Piastri stretches lead after passing Norris in delayed Belgian GP

Oscar Piastri reasserted his authority in the Formula One world championship by quickly overtaking polesitter Lando Norris to win the weather-delayed Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The McLaren driver passed his team-mate on the first racing lap after the race began under a safety car and was largely untroubled from there as he extended his lead in the driver's standings to 16 points.

"I knew Lap 1 (after the safety car) would probably be my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn 1, lifted as little as I dared and yeah, we had it mostly under control," Piastri said after his eighth F1 win and sixth of the season.

Briton Norris had won the previous two races to close in on Australian Piastri at the halfway stage of the season. But he now heads to Hungary next Sunday with plenty to ponder after his second place - especially as Piastri won his first race in Budapest last season.

Norris remarked: "Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Oscar deserved it, I'll review my things but still happy for the team, another 1-2 and our first 1-2 here for many, many years."

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was a distant third. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who won here with Mercedes last year but had a Friday and Saturday to forget this time, roared through to seventh having started from the back with a new power unit.

Titleholder Max Verstappen, in his first full race under a new Red Bull chief, finished fourth.

George Russell of Mercedes, who crossed the line first in Spa last year but was disqualified due to his car being underweight, was fifth on this occasion and Williams' Alex Albon came home sixth.

Heavy rain at Spa

The race was delayed by an hour and 20 minutes due to visibility being affected by heavy rain - a feature of Spa despite its calendar spot in the European high summer.

Four-time world champion Verstappen moaned that officials were being too cautious by postponing the race following the formation lap - but other teams and drivers said a delay made sense.

The weather improved and the race, with a full 44 laps, began behind the safety car for four laps. There was still spray but clear skies as all cars started on intermediate tyres.

Norris kept the lead for just half a lap after the rolling start as team-mate Piastri pounced, with the overtaken Briton complaining of a possible battery issue.

Piastri then sped away and even the switch to dry tyres failed to derail his dominance. Norris went with hard tyres while Piastri took on mediums as McLaren hedged their bets and in the end neither needed to pit again.

Norris was quicker than Piastri after the stop, but ran out of road.

Verstappen had won Saturday's sprint race having quickly overtaken polesitter Piastri.

It was Verstappen's first race since his Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was sacked after 20 years and replaced with Laurent Mekies.

But he could not force glory on Sunday, with the drying track giving the Dutchman no chance of threatening the leaders.

The track in the Ardennes Forest is a favourite of the drivers and a reason it has stayed on the calendar, along with Verstappen fans in Belgium and the neighbouring Netherlands, which is losing its race from 2027.

But most drivers are not a fan of the rain, especially the spray which made it hard to see. But at least it did not turn into the farce of 2021 when three laps were held and only one counted for half points.