Verstappen wins Belgian Grand Prix sprint race

Dutch driver Max Verstappen (Red Bull) won the sprint race at the Belgian Formula 1 Grand Prix today, the 13th round of 24 scheduled for this season.

Verstappen, who started from second on the grid, took 26.37.997 minutes to complete the 15 laps, beating Australian Oscar Piastri (McLaren) by 0.753 seconds, with Briton Lando Norris (McLaren) in third place, 1.414 seconds behind Verstappen.

In the first race after the dismissal of British driver Christian Horner as Red Bull boss, Max Verstappen attacked Piastri's lead early on, completing the overtake on the first lap, without DRS (the system that optimizes the rear wing of cars that follow less than a second behind the one in front).

From then on, even with a superior car, Piastri was never able to regain first place.

Lando Norris also found himself overtaken, losing third place to Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). However, unlike his teammate, Norris would regain third place on the fourth lap of the sprint race.

Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Haas) was fifth, ahead of Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Williams).

Briton George Russell (Mercedes) finished no higher than 12th, and his compatriot, Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), 15th.

With these results, Oscar Piastri maintains his lead in the championship, with 241 points, nine more than his teammate, Lando Norris, who is second.

Max Verstappen recovered one point from the leader and is third, with 173.

The main race will be held on Sunday, with rain expected, which could mess things up.