Another wet-dry Belgian Grand Prix may not have produced a thriller, but who perfectly sailed through the conditions on Formula 1’s third Sprint weekend of 2025?
Oscar Piastri: 8.5
Despite smashing the track record by seven tenths in Sprint Qualifying, gapping the field by almost half a second in the process, the Australian would make it a Sprint Race second-place hat-trick in 2025 after being passed by Max Verstappen into Les Combes and being unable to repass the Dutchman with his lower downforce set-up.
Beaten by his team-mate in Grand Prix qualifying, the championship leader swiftly despatched Norris into Les Combes as the race went green after a long delay.
He controlled the race and had pace in reserve to combat a charging Norris, who was put on the alternate strategy as drivers moved onto the slick tyres.
Victory at Spa-Francochamps means his lead in the standings is extended to 16 points as F1 heads to the scene of Piastri’s first-ever race win in Budapest.
Lando Norris: 7.5
Norris failed to capitalise not only from the momentum of a maiden home victory at Silverstone, but also from starting on pole position on race day in Belgium.
The Briton bounced back having been comfortably beaten by Piastri in Sprint Qualifying, starting and finishing third behind both Verstappen and his team-mate.
However, a scrappy race day cost Norris a shot at cutting his title deficit, losing out to Piastri by just over three seconds come the chequered flag.
Losing the lead gave Norris the chance to roll the dice strategy-wise, but despite being on the better tyre for the longer stint, three errors cost him in his chase.
Charles Leclerc: 9.5
Charles Leclerc cast aside a difficult British Grand Prix and one again maximised his upgraded SF-25, as he has done so many times this season.
After converting a rather lonely fourth-place finish in the Sprint, Leclerc produced another classic qualifying performance, pipping Verstappen to third by three thousandths.
That’s a result he would cling on to to secure a fifth podium finish of the season in the process, holding off Verstappen through wet to dry, despite a few sketchy moments.
Lewis Hamilton: 6
Having shown an improvement in recent weeks, Lewis Hamilton had perhaps his worst weekend with Ferrari in Belgium.
Knocked out in Q1 in both qualifying sessions left the Briton with a mountain to climb on a weekend where overtaking was harder than ever at the famous circuit.
Being stuck in a DRS train meant Hamilton’s top-three Sprint streak would come to a crunching halt, gaining just three spots from 18th on the grid on Saturday.
However, Ferrari timed the switch from Inters to slicks on Sunday to perfection, allowing Hamilton to storm from a pit lane start up to seventh place rapidly.
A higher downforce setup for the Grand Prix hampered any further progress, though, as he was unable to deal with the straight-line speed of Alex Albon’s Williams.
Despite the poor weekend, Hamilton keeps up the record of being the only driver other than championship leader Piastri to score points in every weekend so far in 2025.
Max Verstappen: 9
Another strong weekend for Verstappen saw him claim a 12th Sprint victory since the format was introduced in 2021, 10 more than his nearest challenger.
Splitting the McLarens in Sprint Qualifying gave Verstappen the perfect opportunity to spoil McLaren’s day, utilising a lower downforce setup to storm past pole-sitter Piastri.
The switch to a higher downforce setup meant that Verstappen’s focus switched from fighting the McLarens to Charles Leclerc, with the Dutchman unable to pass the Ferrari.
Fourth will be disappointing for the recent King of Spa, but overall, there wasn’t much more the reigning champion could do as he drifts ever further from the two McLarens.
Yuki Tsunoda: 6
Red Bull’s opening weekend under Laurent Mekies’ watch saw sparks of hope that were dashed for Yuki Tsunoda as the promise ended without a points return.
Having had the updated floor rushed onto his car after a lacklustre 11th in the Sprint, Tsunoda advanced to Q3 and secured an encouraging seventh on the grid.
Tsunoda would have had a good chance to convert that had a miscommunication with his race engineer not culminated in him completing an extra lap on the Intermediates.
George Russell: 6.5
It was a difficult weekend for a Mercedes team that stormed to victory at Spa 12 months ago with a 1-2 on the road, George Russell heading Hamilton.
After being knocked out in SQ2, a Sprint result of 12th showed Mercedes had work to do to recapture the team’s magic at the venue from 12 months ago.
For the Grand Prix, Russell converted his sixth-place start into a distant and lonely fifth, prompting him to be concerned that Mercedes is going backwards.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: 3
The Belgian GP weekend was not the confidence-boosting weekend that Antonelli was aiming to achieve.
The Italian was knocked out in Q1 in both Sprint and Grand Prix Qualifying, and was unable to recover all the lost ground.
It’s now one point’s finish in seven races, that one being his maiden Grand Prix podium at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
Alex Albon: 8
It was a weekend of two halves for the Anglo-Thai racer, who stormed to a fourth top-six finish of the season on race day.
