Oscar Piastri dominated Sprint qualification at the Belgian Grand Prix to take pole for Max Verstappen.
With just eight minutes assigned for SQ3, the fight for pole cooked on a shooting with one round around the super long circuit of 4.4 miles.
The supremacy of Piastri only looked in SQ2 for a short time, when he had removed his best time for alien track limits in Raidillon and quickly dropped to the 10th at the end of the segment, escaped an early elimination with only 0.041S. But once on to the last Pool segment of eight minutes, the title leader has shifted the field.
His car was loaded with Downforce, the Australian was only the fifth fastest in the straight -dominated first sector, but he blended the middle split and was even the fastest in the power -sensitive last sector to set the benchmark to 1m40.510s. It sent him directly to the top of the timetable and shot 0.618’s past McLaren teammate Lando Norris and 0.477s for the Verstappen of Red Bull, his closest challenger.
“That was a good round,” he said. “The car is mega all day. I have the feeling that I have been able to do many good laps.
“Thanks to the team. The car has been great. This is a song that I love – it’s my favorite one of the year. Maybe that gave me a few extra tenths.
“The car has been in a good window of round 1. Again, it is a song that I always enjoy. I don’t know why, but I think I have had good faith.”
Verstappen counts on a linear speed on Spa. Andy Hone/Getty images
Yet Piastri was more careful about predicting a sprint victory from First on the Grid.
“The Red Bulls are very quickly in a straight line,” he said. “That makes life difficult, and Spa is probably the worst track to have pole position. But I think the pace in the car is really strong. I felt good today, so hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow.”
Almost all of the shortage of Verstappen to Piastri is justified in the middle sector, where he was almost half a second of the pace in a Red Bull Racing car cut for top speed that is a considerable advantage at the long run of the first turn in the race.
Norris had looked a step behind Piastri until the end of the qualification, but his margin of 0.618 was considerable than the practice had predicted. His shortage was spread over the lap, but most concentrated in the middle sector.
Charles Leclerc led the road to Ferrari in the fourth, but was 0.768s of the pace in his improved SF-25.
Esteban Ocon was an excellent fifth for Haas, the Frenchman 1,055s outside the pace, but finished eligible with the fastest first sector.
Carlos Sainz was sixth for Williams another 0.2s drift and separated Ocon van Haas teammate Oliver Bearman in the seventh.
Pierre Gasly was eighth for Alpine, who prevailed in a tight battle with Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar with only 0.012S, the couple both 1.5s of the pace.
Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10 for Sauber with 1.67s from the post.
Liam Lawson will be prepared 11th for the Sprint for Yuki Tsunoda, which was 0.601’s slower than teammate Verstappen in SQ2.
George Russell was unexpectedly eliminated in the 13th after the wild track -evolution had fallen eight places after the checkered flag when several midfield drivers found a better grip. The Brit was 0.2s short of a place in the top 10.
Aston Martin teammates Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are 14th and 15th ahead of Williams driver Alex Albon and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg.
Lewis Hamilton was a shock abnormality in the 18th after a twist on the last chicane on his last flying round. The Brit, who claimed a sprint post and victory in China earlier this season, suffered a sudden lock from his rear axle on the brakes and suddenly sent him in the drain zone. After lost his first round in the gravel in Stavelot, Hamilton left for the session without a representative time.
Franco Colapinto qualified 19th for Alpine for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, pole-getter in the previous sprint in Miami. Antonelli turned his Mercedes in the gravel near Stavelot with his first round and complained about a lack of grip during his last attempt that left him behind in the pack, which put a difficult day before the German brand.
Result
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