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Formula 1 News
All the key moments from the Belgian Grand Prix
Oscar Piastri scored his sixth win of the season while Max Verstappen also enjoyed Sprint success at the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
ically. And I think we did a really good job overnight to rectify some of those tweaks and fine tune it.
“The car was so much better to drive today. So I had a lot of fun trying to make my way through.” https://www.the-race.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/07/SI202507271437.jpg Winners and losers from F1's 2025 Belgian Grand Prix Read more
While things had not gone well early in the Spa weekend, Hamilton said he feels upbeat about how things can move forward from here.
“I think this one is definitely one to put behind me,” he added. “I definitely feel confident going forward.
“I learned more about the car today, fine-tuned it. I'll set that up better for next week.
“I will be at the factory on Wednesday. So yeah, I don't see why we can't have better results moving forward.”
Formula 1 – The Race
Mark Hughes: The little-known significance of McLaren's Spa dominance
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363599_HiRes.jpg There is a meeting room at McLaren’s Woking MTC base, within the manufacturing department, which Andrea Stella has named ‘La Source’.
The double meaning is that he firmly believed that from discussions within that meeting room would come the solution to the only real weakness of last year’s car. The room would be ‘the source’ of the solution to corners exactly like Spa’s La Source: low-speed/high rear ride, where the rear downforce was bleeding away.
Whatever was proposed in those meetings turned out to be a resounding success – as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris delivered a dominant 1-2, 20s clear of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. From McLaren’s perspective, that was the significance of this race.
It was really only a rubber-stamping of what we already know, given how good the McLaren was at Monaco. But on the circuit with that bogey corner, it was a performance with resonance at McLaren.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1361803_HiRes.jpg
From the perspective of its drivers, it was a high-pressure win for Piastri, an impressive mix of commitment and control, a resigned defeat for Norris.
Piastri’s commitment came on the opening lap from the rolling start as he nailed Eau Rouge in the wet harder than the race-leading pole-setter Norris and used that to burst through the spray and tow past on the Kemmel Straight. It was a lead he’d never lose. But this was not assured until very near the end, as the switch from inters to slicks afforded the chasing Norris the opportunity to do an offset tyre strategy (C1 hards compared to Piastri’s C3 mediums). The C1s could more comfortably get to the end than Piastri’s more delicate rubber.
It was far from certain at the time of those stops which would be the faster tyre over such a distance. So Piastri had to balance pace and tyre management very carefully, while monitoring his gap over his charging team-mate. There was a window where Piastri might have converted to an extra stop, come out still in second but 11s behind with 14 laps to go on tyres which would have been 17 laps newer.
In theory that would have been a feasible route to victory, but it would obviously have been complicated by having to pass Norris again wheel-to-wheel. He preferred to avoid that, judging that he just about had the tyre life to keep himself out of range.
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As Norris was obliged to drive a more aggressive race, he made a series of small errors – running wide at Pouhon, locking up a couple of times into La Source - which lost around 3s of the gains he’d made. It might have made a difference – as he had closed the gap to 3s with two laps to go and was lapping around 0.7s faster. But maybe not – because Piastri on the penultimate lap showed just how much he’d been saving the tyres, producing his own fastest lap of the race.
The different routes to the respective results of the Mclaren drivers came on lap 12 as it became clear the track was now dry enough for slicks to replace the very worn inters. Mediums was the conventional choice and what had been discussed in the team briefing and Piastri was happy to go with it, given the possibility that the untried hard was going to be slow (at two steps softer than the medium).
Norris was given the option of taking the hard and replied in the affirmative. Because the tyres that were readied were mediums, his choice involved him doing an extra lap on the inters – ballooning Piastri’s lead over him from under 2s to over 9s. Had he asked for the mediums, McLaren would have stacked him. Either way, he wouldn’t lose position.
It was a luxury option McLaren could afford to give Norris because of the superiority of a[...]
Formula 1 – The Race
How unseen dramas robbed two F1 drivers of Spa points
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507271510.jpg Two Formula 1 drivers believe they lost points finishes in the Belgian Grand Prix to a pair of unseen technical issues.
Haas rookie Ollie Bearman had an “incredibly frustrating” race from 12th on the grid to 11th place, mere tenths behind the final points-paying position held by Pierre Gasly’s Alpine.
Bearman had strong pace in the opening laps, with Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon letting him pass him - without receiving a team order to do so - for 11th place on lap 11.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/2227230560-645.jpg
Bearman switched to slicks on lap 12 but was jumped by Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, who had pitted a lap earlier.
But he was still on course for points before coming out of the Bus Stop chicane on lap 13, at which point Bearman slowed with an issue and Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin both passed him - plus it allowed Yuki Tsunoda, whom he’d have otherwise undercut, to stay ahead.
