F1 Sprint Highlights | 2023 Belgian Grand Prix

We begin the formation lap for the Belgian Grand Prix sprint. We are about to run 15 laps minus whatever we do beyond the formation lap behind the safety car. Everyone's going to want to get rid of those wet tyres and get onto the inters as soon as possible. The third sprint of the year is about to get underway. But will it get underway in the pit lane? Yes! Okay, Verstappen goes through. He goes on. So then does Charles Leclerc. Late call for Pierre Gasly. Ocon is sent round. And so there's a total mix now. But all of the action, as expected, is in the pit lane. I'm surprised Verstappen stayed out. All the lead drivers then have come in. The second drivers haven't chosen to queue. So you've got a load of drivers coming in. There is even going to be a little bit of queuing, I think, for some teams. Piastri gets away cleanly. And he's got a bid for the lead of the race here. That is a huge moment. There is a tight moment for the Alpine of Gasly into the path of Fernando Alonso. Loads of action as we came into the pits. I think it was the bottom half. So it's about 10 cars who came in. On board with the man putting pressure on Max Verstappen. He's 1.7 seconds quicker than Max in the middle sector. This should be done. Verstappen peels in. What can Piastri do? So long as he's clean through the final sector, he will lead the sprint. Piastri has got past Choguanyou on the wet tyre as well. Piastri is having to pick his way past cars who haven't pitted. Surely the rest will. 10 laps to go. Oskar Piastri, who has never been in the top three in Formula 1. Oh, is that going to be tight? Very tight between Max Verstappen into the path of the second McLaren to pit. And wait for it. Wait for it. Because going through now, Oskar Piastri. Oh, that's tight. That's so tight between them. Oskar Piastri roars past. Oskar Piastri takes the lead with Max Verstappen on pit exit. And that gamble for intermediate tyres works for the Australian driver. And he's got P1 in the race. It was always going to. I can't believe Verstappen didn't come in on that first lap. Piastri leads. Verstappen is still second in his game on at the front. Look behind. Gasly's third. Perez fourth. Hamilton fifth. Sainz sixth. Even though they lost out, they're still ahead of everyone else that stayed out on the full wet. Alonso. Fernando Alonso. Off the road into the gravel and out of the sprint to bring out the safety car at Spa-Francorchamps. Oh, the car just got loose. And then he got on the kerb. And then just brushes the wall. But there shouldn't be any damage there. Just beats in the gravel, I think. So that was on the tail of Mika Hülkenberg. And the car was getting loose already. Then he touched the kerb. Or maybe it was just the right rear touched that painted surface. Which is always slippery in these conditions on the outside of P1. Oskar Piastri has Max Verstappen to deal with. Perez very nearly into the back of Gasly under braking there. He's looking racy. They're all looking racy as we go back. What an entertaining sprint we've had. The yellow flag is out in sector three already. I'm hearing in my ear that Yuki Tsunoda has gone round before we even got to the restart. That was 17th place, Yuki Tsunoda. As Perez is a little bit wide. Hamilton might try and come towards him down to Eau Rouge. Big run now for Max Verstappen. Trying to reclaim the lead that he lost. And Oskar Piastri goes through Eau Rouge. We climb the hill through Radeon Corner. It's going to be very tight between the two of them. Checking the left-hand mirror is Oskar Piastri. Look at the momentum. Look at the speed that Max Verstappen's got. And he roars through to retake the lead. Piastri ducks in to the slipstream. But Max Verstappen does the job and retakes P1. Look at this. Tucked in behind. Full commitment. That's outrageous on a restart lap. What a fine way to take it through. We know that Verstappen is in a vein of form rarely seen in Formula 1. Tomorrow in the Grand Prix, he tries to win eight in a row. Hamilton to the inside at Stavelot Corner. He's got a hint. They'll go wheel-to-wheel and they collide. They collide. Perez and Hamilton making contact. Hamilton got a great run through Stavelot Corner. And then in the bagging wheels again as they make their way through. Perez without the momentum. Hamilton all over the back of him. And they came together. Hamilton suddenly slowed a little bit down towards Blanchimont. I think he was just giving Perez a bit of space before that fast left-hander. I think they got away with it. But Perez is struggling at the moment. One Red Bull's flying. The other one's struggling. And Hamilton and now Sainz are right with him. It's very nearly a three-car battle for fourth position. Perez in the Navy Red Bull. Hamilton in the black Mercedes. And Sainz in the background just waits for his opportunity to come out of La Source and put pressure on as well. No grip for Sergio Perez who's lost the place to Hamilton. We go side by side to Eau Rouge Corner. Sainz trying to take fifth place. And he's got by. Perez has got no grip at all. The way that Hamilton came alongside into Stavelot is a very strange place to try and make a move. But Perez is just struggling. And now Leclerc is going to have a run. Checo's still looking at Carlos Sainz. This is the battle for fifth. This is the battle for sixth. Is the second Ferrari going to go through? Is the room for all of them to make their way through the corner? Charles Leclerc with a tidy pass as well. Fine move for sixth position. But Hamilton with that wheel-banging moment with Sergio Perez. Hamilton given the five-second penalty. And that's going to ruin his race. And he's struggling so much. Norris is right with him coming down towards Fania. So difficult to make a move here. But he's offline everywhere. Struggling to get the car turned. Struggling to find any exits. Got no confidence in the car as well. And now we ride on board with Lando and Perez. Oh, he's off the road. He's off the road. The lack of grip tells. And he's off into the gravel trap. Sergio Perez rejoins. But he'll rejoin out of the points-paying positions. Norris up to seventh. Daniel Ricciardo back in Formula 1. And currently back in the points. On the penultimate tour then. And that is a wide moment for Daniel Ricciardo. George Russell all over the back of the Alfa Tauri now. And it appears that George Russell's got much superior grip on the intermediate tyres. And it's going to take Ricciardo with a late lunge. He's got no way to respond. And George Russell takes his place in the points. Fighting his way back through. And Ricciardo is dropped down to ninth position. No way to respond. Max Verstappen ticks the final boxes on the last corners of the last lap. And Max Verstappen wins the sprint in Belgium. But what a story from the 22-year-old Australian who scores his best result in any Formula 1 race in the sprint. P2 for McLaren. It's P3 for Alpine. And Pierre Gasly. Hamilton came home in fourth. But when you apply the penalty, it's Sainz in fourth. Leclerc in fifth. Then Lando Norris. And the Mercedes, the last two points scorers, seventh and eighth. Max Verstappen taking his second sprint win of the year. Oscar Piastri, his best result in any Formula 1 race of any description all time. Pierre Gasly's first top three in Formula 1 of any race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix a couple of years ago.