Max Verstappen gave new team boss Laurent Mekies the perfect start to his Red Bull reign by mugging Oscar Piastri for victory in the Spa-Francorchamps Formula 1 sprint race.
The first lap proved to be the biggest opportunity for overtaking as a largely processional race followed with many drivers stuck in a DRS train.
Verstappen made the most of a great run down the Kemmel Straight to clear Piastri for the lead before reaching Les Combes on lap one, while Charles Leclerc’s pass for third on Lando Norris came by going around the outside of the first part of Les Combes to get the inside line for the left-hander.
Pierre Gasly had to forfeit his eighth place with a water leak before the race started, so that was the one ‘overtake’ - read position gained! - for most of the field on the first tour. Gasly did eventually join the race two laps down, before pitting at the end.
Piastri remained comfortably within a second of Verstappen but the low-downforce spec Red Bull was quick enough in a straight line to see off the McLarens and just had enough in the middle sector to keep Piastri at bay, the Australian stuck in Verstappen’s turbulent air.
Piastri’s afternoon got more difficult as a gap back to Norris - which had been over two and half seconds in the height of his duel with Leclerc, who he cleared on lap four - came down under a second on lap nine of 15 to make it a three-way duel for the lead.
But Piastri persevered and on lap 11 he really challenged Verstappen, who weaved on the Kemmel Straight and kept the position. Verstappen complained about his brake performance, with Piastri's attack only made possible by the Red Bull going wide into the Bus Stop chicane.
That, ultimately, was a red herring - at least in terms of its impact on the race - as Verstappen survived repeated late attempts by Piastri and took his first sprint win of the year.
Behind Verstappen and Piastri the rest of the top seven remaind unchanged and only Gasly dropping out of eighth ruined that sequence.
Leclerc took fourth ahead of Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Ollie Bearman and Isack Hadjar.
Lance Stroll made one of the rare on-track gains as he got ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso early on for 13th. Mentioning that here feels like a good reflection of how interesting the Spa sprint race was.
Lewis Hamilton - having spun in qualifying and started 18th - complained of losing his rears after just seven laps but made a last-gasp overtake to get ahead of Alex Albon, having earlier cleared Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber.
Kimi Antonelli - who also spun in qualifying - also passed Hulkenberg and took 17th.
Spa sprint result
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
3 Lando Norris (McLaren)
4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5 Esteban Ocon (Haas)
6 Carlos Sainz (Williams)
7 Ollie Bearman (Haas)
8 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
9 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
10 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
11 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
12 George Russell (Mercedes)
13 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
14 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
15 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
16 Alex Albon (Williams)
17 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
18 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
19 Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
DNF Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
