Piastri smashes Spa lap record to seize Sprint Pole

Oscar Piastri pieced together a tidy final run to blow the field away in Sprint Qualifying, smashing the Spa lap record and claiming pole for Saturday’s Sprint with a four-tenth margin over Max Verstappen.

Sprint Qualifying 1:

As Sprint Qualifying got underway at a dry Spa-Francorchamps, teams were forced to gamble between chasing one-lap pace or preparing for a potentially wet Sprint tomorrow, with the weather forecast still offering no clear answers for the grid, who locked in their Sprint set-ups as the light went green in the pitlane.

Liam Lawson’s first task was avoiding last round’s miracle podium finisher in Nico Hulkenberg, with the RB driver slamming on the brakes when the Sauber came charging out of his garage, gaining the stewards’ attention before the incident was dismissed.

Putting the narrow moment behind him, Lando put his foot to the floor on the mandatory medium compound tyre to track as the 12th fastest driver after all initial attempts were locked in.

Not satisfied with his effort, Racing Bulls prepared its rookie lineup to launch for one final dash, benefiting from their competitors’ late missteps despite not improving on his previous lap.

Lawson advanced to SQ2, tucking safely into P12 as the first stage came to a close.

One of the last drivers to venture out of the pitlane, track position didn’t impact Oscar Piastri’s ability to ease his way into the top spot with an initial benchmark time of 1:41.769s.

That lap remained the fastest of the opening stage, with the Australian seeing out the remainder of the session in the McLaren garage.

As for the rest of the field, the 12-minute opening dash got off to a quiet start before the drivers reacted to the first sign of movement in the pitlane, with Isack Hadjar leading the way.

An issue with the right rear wheel on Max Verstappen’s RB21 meant the Dutchman was unable to join the rest of the field in an early start, however, he wasn’t held up for long, accompanying the other 19 drivers on track to kick off the only Sprint Qualifying session in Europe this season.

Looking to set his first time of the day, Kimi Antonelli had a huge spin through Turn 14, flat-spotting his tyres and spraying gravel onto the circuit — impacting his teammate who trailed just metres behind.

As a result, the Italian found himself at risk in the elimination zone, also dragging down Lewis Hamilton, who was one of a few drivers to lose out in the gravel haze, as they were joined by Oliver Bearman and both Alpines in the bottom five. 

At the other end of the spectrum, the top three from the early practice session once again found themselves in identical positioning after their first and only SQ1 runs, with Piastri, Verstappen and Norris all returning to the pitlane while the rest of the field battled it out for a place in the second stage. 

The battle came undone for the majority of the field when yellow flags waved at the final chicane, with a disappointed Hamilton finding his Ferrari stranded on the run-off area at the Bus Stop Chicane after his rear axle locked under braking, sending him spinning into a P18 start for tomorrow’s Sprint. 

Alex Albon, Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto equally suffered from the seven-time world champion’s last-minute blunder, forced into an SQ1 exit in Belgium, while the Miami Grand Prix Sprint pole-sitter failed to rebuild from his earlier spin.

As a result, Antonelli will line up from the very back of the grid, falling from grace as his Sprint successes fade into a thing of the past. 

Sprint Qualifying 2:

With track sweepers working quickly between sessions to clear the harmful gravel sprayed by the eliminated Mercedes rookie, the 10-minute duel for a place in the top ten once again kicked off in a tame manner, with all remaining cars waiting for one another to react before venturing out. 

Unlike SQ1, McLaren was the first team to send its drivers out onto the 7km circuit, with Lando Norris leading his teammate around the longest circuit on the calendar as the pitlane watched on.

The pair traded fastest sectors across the lap, with Piastri instantly two-tenths up on Norris through the first sector, three-tenths up in the second sector, and completing the lap a total of four-tenths faster than Norris as he crossed the line.

His time in P1 was short-lived, however, with the Australian losing his lap completely due to exceeding track limits at Raidillon, leaving him vulnerable as the track burst to life with four minutes on the clock. 

