"McLaren choked a 15 lap long race": Fans react to Max Verstappen beating Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris to win the F1 Belgian GP sprint

McLaren had the fastest car during sprint qualifying and started the race in first and third, but Max Verstappen utilized the skinnier Red Bull to force his way into the lead and ultimately win the 15-lap race. Witnessing this, fans bashed the papaya duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris for losing the sprint race despite having the fastest car during qualifying by a margin.

After the first half of the season, the Woking-based squad has already lapped the second-place team in the Constructors' standings with its points tally, showcasing its prowess in the current season. While Norris and Piastri have won nine Grand Prix races between each other, there has been only one other driver who has won multiple races, i.e. Verstappen.

Moreover, the Dutchman again baffled the McLaren pair with his stellar pace at the sprint race in Spa-Francorchamps. Max Verstappen got out into the lead on the opening lap at the Kemmel Straight, and outbraked the Aussie at Les Combes, completing the manoeuvre and sealing the race victory in his arsenal.

With the Red Bull driver fending off the faster charging McLarens, fans jibed at the papaya outfit for choking the 15-lap race:

"McLaren choked a 15 lap long race 😭😭."

CFChris.

@EmenaIo

LINK

Beating both McLaren rocket ships with that junk, we have just seen the greatest driver of all time. Wow!

"Such a shame Max doesn’t drive that rocketship," one fan wrote.

"That's the McLaren way," another fan wrote.

Meanwhile, other fans shared how Verstappen was the real deal during the sprint race:

"Max got past at right time and made those McLaren look second rate! great drive," one netizen wrote.

"Max showed piastri again what a real world champion means," another netizen wrote.

"Beating both McLaren rocket ships with that junk, we have just seen the greatest driver of all time. Wow!" another one wrote.

With Verstappen edging the papaya duo for the victory, the Dutchman brought the first race win in any format under Laurent Mekies' leadership at Red Bull.

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How did McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri react after conceding defeat to Max Verstappen?

Lando Norris (L) and Oscar Piastri (R) after the sprint race at the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium race weekend - Source: Getty

With Max Verstappen using a low-drag setup, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris were left without any answers for the RB20's pace on the straights. This brought the British team's decision to put on a high-downforce setup into the light, as it posed a challenge for the pair in the following sessions.

Asserting how having a slower straight-line pace was the major factor in why Red Bull won, Norris said in the post-sprint interview:

"It is tough, I obviously hoped for a bit of battling or something but the Red Bull was too quick on the straight. We'll reassess and see what we can do."

Moreover, a similar sentiment was shared by Piastri, who said in the post-sprint interview:

"I tried my best to snake my way through the straights and not give too much of a tow, but I didn't have enough straight line speed. Still a good result, good points."

On the other hand, with the Aussie finishing ahead of Norris, he extended his lead by one point in the championship standings.