Verstappen surpasses Piastri in unexpected 2025 Belgian Sprint win

13:42, 26 Jul

Updated: 13:48, 26 Jul

bySavannah Lenz

Oscar Piastri started the 2025 Belgian Sprint race on pole position. However, he soon lost first place to Max Verstappen. After the race, he admitted he wasn't expecting that much of a challenge.

Verstappen started on the front row right beside Piastri and ahead of Norris. This paid off for the Dutchman as he was able to surpass Piastri and beat both of the McLarens. Afterwards, Piastri was asked if Red Bull's race pace surprised him.

Verstappen has race pace

He said, "It was probably a little bit better than I expected, but I wasn't expecting Max to be slow, that's for sure." For the majority of the race, Piastri stayed within the DRS of Verstappen but was unable to overtake the Dutchman.

Lando Norris, Piastri's teammate, also was able to catch up to Piastri and put pressure on him from behind.

Piastri continued, "I knew it was going to be a challenge, maybe not quite as difficult as it was, but after following so closely for so long, the tyres just naturally get to a point where they can't do much anymore, and it's a bit of an equaliser, so It wasn't a big surprise for me."

Verstappen managed to close the gap to Norris by two points. Piastri managed to extend his lead over Norris by only one point.