Lando Norris beat Oscar Piastri by 0.085s margin to take F1 Belgian GP pole, as Charles Leclerc pipped Max Verstappen to third.
Q1:
There was already an unsafe release noted even before the start of first part in F1 Belgian GP qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps. It was Haas’ Oliver Bearman, who was released in front of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. As the session went green, it was cleared from investigation.
But Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg has his front wing endplate clipped after he tried to get in the fast lane and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll tried to deny him. The German needed a front wing change, with the incident to be investigated after the qualifying session.
It was mixed strategy on display as some set their time on the used tyres, but McLaren led the way with Lando Norris (1m41.010s) on top from teammate Oscar Piastri, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton made it in Q2, but for track limits at Turn 4 on top of Eau Rouge.
It dropped him to 16th after his 1m41.939s lap. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was 17th after his late improvement to a 1m42.022s lap ahead of Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli (1m42.139s), who dropped out in Q1 again. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m42.385s) was 19th from Lance Stroll (1m42.502s).
Q2:
Hamilton waited for some time in the car when the second part in F1 Belgian GP qualifying started. But it was to no avail as the results stood. Bearman, meanwhile, was forced to abort his first outing after a high-speed moment in the middle of his lap to throw him on the tarmac.
It was Piastri on top with a 1m40.626s lap ahead of Norris by 0.089s margin, with Verstappen in third in the Top 3. It was close for Haas’ Esteban Ocon to miss out Q3 by 0.020s margin after his 1m41.525s lap in 11th ahead of Bearman (1m41.617s), who had to push hard after traffic on out lap.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was 13th after his 1m41.633s lap, with Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m41.707s) only 14th and Williams’ Carlos Sainz (1m41.758s) in 15th.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Belgian GP qualifying saw Norris (1m40.562s) edged out Piastri (1m40.751s) to provisional pole at midway point in the session, with Verstappen (1m41.078s) a further away on a used set. It was same for Yuki Tsunoda and others behind him from sixth onward.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto had his initial lap deleted due to track limits. The second run saw no improvement from Norris, who managed to still take F1 Belgian GP pole by 0.085s over Piastri, who improved his lap time to 1m40.647s but didn’t manage to topple his teammate.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc improved to third after his 1m40.900s lap, as he got ahead of Verstappen (1m40.903s), who made a mistake at the start of his fast lap. Williams’ Alexander Albon had a good comeback after Friday in fifth after his late push lap of 1m41.201s.
Mercedes’ George Russell put in a good lap of 1m41.260s to be sixth, as Tsunoda (1m41.284s) made it in Q3 in seventh. The pair of Visa Cash App RB drivers Isack Hadjar (1m41.310s) and Liam Lawson (1m41.328s) slotted in eighth and ninth, with Bortoleto (1m42.387s) in 10th.
UPDATE: Hulkenberg and Stroll were cleared of collision at the start of Q1, but the stewards reprimanded Sauber for clearing the German’s car onto the fastlane despite the presence of the Canadian driver and cars behind.
Here: https://x.com/fiadocsbot/status/1949150623196160301
Here’s how F1 Belgian GP sprint panned out