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Oscar Piastri celebrated his first podium in Formula 1 by finishing runner-up to Max Verstappen in a captivating Belgian sprint race.
In mixed conditions at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, strategy propelled McLaren driver Piastri into an early lead, but after a safety car for a Fernando Alonso spin, once the racing resumed, Red Bull’s Verstappen swiftly made short work of the 22-year-old.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly completed the podium, and although Lewis Hamilton was fourth, a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez saw him drop to seventh at the end of the 11 racing laps.
The sanction propelled Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc into fourth and fifth, with McLaren’s Lando Norris sixth, whilst Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell completed the points scorer in eighth.
For a period, Daniel Ricciardo was running in the points in his AlphaTauri, but by the flag had dropped to 10th.
Given the capricious nature of the weather in this region, 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start, the sun was out and the track was dry, and the teams were preparing for a dry race.
Six minutes beforehand, though, the weather closed in and a downpour ensued, to such an extent the drains at the bottom of Eau Rouge were overflowing, with water flowing down the hill and onto the race track.
It resulted in FIA race director Niels Wittich opting to delay the start, particularly as an hour-long dry window was approaching.
Wittich, however, still opted for a formation lap behind the safety car half an hour after the 15-lap race should have commenced. In doing so, it meant all drivers were mandated to start on full-wet tyres.
By the time Bernd Maylander pulled away in the safety car, the rain had long given way although there were plumes of spray off the cars as they initially toured round, although Russell radioed in to say “Yeah, it’s definitely inters.”
Shortly after, the FIA confirmed there would be a total of four laps behind the safety car and a rolling start, leading to a 12-lap sprint at that stage.
In being informed of that by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, Verstappen said: “Okay, that’s a smart decision.”
At that point, the FIA then declared there would be ‘one additional lap behind the safety car to clear more spray’, making it an 11-lap race.
When Maylander peeled into the pits, sparking a rolling start procedure, half of the grid followed him in to take on intermediate tyres – Piastri, Sainz, Gasly, Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Williams’ Alex Albon, Lance Stroll in his Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg.
It then became a question of whether Piastri could light up his green-striped Pirellis enough to get ahead of Verstappen, who pitted a lap later, along with the other nine drivers who had decided to remain out for a racing lap on the wets.
The decision worked perfectly for Piastri as Verstappen came out behind the Australian, with a 1.3s gap to the two-time champion after the first two laps.
The tactics of coming in behind the safety car had also worked perfectly for Gasly, Perez, and Hamilton who emerged in third, fourth and fifth, followed by Sainz in sixth.
On lap four, though, the race was shaken up when Alonso put his right-side wheels on the kerb on the outside of Pouhon, leading to him pirouetting three times into the gravel and out of the race, sparking a safety car.
Behind Maylander, Verstappen was informed by Lambiase that the left-hand side tyres on Piastri’s McLaren were “suffering”, to which the Dutch driver replied: “Yeah, I’m not surprised, he’s drifting everywhere.”
When Maylander took to the pits again, it left six laps remaining, but Piastri was easy pickings for Verstappen along the Kemmel Straight.
Behind them, as the lap unfolded, Hamilton and Perez engaged in a wheel-to-wheel duel, one from which the seven-time title-winner was forced to yield following a minor collision as the left-front tyre on the Briton’s Mercedes hit the right-hand sidepod of the Mexican’s Red Bull.
Perez, however, ended up with a hole in that sidepod, heavily affecting the car’s handling as he was soon passed by Hamilton, Sainz, and Leclerc, before sliding off the track and into the gravel before trundling back into the fray.
It was not long, however, before Red Bull called on Perez to retire the car, soon after which Hamilton was handed his penalty.
Piastri comfortably held on for second, finishing 6.6s behind Verstappen, and four seconds ahead of Gasly who at least was able to give his team something to cheer on a difficult weekend following the announcement on Friday that team principal Otmar Szafnauer and sporting director Alan Permane would be leaving the team.
