F1 Sprint results: Max Verstappen delivers a win in Laurent Mekies’ Red Bull debut

Oscar Piastri started in pole position for the F1 Sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix.

But Formula 1’s king of sprints took the lead on the opening lap and held on to give his new Team Principal a victory in his debut.

Piastri got off to a great start when the lights went out and held onto the lead, but Max Verstappen caught him at Turn 5 to take the lead, holding on over the rest of the F1 Sprint race as both Piastri and Lando Norris put increasing pressure on the Red Bull driver.

Here is the moment Verstappen took the lead from Piastri:

Piastri finished second while Norris, who lost P3 for a moment to Charles Leclerc, took the position back to secure third.

Verstappen’s win gave new Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies a victory in his debut in that new role, after the team dismissed Christian Horner from that position following the British Grand Prix.

“Yeah. It worked out really well. That’s the only real opportunity you’re going to get against them and we got it into Turn 5. Then I knew it was going to be very tough to keep them behind,” said Verstappen trackside after the race. “It was just playing cat and mouse, DRS, battery usage. The whole race was within seven tenths. I couldn’t really afford to make big mistakes. I had one tiny lock-up in the last corner but apart from that it was a great result to keep them behind and to have a win here in Spa. Of course it’s a Sprint win but it still counts and I’m very happy with what we did out there.”

It was also a productive session for Haas, as both Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman finished in the points. Ocon finished fifth, while Bearman finished in seventh, to secure six points for the team.

Pierre Gasly qualified eighth for the F1 Sprint race, but did not start the race due to a problem with his A525. He eventually took to the track to complete 12 laps, data that Alpine will hope to put to use in qualifying later today.

But the session belonged to Verstappen, and his new boss.

“So, it’s really early days, but so far, he’s very keen and very motivated, and that’s exactly what you want also,” said Verstappen about Mekies during the FIA Press Conference. “I got on very well with him. So, yeah, it’s been a very good start. And also with Simon [Rennie, who stepped in as Verstappen’s Race Engineer as Gianpiero Lambiase is away from the track due to a personal matter], he has a lot of racing experience already. He’s been part of the team for a very long time. The last few years, not anymore in a race engineer role, but he steps in and he’s immediately on it. So again, very enjoyable to work with Simon.”

Here are the full results from the F1 Sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix: