In hindsight, Oscar Piastri’s wry smile was indicative of the events that followed. Sitting on pole for Saturday’s sprint race, the Australian was powerless to stop Max Verstappen storming past him on the first racing lap. But for the grand prix, with McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris out in front, second-placed Piastri had the opportunity to follow suit. When asked, a weak attempt at a poker face could not hide his clear agenda.
And after a start which was delayed by one hour and 20 minutes following a heavy downpour on a murky day at Spa-Francorchamps, Piastri stole a march on Norris – after four laps behind the safety car – with what turned out to be a simple overtake on the first racing lap. It would be the race-winning moment.
As the track quickly dried up, the McLaren pair went on different strategies and it was Piastri who managed to keep the lead, despite his set of worn-out tyres, to claim his sixth victory of the season and first in four races. The gap between the McLaren pair at the top is now 16 points, heading into round 14 in Hungary next weekend.
Charles Leclerc took home a respectable third place for Ferrari, with Max Verstappen largely powerless in fourth. Lewis Hamilton, who started in the pit-lane, recovered impressively to come home in seventh to conclude a wretched weekend for the seven-time world champion.
For Piastri, however, a rare expletive-led show of joy at the chequered flag: “Nicely f****** done.”
He later added: “It was very lively! I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and it was enough.
“We had it mostly under control. Turns out starting second is not too bad after all.”
For a while, it seemed as if we might not get a race at all. Amid heavy rain at Spa-Francorchamps – four years on from a farcical two laps and done behind the safety car in treacherous conditions here – the grand prix started behind the safety car with the formation lap.
However, with the majority of drivers reporting poor visibility, including pole-sitter Norris, the FIA took a cautious approach and the start was suspended. Max Verstappen, a master in the wet, disagreed with the call but was a lone voice in criticising the decision.
The race was delayed for 80 minutes before the sun emerged over the hills of the Ardennes Forest. Yet race director Rui Marques opted for the unorthodox rolling start, seemingly handing the initiative to Norris.
But Piastri, starting in second, crept up on the gearbox of his McLaren teammate and, at the start of the Kemmel Straight, the exact same spot where Verstappen overtook him in the shortened sprint race, pounced with a comfortable move and, in no time at all, opened up a sizable one-second lead in the rain.
After a dozen laps, dry tyres were the optimal rubber and Hamilton – positioned at the start in de facto 18th – gambled first, in an attempt to make up some quick positions.
Race leader Piastri dived into the pit-lane a lap later, given priority in the team-mate stakes courtesy of his superior position, and after a slow stop for Norris, the Australian had a seismic six-second lead.
“No rush here,” said Norris’s engineer Will Joseph, with a nod to the Briton going to the end of the race on his set of hard tyres. The other 19 cars all switched to mediums.
Further back, Ferrari’s Leclerc was performing admirably in staving off a challenge from Verstappen while Hamilton was flying up the field: by lap 15, he was seventh, trailing George Russell in fifth and Alex Albon in sixth. It would be the spots they would all finish in.
The great unknown now was whether the medium tyre would stretch to the end of the 44 laps, particularly for race leader Piastri.
With 10 laps to go, and backmarkers pitting for a second time, Piastri’s lead of around eight seconds was diminishing at a rapid rate. But when told by his engineer that a second stop wasn’t an option, the cool-headed Aussie responded: “I’m happy with that.”
As it played out, Piastri’s confidence was justified, with a winning margin of 3.4 seconds, as his rival ran out of laps. And amid Norris’s mid-season resurgence in the last two races, a crucial swing back in Piastri’s direction, as this to-and-fro papaya title race takes another twist.
