Belgian GP Sprint: Max Verstappen overcomes chaotic start to beat Oscar Piastri in wet Spa contest

Max Verstappen recovers from losing the lead at the start to beat Oscar Piastri to victory in the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint; Pierre Gasly takes third for Alpine; watch the Belgian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm on Sunday, with build-up from 12:30pm

Max Verstappen won the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint after recovering from losing the lead during a chaotic wet start to beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at Spa.

After the contest, which was reduced from 15 to 11 laps because of rain delays, eventually began behind the Safety Car, half the field immediately pitted to swap the wet tyres they were obliged to start on.

Piastri, who started second, was one of those to pit immediately and took the lead from Red Bull’s Verstappen, who came in to switch to intermediates a lap later.

However, after Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso spun into the gravel trap, another Safety Car interruption provided Verstappen with the opportunity to pass Piastri at the restart.

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Max Verstappen quickly retakes the lead from Oscar Piastri after the McLaren driver struggled with the Sprint Race restart at the Belgian GP.

The world championship leader, who extended his lead at the top of the standings to 118 points with the win, then eased into the distance to win by more than six seconds.

Pierre Gasly took third for Alpine after climbing three places amid the early pit stops, claiming a much needed positive result for the French team on the weekend they announced the sacking of team principal Otmar Szafnauer.

Lewis Hamilton, who followed Gasly forward from seventh at the start, finished behind the Alpine on track but was demoted to seventh after receiving a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Sergio Perez in a battle for fourth, which resulted in damage forcing the Red Bull to retire.

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Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez make contact as they go wheel to wheel through the Stavelot corner.

The beneficiaries of Hamilton’s penalty were Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who moved up to fourth and fifth respectively, while McLaren’s Lando Norris improved to sixth.

George Russell narrowly missed out on taking seventh from his Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, but took the final point, having passed AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo to deny the Australian his first points since returning to the sport earlier in July.

Verstappen will be looking to add an eighth successive Grand Prix victory in Sunday’s full length contest at Spa, but starts from sixth despite topping Friday’s Qualifying after incurring a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his gearbox part allowance for the season.

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Watch the wild scramble on the first lap of the Belgian GP Sprint as half of field enters the pit lane!

Belgian GP Sprint Result: Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull (8 points)
2) Oscar Piastri, McLaren (7 points)
3) Pierre Gasly, Alpine (6 points)
4) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (5 points)
5) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (4 points)
6) Lando Norris, McLaren (3 points)
7) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (2 points)
8) George Russell, Mercedes (1 point)
9) Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauri
10) Esteban Ocon, Alpine

More to follow…