Martin Brundle saw Max Verstappen do something ‘incredible’ to beat Oscar Piastri in the Belgian GP Sprint

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Max Verstappen won his first F1 Sprint for nine months after the Red Bull driver held off McLaren rival Oscar Piastri to win the 100km dash at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix.

Spa staged the third of the six F1 Sprint races due to be held during the 2025 F1 season this Saturday and saw Verstappen score his 12th career victory in the abbreviated format. No F1 driver has won more Sprints than the Red Bull star since the format was introduced in 2021.

Piastri scored pole for the Sprint at the Belgian GP on Friday after dominating the final stage of Sprint Qualifying at Spa. The F1 drivers’ championship leader destroyed the lap times set by Verstappen and his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, by 0.477s and 0.618s respectively.

But pole proved to be insufficient for Piastri to win his first Sprint this season, as Verstappen stole the lead away from the 24-year-old on the first of the 15 laps. Red Bull running a lower downforce rear wing on their No1 driver’s RB21 let him breeze past Piastri into Les Combes.

Max Verstappen stunned Martin Brundle with his cornering speed in the 2025 Spa Sprint

McLaren drivers Piastri and Norris opted to run more downforce on their MCL39s for the F1 Sprint at the Belgian GP compared to Red Bull rival Verstappen. It proved to be a fatal error, as Piastri was never able to make a move on the Dutchman to regain the lead this Saturday.

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Verstappen’s rear wing let the 27-year-old stay far enough clear of Piastri on the run from La Source to Les Combes via Eau Rouge and Raidillon to nullify the effect of his rival using DRS. But how Verstappen coped with the consequences in sector two impressed Martin Brundle.

Brundle said on Sky Sports F1 (26/07, 11:12): “Piastri is struggling in the turbulent air. Max Verstappen’s doing an incredible job of carrying speed through the corners and then using the lower downforce. You can just see how skinny his rear wing is.”

McLaren might regret their high-downforce set-up after Max Verstappen beat Oscar Piastri

Verstappen’s skinny rear wing level helped the Red Bull racer in sectors one and three, but it meant Piastri was able to carry more speed through the sweeping corners that make up the middle sector at Spa. Add in the effect of slipstream, and Piastri hung onto Verstappen’s tail.

But the four-time defending F1 drivers’ championship winner stunned Brundle with how he prevented Piastri from gaining enough in the corners to leave La Source close enough to try an overtake into Les Combes. McLaren may now be regretting their high-downforce set-up.

For Verstappen, the Sprint at the 2025 Belgian GP marked his first victory in the 100km dash for nine months. Verstappen won the Sprint at the 2024 United States GP, after which Norris won the Sprints at the 2024 Sao Paulo GP and 2025 Miami GP, Piastri won the Sprint at the 2024 Qatar GP thanks to Norris and Lewis Hamilton won the 2025 Sprint in China for Ferrari.