McLaren’s racer, Oscar Piastri, overcame his early jitters in the qualifying session to snag pole position in the Belgium Grand Prix sprint. The current championship leader stumbled in SQ2 due to a deleted lap time, but later clocked 1:40.510 in the final segment of the qualifying sprint to lead by almost 0.5 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull), with Lando Norris trailing by 0.6 seconds in third place. “Sorry for the scare there,” Piastri said to his team over the radio. “That wasn’t in the plan, but the car felt really good.” Charles Leclerc secured fourth place for Ferrari, while Esteban Ocon shone for Haas by claiming P5 on the sprint grid. Carlos Sainz came in sixth for Williams, ahead of Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10, causing some big names to miss the mark for finishing. Norris and Piastri from McLaren were out early to set banker laps in SQ2, which was delayed to clear gravel, even though the latter’s crucial lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Raidillon.
Max Verstappen temporarily found himself in the lead, with Norris taking the lead of the segment with his second lap, clocking 1:41.412. Piastri almost paid dearly for his deleted lap, with his second effort just enough to secure a place in SQ3 in 10th position, with a gap of only 0.041 seconds. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) was the first to be eliminated in 11th place, followed by Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda. Instead of Piastri, the biggest casualty was George Russell (Mercedes), who was ousted in 13th place. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll could only manage to take up 14th and 15th positions, while Bortoleto from Sauber and Gasly from Alpine shone in this session by occupying the 5th and 6th spots. Piastri led the way in SQ1 early on from Verstappen and Norris, recording a time of 1:41.769 seconds, as the racers pushed hard to avoid the back of the grid. Andrea Kimi Antonelli spun while exiting Stavelot, entering the gravel but managed to escape without significant damage.
Lewis Hamilton also experienced a significant moment on his first lap, meaning he and Antonelli were two of the five racers at risk of elimination, along with Gasly, Franco Colapinto, and Bearman, who failed to complete the circuit. However, the fate of both drivers didn’t improve on their second laps, with Hamilton getting frustrated as he spun at the Bus Stop chicane after his rear tires locked up while braking, sending the seven-time world champion down to 18th place. Gasly managed to save himself in 15th place, sacrificing Alex Albon from Williams, while Nico Hulkenberg dropped to 17th place after a battle with Lawson for positions. Behind Hamilton, Colapinto was in 19th place with Antonelli at the back after reporting issues with his brakes.
