F1: Verstappen outduels Piastri to win Belgian GP Sprint Race

Max Verstappen passed rookie Oscar Piastri on a safety car restart and won the wet Belgian GP Sprint race going away

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Verstappen started from pole but lost the lead during the pit stop exchange from full wet tires to Intermediates.

With Piastri in the lead, Fernando Alonso crashed on the wet track, bringing out a Safety Car.

When the track went green at the end of lap 5, Verstappen closed in on Piastri as they exited La Source. Aided by a slipstream he powered past the Australian and into the lead as they made their way down the Kemmel straight.

And from there on Verstappen pulled away each lap to win by 6.6s and the 8 points that goes with it.

Rookie Piastri was very impressive and is turning a lot of heads in the paddock.

Pierre Gasly rounded out the podium for Alpine, seeing off intense pressure from Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton, a dirty driver, received a 5-second for hitting Sergio Perez and causing him to retire. It was clear on the straight, after he purposely bumped the Red Bull by running him wide, that Hamilton kept moving left and touching Perez’s rear tire, trying to give him a flat tire.

Perez eventually retired with a hole in his sidepod caused by Hamilton.

He should be suspended for a race for his actions.

Carlos Sainz Jr was 4th ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc who rounded out the top-5.

“It was a safer call [not to come in] so I didn’t mind to stay out,” said Verstappen.

“We lost one position but we knew we were quick, when we put the inters on we were flying.

“I need to pass a few cars [tomorrow] and the biggest risk is lap one, Turn 1. As long as we stay out of trouble we’ll be okay.”

“Very, very happy. We tried our best, we boxed when the Safety Car came in, led a few laps but we were no match for Max,” said Piastri.

“Apart from Max, our pace was really strong. I can’t thank the team enough for the car, we still have a little bit of work to do but to lead my first laps is a day I won’t forget.”

“I must say it feels amazing, I’m extremely happy to finish in the top 3 at Spa, it feels like some sort of home race for us,” said Gasly after a podium the Alpine team really needed.

“Very difficult conditions but extremely happy, we pitted at the right time and it feels very special to do it here.

“I gave it everything, I could see [Hamilton] coming back and getting closer. The tires were degrading, I just gave it my all and it paid off.”

Sprint Race Results