The first race weekend since the creation of Oversteer Weekly is a fact. The Belgian Grand Prix at the legendary Spa circuit has gone down in history, but unfortunately, despite being quite promising, it won’t be remembered much.
It was a sprint weekend, meaning there was one free practice session on Friday afternoon, followed a few hours later by Sprint Qualifying, then the 100-kilometer Sprint Race on Saturday afternoon, with the standard Qualifying session taking place afterwards. Finally, as always, the weekend concluded with the main race on Sunday. So there was more action, but less time for teams to find the right setup.
As often happens at Spa, rain was forecast for all three days. In the end, however, it only fell on Sunday, adding an extra element of excitement to part of the race.
Starting with Friday, the sole free practice session saw Oscar Piastri finish as the fastest, followed by Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. In the next four positions were the two Mercedes and two Ferraris, alternating places. Ferrari brought upgrades to the Grand Prix but didn’t have much time to test them.
In Sprint Qualifying, surprises came early in SQ1, with Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli being knocked out after making mistakes—Hamilton at the Bus Stop chicane and Antonelli at Stavelot—during their attempts to advance to SQ2. Oscar Piastri took pole for the sprint by four-tenths over Verstappen and six-tenths over Norris.
Saturday’s Sprint Race start seemed to catch both McLarens off guard, as they each lost a position on the Kemmel Straight—Piastri to Verstappen and Norris to Charles Leclerc. Norris reclaimed third from Leclerc by lap four, where he would eventually finish, while Piastri couldn’t get back ahead of Verstappen over the 15 laps. Overall, aside from the battles up front, little changed behind, with Hamilton and Antonelli unable to recover due to their poor qualifying results. The top eight scorers included Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Oliver Bearman, and Isack Hadjar. Notably, this sprint victory marked the beginning of Laurent Mekies’ era at Red Bull, following the unexpected dismissal of long-time team principal Christian Horner. Even if it’s just a sprint win, it’s still a win.
Saturday’s Qualifying session looked slightly different from Friday’s, as some drivers adjusted their car setups in anticipation of possible rain on Sunday. Even so, Kimi Antonelli was once again eliminated in Q1, while Lewis Hamilton initially avoided repeating Friday’s mistakes… or maybe not. His lap that moved him up from 16th was deleted for exceeding track limits at Raidillon. In Q2, an in-form Gabriel Bortoleto advanced to Q3, while Lando Norris secured pole position with the fastest lap on his first run. Piastri improved on his second flying lap but not enough to change his position. Right behind the two McLarens, Charles Leclerc would start from 3rd, with a lap just three thousandths of a second faster than Max Verstappen, whose car was clearly set up for wet conditions.
On race day, it rained—enough for the stewards to delay the start of the race. The scene evoked memories of 2021, a Grand Prix that essentially never happened. The sun came out, the track began to dry, and everyone prepared to start on intermediate tires. After an 80-minute wait and three laps behind the Safety Car, the race finally began. Norris seemed to start a few seconds late, losing the lead at the end of the Kemmel Straight to Oscar Piastri, after making a small mistake earlier that gave the Australian the opportunity to attack and pass.
Further back, Charles Leclerc had to defend third from Max Verstappen, while George Russell overtook Alex Albon for fifth.
Even further back, Lewis Hamilton started from 18th and, being a rain specialist, began overtaking slower cars as if they were standing still. He made bold moves even in places we don’t often see overtakes, like at Stavelot on lap nine, where he passed Pierre Gasly.
By lap 12, Hamilton became the first driver to switch to slicks, a (surprisingly) correct strategic call by the Scuderia. After all pit stops had been completed, Hamilton emerged in seventh, right behind Alex Albon in sixth.
On lap 14, the last of the front runners to pit for slicks was Lando Norris. Unlike most of the grid who opted for the medium compound, he went for the hards, hoping to push them more aggressively to the checkered flag.
Unfortunately, from that point on, the race lost some of its excitement. Hamilton couldn’t overtake on the dry as he had in the wet, and Verstappen spent all 44 laps watching the rear wing of Leclerc’s Ferrari. Norris, meanwhile, never posed a real threat to Piastri. A slow pit stop and a couple of minor mistakes cost him precious seconds, and he never got close enough to put pressure on the Australian. Rounding out the top ten were Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Pierre Gasly.
And so, with that, we approach the end before the summer break. McLaren move ever closer to its second consecutive Constructors’ Championship, having now completed their sixth 1-2 finish of the season—something they hadn’t done at Spa since 1999. Oscar Piastri extends his gap over Lando Norris to +16 points, and now all eyes turn to Hungary, where we’ll see whether the balance of power in the title fights begins to shift.