27/07/2025
NEWS STORY
They might have moved the Belgian Grand Prix from its traditional late August slot - perfect for those in the UK making the most of the Bank Holiday - but the uncertain weather that plagued the event back then remains.
As expected, it is wet, there was heavy overnight rain, further rain earlier for the support events - the F3 race had to be red-flagged due to the intensity - and the prospect of more to follow.
A number of drivers, most notably Max Verstappen - who it should not be forgotten was born in Belgium - were aware that this might be the case and consequently went into qualifying with a set-up more 'rain friendly', while other, most notably George Russell, and to an extent the McLarens, went the other way. Some teams have split strategy, with Bearman opting for a dish wing and the resultant increased downforce.
If nothing else, a wet Grand Prix almost assure that we will not suffer the bore-a-thon that was the Sprint that featured just one overtake once Verstappen had passed Piastri on the run to Les Combes.
A number of drivers, as was the case in the Sprint, are starting out of position, and adding to the fun is that Alonso, Antonelli and Hamilton have all taken on new engines and will therefore start from the pitlane, while Sainz, having opted for a set-up change, will join them. As a result just 16 cars will line up on the grid.
Wet or dry, with both McLarens starting at the front the Woking hierarchy will be feeling nervous, and while aware of the threat from Verstappen, will be equally aware of the possibility of Piastri and Norris taking one another out. Spa, especially on the opening lap is notorious, even more so in the wet... just think back to 1998.
With that in mind, Andrea Stella has reminded his drivers that Lap 1 is just one of forty-four.
Talking of Antonelli, the guy is going through a tough time at present. As we watch him struggle it is easy to forget that he is a teenager. There is obvious talent there, but he needs to be given time and space... though that is impossible in these days of social media and armchair experts.
Another driver going through a hard time right now - other than Colapinto and Sainz - is Hamilton, who really doesn't appear able to put it all together when it matters.
However, as we saw at Silverstone - yes, we're talking about you Nico - the sort of mixed conditions we expect this afternoon allow some drivers the opportunity to shine, they just need to take full advantage.
The pitlane opens and Lawson leads the way, followed by Hadjar, Ocon, Antonelli and Russell. It is not raining, but other than the fact that the track is damp in places, there is the threat of heavy rain to follow... Inters are the order of the day.
Indeed as the last of the cars heads out... Alonso, it begins to rain.
"It's a bit patchy, some places are dry others still damp," reports Piastri when asked about the conditions. In the grandstand the fans are putting on their ponchos.
Air temperature is 19 degrees C, while track temperature is 26 degrees.
As the grid assembles, with rain continuing to fall, the awnings are erected.
For once, Verstappen has support, in form of his teammate Tsunoda, who yesterday recorded his best qualifying result for Red Bull.
As Race Control confirms that the Formation Lap will take place behind the Safety Car, all are on Inters. It is unclear whether there will be as standing start.
The Aston Martin (Safety Car) leads the field away, eventually joined by Sainz and those starting from the pitlane.
The Rain has stopped but there will be more.
Indeed, the starting procedure is suspended... red flag. Out front, Norris reports that visibility is poor.
The field head into the pitlane where the various crews get to work.
Asked if the issue is visibility or standing water, the McLaren driver confirms: "Visibility, standing water's not too bad".
"We are expecting heavy rain in nine minutes," Albon is told.
45 minutes after the official race start, Ayao Komatsu tells Sky: "In 15, 20 minutes we should have a clear window to start this race.
"It is tricky to predict," he admits, "but so far, we haven't seen anything behind this band of rain.
"Depending on water levels, how quickly it dries out etc, but I expect Ollie to have the advantage, but if it dries out Esteban will have the advantage.
At 16:00 (local time) the Medical Car heads out to huge cheers. In the pitlane the awnings are taken down.
At 16:05 Race Control announces that the race will resume at 16:20.
The race will start behind the Safety Car, Antonelli advised that there will probably be two laps behind the Safety Car.
