piastrigoat started the Spa D1 race from pole and finished second, claiming a first IMS podium for McLaren. Thalo4 won from third and TheMekanic17 took third from second.
The result sat inside a larger championship moment: TheMekanic's 16 points left him 49 clear of Lups3252 and secured the D1 title. Piastrigoat's milestone was the race's other durable first.
Eighteen points carry three quarters of McLaren's round
McLaren scored 24 BOTT points from five Spa starts, with one podium and one top-five finish. Piastrigoat's 18 supplied 75 per cent of the total and every countback marker at the sharp end.
Red Bull led the combined round on 49 points, Alpine scored 46 and Aston Martin 44. McLaren's smaller total was not a broad team success; it was a concentrated return built around P2.
Pole becomes P2, not an empty-handed afternoon
Losing one position from pole prevented the win, but it did not erase the podium. The classification records both facts and leaves no reason to flatten the result into either triumph or disappointment alone.
Austria closed the season one week later. Piastrigoat arrived as a podium finisher for the first time, even if Spa's champion understandably occupied the larger headline.
