Lawson finishes in P8 at Belgian GP

Rain began falling at Spa-Francorchamps around 30 minutes before the Belgian GP got underway. After a lengthy delay and almost an hour of heavy rain, the cars finally returned to a drying track.

The race began after four rolling laps, with all drivers starting on intermediate tyres and DRS disabled due to the wet conditions.

Lando Norris led the field across the line, seizing the lead before the first full lap under green. Verstappen was pressuring Leclerc for third while the Racing Bulls duo of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson were contesting eighth, behind Yuki Tsunoda.

On Lap 11, Lawson got the better of Hadjar to snatch eighth, a position he would not relinquish.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was on a charge. Starting well back, the Ferrari driver had gained five places by Lap 11, moving up to 13th. He boxed on Lap 12, the first to swap to slicks and gained an immediate advantage. The rest pitted soon after.

Lawson rejoined in 11th, maintaining his position ahead of Hadjar but was quickly overtaken by Hamilton who had warmer tyres.

Piastri was back in the lead, followed by Norris, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Albon, Hamilton, and Lawson in 8th.

By Lap 19, Piastri had extended his lead to 8.4 seconds over Norris, with Leclerc trailing a further six seconds back in third.

Tsunoda continued to hold 12th place, while Hadjar had slipped to the tail of the field.

Lawson was holding firm in eighth, fending off Bortoleto.

Hamilton continued his charge, now just 1.2 seconds behind Alex Albon in the fight for sixth, having built a 10-second buffer over Lawson.

At the front, Norris set the fastest lap of the race as he pushed to close the gap to Piastri. With seven laps remaining, the margin had narrowed to 6.3 seconds but it was too little too late.

Meanwhile, Lawson solidified his position in eighth. The gap to Bortoleto had grown to four seconds, while the Kiwi maintained a consistent 10-second deficit to Hamilton ahead, who remained on the hunt for a top-six finish.

Despite Norris chasing, Piastri remained composed in the closing laps, managing the gap perfectly to cross the line 3.4 seconds ahead, and claim victory at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix. He extends his Drivers’ Championship lead to 16 points. Leclerc fended off a late push from Verstappen to hold onto third. Russell rounded out the top five, with Albon and Hamilton finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

McLaren’s 1–2 finish extends the team’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship.

Lawson collected four more championship points for Racing Bulls. He now sits tied on 16 points with Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz and only six points adrift of Hadjar.

Yuki Tsunoda finished in 13th position, while Hadjar ended up 20th.