SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Oscar Piastri's decisive early pass proved to be enough for a vital victory over teammate and title rival Lando Norris at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Piastri turned in a flawless race to win by a comfortable 3.41 seconds despite Norris having a tire advantage in the closing stages.
The win, the sixth of his season and eighth of his career, extended Piastri's title lead to 16 points and denied Norris, who had started from pole, a third straight win.
"Let's go!" Piastri said over his radio postrace. "Nicely done. Nicely f---ing done."
After the race Piastri reflected on his strong position starting on the front row.
"I knew Lap 1 would be my best chance of winning the race," he said. "I got a good exit out of Turn 1, lifted as little as I dared out of Eau Rouge.
"The rest of the race we managed really well. I struggled at the end. Maybe the mediums were not the best for the last five or six laps. We had it mostly under control.
"I was pretty disappointed with myself yesterday but turns out starting P2 was not as bad as I thought."
Meanwhile, Norris said: "Oscar just did a good job [at the start]. Nothing more to say. I committed a bit more through Eau Rouge, and had the slipstream and got the run.
"So nothing to complain of. He did a better job in the beginning, and that was it. Nothing more I could do after that point. I would love to be up top, but Oscar deserved it today."
Charles Leclerc took a morale-boosting podium for Ferrari ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen, albeit in a distant battle behind the dominant McLaren pair.
"Max was behind the whole race within two seconds, so it's never easy," the Leclerc said. "Luckily it dried up pretty quickly, then the pace was good. But Max was behind the whole race, so I'm pretty happy we managed to keep third place.
"The pressure is high, especially in those conditions. At one point I told [my engineer] Brian to leave me alone! Obviously, he was trying to give me the most information; sometimes I needed it, sometimes I didn't."
Heavy rain before the start delayed the race officially by one hour and 15 minutes, but the sort of wet-weather classic so often produced in similar conditions in Belgium never materialized, with the track ready for dry tires by the 12th lap.
One formation lap had taken place ahead of the scheduled start at 3 p.m. local time, but driver feedback meant the FIA deemed the conditions undriveable.
A long and frustrating wait followed before the cars were back on track behind the safety car at 4:20 p.m. local time for four laps.
Norris had led the pack into Turn 1 after a rolling start for Lap 5, but his teammate soon proved why pole position is often seen as a poisoned chalice at Spa-Francorchamps.
Piastri stalked Norris through Turn 1 and then used the long run up through the famous Eau Rouge corner to slingshot himself ahead at the Kemmel Straight.
It was an exact reversal to what had happened to Piastri at the beginning of Saturday's sprint race, when he started on pole but lost the lead to Max Verstappen on the opening lap.
Verstappen was the last person to win the Belgian Grand Prix from pole, doing so in 2021, when just two laps were completed behind the safety car before the rain was called off due to heavy rain.
Norris had appeared to give himself a chance to make something happen at the end, opting for the more durable hard compound when it came time to switch to dry tires -- Piastri had gone onto the medium.
But a grandstand finish never materialized, with Piastri bringing his car home for a comfortable win, even though Norris had at one point started slashing away at the lead out in the front.
McLaren were on a different planet in terms of pace, with Leclerc finishing 20 seconds behind in third position.
Verstappen took fourth, ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.
After qualifying a superb fifth on Saturday, Alex Albon claimed sixth position for Williams, his best result since Imola.
Lewis Hamilton had cut a dejected figure after being eliminated from Q1 on Saturday, but he provided entertainment early in the contest from the back end of the grid.
The seven-time world champion used the combination of his skill in the wet and his quicker car to carve through the lower order early on with a series of beautifully executed moves.
Hamilton then was the first to switch from the intermediate wet tire to dries on Lap 12, allowing him to emerge seventh once everyone else had done the same, although he could not get past Albon late on.
Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson took a superb eighth ahead of Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, who had been allowed past teammate Nico Hülkenberg when quicker at a crucial part of the race.
After failing to start Saturday's sprint from a promising position, Pierre Gasly snatched a point for Alpine.
Yuki Tsunoda's best qualifying performance for Red Bull came to nothing, with the Japanese driver staying out a lap too late as the track switched from wet to dry and dropping down the order as a result.
Formula 1 will race next week at Budapest's Hungarian Grand Prix, the final event before a four-week summer break.