F1 Belgian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen overcomes Oscar Piastri to win sprint race

REUTERS

Max Verstappen overcame Oscar Piastri to win a rain-delayed sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Thunderstorms pushed the start back by over an hour and, after four formation laps, Pisastri took an early lead having moved from wet tyres to intermediate rubber before pole-sitter Verstappen.

Verstappen did the same one lap later and soon retook the lead at the midway stage of a frantic dash at Spa-Francorchamps.

Rookie Piastri finished runner-up with Pierre Gasly a surprise third for Alpine. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth but was handed a five-second penalty for colliding with Sergio Perez, dropping him to seventh.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were promoted to fourth and fifth respectively for Ferrari with McLaren's Lando Norris sixth. George Russell took the final point in eighth.

Perez was forced to retire from the race, allowing Verstappen to extend his championship lead from 110 points to 118 ahead of tomorrow's 44-lap Grand Prix.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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