took the lead.

The race wasn’t straightforward for the championship leader, as he had to contend with tire degradation and remain composed in such changing conditions. Piastri takes a 16-point lead going into the next race in Hungary. The final driver on the podium was Charles Leclerc, thanks to his great lap in qualifying on Saturday. Verstappen finished 4th after winning the sprint race a day earlier.

 Is Norris McLaren’s Favorite?

Lando Norris, who’s a McLaren rookie driver, has been a shining star for the team over the years. This year, he has been outshone by Piastri, but in the Belgian Grand Prix, he was given an unexpected strategy advantage. Once, Piastri pitted for mediums, and Norris had to wait it out to service, the team offered him to go on the hard tire. This would mean that he could just have to pit once.

The impressive strategy should’ve allowed a driver of his stature to get close to his teammate as the race came to an end. However, he crumbled under pressure and made 3 silly mistakes that allowed Piastri to take an easy victory. These crucial mistakes can have a huge impact on his title hopes.

Boring 1-Stop Races

Overtaking in the 2025 season has been quite difficult. Cars often struggle to stay close to others without damaging their tires. To combat this, Perilli introduced softer compounds of tires. However, in the Belgian GP, they resorted to slightly harder tires, so we got a boring race. Once the dry tires were on the cars, there were few to no overtakes. The race became a boring affair, reminiscent of the old days, where F1 cars merely circled the track as a formality.

2025 Belgian Grand Prix Standings

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)  
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Alex Albon (Williams)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
8. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
9. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
11. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
13. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
14. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
16. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
18. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
19. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
20. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)