Oscar Piastri won the Belgian Grand Prix after an early move on teammate Lando Norris to extend his lead in the title race.

Piastri made a stunning move on Norris in the opening stages of the race, going around the outside as they exited Raidillon and pulling off the move on the Kemmel Straight.

It was a carbon copy of how Max Verstappen won the Sprint race, with Piastri joking that it was part of his “plan” over team radio post-race to start from second.

McLaren put both drivers on split strategies, but Piastri managed to make his medium tyres last despite concerns that he could not make it until the end.

Norris closed the gap to within 3.4 seconds at the chequered flag, but Piastri held on to extend his championship lead. Discussing his performance on Sky Sports F1, former driver Martin Brundle highlighted one attribute Piastri showed in the race that will pay ‘dividends’ in the title battle.


Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images

Martin Brundle highlights ‘calm head’ of Oscar Piastri

Piastri has demonstrated throughout the season his ability to remain calm under pressure, and even with an unfavoured strategy, he managed to hold on to the win.

Brundle praised Piastri and highlighted that his ‘calm head’ will be a big asset in the remaining races of the title battle with Norris.

Croft: “He’s solid, he’s unpenetrable sometimes Oscar Piastri. He doesn’t get too flustered or excited or too down and depressed.”

Brundle: “That calm head of his, when it comes down to the championship showdown, is going to pay such big dividends for him.”

Oscar Piastri moves over three wins clear of Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen’s hopes of winning a fifth title in a row just got harder, as Piastri moved three race wins clear in the points tally.

Piastri is now on 266 points compared to Verstappen’s 185 points, effectively signifying that his title challenge might be over.

Verstappen and Red Bull knew winning this year would be a stretch, especially after they had to contend with the issues thrown up by the RB21.

The added management change at Red Bull, with Christian Horner being sacked and Laurent Mekies taking his place, shows that the team is now in its transitional phase.