Verstappen won the Saturday sprint.
Cloudy. Dry. Air +21°C, Track +33…39°C
The Spa weekend was the third of the season in sprint format on Saturday and the second in the history of the Belgian circuit. In 2023, due to rain, the sprint was shortened, but in 2025, weather delayed the precipitation to Sunday, with conditions on Saturday being quite optimal.
In Friday's practice and in the sprint qualifying, the fastest time was shown by championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Pirelli brought a "zigzag" tire set for the event — C1 as Hard, while C3 and C4 were used as Medium and Soft. A single hour-long practice was not enough to get a proper handle on the tires, but the length of the sprint (15 laps) dictated the tire choice. For Soft, it was too much; Hard tires were chosen with a longer stint in mind, so everyone except Colapinto, who opted for Soft, used Medium tires in the sprint.
Start from the front row: Piastri and Verstappen; from the second row: Norris and Leclerc; from the third: Ocon and Sainz. Alpine replaced the rear wing on Colapinto's car with a different specification part, so he started from the pit lane. On his teammate Gasly's car, a leak was detected on the grid; it couldn’t be fixed quickly, so Pierre did not take the start.
At the start, Piastri maintained the lead, but before the fifth turn, Verstappen attacked and went ahead. Stroll overtook Alonso, and Leclerc passed Norris.
The top ten on lap 2: Verstappen - Piastri - Leclerc - Norris - Ocon - Sainz - Berman - Hajjar - Bortoleto - Lawson.
Piastri was within half a second of Max, waiting for an opportune moment to attack; both quickly distanced themselves from Leclerc.
On lap 4, Norris overtook Leclerc for third place.
On lap 5, Hamilton overtook Antonelli for 16th place.
Almost the entire field was running in a "DRS train," unable to overtake, but drivers made no mistakes.
Top ten on lap 10: Verstappen - Piastri - Norris - Leclerc - Ocon - Sainz - Berman - Hajjar - Bortoleto - Lawson.
Norris caught up with the leaders; the three of them were within a second. On lap 11, Piastri tried to attack Max but ran out of straight length.
Norris was told that Piastri's battery was only half-charged, and he attempted to attack his teammate but was unsuccessful.
On lap 15, Hamilton overtook Elbon for 15th place.
Max Verstappen won the Spa sprint, claiming his 12th sprint victory and the first this season. Oscar Piastri finished second, and Lando Norris crossed the line third.
In three hours, the main race qualifying of the weekend will take place.
Sprint results
Driver
Team
Time
Speed (km/h)
Pit stop
1. M. Verstappen
Red Bull
-
236.401
-
2. O. Piastri
McLaren
+0.753
236.290
-
3. L. Norris
McLaren
+1.414
236.192
-
4. Sh. Leclerc
Ferrari
+10.176
234.906
-
5. E. Ocon
Haas
+13.789
234.379
-
6. K. Sainz
Williams
+14.964
234.208
-
7. O. Berman
Haas
+18.610
233.680
-
8. A. Hajjar
Racing Bulls
+19.119
233.606
-
9. G. Bortoleto
Sauber
+22.183
233.165
-
10. L. Lawson
Racing Bulls
+22.897
233.062
-
Fastest lap: Lando Norris (McLaren) - 1:45.914 (6th lap, 238.064 km/h)
Reasons for retirements
Driver
Team
Laps
Reason
P. Gasly
Alpine
0
Leak, did not start
Championship standings: Drivers’ Championship
Driver
Country
Team
Points
=
1. O. Piastri
Italy
McLaren F1 Team
241
=
2. L. Norris
UK
McLaren F1 Team
232
=
3. M. Verstappen
Netherlands
Oracle Red Bull Racing
173
=
4. D. Russell
UK
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
147
=
5. Ch. Leclerc
Monaco
Scuderia Ferrari HP
124
=
6. L. Hamilton
UK
Scuderia Ferrari HP
103
=
7. K. Antonelli
Italy
Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
63
=
8. A. Elbon
UK
Atlassian Williams Racing
46
=
9. N. Hulkenberg
Germany
Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber
37
=
10. E. Ocon
France
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
27
=
11. A. Hajjar
Lebanon
VISA Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team
22
=
12. L. Stroll
Canada
Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
20
=
13. P. Gasly
France
BWT Alpine F1 Team
19
=
14. F. Alonso
Spain
Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
16
=
15. K. Sainz
Spain
Atlassian Williams Racing
16
=
16. L. Lawson
UK
VISA Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team
12
=
17. Y. Tsunoda
Japan
Oracle Red Bull Racing
10
=
18. O. Berman
UK
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
8
=
19. G. Bortoleto
Brazil
Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber
4
Constructors’ Championship
Team
Engine
Points
=
1. McLaren F1 Team
Mercedes
473
=
2. Scuderia Ferrari HP
Ferrari
227
=
3. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team
Mercedes
210
=
4. Oracle Red Bull Racing
Honda RBPT
180
=
5. Atlassian Williams Racing
Mercedes
62
=
6. Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber
Ferrari
41
=
7. Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team
Honda RBPT
37
=
8. Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team
Mercedes
36
=
9. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
Ferrari
35
=
10. BWT Alpine F1 Team
Renault
19
Other articles
Belgian Grand Prix: Sprint starting grid
Starting grid for the Belgium Grand Prix sprint...
Franco Colapinto starts from the pit lane in the sprint.
After qualifying for the Belgium Grand Prix sprint, Alpine replaced the rear wing on Franco Colapinto's car with a different specification element.
Norris: I now feel more of a threat to Piastri.
Formula 1 | Oscar Piastri is solidifying his grip on the 2025 world championship after outperforming teammate Lando Norris during Friday's session at Spa. The (…)
Red Bull helped with adjustments for a low grip level.
Much of Max Verstappen's victory in the sprint was due to the team betting on a reduced downforce level...
Norris: The Red Bull car is too fast on the straights.
Starting third, Lando Norris finished in the same position in Saturday's sprint at Spa and stated that achieving more was difficult.
Ovens: Our best sprint performance of all time
Esteban Ocon finished fifth in the Belgium Grand Prix sprint, and his teammate Oliver Berman was seventh. Thanks to the six points earned, the Haas team narrowed the gap to Aston Martin in the Constructors' Championship to one point.
Verstappen won the Saturday sprint.
Max Verstappen won the sprint at Spa, achieving his 12th sprint victory and the first of this season...