Max Verstappen took a close F1 Belgian GP sprint shootout pole in tricky conditions from Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz.
SQ1:
There was delay to start the first sprint shootout in F1 Belgian GP with rain falling. It was delayed by more than 30 minutes with intermediate tyres as the first choice for a wet track. The surface was good enough for the intermediate than wet compound.
Despite the conditions and some moments, it was a smooth run without any incidents. There was an impeding case from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen but it was cleared as shown in the replays too.
The replays also showed a moment between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in the final corner where they went wheel-to-wheel to Turn 1. Both did make it in SQ2, with Verstappen on top after setting a 1m58.135s lap.
Hamilton was second from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, as Hamilton’s teammate George Russell almost had a scare in 15th after a lock-up leading to an tarmac moment. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda eventually missed out in 16th with a 2m00.568s lap.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (2m00.951s) was 17th from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (2m01.079s), who kept it late. His teammate Nico Hulkenberg did not set a lap time after the team kept it too late due to not enough tyre temperature.
He failed to make it on time to start a new lap as he once again will have to start from 20th like Sunday’s main race. The last one to set a timed lap was Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu in 19th with a 2m01.430s lap.
SQ2:
The second part in sprint shootout in F1 Belgian GP saw a drying track but majority chose to use the intermediate tyre to start with. Aston Martin’s Alonso and Williams’ Alexander Albon kept it late but they used the intermediate still.
However, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll gambled on the medium which ended up in a disaster when he crashed out after a small moment in the wet part. He alerted on radio about not having enough temperature and eventually ended up in the barrier.
This left his teammate Alonso with no time on board after a late run plan after the session was red-flagged and not resumed. It was Verstappen on top with a 1m55.200s from Hamilton and Perez, with Russell scrapping through despite a tarmac moment.
There was a spin for Williams’ Logan Sargeant too who had a kerb moment and spun around. He managed to continue without problems to others as AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo ended up 11th with a 1m57.687s lap.
It was Albon in 12th from Sargeant with Stroll and Alonso following where neither of them had a lap time on board.
SQ3:
The final part in sprint shootout in F1 Belgian GP saw soft tyres straight out with Hamilton setting the pace initially but Perez got him. As the session edged towards the end, Sainz went quickest with a 1m49.081s lap but Piastri jumped him with a 1m49.067s.
And then came Verstappen with a 1m49.056s lap to take sprint shootout pole in F1 Belgian GP by just 0.011s with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz only 0.025s away. A small moment at Turn 9 cost Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m49.251s) to be fourth.
McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m49.389s) was fifth from Gasly (1m49.700s), with Hamilton (1m49.900s) who ended up seventh was seemingly held up by Russell (1m55.742s) after a lock-up at Turn 1. The latter was only 10th behind Perez (1m49.961s) and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m50.494s).
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Here’s what was said after Friday in F1 Belgian GP
Here’s how F1 Belgian GP qualifying panned out