Oscar Piastri victorious after major Belgian GP rain delay

Oscar Piastri secured his sixth victory of the season at the Belgian Grand Prix, following an 80-minute delay due to poor weather. 

The race failed to start as planned after the formation lap was red-flagged due to shocking visibility, leading to a lengthy delay whilst inclement weather passed. 

Once the race got underway, Piastri breezed past Lando Norris at Les Combes on the first lap of green flag running, before controlling the rest of the race. 

The top four finished as they started, with George Russell completing the top five at Spa-Francorchamps.

Rainfall caused significant disruption at the start of the race, with a red flag having been flown during the formation lap which was conducted behind the safety car. 

The stoppage lasted for 80 minutes, before the cars returned to the circuit at 16:20 local time for four laps behind the safety car. On lap five, green flag running finally started after a rolling start.

In identical fashion to how the race lead changed in the F1 Sprint, Oscar Piastri swept past Lando Norris on the run into Les Combes as racing began. It remained the same elsewhere, with the exception of George Russell overtaking Alex Albon for fifth.

A driver on the move in the opening laps was Lewis Hamilton, who had breezed from 17th to 13th by the end of lap nine as the circuit rapidly dried. Crucially, the seven-time world champion was the first to box for slicks at the end of lap 11, followed by others in the midfield.

It created an immediate reaction from the leaders, as Piastri, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen all pitted a lap later, whilst DRS was also enabled. All three received medium tyres, unlike Norris who switched to hards the following lap. 

The top six remained the same following the pit stops, whilst Hamilton rose to a staggering seventh with the top six in sight – Piastri held a nine-second lead over Norris. Liam Lawson and both Stakes completed the top 10 by the end of lap 16.

Lap 22, and McLaren informed Piastri his pace was good; however, the Australian warned he was starting to suffer from degradation, hinting at a second pit-stop being required. Lap 26 and Norris had started gaining on Piastri, reducing his deficit to under eight seconds. 

Unfortunately, his hard work was immediately ruined after a mistake at Turn 10 lost him two seconds the following lap. It took the Briton several laps to reduce Piastri's lead back below eight seconds, during which several midfield drivers pitted for a second time.

Norris continued to chip away at Piastri's lead in the closing laps, but it was the championship leader who held on to cross the line victories, seconds ahead. 

Leclerc converted third on the grid into a podium, ahead of Verstappen, Russell, Albon, Hamilton, Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto and Pierre Gasly who completed the top 10.