Bearman would have been 11th without that issue, which would have become 10th when Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber made a second pitstop. That solitary point instead went Gasly’s way.
“We did box a bit too late from the inter to the slick [on lap 12, while others pitted on lap 11], and got undercut by a few guys, but it happens, it's one of those where it's really difficult to judge, honestly,” Bearman said.
“From my side, I didn't really give much feedback, also on the track, because I was nursing a problem with the engine, and more focused on that, because I was struggling with my battery charge and everything.
“So then after the stops, I was in P10, just behind Hulkenberg, and then coming out of the last corner, I had no power. The engine went to limp mode, and I lost three spots - to Gasly, to Alonso, to Yuki as well.
“So then I spent the whole race just p***ed off and trying to catch it back, but it's impossible to overtake here.”
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363641_HiRes.jpg
Bearman managed to clear Tsunoda on the Kemmel Straight on the penultimate lap to return to 11th but fell just short of passing Gasly.
“Oh my god guys, I was so close, f***” a frustrated Bearman said on the team radio after he crossed the line, cutting off his engineer when he started to read out a list of the top 10 finishers.
“The car felt fantastic, I was just unable to overtake, it really sucked as the car was good,” Bearman said after the race. Hadjar’s mystery problem https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507271271.jpg
Bearman isn’t the only driver leaving Spa believing a technical issue cost them a points finish - as Isack Hadjar says Racing Bulls was denied having two cars in the top 10.
“I had a problem with the car but I just can’t say much - but very frustrating,” a cryptic Hadjar said after the race.
“It made me not competitive and losing quite a bit of time everywhere consistently, and I was aware of it and did my best, it’s super painful, especially with a track like this.”
That problem manifested itself “in the first few laps”, meaning it’s difficult to judge what could have been possible for Hadjar.
But he was just ahead of team-mate Liam Lawson before the issue struck and Lawson finished the race in eighth place.
Lawson pitted on lap 12 while Hadjar pitted on lap 13 - but Lawson pitting first was only because he’d been able to pass the ailing Hadjar, who then came out well outside the points.
Hadjar felt he was fighting a losing battle regardless of what strategy he picked.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507271480.jpg
“There was no chance to fight, even if I started way ahead I would have been caught and overtaken,” Hadjar said.
“The pace has been super strong the whole weekend[...]
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Was FIA right to delay Belgian GP start over safety? F1 drivers' verdict
It was just right
Fernando Alonso: "We know that safety is priority, we even spoke about that on Friday, at the previous briefing. And I think at the beginning it was not raceable conditions with visibility, so I think the race started at the right time, to be honest."
Gabriel Bortoleto: "Safety is first always. I think when we went out for the first time it was just so much spray, so much ...Keep reading
Formula 1 News
Piastri reflects on ‘lively’ overtake in Spa win
Oscar Piastri was delighted to bounce back from losing out in Saturday’s Sprint to win the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Australian proud of his “lively” Lap 1 overtake on team mate Lando Norris that saw him move into the lead.
Formula 1 News
FIA post-race press conference – Belgium
1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren), 2. Lando Norris (McLaren), 3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Formula 1 News
Piastri clocks up most season wins by an Australian
The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps produced not only a memorable race, but also a treasure trove of top trivia to dive into.
Formula 1 News
Norris concedes Piastri 'did a better job' in Belgian GP
Lando Norris finished second to McLaren team mate and title rival Oscar Piastri at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Formula 1 News
Leclerc on ‘high pressure’ from Verstappen in Spa
Charles Leclerc was relieved to keep hold of third place at the Belgian Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver admitting that the “pressure is high” when being chased down by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
s never at Verstappen's level or anywhere near even in the brief moments that he'd spent in clean air, but it was certainly enough to end his point-less streak, now up to six rounds, had he kept track position. - VK Winner - Alex Albon
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363508_HiRes.jpg
Albon has three fifth-place finishes this year so finishing sixth isn’t revolutionary, but it was an excellent drive.
He did concede fifth to George Russell’s Mercedes early on, and after the pitstops he had a charging Hamilton for company.
Hamilton closed in, attacked, backed off, closed in and attacked again. It was relentless for well over half of the race.
While his team-mate struggled, Albon demonstrated the value of his ace qualifying, which put him in position to execute on Sunday. - JB Loser - Isack Hadjar
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507271739.jpg
After a decent weekend, Isack Hadjar and his Racing Bulls car were suddenly the slowest combination by far mid-race - which Hadjar revealed afterwards was due to a problem that "made me not competitive".
Alarm bells had rung already as Liam Lawson closed in and overtook him, and though strategy didn't work out, it was in any case an irrelevance given the performance in the car.
