It was by no means a classic in Belgium this time around. Once again wet weather actually gets in the way of racing, when it used to produce some of the best action. F1 in 2025 is basically a dry weather sport, which is a damn shame. Once the track was dry enough for this risk averse race director to let us go, Piastri took advantage of the slipstream up to Lecombe to take the lead and not look back. Not much action happened behind unfortunately, apart from Lewis Hamilton rolling back the years to pull off some lovely overtakes on a comeback drive, gifting him points in the process.
Without further ado, let’s get into the ratings:
Oscar Piastri – 9.1
It was a masterful drive from Oscar in Belgium. Starting 2nd on the rolling start, he bravely followed Norris through Eau Rouge and slipstreamed past him on the Kemmel straight to take the lead, and crucially the strategy advantage on a wet-dry track. Once he had the advantage, he didn’t give it back. He held onto his degrading mediums, and didn’t give Lando a sniff, putting in metronomic lap times over the last 25 laps to win by 4 seconds.
Lando Norris – 7.5
A mistake ridden race from Norris which we haven’t seen for a while. He didn’t ace the rolling start, which lost him the lead and then made 3 costly mistakes when hunting down Piastri to take the lead back. He had to settle for 2nd on this occasion and a loss of momentum in the title fight.
Charles Leclerc – 8.7
Charles had a great weekend all round in this seemingly improved Ferrari. He ran third for the whole race, withstanding constant Verstappen pressure to take a very deserved podium.
Max Verstappen – 7.5
Max was hampered by the race officials on Sunday. Red bull opted for a high downforce setup, anticipating wet weather, which they got, but the race director didn’t let them use it. With the race being run in dry conditions for the majority, Verstappen wasn’t able to get past Leclerc on the straights, confining him to 4th.
George Russell – 7.7
A lonely one for George after he passed Albon on Lap 6. He was quicker than the Williams but slower than the cars ahead, eventually finishing 30 seconds off the lead and 16 behind the podium. George is worried about this Mercedes performance slump since his Canada win.
Alex Albon – 8.9
A cracking performance from Albon. His last gasp Quali lap to get him into 5th was mega! Not that we saw because of poor TV direction, but that’s not new. He couldn’t hold off George in the wet but did stop Hamilton in his tracks to take a fantastic 6th for Williams.
Lewis Hamilton – 7.9
I think this was Lewis’ best race for Ferrari despite starting 18th and finishing 7th. His progress up the field in the early stages threw us back to pre-2022. He carved his way through, his late braking moves and brace driving. His move on Gasly was confident! Something we haven’t been able to say for a long time. Fingers crossed this is actually the turning point we are hoping for.
Liam Lawson – 8.3
Another great drive from Lawson. He is stringing a few together now! A good qualifying got him into position and Racing Bulls got the strategy right to maintain 8th place.
Gabriel Bortoleto – 8.6
Bortoleto’s best all round performance to date. He out performed his teammate all weekend, got into Q3 and scored his 2nd ever points. He looked consistently quick and made some nice moves in the race.
Pierre Gasly – 8.1
Valuable point for Gasly and Alpine. Their aggressive strategy paid off, Gasly pitted on Lap 11 with Hamilton to jump up multiple places into 11th and then inherited 10th after Hulkenberg pitted twice.
Ollie Bearman – 7.8
Ollie was unlucky not to get points in the race, after Haas left him and his teammate out too long on the inters and they weren’t able to recover. Ollie just misses out in 11th, gutting.
Nico Hulkenberg – 7.4
Nico was another who missed out on strategy. Sauber decided to pit him a second time when running in 10th, which proved to be the wrong decision. He dropped down to 15th and could only recover to 12th. A valuable point dropped in the very close midfield battle.
Yuki Tsunoda – 7.6
This bottom half is going to follow a similar pattern. Another driver screwed by strategy. Yuki was arguably having his best weekend in a Red Bull, qualifying and running in 7th until a radio mishap meant he ran an extra lap with the inters, dropping him well out of the points. Still, light at the end of the tunnel.
Lance Stroll – 7.1
Honestly have no idea what happened to Stroll, apart from he climbed from 16th to 14th. On paper, not bad. He did make a lovely move on a Haas, which we saw on TV. Other than that, we know he definitely participated.
Esteban Ocon – 6.1
Esteban was not happy with his team, saying they made every mistake possible on Sunday. They left him out way too long on the intermediates and went the wrong way on setup which left him stuck. Ouch.
Kimi Antonelli – 5.3
A struggle for Kimi in Belgium. Wasn’t able to get out of Q1 in both sessions, started from the pit lane in the main race and progressed only to 16th. This Mercedes performance and his confidence have taken a hit. Summer break can’t come soon enough to allow Kimi to reset and go again.
Fernando Alonso – 5.1
Not even Fernando Alonso can cure this Aston Martin. Alonso qualified 19th, started from the pit lane and finished 17th. Even bigger ouch than Ocon.
Carlos Sainz – 5.9
Yet another driver screwed by strategy. Carlos pit on Lap 12 like the rest of the grid but gambled on another on Lap 26 which was, again, a mistake. He wasn’t running in the points so might as well have hit it didn’t work out. Scored points in the sprint though!
Franco Colapinto – 3.5
Another pitlane starter who didn’t trouble the main field. Not much else to say. Like Stroll, we definitely know he participated.
Isak Hadjar – 6.7
Both strategy and car issues put pay to Hadjar’s day. Despite running as the first Racing Bull on the road in the early stages, the team pulled Lawson in first. This cost Hadjar a lap and many positions as he came back out towards the back. However, not all was right with his car, an issue lost him lots of time and ate through his tyres. He finished a lap down.
The Perfect Formula 