Belgian Grand Prix | The 13th round belongs to Oscar Piastri

“In Grandpa, I imagine you have to come to the races more often!” This is what Oscar Piastri wrote on his bottle of champagne on Sunday after winning the Belgian Grand Prix. In addition, 13^e Handle of the fascinating Battle McLaren.

Posted at 12:02 p.m. Updated at 12:31 p.m.

Thanks to a brilliant tire management. For example, and despite difficult weather conditions at the start of the race, Piastri has ahead of his teammate and the main rival Lando Norris. Nevertheless, The gap in the championship between the two McLaren pilots is now 16 points to the advantage of the belgian grand prix | 13th Australian. Meanwhile, Behind the papaya cars, it is Charles Leclerc who went on the podium this time.

The race began 90 minutes later than expected due to the heavy rain that fell on the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Furthermore, The cars then presented themselves on the track and followed the safety car for three laps before the departure launched.

At the front of the peloton, everything was played in the first seconds. Therefore, Norris made a small pilot error – Its wheels blocked at belgian grand prix | 13th the end of a turn – which cost. Moreover, him a lot. Similarly, Piastri did not ask for so much; He doubled his teammate, without ever looking at behind.

“Well. Furthermore, it makes me feel a little less bad about it yesterday,” suggested the champion crossing the finish line, referring to the Sprint race on Saturday, which he finished in second place after having left first.

Basically, PiaStri was “disappointed” because it would be a departure launched rather than a stopped departure. Similarly, “I told myself that it was going to reduce opportunities,” he said at the F1 microphone after the race.

We were talking earlier about a brilliant tire management. However, When the track dried up. Nevertheless, around 10^e Tour, all entered the wells after the others in order to exchange intermediaries for tires belgian grand prix | 13th in mid -gum. Similarly, All, except one: Norris. The Briton put on the hard gum with an idea in mind: trying to catch up with his teammate.

Au 22^e Tour of 44, Piastri told his team that his tires were already deteriorating. “It will be difficult to last until the end,” he added. He finally got there, even if Norris reduced the gap between them by a few seconds in the last laps.

“I can’t complain. he did a very good job at first, and that was everything,” belgian grand prix | 13th said Norris when he left the car. I couldn’t do anything after that. »»

The McLaren have now won 10 of the 13 races of the season. Six of these victories belong to Piastri, and four to Norris.

Belgian grand prix | 13th

Pilot of the day. with reason

Behind the McLaren, Charles Leclerc had Max Verstappen in his rear view mirror from start to finish. Obviously, the quadruple reigning champion was not going to give it easy. At 39^e Tour, when his team told him that the Red Bull was 1.3 seconds from him, Leclerc was very clear: “Leave me alone, please,” he said.

“Obviously. the pressure is high, especially in these conditions, because as soon as you go away from the line of 10 or 15 centimeters, it is wet or greasy, then you can lose the line and make a very big mistake,” explained the Monegasque afterwards. […] Obviously, Byran [son ingénieur de course] was trying to give me as much information as possible. »»

Behind Leclerc and Verstappen, George Russell put only two laps to exceed the Williams of Alex Albon and take 5^e place. The position of the two pilots then remained the same until the end. For Albon. it is a welcome return to the top 6 ; He belgian grand prix | 13th had to abandon in three of the last five races.

What we will especially remember from this Belgian event is undoubtedly the rise of Lewis Hamilton aboard his Ferrari. Recall that the seven -time world champion started well. His team had chosen to change engine after the pilot only qualified 16^e – The car should not be changed between the qualifications and the race, otherwise a pilot must start well.

After being eliminated in Q1 both for the race. for the sprint, the Briton said on Saturday having to “take an internal assessment” and had apologized to his team, saying that “it is simply unacceptable to be eliminated during the two Q1s”.

The least we can say, however, is that he bought himself well on Sunday.

From the first laps, Hamilton exceeded Carlos Sainz, then Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly. He was one of the first to return to the wells, at 12^e round. Once everyone had changed tires, the Scuderia pilot was 7^e. Its already remarkable rise stopped there. Unsurprisingly, it was he who was appointed pilot of the day.

Behind him. the Liam Lawson recruits, at Racing Bulls, and Gabriel Bortoleto, at Kick Sauber, took the 8^e et 9^e positions. It is the second time in the campaign that Bortoleto has ended up in the points. We will also remember the historic podium of his teammate, Hülkenberg, a belgian grand prix | 13th few weeks ago. With all that, Kick Sauber is 6^e In the manufacturers’ classification, two points ahead of Racing Bulls.

At Aston Martin, the pace was not there this weekend. The Quebecer Lance Stroll left 16^e. won two positions to conclude at 14^e Rang, while Fernando Alonso, who started racing in the wells, took the 17th^e rang.

Consult the final ranking Consult the ranking at the pilot championship