Hadjar didn't specify what the issue was, but said it was very obvious from inside the car. It came in handy that his barren run of non-scores had ended on Saturday already in the sprint. - VK Winner - Liam Lawson
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507271594.jpg
Lawson's qualifying track record against a rookie team-mate (though he himself is more a rookie than not), but he's had a few really handy drives as of late - and this was another.
He seemed to identify early on where his race was at and ran that race more or less to perfection, admitting afterwards he drove to the pace of the cars behind as he brought home a valuable points finish. - VK Loser - Haas
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363569_HiRes.jpg
"We had the pace today to score with both cars. The pace was there," lamented Esteban Ocon.
On his end, the way-too-late pitstop was ruinous - and he was also bewildered to have spent his race-closing stint on a medium on a previously-used tyre, though the grand prix was never going to be salvageable even had he had the freshest of slicks at his disposal.
On Ollie Bearman's side the strategy looked suboptimal, too, though points should still have been readily available - only for his engine to briefly go into "limp mode" out of the Bus Stop chicane after the pitstop, dropping him three places and rendering a top-10 finish mission impossible. Winner - Gabriel Bortoleto
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363647_HiRes.jpg
Bortoleto has been one of the underrated rookies of the season.
He looked like being eliminated in Q1 on Saturday after a lap of small errors, but Hamilton’s track limits penalty gave Bortoleto a second chance - and he duly capitalised.
Racing from a Q3 starting spot, he picked up a place in the pitstop phase and was then given preference over Nico Hulkenberg - who moved over to let Bortoleto by to go and have a crack at Lawson.
Bortoleto got closer than Hulkenberg did but was stuck behind - but ninth is his second points finish and he didn’t look out of place there at all. - JB Loser - Nico Hulkenberg
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363521_HiRes.jpg
After the high of Silverstone this was a disappointing weekend for Hulkenberg.
He was beaten by Bortoleto in sprint qualifying, the sprint, actual qualifying for the race and then the race, even having to move aside under orders from the team to let Bortoleto through.
Bortoleto had a great weekend and has been strong this year, but Hulkenberg shouldn’t have been so clearly second-best here. - JB Winner - Pierre Gasly
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363557_HiRes[...]
gs had been handled.
“I have to say that, on a track like this, with what happened historically, I think you cannot forget about it,” said Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc.
“For that reason, I would rather be safe than too early. And so yeah, again, I think it's a constant discussion.
“We will probably give the people that made this decision feedback that maybe it was a little bit on the late side, but I wouldn't have changed anything.”
Race winner Oscar Piastri also said that Spa was not the kind of venue where the FIA should take risks in going too early with wet-weather restarts.
“I think the past few years, particularly here, we've given the FIA feedback that we would much rather be on the safe side than risk anything,” he explained. “And I think that's what we did today.
“I think, if you were to be picky, maybe we could have done one less formation lap. But in the grand scheme of things, if that's one lap too early, is it worth it? No.”
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The wet-weather call was especially frustrating for Verstappen as he had elected to run a higher-downforce setting because he anticipated such conditions.
He suggested that F1 risked a future of losing classic wet-weather drama if the FIA remained so cautious.
“They do what they want, right? I mean, they decide,” he said. “But I just find it is a bit of a shame for everyone. You will never see these classic kind of wet races anymore.
“I think they still can happen. And I think also the rain that fell afterwards [between 3pm and 4pm] was still manageable if we would have kept lapping anyway.
“Then, you know, you make all the decisions [pre-race] based on wet racing. So then it also just ruins your whole race a bit.”
at bay for more than half the race - beating Bearman over the line by less than half a second.
Lawson (eighth) and Gabriel Bortoleto - who'd been handed ninth position by Hulkenberg in an attempt to hunt down Lawson - were the other points finishers. Belgian GP classification
1 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren), +3.415s
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), +20.185s
4 Max Verstappen (Red Bull), +21.731s
5 George Russell (Mercedes), +34.863s
6 Alex Albon (Williams), +39.926s
7 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), +40.679s
8 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), +52.033s
9 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), +56.434s
10 Pierre Gasly (Alpine), +1m12.714s
11 Ollie Bearman (Haas), +1m13.145s
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), +1m13.628s
13 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), +1m15.395s
14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), +1m19.831s
15 Esteban Ocon (Haas), +1m26.063s
16 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), +1m26.721s
17 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), +1m27.924s
18 Carlos Sainz (Williams), +1m32.024s
19 Franco Colapinto (Alpine), +1m35.250s
20 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), +1 lap
Formula 1 – The Race
Too messy from Norris? Our verdict on Belgian GP McLaren battle
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363721_HiRes.jpg Lando Norris had the opportunity to really erode his team-mate Oscar Piastri's Formula 1 championship lead in the Belgian Grand Prix - but instead ended the race 16 points back.
