“I knew that lap one was my best chance to win the race,” says winner Oscar Piastri. “I got out of turn 1 well, lifted my foot as little as possible and yes, from there we had it largely under control. I was a bit disappointed about the rolling start, because I thought that would take away my chance. But when I was so close through Eau Rouge I knew: I’m going to lift a little less than Lando. I’m proud of that lap. I had the same tire plan as Lando if I had been second. I knew he would probably make that decision, but the mediums were simply the logical choice for me.”
FINISH – Oscar Piastri wins the Grand Prix of Belgium. Lando Norris finishes second and Charles Leclerc completes the podium. Max Verstappen finishes fourth.
Last lap – The last lap is running. If nothing crazy happens, Piastri will win this uneventful race.
2 laps to go – Mistake from Norris and Piastri has a five-second lead again. Verstappen is not within DRS of Leclerc.
2 laps to go – The rain is coming too late to affect this race.
3 laps to go – “Some drops may fall in turn 1,” Piastri is told.
3 laps to go – The shower seems to be falling just before or after the finish. Norris is 3.6 seconds behind his teammate.
3 laps to go – Norris needs to make up about a second per lap on Piastri to win this race. That seems too much to ask of him.
5 laps to go – Norris takes another eight tenths off Piastri’s lead. The difference is only 4.4 seconds.
6 laps to go – Suddenly a shower arises about 7 kilometers from the circuit. What are we going to experience now?
7 laps to go – Norris reduces his deficit to 5.7 seconds. Will we get a fight between the McLaren drivers? Verstappen in turn is closing in on Leclerc and is driving almost within DRS of the Ferrari.
8 laps to go – Norris took six tenths off Piastri’s lead last lap. The difference is 6.4 seconds.
9 laps to go – Piastri seems to be controlling the race. His lead over Norris remains around seven seconds.
10 laps to go – Finally another overtaking move. Antonelli passes Ocon in a beautiful way and climbs to fifteenth place.
12 laps to go – Piastri is told that he should not make a pit stop anymore. He has a 7.6 second margin over Norris.
13 laps to go – Norris is starting to close the gap to Piastri a bit more. Last lap he is four tenths faster than his teammate, but his gap is still substantial at 7.8 seconds.
14 laps to go – We are still waiting for the first yellow flag of this race. Just to indicate that the Grand Prix of Belgium is not yet a spectacle.
15 laps to go – Number seven Hamilton, having an excellent race, has fought his way within DRS of Albon.
16 laps to go – Unfortunately, very little is really happening at Spa-Francorchamps. Piastri leads comfortably, Verstappen keeps Leclerc in sight, but is too far to attack.
19 laps to go – Number five Russell cannot keep up with Verstappen’s pace and is now almost five seconds behind the Red Bull driver.
20 laps to go – Honesty compels us to say that the race is not very exciting after the opening phase. Battles are scarce at Spa-Francorchamps.
21 laps to go – The sky is starting to cloud over again. According to the FIA, it will remain dry for at least the next half hour.
23 laps to go – Piastri is told that he can decide for himself whether he wants to make another pit stop or not. “I think it will be very difficult to make it to the end of the race on these tires,” he says.
24 laps to go – Verstappen does not have the speed to beat Leclerc in these conditions. There are still some showers around the circuit, but for now it seems to stay dry.
26 laps to go – Verstappen has managed to drive Russell out of his DRS. He is two seconds behind Leclerc.
29 laps to go – Fastest lap Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is finally getting some more speed in his Red Bull and is 1.3 seconds behind number three Leclerc. Russell is still driving within DRS of the Red Bull driver.
31 laps to go – Norris also does not have a flawless pit stop. The Brit stays still for a second or two too long and drives on the hard tire. All other drivers are on medium.
32 laps to go – Verstappen has closed the gap to Leclerc, but also has to defend fully against Russell. What a fight!
32 laps to go – No flawless stop from Verstappen, who stands still two seconds longer than Leclerc. So he is also two seconds behind Leclerc.
32 laps to go – Norris continues, but Piastri, Leclerc and Verstappen also make their pit stop.
33 laps to go – Several drivers make their pit stop. Hamilton switches to the slicks, as do Gasly, Hülkenberg and Alonso.
34 laps to go – Verstappen puts Leclerc under full pressure, but cannot get past yet.
35 laps to go – “Only turn five is still wet, but it won’t be long before we can switch to slicks,” says Piastri.
