Surprises on the podium in the Belgian F1 sprint – McLaren’s rookie driver gloats about his lead: “I’ll never forget the day”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was again the number one in the F1 race. The start of the sprint race was delayed several times due to rain.

Max Verstappen drove to victory in the season’s third F1 sprint race at the Belgian Spa track by more than six seconds.

The next podium finishers went to surprises. In second place, the rookie McLaren driver who challenged Verstappen gassed up in the sprint qualifying Oscar Piastri22, who drove for a while at the top of the race after quickly changing the tires of the intermediate stage when the weather was drying.

Piastri, who achieved the best finish of his career, was very happy with his performance at the finish line.

– We did our best. I came into the pits, when the safety car came on the track, we led a couple of laps, but we couldn’t do anything to Max. Compared to others, our pace was very good. I can’t thank the team enough. There is still a little bit to improve, but I will never forget the day I led the race for the first time, said Piastri.

In addition to Piastr, the day’s winners included Alpine, who moved from sixth grid to third, past the Ferraris Pierre Gasly.

– I have to say that it feels great. I am very happy that I was able to be third in Spa, which feels like a home race. The conditions were really demanding, but we made the pit stop at the right time, said Gasly.

Behind the tip Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez collided in an overtaking situation, after which Perez’s pace dropped badly, and he eventually ended up retiring. Hamilton was sentenced to a five-second time penalty for the situation.

Hamilton was seventh in the race.

The start of the sprint was delayed several times due to rain, but eventually the weather improved and the race was able to start with the safety car leading. Instead of 15 laps, the track was covered 11 times.

Left from 17th place Valtteri Bottas was the 13th

WC points are awarded to the best eight from the sprint race. The winner gets eight points, the runner-up gets seven, and so on.

The results of the sprint race will not affect the starting order of the Grand Prix on Sunday. Tomorrow we will start in the order determined by Friday’s time trial.

A Ferrari leaves the pole Charles Leclerc. Red Bull’s Verstappen was the fastest in qualifying, but with a gearbox change, the reigning world champion receives a five-square grid penalty.

Bottas will start the race from grid 14.

You can see the starting order for Sunday’s race in the tweet below.