Did Norris let a big opportunity slip - and did he cost himself a chance to get back at Piastri with errors in the final stint of the grand prix?
Our writers give their views on the state of play in the current all-McLaren title battle. The best of Piastri, not the best of Norris Scott Mitchell-Malm
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363706_HiRes.jpg
That was a flawless Piastri win that brought together all his very best attributes in 2025: bold and assertive with the key move, convincing pace in the damp first stint, and good tyre management to the end.
Piastri didn’t mess around on the first lap, and rightly so - based on the dull race that followed it would have been his only chance. He didn’t need to think twice.
Unfortunately, if it brought the best of Piastri, it maybe highlighted a couple of familiar Norris limitations. He was imprecise at the start and left himself vulnerable, then hampered his attempted charge with errors that cost key laptime.
Did these prevent Norris winning? Maybe not. But they saved Piastri a tighter finish. And the point is that Norris needs to make sure he does everything he can to win, which wasn’t the case today. Norris never had a chance after pitstops Ben Anderson
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363583_HiRes.jpg
It looked to me like the gap between the medium (C3) and the hard (C1) was overstated in the end. Good effort from Pirelli to try to introduce a strategic variable, but it didn't work.
Carlos Sainz and Isack Hadjar made zero progress on the same hard compound Norris punted for victory on, and the mistakes Norris made in pursuit of Piastri suggested it wasn't working all that well, the fronts especially.
Piastri also clearly held tyre life in reserve in case Norris got within range. I suspect even if Norris had driven a perfect stint, Piastri would have had extra pace to unleash in defence - especially in a car we know looks after old tyres extremely well.
It was quite common in the ultra-dominant Mercedes years of 2014-16 for that team to allow Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg a tyre offset at the pitstops, to avoid the second-placed driver being locked into a strategic straightjacket.
I'm sure this would have been a huge talking point had Norris overcome Piastri to win this race, but in the end the medium Pirellis were simply too robust in Piastri's hands. He won this race with that first-lap pass and the tyre offset between the two McLarens was ultimately a moot point. The kind of day that can decide a title Jonathan Noble
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363688_HiRes.jpg
Norris has long known that he is going to have to perform to his best if he is going to beat Piastri, but Spa has perhaps proved that only perfection is going to be good enough.
Norris will likely feel that everything had been in his hands to grab that Belgian GP win – but it was an accumulation of a lot of small errors (one from his team) that ultimately cost him.
That poor exit from La Source on lap one; the slow pitstop; the moment at Pouhon and that two locks-up at La Source late on may have been quite minor in themselves, but added together they prevented him from at least having a sniff of the win late on.
As the championship fight starts getting more serious now, Norris cannot let opportunities like this slip through his fingers – because these are the kinds of days titles are won and lost. McLaren is playing this very well Gary Anderson
https://www.the-race.[...]
Formula 1 – The Race
F1 Belgian Grand Prix 2025 race results
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363470_HiRes.jpg Oscar Piastri defeated McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Lando Norris to extend his lead at the top of the 2025 drivers' standings in a delayed, wet-to-dry Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc completed the podium behind the McLarens, while all other 17 drivers also reached the chequered flag.
Belgian GP classification
1 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
2 Lando Norris (McLaren), +3.415s
3 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), +20.185s
4 Max Verstappen (Red Bull), +21.731s
5 George Russell (Mercedes), +34.863s
6 Alex Albon (Williams), +39.926s
7 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), +40.679s
8 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), +52.033s
9 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), +56.434s
10 Pierre Gasly (Alpine), +1m12.714s
11 Ollie Bearman (Haas), +1m13.145s
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber), +1m13.628s
13 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull), +1m15.395s
14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), +1m19.831s
15 Esteban Ocon (Haas), +1m26.063s
16 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), +1m26.721s
17 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), +1m27.924s
18 Carlos Sainz (Williams), +1m32.024s
19 Franco Colapinto (Alpine), +1m35.250s
20 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), +1 lap
car which had finally been made complete by those meeting in the ‘La Source’ room.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363683_HiRes.jpg
Twenty seconds behind at the flag, Leclerc kept his low-winged Ferrari ahead of Verstappen’s bigger-winged Red Bull throughout. George Russell, in his even lower-winged Mercedes, kept up with them for a time before the tyre deg led him to fall back to a more distant fifth place.
