Piastri does ‘not want a repeat’ after pole position fear came true in Sprint

Spending more time than he ever wanted staring at Max Verstappen’s rear wing during the sprint at Spa, Oscar Piastri is determined to avoid a repeat situation in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Championship leader Piastri secured pole position for the Sprint with a dominant 1:40.510, almost half a second clear of the second fastest driver, Verstappen.

Oscar Piastri was frustrated after his pole position fear came true

But even as he celebrated, the McLaren driver acknowledged that Spa probably wasn’t the best place to start on pole position.

Speaking to F1TV, he said: “Spa’s probably one of the worst places to have pole position! It is what it is.”

Alas, Piastri’s fear became a reality when Verstappen used his slipstream to overtake the McLaren driver down the Kemmel Straight on the opening lap to lead the Sprint.

Despite Piastri’s efforts to regain the lead as he ran just tenths behind the RB21 for all 15 laps, McLaren’s decision to run a higher downforce than their rivals cost him even with the help of DRS.

Speaking to Jolyon Palmer after his runner-up result, the former F1 driver put it to the Australian that the first lap had ‘played out kind of as you expected it’.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Piastri ruefully replied. “I tried my best to snake my way through the straights and not give too much of a tow.

“But I didn’t have enough straight-line speed and then obviously didn’t have enough straight-line speed for the next 15 laps either.

“Still a good result, still good points. You know it is only the Sprint, the main points of tomorrow, so I’m pretty happy with it

“But just obviously a bit frustrating that I couldn’t get past.”

Key information after the Sprint at Spa

👉 2025 Belgian Grand Prix – Sprint Race F1 results (Spa-Francorchamps)

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

It’s back to the drawing board for McLaren as Piastri has made it clear he does not want a repeat performance in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

But with thunderstorms and heavy rain forecast at the start of the Grand Prix, the driver is uncertain as to whether McLaren can afford to run less downforce.

“The weather is looking pretty, pretty bad for tomorrow, which obviously means you don’t want to take up too much wing,” he explained.

“But I don’t really want to repeat the Sprint we just had.

“So, yeah, we’ll have a look, see what we can do. But yeah, there’s a lot of things to look into before tomorrow.”

But before the Grand Prix, there’s still qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

Piastri won’t be taking it easy, even if starting on pole did hurt him in the Sprint.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “You know, Spa is my favourite track of the year, and especially in qualifying it’s just mega around here. So look forward to some more laps in anger this afternoon.”

Finishing second, one position ahead of Lando Norris, Piastri extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to nine points over his McLaren team-mate.

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