Verstappen overtakes Piastri to win sprint race at Belgian GP at start of new Red Bull era in F1
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Max Verstappen overtook Oscar Piastri and drove “15 qualifying laps” to win the Formula 1 sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday as Red Bull begins a new era without fired team principal Christian Horner.
Verstappen surged past Piastri on the straight on the first lap. The Australian was close behind Verstappen for the rest of the 15-lap sprint race but couldn’t find a way past the four-time champion.
Lando Norris, in the other McLaren, was third after retaking the place from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and catching up to Piastri.
Verstappen races ‘over the limit’
“You’re keeping faster cars behind, so you have to drive over the limit of what you think is possible,” Verstappen said.
“Tire management is out of the window, so that’s what’s making it really difficult. I’m just doing 15 qualifying laps to try and keep them behind on a track where tire management is important.”
It was Verstappen’s first race win of any sort since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May, and his first in a sprint since the United States Grand Prix last October.
Piastri extends his lead over Norris in the standings to nine points from eight. Verstappen is third, 68 points off the lead.
Leclerc held on to fourth and it was an impressive result for Haas, with Esteban Ocon fifth and Oliver Bearman seventh. Carlos Sainz, Jr. was sixth for Williams and Isack Hadjar took the final point for Racing Bulls in eighth.
McLaren’s dilemma
Qualifying takes place later Saturday for Sunday’s Grand Prix race, and McLaren has a decision to make after losing out to Verstappen and Red Bull in the sprint.
Verstappen couldn’t match the McLarens for overall pace but he was fastest where it mattered. He opted for a lower-downforce rear wing to maximize top speed at the cost of grip.
That helped Verstappen with his first-lap pass for the lead and then helped ensure Piastri was too far back on the straights to line up an overtake of his own into the following corners.
“I didn’t have enough straight-line speed,” Piastri admitted, but said the risk of rain on Sunday would make it a gamble to follow Verstappen’s example.
“The weather is looking pretty bad for tomorrow, which obviously means you probably don’t want to take off too much wing, but I don’t really want to repeat the sprint we’ve just had,” he said. “We’ll have a look, see what we can do.”
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