Max Verstappen claimed his 12th career sprint victory — and first win of any kind since Imola — after passing Oscar Piastri on the opening lap of the Belgian GP sprint race.
The Dutchman swept into the lead at Les Combes and held off Piastri for the full 15 laps, using a lower-downforce setup to maintain a crucial straight-line advantage.
Piastri stayed within DRS the entire race but couldn’t find a way past, settling for second and extending his championship lead over Lando Norris — who finished third — to nine points.
Charles Leclerc was fourth ahead of Esteban Ocon, who matched his best result for Haas. Carlos Sainz took a much-needed P6 for Williams, while Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar rounded out the points.
Most of the field finished where they started, with the only notable movement from the Alpines — Franco Colapinto started from the pit lane after a rear wing change and finished 19th, while Pierre Gasly rejoined late after an initial retirement to finish last.
Qualifying for the main race begins at 4pm local time (12am AEST), with rain expected to hit Spa on Sunday.
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | TEAM | LAPS | TIME / RETIRED |
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | 15 | 26:37.997 |
| 2 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 15 | +0.753s |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 15 | +1.414s |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 15 | +10.176s |
| 5 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 15 | +13.789s |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 15 | +14.964s |
| 7 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 15 | +18.610s |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 15 | +19.119s |
| 9 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | 15 | +22.183s |
| 10 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 15 | +22.897s |
| 11 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing | 15 | +24.551s |
| 12 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 15 | +25.969s |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 15 | +26.595s |
| 14 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 15 | +29.046s |
| 15 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 15 | +30.175s |
| 16 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 15 | +30.941s |
| 17 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 15 | +31.981s |
| 18 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | 15 | +32.867s |
| 19 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 15 | +38.072s |
| NC | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 12 | +2 laps |
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