Norris leads McLaren front row lockout for Belgian GP

McLaren will start the Belgian Grand Prix from the front row, with Lando Norris outpacing Oscar Piastri in a session defined by close calls, missed opportunities, and the looming threat of a potentially wet Sunday.

Qualifying 1:

Leaving the triumphs and setbacks of the Sprint novelties in the past, the spotlight moved to Qualifying and the fight for Grand Prix starting positions — and a fight it was, with carbon fibre littering the pitlane after contact between Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll set the tone for a tight hour shootout.

Cleaning the fast lane while making the switch to a new front wing, the Sauber and Aston Martin drivers booked themselves a date with the stewards after the session, however, the unsafe release wasn’t the only threat looming over Qualifying, with a 10% chance of rain hovering in the Belgian sky.

Many drivers opted to start their Q1 campaign with an exploratory lap, quickly returning to the pitlane to relinquish their used tyres in favour of a fresh set of the soft compound.

Not following that trend was the McLaren duo, with Oscar Piastri instantly leading over his teammate by a slim 78-millisecond margin before the rest of the field made their mark.

On his second flying lap, the Australian pushed further to reinstate his place at the head of the order, going purple through Sector 2 to slot into P2 — a position he remained in through to the chequered flag.

Stealing the spotlight from the Australian was Liam Lawson, with the Racing Bulls driver skyrocketing to the top of the order with a standout time of 1:41.765s.

Falling to P3 when he returned to the pitlane, Lawson rejoined the session for a second dash around the 7km circuit with four minutes remaining in Q1. 

In doing so, the Kiwi shaved 17 milliseconds off his initial time before settling into P8, a position that allowed him to safely advance to the second stage of Qualifying without concern.

At the head of the field, a mixed bag of teams secured a place among the fastest times, with Charles Leclerc leading the charge once everyone had experienced the flying thrill of the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps, outpacing his former Ferrari teammate by just 0.056s.   

Setting two fastest sectors across the lap, Lando Norris soon stripped the #16 of the minor accolade, soon leading a temporary McLaren 1-2 before venturing back to the pitlane.

With just two minutes on the clock, every driver made their way out on track for one last-ditch effort at securing a place in Q2, however, the task of improving was all the more critical for Franco Colapinto, George Russell, Lance Stroll, Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto, who all found themselves sitting in the elimination zone. 

By the time the chequered flag arrived, only one out of the five drivers was able to clear the danger zone, with George Russell advancing in P11 with an improved time of 1:41.784s — notably leaving behind his rookie teammate for a second Qualifying attempt this weekend.

That wasn’t the only Italian heartbreak of the session, however, with Lewis Hamilton initially just scraping into the second stage of Qualifying with a last-minute improvement, before learning of his lap time deletion for exceeding track limits at Turn 4 as he entered the pitlane. 

As a result, the seven-time world champion dropped to a disheartening P16 grid slot, transferring his Q2 ticket to Bortoleto.

Hamilton will now have Colapinto directly in his mirrors come lights out tomorrow, while the three Mercedes-powered cars of Antonelli, Alonso and Stroll occupy the bottom three.

Qualifying 2:

Once again, there was a flurry of cars eager to exit the pitlane as soon as the light went green to start Q2, one of those cars being the #81 McLaren.

Not first on track but eventually finding himself first on the timesheets, Piastri recorded an opening time of 1:40.626s to set an early benchmark, just 0.089s ahead of his teammate. 

When it came time to cement his place in the top ten, Piastri fought through traffic in the pitlane before later abandoning his push lap when the timesheets deemed it safe to do so. 

The Australian advanced to the top ten shootout as the hot favourite, hoping to continue his top form in Q3.

Compared to the opening session, it wasn’t as much of an impressive start for Lawson in Q2 when his first attempt left him as the driver at risk in P10, two-tenths clear of the elimination zone.

Following a brief lull in the pitlane, Lawson rejoined the session with three minutes on the clock, pushing in front of Piastri, who said the Kiwi driver needed “bigger mirrors”. 

