Max Verstappen overcame an early undercut by Oscar Piastri to take victory in the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint.
Two heavy rain storms delayed the start by half an hour with fifth formation laps taking place behind the Safety Car.
When the action eventually began, Verstappen led the way while half the grid opted to pit immediately for intermediates.
The rest of the field followed on the second lap with Piastri taking the lead after being the first car to pit, ahead of Verstappen in second.
LAP 3/11
So far, Piastri is keeping Verstappen at bay ⚔️#BelgianGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/4oN3gNVMIF
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2023
An earlier stop helped Gasly move up to third for Alpine followed by Perez and Hamilton. The two Ferraris lost out as Carlos Sainz dropped to sixth and Charles Leclerc seventh.
Lando Norris was in the final points position in eighth after the pit stops shook out.
On his birthday, Fernando Alonso’s Sprint ended in the barriers at Pouhon causing a Safety Car.
At the restart, Verstappen wasted little time passing Piastri on the Kemmel Straight to take the lead and pull away at the front.
Behind, Hamilton and Perez duelled for fourth with the pair making contact at Stavelot on the run to Blanchimont.
LAP 7/11
Hamilton and Perez battling ?
The pair touch and then Perez slides off into the gravel the following lap #BelgianGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/vOBMdIf3DQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2023
That caused damage to the Red Bull, allowing both Ferraris to overtake the Mexican in the first sector.
Perez then ran off track again a lap later at Stavelot, allowing Norris through and eventually resulting in retirement for the second Red Bull.
Hamilton was later given a five-second penalty for the incident with Perez.
Ahead, there was no stopping Verstappen as he cruised to victory ahead of Piastri with Gasly third.
Hamilton’s penalty demoted the seven-time world champion to seventh and promoted Sainz upto fourth, followed by teammate Leclerc and Norris in sixth.
George Russell completed the top eight points scorers in the second Mercedes.
Esteban Ocon claimed ninth with Daniel Ricciardo ruing high tyre wear as he slipped down to 10th.