Scrapping through a last-ditch attempt, yellow sectors litter Piastri’s timesheet before he took the chequered flag, only managing to record a time of 1:42.128s. 

The lap saw the #81 fall onto the border of the top ten, sitting as the driver at risk with a 41-millisecond margin ahead of the bottom-five keeping him in the hunt for Sprint pole as he narrowly advanced to SQ3. 

Taking a patient approach along with the majority of the field, Lawson didn’t pounce to record a lap until the dying minutes of the session.

When he finally did, it was an initial top-five time, however, his rivals soon got the better of his one and only lap time of 1:42.169s, forcing Lawson back down the order into a frustrating P11.

The Kiwi was the unlucky driver just 0.041s behind the championship leader when the chequered flag waved, forced to jump out of the cockpit while his teammate remained in contention.

Both Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen managed to knock Norris off the top spot after getting off to a delayed start, with the Red Bull driver settling into P1 with a time of 1:41.583s as his competitors attempted to draw closer. 

The surprise entries of both RB drivers took aim at the Dutchman, with Hadjar and Lawson both temporarily housed within the top five, while the expected presence of George Russell was missing.

Despite shaving three-tenths off his SQ1 lap, the Mercedes driver couldn’t perfect his journey around the 19 corners and only recorded the 13th fastest time to round out a disappointing session for the Silver Arrows in Spa — faulting damage from the gravel kicked up by his teammate early in the session. 

Russell qualified ahead of the Aston Martin duo, with Fernando Alonso winning the intra-team battle, while Lawson and Tsunoda edged ahead of the #63 to end SQ2.

Almost experiencing equal disappointment was the McLaren duo, with Piastri holding his breath in P10 while Norris put his foot to the floor, setting a purple middle sector on his way back into the coveted P1. 

As a result, Norris ended SQ2 as the fastest driver on track, leading over Verstappen and Leclerc as the chequered flag waved.

Sprint Qualifying 3:

The final obstacle in setting the grid for the third Sprint race of the season, Sprint Qualifying 3 was the final order of business for the remaining ten drivers, however, the green light didn’t spark any movement in the pitlane.

Watching the minutes tick by, the pitlane burst to life with just four minutes on the clock, permitting one outlap and one flying lap in each driver’s pursuit for Sprint pole glory.

Once again, Norris was the first driver out onto the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, leading the charge as he pushed on the mandatory soft tyre to avoid giving Verstappen the advantage of a tow around the lengthy track. 

Third on the road but hoping to achieve more, Piastri trailed his teammate and Red Bull rival as he weaved through the 19 corners, setting a personal best Sector 1 before going fastest through the middle sector.

While working his way through the lap, his teammate set the initial time to beat of 1:41.128s — a challenge Verstappen cleared with ease as he went 0.141s quicker than Norris.

Piastri flying final sector dispelled Red Bull’s excitement, however, with the #81 skyrocketing ahead of Verstappen and Norris’s best efforts to secure Sprint pole in Belgium.

The Australian’s time of 1:40.510s was a new lap record around the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, leaving the Dutchman at a significant four-tenths deficit to Piastri when the chequered flag fell in Spa.

Behind the championship-hungry top three, Leclerc earned himself a second row start for the 15-lap dash to the line, beating out Esteban Ocon in the Haas who posed a surprisingly strong threat after setting the fastest first sector of the lot. 

Carlos Sainz will launch from P6 for tomorrow’s mini race, sandwiched in between the Haas teammates who found themselves separated by three-tenths. 

On an emotional weekend for the Frenchman, Pierre Gasly dragged his Alpine into P8 — what will be the final points-scoring position during the Sprint — as he looks to hold out over the rookie duo of Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto as the five lights go out on Saturday.

The weather is all but certain to play a contributing role in the outcome of tomorrow’s Sprint competition, impacting the set-up choices cars have entered parc fermé in, as well as the direct impact of potentially wet weather racing.

All will be revealed tomorrow evening when the five lights go out at 20:00 AEST, kickstarting a day filled wth competition when Qualifying to set the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix takes place just hours later at 00:00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

Sprint Qualifying Results: 

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