Norris snatches pole from Piastri in tight Belgian GP qualifying

After looking the quicker of the two McLarens all weekend, Piastri couldn’t match Norris’s pace, with the Brit setting a fastest time of 1m40.562s.

The pole marks Norris’s fourth of 2025, equalling the tally of both Piastri and Max Verstappen.

Norris said he was thrilled to claim pole, especially after many doubted he could match Piastri following the Aussie’s record-setting sprint qualifying lap on Friday.

Norris said he was thrilled to claim pole, especially after many doubted he could match Piastri following the Aussie’s record-setting sprint qualifying lap on Friday.

“It was a decent lap,” Norris said. “I’m happy. Everyone was pretty worried after yesterday. I wasn’t even that far off. I was confident after yesterday so it’s nice to get back to the top.”

Piastri admitted disappointment at missing out on pole, blaming a mistake on his final push lap in the closing stages of Q3.

“A bit disappointing, yes,” he said. “The second lap was coming together really well but I made a bit of a mistake into [Turn] 14 and lost a lot of time. It’s fine margins out there.”

Charles Leclerc impressed by taking third, three tenths off Piastri, and edging out sprint race winner Verstappen to be the best of the rest behind the McLaren duo.

“I did not expect it, I thought we were quite a lot back,” Leclerc said. “That was a really good lap. It’s good that we put everything together for quali.”

It was a tough session for his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who was eliminated in Q1 for the first time in his Ferrari career.

Although he initially appeared to progress safely to Q2, his fastest lap was deleted for exceeding track limits, dropping him to 16th.

This marked Ferrari’s first Q1 elimination since Abu Dhabi 2023 and compounded a miserable weekend for Hamilton, who also failed to make it out of sprint qualifying and finished 15th in the sprint race.

Alex Albon delivered Williams’ best qualifying result of the season with an impressive fifth place, ahead of the only Mercedes in the top ten, George Russell.

Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli suffered the same fate as Hamilton in a repeat of sprint qualifying, eliminated in Q1 and set to start 18th.

It was the first Q1 elimination for both Antonelli and Mercedes since the season opener in Melbourne.

Yuki Tsunoda will start in the top ten for the first time since Miami, qualifying seventh ahead of the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, and the impressive Gabriel Bortoleto for Sauber.

Following their strong sprint qualifying showings, Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman, along with Williams’ Carlos Sainz, were all eliminated in Q2.

Ocon and Bearman looked set to advance to Q3 but narrowly missed out, finishing 11th and 12th respectively. Bearman expressed frustration over being impeded by Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda on his final lap.

Sainz also failed to reach Q3, missing the final stage for the sixth consecutive race. Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg joined them in Q2 elimination.

Q1 began with pitlane drama for Aston Martin, as both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were involved in separate unsafe release incidents.

Alonso appeared to be impeded by Bearman’s Haas on pit exit, while Stroll was hit by Hulkenberg’s Sauber, forcing the Canadian to return to the garage with damage. The incident is under stewards’ investigation.

The double setback added to a tough qualifying for Aston Martin, with both drivers eliminated in Q1 — the first time since Miami that neither advanced to Q2. They were joined on the sidelines by Hamilton, Franco Colapinto, and Antonelli.

All eyes now turn to the weather for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix, with rain forecast to shake up the race starting at 3pm local time (11pm AEST).