Lewis Hamilton, starting from the pitlane after his disastrous qualifying, allowed Ferrari to fit him with a big wing suitable for the early wet conditions. With this he scythed through the lower half of the field and was making good progress until coming up against the obstacle of a low-drag Williams driven with resolute determination by Alex Albon. Had Hamilton been able to find a way past that, he had the pace to have arrived on Russell’s tail (where he would have faced the same problem of being quicker over the lap but slower at the overtaking spots).
The lower half of the field was a one-stop vs two-stop contest won by the one-stoppers.
“I knew lap one was my best chance,” said Piastri, who’d disappointed himself with qualifying only second on Saturday. But that was probably the best place to be, as Spa has shown so many times before. The big slipstreaming effect on that first lap tends to put the outside front row starter in the lead by Les Combes. But the move still needs to be nailed and was made extra difficult by the rolling start (because of the hazardously wet conditions, which caused the start to be delayed by over an hour).
“I lifted as little as dared through Eau Rouge. After that, it was mostly under control,” Piastri said.
Distant third-place finisher Leclerc, after a great performance, gave a resigned thumbs-up acknowledgement to the Ferrari team below as he stood on the podium. His look said it all.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363664_HiRes.jpg
, what happened today makes no sense. Where Liam ended up makes a lot of sense.
“It’s a shame for the team to miss a double points finish.”
It’s particularly stinging for Hadjar, as while he did pick up a point in the sprint race, this no-score extended his run of grand prixs without a point to four - off the back of a run of scoring in five of seven.
Formula 1 – The Race
Ferrari made major Hamilton engineer change before Belgian GP
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363685_HiRes.jpg Lewis Hamilton has revealed that a change in his engineering team only added to the complications he and Ferrari faced on a tricky weekend at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The seven-time world champion made a strong recovery in the race on Sunday to charge from 18th at the start to finish seventh, having switched to a wet-weather set-up overnight.
It was a small consolation after what had been a pretty dire opening two days of action at Spa-Francorchamps. https://www.the-race.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/07/16-gp-belgio-saturday_9c3412ae-e297-4b9e-b7db-cf995023a02c.jpg Why Hamilton's struggling while Leclerc thrives in upgraded Ferrari Read more
Hamilton had suffered an unusual spin in sprint qualifying on Friday that left him 18th on the grid for Saturday.
Then he failed to make it out of Q1 in qualifying after having his best lap time deleted for breaking track limits at Raidillon.
Reflecting on how things had played out, Hamilton said that a host of factors had come together to make things difficult for him, which included Ferrari’s upgraded rear suspension, new brake characteristics and an engineering reshuffle.
The latter aspect is understood to relate to a new performance engineer brought on board to work with Hamilton and his race engineer Riccardo Adami.
While Ferrari has declined to offer details on who the new performance engineer is, it is understood they have been promoted from another role within the Maranello team, as Hamilton suggested it is someone he has worked with at his "previous team", presumably meaning Mercedes.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1361355_HiRes--1-.jpg
Speaking about the change after the Belgian GP, Hamilton said that both he and the new performance engineer had had to go through a steep learning curve.
“It’s not easy to switch engineers within the middle of the season, but it's someone that I've known for years [and was] actually from my previous team with me, but not in that position. https://www.the-race.com/content/images/size/w1000/2025/07/XPB_1361822_HiRes.jpg Hamilton blames new component for two Ferrari accidents Read more
“So we're getting used to each other and having to learn super, super quick.
“I think the changes that we had [to the car this weekend] really caught both of us out, but I think we did a great job overnight and we'll just get stronger and stronger together.”
Hamilton blamed the spin that put him out of sprint qualifying on a new “component”, which is understood to relate to a change that meant the rear brakes bit more when he applied greater pressure than in free practice.
Leclerc has been running this new configuration for a few races already, and had been caught out by the new braking characteristics in Canada, which Hamilton said caused Leclerc's crash at that track.
Spa was Hamilton’s first experience of it and, although it proved troublesome early on, it is something that both he and the squad are convinced will prove better for him longer term.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363387_HiRes.jpg
Reflecting on everything thrown at him in Belgium, Hamilton said: “Obviously with the upgrade that we have, there's basically two elements to it.
“One of those elements, we had it to test back in Montreal, but I didn't end up testing it. Charles did. He ended up using part of it for a couple of races.
"So he definitely did a great job today. He's feeling more comfortable and acclimatised.
"For me, it was the first time using it and that spin we had caught me out because I didn’t expect it.
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363363_HiRes-1.jpg
“Also [there is the] change of engineer, we're both in the deep end bas[...]
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
The winners and losers from F1's 2025 Belgian Grand Prix
Winner: Oscar Piastri
Whether you believe in momentum or not, Lando Norris was on a bit of a roll after a deserved win in Austria and a somewhat fortuitous home triumph at Silverstone, closing the gap with Oscar Piastri to just eight points to effectively reset the 2025 title fight at the halfway mark.