Lights blazing, the Aston Martin leads the field, much to the delight of the crowd.
Piastri still not entirely happy with visibility, especially on the run up the hill to Les Combes.
"It's drying pretty quick," reports Hamilton.
"The right side of the grid is more wet than the left," reports Norris, who would start on the right.
After two laps the Safety Car continues to lead the pack.
Towards the end of the fourth lap behind the Safety Car, Race Control announces that it will be a rolling start.
Norris slows, Piastri is almost alongside him.
We're racing!
All through La Source with no issues. However, up the hill Piastri sweeps by his teammate into the lead.
In no time at all Piastri has a 1.3s lead as Norris falls into the clutches of Leclerc and Verstappen.
"I've got no battery pack," complains Norris.
At the end of Lap 1, it's: Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen, Albon, Russell, Tsunoda, Hadjar, Lawson and Bortoleto.
At Les Combes Russell passes Albon for fifth. Sainz and Hamilton have both passed Stroll demoting the Canadian to 18th.
As Norris closes to within DRS range of his teammate, Verstappen is all over Leclerc.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spa here.
At the end of Lap 7, Hamilton nails Sainz at the final chicane, as Antonelli, running behind, runs wide.
At Les Combes Hamilton passes Colapinto to claim 15th. Next up is Hulkenberg.
Leclerc complains of understeer.
At the final chicane (again) Hamilton passes Hulkenberg. Gasly is 0.9s up the road.
Hamilton passes the struggling Alpine driver through Blanchimont, as Hulkenberg closes in.
"It might not be too far off, just the straight to Turn 5 is wet," reports Piastri.
Verstappen makes a move in Pouhon but Leclerc slams the door shut.
Out of La Source on Lap 11, Leclerc runs a little wide and Verstappen almost has him, but not quite.
"My God, my tyres are gone," Reports Leclerc as Bearman passes his Haas teammate.
Hamilton pits at the end of Lap 11, the Briton switching to mediums. Gasly, Hulkenberg and Alonso also pit.
Next time around Piastri and Leclerc also pit, as do a whole host of others.
Norris now leads from Piastri, with Tsunoda third, ahead of Hadjar, Ocon, Leclerc and Verstappen.
"What about a hard," Norris is asked. "Yes," he replies. "You could go to the end," he is advised. The Briton subsequently pits, and rejoins in second on the white-banded rubber. Tsunoda, Hadjar and Ocon also stop.
Mercedes double stacks its cars and in the chaos a mechanic falls over.
In seventh, Hamilton, the first to pit, posts a new fastest lap (51.050).
All have now pitted and all are on mediums bar Norris.
As Hamilton closes on Albon, Russell is all over Verstappen.
Lap 15 sees a new fastest lap from Verstappen (48.161).
Piastri leads Norris by 8.8s, with Leclerc a further 5.5s behind.
Under pressure from Verstappen, Leclerc posts a new fastest lap (47.507).
Norris is told that his teammate might also try to make it to the end.
"Nico needs to overtake him, if not let me go," urges Bortoleto of his Stake teammate and Lawson.
Hadjar makes his second stop at the end of Lap 21.
After 22 laps Piastri leads by 8.3s, Leclerc now 7s further back, the Australian subsequently posts a new fastest lap (46.300).
In fifth, Russell has dropped 3.5s behind Verstappen, and is ahead of Albon, Hamilton, Lawson, Bortoleto and Hulkenberg.
Norris runs wide in Pouhon and loses time, he is now 9.4s down on his teammate.
Sainz makes his second stop at the end of Lap 26, as Antonelli passes Alonso for 14th.
Sainz gets the black and white for track limits violations.
Lap 28 sees Norris post a new fastest lap (45.965).
Alonso makes his second stop at the end of Lap 29, rejoining in 17th on another set of mediums.
Another fastest lap from Norris (45.889) sees Norris close to within 8.4s of his teammate. On hards, the Briton must force Piastri to push his mediums to the limit and beyond.