Unaware of the championship leader’s dig, Lawson set off around the longest lap on the calendar, setting personal best sectors to advance in P8.

As for the rest of the drivers in Q2, running third fastest wasn’t as encouraging for Verstappen, who still sat over three-tenths behind the McLaren duo after initial runs. 

Expressing concern that his time of 1:41.084s was all his SF25 was capable of, Leclerc occupied P4, however, it was those in the bottom five that had the biggest weight on their shoulders.

With three minutes on the clock, the entire field barring Verstappen exited the pitlane, with Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Gasly, Sainz and Bearman hoping to wring out every ounce of pace for their challengers across the 7km lap. 

As was the case in Q1, Bortoleto was the only lucky driver to jump clear of the bottom five, securing a place in the top ten shootout while his competitors — namely Bearman — fell victim to slow-moving traffic and the demands of the iconic 19 corners.

The Haas duo were the first to miss the cut-off time, with Esteban Ocon leading the frustrated Bearman on the timesheets, while Gasly, Hulkenberg and Sainz rounded out the Q2 exits.

Qualifying 3:

The moment teams, drivers and fans had been waiting for finally arrived when the green light illuminated the pitlane to start Q3.

Running on used tyres, Verstappen didn’t let the disadvantage faze him as he shot to the top of the order with a time of 1:41.078s despite “weird” grip patterns leading to a “tricky lap” for the Dutchman. 

Provisional pole was stripped from Verstappen within a matter of seconds, however, with the McLaren duo hot on his tail and eager to destroy his early confidence.

Piastri was the first McLaren to cross the line, setting a time of 1:40.751s to demote the Red Bull driver before he got a taste of his own medicine when Norris followed suit, knocking the #81 down a peg as he stole the provisional lead grid slot by less than two-tenths.

Behind the top three, Leclerc was close but not quite close enough as he tracked almost eight-tenths behind Norris’ benchmark when a lull fell over the circuit.

With two minutes on the clock, the drivers peeled out of the pit exit to commence their final out-laps, though as Verstappen led the charge, his run came undone at the first corner when grip again cost him crucial time, and he failed to improve on his position as he crossed the line.

Not only did the Dutchman fail to improve, but he was also beaten by Leclerc, who, knowingly or not, bluffed his inability to find impressive pace at Spa when he jumped into the top three, three-tenths behind the inevitable battle for pole between the McLaren teammates. 

Norris was the first of the papaya cars to complete the lengthy lap, not improving in Sectors 1 and 3 to leave his initial Q3 lap his fastest overall.

Piastri set personal best sectors across the entire lap, looking to close the slim margin down to his teammate before a “little mistake” into Turn 14 ruined his chances of snatching pole position. 

As a result, Norris locked in the coveted front grid slot with a time of 1:40.562s, five-hundredths of a second slower than Piastri’s new lap record set during yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying session. 

Liam Lawson and his RB teammate were also in a tussle of their own as Q3 came to a close, with just 18 milliseconds standing between the pair as the chequered flag waved in Spa.

Lawson initially set the seventh fastest time after his opening run, settling in almost five-tenths ahead of Hadjar as the field returned to the pitlane.

With two minutes remaining, the Kiwi rejoined the session with hopes of shrinking the 1.5-second deficit to the provisional pole lap, however, he ultimately slipped further down the order.

His fastest lap time of 1:41.328s left him in ninth fastest as Qualifying came to a close, with the teammates’ order reversing when Hadjar slotted into P8.

As a result of a “tiny mistake”, Lawson will line up on Row 5 alongside Bortoleto, who will launch from P10, with his teammate in his line of sight as he targets a points finish in Spa.

The final Red Bull representative, Yuki Tsunoda, also couldn’t close the gap to his teammate in P4, only being fast enough for a P7 start, which will see the #22 chasing down the Mercedes-powered cars of George Russell and Alex Albon ahead.

Lights out for the Belgian Grand Prix will take place at 23:00 AEST on Sunday, with wet weather expected to add an extra element of difficulty to the 44-lap event.

Image: McLaren

Belgian GP Qualifying Results:

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