A disappointing Sprint saw him finish a lowly 16th, but a cracking lap in Grand Prix Qualifying saw him beat the Mercedes of George Russell to fifth.
Despite the tricky conditions, Albon would steer his Williams through to sixth place, using his straight-line speed edge to hold off Hamilton upon the switch to slicks.
It was a much-needed boost for Williams, the team having admitted in recent weeks that it has fallen behind the power curve by not bringing updates to its package.
Carlos Sainz: 6.5
Much like his team-mate Albon, Sainz endured a divided weekend.
Sainz did well to split the Haas cars in Sprint Qualifying and then converted his sixth place start at the chequered flag for a first points finish since Montreal.
But a pit lane start after qualifying a lowly 15th with a set-up tailored towards the wet was compounded by being held up in the pits when the change to slicks came.
The switch to a two-stop saw him finish a lowly 18th, marking another disappointing Grand Prix Sunday for the Spaniard, who is now 38 points behind his team-mate.
Liam Lawson: 8.5
Lawson continued to show his recent upturn in form, being a comfortable top 10 runner all weekend.
10th in the Sprint race was backed up by a strong eighth place finish in the Grand Prix, holding off both Sauber cars to make it three points finishes in his last six races.
The Kiwi has really started to emerge from the shadows of team-mate Hadjar as he strives to return to the form that saw him promoted to Red Bull in the first place.
Isack Hadjar: 6
Hadjar was another driver who despite scoring in the Sprint race, went on to have a rather disappointing Grand Prix as an issue with his car contributed to a sudden slump.
Thus, the Frenchman couldn’t replicate his eighth place from the Sprint on Sunday, being the only car to be lapped in last place, well in the shadow of team-mate Lawson.
Gabriel Bortoleto: 8.5
Bortoleto pieced together another encouraging weekend in his maiden campaign, as he showed that his heroics in Austria weren’t a flash in the pan.
The Brazilian was a constant threat to the top 10 all weekend, and comfortably had the measure of experienced team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
Ninth place at the chequered flag and two valuable points is how he and the Sauber team would have wanted to kick-start the second half of the 2025 season.
Nico Hulkenberg: 5
Hulkenberg couldn’t reproduce his Silverstone magic at Spa despite similar conditions in the race, as he was comfortably beaten all weekend by Bortoleto.
Having had to move over for Bortoleto after the switch to slicks, a two-stop strategy turned out not to be the one for Hulkenberg as he was unable to recover back to the top 10.
Pierre Gasly: 9.5
Pierre Gasly has been dragging his Alpine to places it shouldn’t be throughout the campaign, and that was no different last weekend in Belgium.
Making Q3 for Sprint Qualifying, a water leak just before the start cost the Frenchman a shot at a points finish, as he emerged two laps down for what became a testing run.
And after starting 13th for the Grand Prix, he made the one stop work, held off a train of faster cars to finish 10th on Sunday, to pick up another valuable point for Alpine.
Franco Colapinto: 3
While the superlatives are flowing about Gasly, unfortunately, the same can’t be said for current team-mate Franco Colapinto.
The Argentine spent most of the weekend languishing at the back, managing to fade into the background of even a more boring race.
Colapinto’s prospects of surviving beyond the summer break were already in danger, and this weekend’s results will only put him more at risk.
Ollie Bearman: 7.5
Oliver Bearman had a much cleaner weekend in Spa, scoring his first points since Bahrain in the Sprint race with a solid seventh.
That could have been replicated in the main race had a sudden engine issue as he exited the Bus Stop chicane not cost him several places as he came home 11th.
Esteban Ocon: 7
Esteban Ocon seems to have an affinity with Spa Francorchamps, and 2025 was no different.
Ocon stormed to fifth place on the grid in the Sprint, spearheading the team to a double SQ3 appearance for the first time in 2025, a result he would back up in the race itself.
However, the Frenchman would be on the end of some bad luck on race day.
Starting just outside the top 10, he was left out for too long on the Inters, followed up by a slow pitstop left him a distance behind the field and a mountain to climb to try and recover.
Fernando Alonso: 5
In a weekend which saw Aston Martin bring another raft of upgrades, a first-ever back row lockout in Grand Prix Qualifying is not what the team would have anticipated.
In fact, the Aston Martins seemed to lack pace all weekend, with Alonso failing to threaten the top 10 on one-lap speed or race pace.
14th in the Sprint and 17th from the Grand Prix will leave the Spaniard scratching his head as to where his team’s form disappeared to in Belgium.
Lance Stroll: 5.5
Lance Stroll too suffered like Alonso, unable to threaten the points like he did at Silverstone.
Despite the poor weekend, the Canadian will take heart in beating his more experienced team-mate in both the Sprint and Grand Prix, although 13th and 14th is nothing to write home about.
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton slams FIA for ‘overreating’ to Silverstone with Belgian GP delay
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