F1 News: Verstappen outduels superior McLarens to win Belgian Sprint

The best driver in F1, Max Verstappen (pictured), had to use all his skill in the Red Bull RB21 dog to beat the superior McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in the 2025 Belgian GP Sprint race at Spa Francorchamps.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Verstappen passed polesitter Piastri on lap 1 and held off Piastri over the entire 15-lap sprint race to win his 12th F1 Sprint Race win by 0.753s.

Piastri might have been the fastest over one lap yesterday, but the more talented Verstappen made no mistakes and left the McLaren boys frustrated.

“Worked out really well, that is the only real opportunity you’ll get against them so pleased to get it,” said Verstappen referring to his pass on Lap 1.

“I couldn’t afford to make big mistakes, I had one tiny lock up in the last corner, but I’m pleased to keep them behind.

“Keeping faster cars behind, you have to drive beyond the limit of what is possible, it was like 15 qualifying laps!

“I tried my best to snake my way through the straights and not give too much of a tow, but I didn’t have enough straight line speed<” said Piastri. “Still a good result, good points. Pretty happy, but a bit frustrated I couldn’t get past.

“The weather is looking pretty bad for tomorrow, which means you don’t want to take off too much wing, but I don’t want to repeat what I’ve just experienced either.”

Lando Norris started third, lost the place to the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc on lap 1 but eventually passed Leclerc back and closed on Verstappen and Piastri to finish 1.414s behind Verstappen.

“Not a lot going on, a bit of fun at the start with trying to overtake Charles,” said Norris. “I could have maybe positioned myself a bit better. [Verstappen] drove a good race, so we’ll have to see what we can do tomorrow.

“It is tough, I obviously hoped for a bit of battling or something but the Red Bull was too quick on the straight. We’ll reassess and see what we can do.”

Leclerc held on to 4th in his #16 Ferrari and finished 10.176s behind Verstappen.

Esteban Ocon rounded out the top-5 for an excellent result for the Haas team, 13.789s behind Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz Jr was 6th, Ollie Bearman 7th in the other Haas, and Isack Hadjar was 8th for Racing Bulls.

Verstappen takes eight points, Piastri seven, and Norris six. That means Piastri extends his overall lead from eight to nine points over his teammate.

Some good midfield points were scored though, six for Haas for starters, and three for Williams courtesy of Sainz.

There was not much movement in terms of the Championship, Piastri extending his lead by one point. More importantly, he beat his team mate after finishing behind Norris in Austria and at Silverstone.

Can he carry that form into Qualifying? Norris looked much stronger today than he did yesterday, so should be very much in the battle for pole later on.

2025 Belgian GP Sprint Race Results – 15 Laps