Oscar Piastri hailed for one ‘superb’ thing he did after overtaking Lando Norris to win the Belgian Grand Prix

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Oscar Piastri won the 2025 F1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa last Sunday to hit back at his McLaren teammate Lando Norris and stretch his championship lead out to 16 points.

The Ardennes forest could have marked a turning point in the F1 drivers’ championship fight last weekend, as Norris went to his second home race within only eight points of Piastri atop the standings. But the Briton could not beat the Australian in the F1 Sprint or the Belgian GP.

Piastri scored pole for the F1 Sprint at Spa with a dominant lap in SQ3, although the effect of slipstream saw Max Verstappen of Red Bull breeze by to win the 15-lap dash. The shoe was then on the other foot, as Piastri flew by Norris to lead the Belgian GP on the first racing lap.

Marc Surer hails Oscar Piastri’s ‘superb’ tyre management to win the Belgian Grand Prix

Piastri tricked Norris into covering the inside line for La Source at the start of the Belgian GP, which let the Melbourne native open his steering more and get a stronger exit for the run to Les Combes. Norris was a sitting duck as the Bristol-born racer compromised his exit speed.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

But Piastri impressed Marc Surer above all with how the now eight-time Grand Prix winner’s management of his C3 medium compound Pirelli tyres kept Norris on his C1 hard compound tyres far enough behind following their respective switches to slicks on Laps 12 and 13 of 44.

Belgian GP polesitter Norris stayed out for one more lap on his worn intermediates to avoid McLaren having to stack their drivers in the pit lane. Yet after running 1.609 seconds behind Piastri before the stops, he returned to the circuit 4.731s back, and it grew to 8.910s by L17.

“He’s a winner,” Surer told Motorsport-Total. “His tyre management was superb, and he had strong nerves.”

Lando Norris’ mistakes helped Oscar Piastri to preserve his tyres without constant pressure around Spa

Norris struggled to get his C1 hard tyres into their operating window quickly enough to keep his deficit to Piastri from growing. It also did not help the 25-year-old that Norris lost time in his pit stop compared to Piastri, as McLaren took three attempts to get his front-left tyre on.

READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge

Further errors also meant Norris could not catch Piastri, including a small off at Pouhon and multiple lock-ups into La Source. Without those mistakes and the time he lost in his pit stop, then Norris may have been able to rival Piastri. But Norris may have expected an easier task.

Norris did not hesitate to accept the C1 hards after his engineer, Will Joseph, raised the idea before his stop. It could have been a great call if the C3 mediums that Piastri got did not last, but the Australian utilised his clean air and the lack of constant pressure to nurse his rubber.