36 laps to go – Clever overtaking action by Hamilton on Gasly. The Brit climbs to thirteenth place.
36 laps to go – Hamilton started as seventeenth, but is quickly making up one place after another. The Brit is fighting with Gasly for thirteenth place.
36 laps to go – Verstappen looks at Leclerc, but cannot get past yet.
37 laps to go – Despite the wet track, we have not seen a yellow flag yet. The drivers come through the first laps unscathed.
37 laps to go – Verstappen connects with Leclerc, but cannot get past yet.
38 laps to go – Russell passes Albon and climbs to fifth place.
39 laps to go – Piastri immediately drives away from Norris. Verstappen connects with number three Leclerc.
39 laps to go – There is already the attack from Piastri on Norris! The Australian takes the lead.
START – The safety car dives into the pits and we are racing at Spa-Francorchamps! Norris leads, ahead of Piastri and Leclerc. Verstappen is fourth.
The safety car will come in at the end of this lap. We will finally race at Spa-Francorchamps.
The FIA reports that there will indeed be a rolling start.
Warm-up laps – The track is drying up rapidly. We already see a dry line. Yet we will also drive a fourth lap behind the safety car.
Warm-up laps – We have not yet received a message that the safety car will come in at the end of this lap. So we will drive another lap behind the safety car.
Warm-up laps – The drivers come over start-finish and start the second warm-up lap.
Warm-up laps – “The visibility is a lot better at the bottom of Eau Rouge, but at the top of Eau Rouge it is still pretty bad,” says Oscar Piastri.
Warm-up laps – Although it has been dry for a while now, the spray is still significant.
Warm-up laps – The safety car sets the field in motion for at least two warm-up laps.
The race will be started behind the safety car.
The FIA reports that at least two warm-up laps will be driven behind the safety car.
The track is still quite wet, but at the same time dries up quickly. No new showers are predicted for the time being.
We have a new start time. The Grand Prix of Belgium will start at 4:20 PM
The medical car is exploring the circuit. The spray is a lot less than an hour ago during the warm-up lap.
It is dry at Spa-Francorchamps. The FIA reports that it will remain so for the next thirty minutes anyway.
The sun is even breaking through now. It shouldn’t get any crazier.
How is it possible. We see something above La Source that looks like a blue sky.
Message from the FIA: “We expect the rain to stop at 4:00 PM. If the puddles have disappeared from the circuit after that, we will schedule a new start time as soon as possible.”
Verstappen said over the on-board radio that he thought the FIA was too cautious and just wanted to race. We are still waiting for a new start time.
We calmly wait until we have a new start time. If this rain shower is over by 4:00 PM, it even seems to stay dry.
Adjustment to the FIA’s weather forecast. The expectation is that it will continue to rain heavily until at least 4:00 PM.
The straight sections are being dried with tractors with large blowers on them.
It is still pouring from the sky at Spa-Francorchamps. That will continue for at least twenty minutes. After that it would become drier.
For the sake of clarity, we do not yet have a new start time.
The FIA’s weather station reports that the weather will be considerably better from 3:45 PM.
According to Verstappen, racing is possible. “It’s not that wet at all. And if we race, the track will dry faster too. They are much too careful.”
Strangely enough, it is now dry for a while at Spa. However, a new shower will arrive in ten minutes.
According to the FIA, visibility is too poor to race safely. This could be a long afternoon.
CODE RED – It is too wet to race unfortunately. The race is not started for the time being.
Warm-up lap – There is an awful lot of spray. There may be several warm-up laps behind the safety car.
Warm-up lap – The warm-up lap runs on a soaking wet Spa-Francorchamps. The cars roll off their spot.
Everyone starts on intermediates.
The warm-up lap will start behind the safety car. In principle, there will then be a standing start.
Chance of rain according to the FIA: 100 percent.
For the time being, despite the rain, we seem to be able to start at 3:00 PM.
The expectation is that it will become drier at 3:05 PM. But after that new rain showers will arrive quickly.
Also Max Verstappen is now on the grid.
It is really pouring from the sky. It is unclear whether we can start racing in these circumstances.
The drivers arrive on the wet grid.
It is now raining at Spa-Francorchamps and will continue to do so until at least 3:15 PM.
It is still dry now, but a gigantic shower is coming to Spa-Francorchamps within the next ten minutes or so. We can prepare for a hectic afternoon.