Verstappen skewers McLaren with '15 qualifying laps' to win Belgian GP sprint

As the grid lined up for the start, Pierre Gasly had to watch from the pits. Having qualifying eighth, a water leak in his car sidelined the Alpine driver for the sprint.

Piastri held on to his lead as the lights went out, but Verstappen was biding his time as they rounded the La Source hairpin and raced down towards Eau Rouge; his low level of rear wing enabling him to close up to Piastri and then surge past on the long Kemmel straight, with enough margin to then sweep around the outside.

Leclerc made a move in parallel to pass Norris for third, leaving both McLarens a position behind their starting places.

Even when DRS was enabled, and his rear wing open to reduce drag, Piastri was unable to challenge Verstappen, but Norris did regain third on lap four with another Kemmel Straight move on Leclerc with the assistance of DRS.

Progress was slow for the frontrunners who started towards the back; it took Antonelli until lap five to progress from last to pass Nico Hülkenberg for 17th, one place behind Hamilton’s Ferrari who was struggling with rear grip.

“I’ve got no rear already,” Hamilton complained over the radio, halfway through the 15 lap race.

The race looked settled, but it looked to be a case once again of drivers biding their time as the McLaren drivers charged their batteries and kept their power units cool.

A small error by Verstappen, braking late for the final chicane gave Piastri the chance to close up at the start of lap 11, and was closer than ever down the Kemmel Straight, but still wasn’t close enough and the section ended before he could attempt a move. Norris was unable to make an impact either, leaving Verstappen to cross the line in first.

Despite Hamilton’s woes, he managed to pass Alex Albon for 15th before the finish.

While the sprint may have failed to thrill, Sunday’s Grand Prix could be an entirely different prospect with rain forecast throughout the day.