Oscar Piastri was thrilled to overcome the disappointment of Saturday's sprint race to claim his sixth race win of the season at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Piastri, who failed to convert his pole position into a victory in the sprint, led a McLaren one-two on Sunday in a race that was affected by the treacherous conditions at Spa.
The start of the race was delayed for over an hour as the rain made the track almost impossible to drive on, with the first four laps driven behind the virtual safety car.
Once the safety car entered the pits, Piastri swept around the outside to overtake McLaren team-mate Lando Norris and controlled the race from there, finishing four seconds quicker than his title rival.
The Australian helped McLaren achieve their sixth one-two of 2025, with the British team doing so for the second time in a single season since 1998 (10).
Piastri's victory saw him equal Daniel Ricciardo as the fourth Australian driver with the most victories in Formula One history (eight each), while he also became the first driver from his country to win six races in a single year in the competition.
"It was very lively, I knew lap one was going to be probably my best chance of winning the race," Piastri said, having extended his championship lead to 16 points.
"I got a good exit out of Turn One and then lifted as little as I did through Eau Rouge and it was enough. The rest of the race, we managed really well.
"I was struggling a bit at the end, so maybe the medium wasn't the best for the last five or six laps, but we had it mostly under control, which is what I want.
"I was pretty disappointed with myself after yesterday, but turns out starting second in Spa isn't too bad after all."
The conditions around the track began to improve, with many of the drivers opting to perform their first pit stop around the 10-lap mark.
Piastri came in on lap 13 and changed to the medium tyres, with Norris pitting one lap later and opting for the hard compound, though the latter had a much slower stop.
McLaren's strategy was for both cars to use those tyres until the end of the race, though Piastri expressed his concerns about being able to do so over the radio.
But the championship leader remained composed to see out the win, and revealed the reasoning behind his own strategy and why it differed from Norris'.
"I had the same plan if I was going to be second, so I kind of knew that was going to be a likely decision for Lando [Norris]," Piastri added.
"For me, the medium was the safest tyre to be on at that point. You never know if someone is going to crash and there's a safety car, and you want a medium for the restart.
"Also, the medium seemed pretty good in the sprint yesterday, so I think it didn't make too much difference.
"But when you're fighting like that one-two, you're always going to try and get an advantage in one way or another."
The F1 calendar continues next weekend in Hungary, where Piastri claimed his maiden victory in 2024.
Norris finished second in that race, marking McLaren's first one-two finish since the Italian Grand Prix in 2021, and Piastri is confident of building on their momentum.
"It's going to be exciting to go back. It's another track I enjoy," Piastri said.
"I'm looking forward to getting back, and hopefully we can continue the momentum because this weekend the pace has been incredibly strong."
