Jolyon Palmer snubs Oscar Piastri as he predicts who will finish on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri goes into the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix hoping to protect his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Lando Norris was victorious at Silverstone before the three-week break leading into the Belgian Grand Prix.

There were two delighted drivers on the podium that day as Nico Hulkenberg finally ended his 239-race wait for a top-three finish in Formula 1.

They were joined by a frustrated Oscar Piastri, who believed his McLaren teammate was enjoying the spoils of a race he should have won were it not for a 10-second penalty for a safety car infringement.

Piastri has admitted that Spa is his favourite track, and he will hope that a return to one of the sport’s most iconic tracks will serve him well.

Piastri’s lead over Norris in the drivers’ championship sits at just eight points, and because it’s a Sprint event, they could come away from the weekend level in the championship even if the Australian finishes second in both races.

However, while Jolyon Palmer is predicting success for the championship leader during Saturday’s shortened format, he’s now suggested that for only the third time this season, Piastri won’t be on the podium at the end of Sunday’s race.

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Jolyon Palmer predicts Max Verstappen to win the Belgian Grand Prix

Palmer was a guest on the F1 Nation Podcast to predict what was going to happen at the Belgian Grand Prix.

When deciding the winner of the Sprint Race, he said: “Ok. I’m going to go, Sprint winner is going to be Oscar.

“And then I’m going to go one, two, three. We’re going to have, I just see it as Verstappen wins, and it’s going to be Red Bull redemption.

“That’s just the headline coming out of the weekend.

“It would be huge, and it’s not out of the question.

“So I’m going to go Verstappen wins. Let’s go, Ferrari, get there with their upgrades, second place, and we’ll go Norris third, just because I said McLaren are going to be favourites and now I’ve completely changed my mind.”

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Ferrari could become McLaren’s closest challengers with new updates at the Belgian Grand Prix

As Palmer suggests, Max Verstappen and Ferrari can’t be written off ahead of this weekend.

The four-time world champion has a fantastic record at Spa, and having been born in Belgium, receives plenty of support from the thousands of fans who descend on the town.

However, Ferrari could also be a threat in Belgium as a new set of updates are being installed on both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc’s cars.

Ferrari hope a new rear suspension will allow them to not only run their car lower, but also increase the optimum operating window of the SF-25.

Where this leaves Norris and Piastri is yet to be seen.

McLaren’s advantage is so impressive that it would take something monumental for one of their rivals to catch them in the constructors’ championship.

Piastri’s lead in the driver standings is far more precarious, and he’ll be doing everything possible to make sure Palmer’s prediction doesn’t come true.