Belgian Grand Prix 2025: Race Review

Pathetic fallacy loomed at the Belgian Grand Prix, with rain beginning to pour just 30 minutes before the race, which ultimately saw its start red-flagged due to poor visibility, before being given the green light almost 80 minutes later.

After the controversy of Silverstone, could this be redemption for Oscar Piastri at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, or will Drivers’ Championship rival and teammate Lando Norris further reduce the gap narrowly separating the two McLaren drivers?

Key Moments

Contrasting the idyllic conditions of Saturday’s sprint session, teams were forced to rethink their set-ups and strategies ahead of the race start.

However, as the formation lap got underway behind the safety car, Race Control determined that visibility was too poor to go racing, largely due to the large amounts of spray reported by drivers on track.

As a consequence, the race was red-flagged for almost 80 minutes, while conditions improved.

Eventually given the green light, a rolling start was coordinated, with teams undertaking four laps behind the safety car, before racing could officially get itself underway.

This provided a lifeline for those starting from the pit lane – Carlos Sainz; Lewis Hamilton; Kimi Antonelli, and Fernando Alonso – after power unit and set-up changes.

During just the first turn, Oscar Piastri used his slipstream to cleanly and comfortably secure the overtake on Lando Norris, pursuing a lead of one second by the end of Lap 5.

By Lap 13, McLaren made the decision to box Piastri for slick tyres, opting for the medium compound, and forcing Norris to pit one lap later, falling 4.7 seconds shy of his teammate after his pit stop.

After a split-second decision – engineered by his race engineer Will Joseph – the British driver converted his strategy, putting on hard tyres as part of a one-stop contingency plan.

While this presented a momentous dilemma for Piastri, the championship leader rose to the occasion, edging his bets on his tyre management capabilities, by implementing his own one-stop strategy.

Despite Norris pushing continuously throughout the race, narrowing the gap and tightening the pressure on his teammate – who was knowingly racing more conservatively – the Australian produced the perfect race, securing P1 position and a 16-point Drivers’ Championship lead.

After a plethora of fatal occurrences – including a slow team pit stop, and lock ups in Lap 34 and Lap 43 respectively, with the latter losing him one second – Lando Norris ultimately denied himself the pole position he started in, settling for silver in P2 position.

Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc found himself in yet another P3 position, keeping Verstappen 1.5 seconds behind him throughout the race.

This marks a fourth podium place in six Grand Prix races for the Monegasque driver.

Comparatively, his teammate Lewis Hamilton did well to finish in a redeeming P7 position, after bailing out of Qualifying in Q1 due to a deleted lap time, and leaving the sprint empty-handed.

Belgian Grand Prix 2025: Final Thoughts

The excitement of a wet Spa-Francorchamps race was ultimately dampened by the decision to red-flag the racing start.

While I understand safety measures have to be taken – with even stricter scrutiny during adverse weather conditions – the decision to pause proceedings for the best part of 80 minutes, feels unjust.

Given that the option of implementing full wet tyres co-existed, waiting for clear skies and a completely dry track undermines the technological development of the top level of the sport, and the skill set of the drivers who have worked so hard to get there.

Much as with the introduction of VAR in football, the over-advancement of regulations runs the risk of presenting Formula One as weak, and as a sport scared to take risks, which goes against its very nature.

Is this the future of Formula One, or will someone – or something – be able to stop it in its tracks, before things are taken too far?

Questions can also be raised with regard to Mercedes’ lack of race pace in recent weeks, with driver George Russell proposing that his P5 result was “flattering the real pace” of the car.

With a team meeting set to be held in the forthcoming days to finally get to the bottom of the issue, will Toto Wolff’s Mercedes be able to uncover the issue and make a comeback during the second half of the Formula One season?

The highlight of an otherwise lackluster Grand Prix must go to Oscar Piastri, however.

In what can be described as a tyre management masterclass, Piastri nursed his set of medium tyres until the end of Lap 44, despite growing degradation woes and pressure from his teammate, who remained an ever-present threat throughout the race.

The Australian was even able to find additional pace during the last few laps, further indicating the success of his conservation efforts, seeing him make a smooth comeback following the controversy of his penalty awarded at Silverstone.

Facilitating the perfect race weekend with such well-calculated and well-actioned intent, continues to make him my personal front-runner for the 2025 Drivers’ Championship, with 30 consecutive point-scoring drives and 8 total race wins.

Having only won his first Formula One race at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2024, it is evident that Oscar Piastri is a force to be reckoned with, given both the quality and quantity of his progression over his just-under three seasons in Formula One.

Can the 24-year-old Australian keep a grip on his title hopes, or will his teammate be able to make a comeback that keeps the Brit in winning contention?

The Hungarian Grand Prix is the next leg of the 2025 season, taking place on August 3rd.