By Alan Baldwin
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (Reuters) -Oscar Piastri passed McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris with a bold early move to win the rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix and extend his Formula One lead to 16 points on Sunday.
Charles Leclerc was a distant third for Ferrari as reigning champions McLaren celebrated their sixth one-two finish in 13 races and the third in a row.
The race at Spa-Francorchamps was red-flagged after an initial formation lap and delayed by an hour and 20 minutes due to the weather, with standing water and heavy spray affecting visibility.
Piastri was not in a mood for hanging around when the racing got going with a rolling start after four laps behind the safety car.
The Australian charged through the spray to slipstream Norris through the daunting Eau Rouge and scythed past on the uphill straight.
“I knew lap one would be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn One, lifted as little as I dared out of Eau Rouge,” he said.
“The rest of the race we managed really well. I struggled at the end. Maybe the mediums were not the best for the last five or six laps. We had it mostly under control.”
If Norris had a battery issue, the Briton asking over the radio why he had “no pack” before his race engineer assured him it was coming back, he was not looking for any excuses afterwards.
“Oscar just did a good job. Nothing more to say. Committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run,” he said.
“So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today.”
Piastri pitted on lap 12 of 44 to switch from intermediates to medium tyres and Norris followed a lap later, but opting for hards, before both then went to the chequered flag on a one-stop strategy.
Piastri crossed the line 3.415 seconds clear of Norris, who had been chasing a third win in a row and managed to reduce the gap in the final laps with putting the ever-calm Australian under too much pressure.
Reigning champion and Saturday sprint winner Max Verstappen finished fourth, in Red Bull’s first grand prix since the dismissal of team boss Christian Horner, with George Russell fifth for Mercedes.
Williams’ Alex Albon held off Ferrari’s seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton to secure sixth.
Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls with Gabriel Bortoleto ninth for Sauber and Pierre Gasly securing the final point for Alpine.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ros Russell and Pritha Sarkar)
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