Antonelli pits at the end of Lap 30, rejoining in 16th.
Hulkenberg pits at the end of Lap 32, as Hamilton continues to harry Albon.
"We still think the best thing is to go to the end on this tyre," Piastri is told, as Norris closes the gap to 7.7s.
As Hulkenberg passes Ocon for 14th on the run up to Les Combes, a small mistake costs Norris precious time.
"These tyres a getting tricky," Norris is told, "you need to focus, don't push the braking as hard as you have been, you're naturally quicker."
Antonelli passes Ocon at Les Combes, but overdoes it and the Frenchman reclaims the position.
After 37 laps (of 44), Norris has got the gap down to 5.7s.
"Verstappen 1.2 seconds," Leclerc is told. "Leave me alone, please," he replies.
Piastri laps Hadjar, as Norris closes to within 4.9s. Leclerc is now 14.5s behind, 1.3s ahead of Verstappen. Russell is 12s behind the Dutchman and 4s ahead of Albon.
As Norris closes in, Hadjar is warned that there are "cells of rain developing".
"Could be a few drops in Turn 1 in the last couple of laps," Piastri is warned, as Norris closes to within 3.3s.
As they begin the penultimate lap Norris makes a mistake and slips to 4.4s behind.
Piastri begins the final lap 5.1s clear of his rival.
The Australian takes the flag - which is waved by all-round racing legend Jacky Ickx. Norris is second, ahead of Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Albon, Hamilton, Lawson, Bortoleto and Gasly.
Bearman is eleventh, ahead of Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Stroll, Ocon, Antonelli, Alonso, Sainz and Colapinto.
"Max was behind the whole race within two seconds, so it was never easy," admits Leclerc. "The first part was tricky as I knew we didn't have the downforce. But luckily it dried up quickly and the pace was good. Pretty happy we managed to keep that third place.
"The pressure is high," he admits, "especially in those conditions. You can do a very big mistake, so at one point I told Bryan to leave me alone."
"Oscar just did a good job, nothing more to say," says Norris. "He committed more through Eau Rouge, got the slipstream and the run. That was it, nothing else I could do at that point. Oscar deserved it today.
"Shoulda, woulda, coulda," he adds. "Oscar deserved it, I'll review things but still happy for the team, another 1-2 and our first 1-2 here for many, many years."
"Lively, very lively," says Piastri. "I knew Lap 1 would probably be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn 1, lifted as little as I dared and yeah. We had it mostly under control from there.
"I was a bit disappointed with the rolling start as I thought that would take away the opportunity," he admits. "But when I was that close through Eau Rouge, I knew I was going to lift a little less than Lando. Proud of my first lap.
"I had the same plan if I was second," he says tyre strategy. "I knew that was a likely decision for him, but the medium was the sensible tyre for me."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spa here.
Well, all in all a huge disappointment.
Other than whether or not the start should have been delayed as it was, the fact is that once the track dried the racing stopped. As was the case with the Sprint, overtakes were almost non-existent... witness Hamilton passing three cars in the coursed of one lap then being unable to make a mark on Albon for the remainder of the afternoon. That goes for Verstappen and Leclerc and many others.
Every year, we are told that the majestic Spa is a fan and driver favourite and yet the reasons why it is a favourite - the challenges it poses - are sidelined as the racing becomes more and more emasculated.
Congratulations to Oscar for an excellent win, while Lando needs to go watch his numerous mistakes for by season end they could prove very costly.
In summary, in reflecting on this year's Grand Prix, we think Lando summed it up best... shoulda, woulda, coulda.
We've said it before and we will say it again, having lived through one of the sport's worst eras we don't want to see unnecessary risks being taken, but at the same time there has to be that element...
We're pretty sure that the F1 Movie doesn't feature any delays due to weather, poor visibility or whatever, and the adverts for the various sponsors always play up the risk factor, so why today's delay, why couldn't Race Control listen to Max and others and let the drivers out behind the Safety Car to clear the water. As it is we feel we have all been short-changed.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Spa here.