Norris could have gone for a hat-trick in his other home country of Belgium after taking a ...Keep reading
Formula 1 News
Watch the best moments as Piastri wins in Belgium
Oscar Piastri took his sixth victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season, extending his championship lead over Lando Norris in a rain-affected Belgian Grand Prix.
Formula 1 News
Verstappen identifies area Red Bull are ‘just not strong enough’
Max Verstappen conceded “I never really felt I was in that fight” after trailing Charles Leclerc for the duration of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Formula 1 News
'Weekend to forget' for Hamilton despite Belgian GP charge
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton believes that his Belgian Grand Prix was "definitely a weekend to forget" despite making up 11 places and finishing in the points during Sunday's race.
Formula 1 News
Stanek inherits victory of a wet Spa Feature Race
Roman Stanek took his Formula 2 Feature Race victory after a penalty for Alexander Dunne and a disqualification for Arvid Lindblad.
Formula 1 News
What the teams said – Race day in Belgium
The drivers and teams report back on all the action from Spa-Francorchamps for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix.
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After a water leak cost him an eighth-place start and likely points in the sprint, Gasly rebounded to take a point back in the race.
He may have been helped by an engine issue for Bearman in the second half of the race, and Tsunoda's poor staightline speed versus his super-low downforce spec, to hold off what should have been two faster cars.
He reckoned he was "probably on the skinniest rear wing of the grid".
Once again, Gasly is showing why he is one of the stars of 2025 as his team-mate Franco Colapinto was largely anonymous other than when being overtaken by people. - JB Loser - Carlos Sainz
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Starting from the pits certainly didn’t help Sainz, but Hamilton made up 11 spots from there so gains were clearly possible.
But Sainz was on the back foot after the team, having spotted a set-up error after qualifying, elected for a pitlane start to use the opportunity to put a high-downforce rear wing on.
The race stayed dry and he was consigned to a struggle.
Still, he should have benefitted from pitting on the same lap as Hamilton, undercutting their rivals, only to suffer a slow stop. - JB Loser - Aston Martin
The sight of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll dicing for second-to-last place in that early stint pointed to a predictably difficult afternoon for Aston Martin, whose weekend has been dreadful.
Alonso's early stop for slicks - made out of necessity rather than gambling, he says, as his inters had cried enough - livened up the team's race briefly, but the car had been set up for a wet grand prix so looked about as competitive in the dry as... well, as it had looked all weekend anyway. - VK
Formula 1 – The Race
Winners and losers from F1's 2025 Belgian Grand Prix
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507271437.jpg A title race points swing in the high single digits, a further tightening of McLaren's stronghold on the drivers' championship and some curious midfield points-scoring.
There was a lot of consequence unfolding in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix once it finally got underway, with inters-to-slicks timing playing its part again - and some drivers having premium opportunities snatched away from them.
Here is our list of the winners and losers from the Spa-Francorchamps main event. Winner - Oscar Piastri
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Piastri's dominant form in dry sprint qualifying on Friday suggested it would be a disappointment for his weekend to end in anything other than a grand prix win - and that's where it ended up, though it sure took a roundabout route.
Against a team-mate who in previous iterations of the McLaren F1 car had a reputation for strong performances in wet conditions - don't forget, Lando Norris probably should've 'won' the aborted 2021 Belgian GP by claiming pole position - Piastri pounced at the start and was the furthest ahead in terms of pace when the conditions were at their sketchiest.
He was very good value for the win and his 16-point lead is probably on the lower end of what he deserves at this point in the season. - Valentin Khorounzhiy Loser - Lando Norris
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There will be plenty of disagreement over how at fault Norris really was for converting pole into a mere second place at Spa.
He said a lack of battery power wasn’t decisive on the first lap. Piastri just got a great run to make it past - something Piastri had been on the receiving end of the day before in the sprint.
Three mistakes adding up to over four seconds in the second half of the race felt decisive - but again, was that the deficit of a hard tyre compared to the medium Piastri had? Or Norris pushing too hard or not being at Piastri’s level? Being second on the road meant he had to do another lap before pitting, which cost him over six seconds and then those late mistakes came while he was pushing to alleviate that.
Fundamentally, he turned a pole into second place and that’s a loss however you look at it. - Jack Benyon Winner - Charles Leclerc
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You might look at the result and think ‘the hard work was done in qualifying’, but that would understate the drive Leclerc delivered on Sunday.
Boosted by the track drying quickly and keeping a set-up leaning towards the dry conditions, his biggest challenge was fighting off Max Verstappen in the early stages while it was wet. Such was his defence that the gap to Norris ahead reached almost 10 seconds as Leclerc parked his Ferrari on the apexes.
