Damon Hill lauds ‘extraordinary’ Oscar Piastri after pivotal Belgian Grand Prix move on Lando Norris

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Oscar Piastri extended his championship lead over Lando Norris by winning the Belgian Grand Prix in changing conditions.

The start of the Belgian GP was delayed due to severe rain impacting visibility, which led to an hour delay until they eventually got up to racing speeds.

Norris led the pack from a rolling start, and Piastri immediately made a move as they exited Raidillon onto the Kemmel Straight, pulling alongside the Briton on the outside.

After losing the lead on the opening lap in the Sprint race to Max Verstappen, this was almost a carbon copy move by Piastri, who controlled the pace until the end despite a split strategy from McLaren.

When the crossover to the slicks came, Piastri went on the medium tyres while Norris switched to the hard, which were a step harder this weekend. Even with the threat of Norris closing, Piastri managed the pace and took a calm victory.

Discussing his move at the start on BBC Sport, former F1 driver Damon Hill praised Piastri for the move he pulled on Norris.

Damon Hill lauds Oscar Piastri for pivotal Belgian Grand Prix overtake

Piastri got a better exit than Norris coming out of La Source at the start, which set him up for the slip stream as he went up Eau Rouge.

The Australian then pulled alongside and completed the move as they got to the end of the Kemmel Straight, and stretched the gap out to six seconds by the time they pitted.

“It was extraordinary the way Oscar Piastri went past Lando Norris so he was clearly having some problem with getting some acceleration out of the car using the battery pack,” said Hill.

“It now seems like he’s got on top of it now but that might explain why it seemed very easy for Piastri to get past Norris.”

Even though Norris initially complained about his battery, the Briton would go on to say it was a consequence of the slip stream.

Anthony Davidson thinks Oscar Piastri had ‘extra bravery’ on Lando Norris at Belgian GP start

Analysing the start on Sky Sports F1, Davidson thinks Piastri won the race with one move that he pulled on Norris at the start of the race.

“Piastri on the attack is trying to upset Norris coming into the first corner, he moves to the inside. Lando is looking into the mirror of where his teammate is and he can see him,” said Davidson.

“Piastri wants Lando to turn in early, and as he does it on a slightly compromised line, he turns left and crosses over the line, which gives him a much better exit. Lando has a massive snap of oversteer that he was tricked into, and Piastri sets himself much better on the exit.”

“The next phase comes into it, which is bravery. Having never been into Eau Rouge on these tyres, how fast do you go? Oscar had an advantage in the slipstream not just from Turn 1 but all through Eau Rouge because of that extra bravery and the fact that he’s got someone in front of him to judge the speed.”

The Briton closed the gap to 3.4 seconds after taking some lap time out of Piastri at the end, but the Australian managed to hang on by setting two personal bests to win his sixth race of the season.