Max Verstappen held off a stern challenge from the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to claim victory at the Belgian Grand Prix Sprint race on Saturday, Afrosport reports.
Theq reigning world champion started second behind Piastri but took advantage of his car’s superio straight-line speed to pass the current championship leader on the opening lap.
The four-time world champion never looked back as he finished the 15-lap race 0.753s seconds ahead of Piastri while Norris recovered back to third after being passed by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the opening lap.
The victory was a first under new Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies who replaced long-serving Christian Horner.
Despite the victory, Verstappen remains 68 points behind Piastri in the championship standings while the Australian extended his lead over teammate Norris (in second place) by just one point.
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Meanwhile, Leclerc settled for fourth finishing ahead of Haas’ Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz Jr. in the Williams and the other Haas of Oliver Bearman, while the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar claimed the final point in eighth.
