Max Verstappen needed ’15 qualifying laps’ to defend Belgian Grand Prix Sprint victory against Oscar Piastri

Max Verstappen wanted “15 qualifying laps” in an effort to defend towards McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, because the Crimson Bull man secured his first Dash win of the season in Belgium.

After beginning second to the Australian, Verstappen used his low-drag set as much as perfection on the opening lap, pulling into the lead alongside the Kemmel Straight and into Les Combes.

For the rest of the 15-lap duration, Piastri remained inside DRS vary, however even when deploying his battery, he was unable to line up an overtake of his personal.

“It labored out rather well,” stated Verstappen following his win. “That’s the solely actual alternative that you just’re going to get towards them, and we acquired it into Flip 5.

“I knew it was going to be very powerful holding them behind, so it was very very similar to cat and mouse with DRS, battery utilization, and the entire race was inside seven tenths.

“I couldn’t afford to make large errors. I had one tiny hiccup into the final nook, however aside from that, it was an excellent consequence to maintain them behind. To have a win right here at Spa, for me, it’s a Dash win, however it nonetheless counts, and I’m very pleased with what we did on the market.”

Within the closing phases, Verstappen indicated by way of group radio that he was having points with the “peak” of his brake efficiency.

Requested concerning the nature of those issues, he defined: “Mainly, you’re holding quicker automobiles behind, so it’s a must to drive over the restrict of what you assume is feasible.

“Tyre administration goes out of the window, so that’s what is making it actually tough. I’m simply doing 15 qualifying laps to maintain them behind on a monitor the place tyre administration is vital. It wasn’t straightforward, however we managed to do it, so I’m very pleased with that.”

Though Verstappen certified second on Friday, he was 0.477s off Piastri’s pole time, and with rain anticipated on Sunday, Crimson Bull will not be prepared to gamble on such an excessive set-up this time round.

“Do I really feel pole is feasible? I’m undecided, however we’ll attempt our greatest to arrange the automobile how we would like,” he stated.

“After this race, we’ll have a couple of extra concepts of what we need to do, after which attempt to be as shut as potential to them.”