But it worked, and a clean stop combined with Verstappen losing time in the pitstop phase gave Leclerc a cushion he was able to manage to the finish.
Four podiums from six races for Leclerc, all in a weekend where Lewis Hamilton struggled right up until the race where he rebound did make up 11 spots to finish seventh. - JB Loser - Yuki Tsunoda
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What was looking like a timely pick-me-up weekend for Tsunoda was undone in some apparent strategic indecision, as the Japanese driver revealed he was called in for his sole pistop just as he went past pit entry.
Red Bull may have hesitated on whether to double-stack pitstops or not on that lap, but it could have scarcely been worse than how the race turned out. An extra lap on inters in the dry sent Tsunoda into the thick of the midfield, from which he never emerged, lacking straightline speed.
His pace wa[...]
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As a team you are always having to make decisions when you have two team-mates racing each other.
If you have them both doing the same thing then the end result will be the same. Offering your drivers different strategies and allowing them to make the ultimate decision and then let it unfold is the best way, as long as your drivers respect each other.
When Norris lost the lead on the first lap that put Piastri in pole position for the first pit stop, they were too close to double stack so Norris having to do that extra lap on inters cost him. A slower stop and a couple of mistakes which meant he never got into the DRS zone, so no outside assistance, meant it all had to be done on the track.
As drivers, they should both be proud of their day's work, even weekend's work, and as a team once again McLaren showed it is well and truly on top of anything that can be thrown at it - and that even includes the Spa weather.
Good result for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc third holding off Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton coming through from 17th at the end of the first lap to seventh - but Leclerc was still 20-odd seconds behind Piastri, which is half a second a lap, which is still a huge gap. Norris defeated but hardly embarrassed Jack Benyon
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I can see a few people giving Norris a load of stick for this result, but Piastri showed exactly how easy it is to lose this race on the first lap by doing exactly that against Verstappen 24 hours earlier!
Yes, Norris made some mistakes, but contrary to some races we've seen this year, this felt much more a sum of the circumstances than Norris having a stinker. The margins at Spa are just so fine and sometimes starting second is better than starting first.
We've seen that happen at Spa before.
I do think McLaren could have eased him back and double-stacked the pair in the pit stops to keep the margin less silly, over nine seconds initially up from two.
But I also don't think the hard tyre was very good and that was as much to blame for Norris's small offs in that final stint as he had to push a poorer tyre over the limit while Piastri could conserve a better one in clean air.
Of all the races to choose to criticise Norris for, this is very low down on my list.
Formula 1 – The Race
Verstappen: Calls like Belgian GP delay destroying F1 rain racing
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/SI202507271242.jpg Max Verstappen says it made “no sense” to delay the start of the Belgian Grand Prix because of the weather – as he said Formula 1 may as well stop racing in the rain if it is this cautious.
A pre-race downpour led to the formation lap taking place behind the safety car, with the start duly suspended by race director Rui Marques because of poor visibility.
The FIA then waited one hour and 20 minutes for a further band of rain to pass before it started the race behind the safety car – which did four race laps before track action got underway.
Verstappen felt that the initial delay was unnecessary, as he expressed frustration about the FIA being too conservative in having over-reacted to crashes that took place in the wet British Grand Prix a few weeks ago.
“It's a bit disappointing, because we spoke after Silverstone to be a little bit more cautious with the decisions,” said Verstappen. “But this was then the other extreme for me.”
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Asked at what point after the original 3pm start time the race could have got going, Verstappen said: “Straight away. It was not even raining.
“Of course, between Turn 1 [La Source] and 5 [Les Combes] was quite a bit of water, but if you do two or three laps behind the safety car, then it would have been a lot more clear, and the rest of the track was, anyway, ready to go.
“It's a bit of a shame. Of course. I knew that they would be a bit more cautious after Silverstone, but this also didn't make sense.
“Then it's better to say: ‘You know what? Let's wait until it's completely dry and then we just start on slicks.’ Because this is not really wet-weather racing for me.”
Verstappen felt that the visibility complaints from drivers during the formation lap were making too much drama of the situation.
Asked about drivers coming over the team radio to complain about visibility, he said: “Between 1 and 5! It would only be for a few laps, and the more you run, it will be much better. And if you can't see, you can always lift. At one point you will see.”
Verstappen’s feelings about the FIA over-reacting to Silverstone was backed by Lewis Hamilton, who also felt that things could have got going earlier.
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“We obviously started the race a little too late, I would say,” Hamilton reckoned. “I kept shouting like 'it's ready to go, it's ready to go'. And they kept going round and round.
“I think they're probably overreacting from the last race, where we asked them not to restart the race too early because visibility was bad, and I think this weekend they went too much the other way.
"We didn't need a rolling start.”
But not all drivers were critical of the FIA’s stance, with Grand Prix Drivers Association director Carlos Sainz saying it is always better to be too cautious than have regrets from an incident.
“My respect to the race director, because he told us after Silverstone and the accidents in Silverstone, that he would play it safer here, and that's what he did,” said the Williams driver.
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“That's why, better safe than have an accident and be regretful.”
His fellow GPDA director George Russell was in full agreement.
"The fact is when you're doing over 200 miles an hour out of Eau Rouge and you literally cannot see anything - you may as have a blindfold on - it isn't racing, it's just stupidity," he said.
"So, considering it was clearly going to be dry from 4 o'clock onwards, I think they made the right call."
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And it wasn't just GPDA heads who approved of how thin[...]
Formula 1 – The Race
Piastri stretches F1 points lead with win in delayed Belgian GP
https://www.the-race.com/content/images/2025/07/XPB_1363395_HiRes.jpg Oscar Piastri kept McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Lando Norris at arm's length to win the Belgian Grand Prix and extend his 2025 championship lead to 16 points.
Heavy rain on Sunday morning and in the build-up to the race offered the promise of an entertaining and mixed-up grand prix after a tepid sprint race at Spa a day earlier.
But so heavy was the rain that the race was suspended before it started, with the first lap taking place an hour and 20 minutes after the formation lap had commenced, and the clear skies that arrived during the delay meant that the track was not far from slick-tyre crossover territory by the time the race got underway in ernest.
And for a second day in a row, the race was effectively won on the first racing lap.
Polesitter Norris led the field away on a rolling start - after the best part of five laps behind the safety car - but Piastri stalked him into the La Source hairpin and stayed with his team-mate on the run up through Eau Rouge/Raidillon before making a move along the Kemmel Straight.
Piastri quickly gapped Norris, who struggled in the early going before stabilising the gap in the 1-2s range.
And the two McLarens remained at a similar pace right up until the switch to slicks, where Piastri as race leader was called in a lap earlier than Norris.
That meant by the time Norris had emerged from the pits the following lap he was seven seconds behind Piastri, not helped by a slow left-front tyre change, but with a potential tyre-life advantage as he took up engineer Will Joseph's invitation to run the hard tyre while Piastri (and the rest of the field) opted for the medium.
That tyre life conundrum kept the race tense - Piastri reported early on that he could feel a bit of degradation and that he thought it would be difficult to get to the finish - but the medium ultimately held out.
Norris did make significant inroads into Piastri's advantage but a couple of significant errors - one at Pouhon and another, a lock-up, at La Source - cost him time and momentum in his pursuit.
He'd got the gap down below four seconds with two laps remaining but then slewed wide exiting La Source and effectively gave up the fight thereafter, leaving Piastri to take his sixth win of the season and allowing him to extend his championship lead to 16 points over Norris.
Charles Leclerc put up a particularly spirited defence of third against Max Verstappen in the brief spell of wet-weather running and that paid the Ferrari driver back handsomely, as he had enough pace in hand in the dry conditions - which Ferrari had leaned its car set-up further towards - to keep the Red Bull driver at bay.
George Russell was a lonely fifth for Mercedes.
Williams scored its best race finish since the Emilia Romagna GP at Imola in mid-May as Alex Albon kept Lewis Hamilton at bay for sixth place.
Ferrari driver Hamilton had charged in the opening stages of the race - Ferrari having made changes to his car pre-race to suit the wetter conditions - and was the first driver to swap over to slick tyres at the end of lap 12, a strategy replicated by three other drivers.
He also dispatched Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls car with ease once both were on slicks, but his challenge faded as he caught up to Albon's Williams.
Of the three drivers to match Hamilton's early switch to slicks, only one really gained from doing so.
Fernando Alonso was never likely to be a factor in an Aston Martin that has struggled for pace all weekend - he ended up 17th after a second stop - while Nico Hulkenberg was running 10th but then pitted for a second time himself as his pace faded.
That promoted Pierre Gasly to 10th, and he was rewarded with an unlikely point for keeping Yuki Tsunoda and Ollie Bearman[...]
Motorsport.com - Formula 1 - Stories
Ferrari: Split strategy right call to get Lewis Hamilton into Belgian GP points
Heavy rain was forecast for the Sunday of the Belgian Grand Prix, tempting several Formula 1 teams to adopt higher downforce settings – even if that meant breaking parc ferme rules and starting from the pitlane.
For the majority this came at a cost, but not to Lewis Hamilton as he raced to seventh place in Belgium.
Ferrari went into qualifying on Saturday with both cars in low-downforce ...Keep reading
