Piastri powers to Belgian GP sprint pole

The Aussie was in control for much of the session and delivered when it mattered most, posting a 1:40.510s on his final run — nearly half a second clear of Max Verstappen.

The Dutchman ended up 0.477s behind Piastri’s benchmark, with Lando Norris third, 0.618s down on his McLaren teammate.

Piastri had earlier come close to missing the final sprint qualifying segment after enduring a scare in SQ2, where his initial banker lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Raidillon.

Replays showed a marginal moment where the McLaren clipped the kerb, prompting stewards to rule that he had cut the corner. Despite the setback, Piastri recovered with a clean late lap to scrape through in tenth.

“Sorry about the heart attack, that wasn’t in the plan,” Piastri said over team radio after claiming sprint pole.

Norris also faced a tense SQ2, sitting in the drop zone until a last-gasp lap lifted him to the top of the timesheets.

Speaking post-session, Piastri said he was thrilled with the lap and the car’s performance.

“It was a good lap. The car has been mega all day,” Piastri said. “This is a track I love. It’s my favourite one of the year. Maybe that gave me a couple of tenths.

“I feel like the last few weekends have been good from a pace perspective but not from a results perspective, so it’s good to have a good result today.”

Charles Leclerc was the only Ferrari driver to make it into SQ3 following a shock SQ1 exit for Lewis Hamilton. The Monegasque finished fourth behind Norris.

Esteban Ocon impressed with fifth for Haas, while teammate Oliver Bearman also reached SQ3 and ended up seventh. Carlos Sainz split the pair in sixth for Williams.

Pierre Gasly was eighth for Alpine, with rookies Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top ten.

Track conditions improved rapidly in the final moments of SQ2, catching several big names off guard.

Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell, and Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were all eliminated.

SQ1 delivered its own shocks. Hamilton, Antonelli and Alex Albon all failed to advance.

Hamilton and Antonelli — the previous two sprint pole-sitters in 2025 — both suffered spins, with the Italian’s off appearing to set the stage for Hamilton’s eventual exit.

Antonelli lost control of his Mercedes at Stavelot, kicking up gravel and dust onto the racing line. Moments later, Hamilton arrived at the same corner and appeared to be caught out by the conditions.

Already sitting in the drop zone, the incident piled pressure on the Briton to deliver a clean final lap.

But as he approached the final chicane on that attempt, Hamilton lost the rear of his car and spun — eliminating him from the session and handing Ferrari its first-ever SQ1 exit in sprint qualifying.

Albon, meanwhile, narrowly missed out on SQ2, falling just four hundredths of a second short of 15th.

Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto were also knocked out in SQ1, making it five different teams eliminated in the opening segment.

The cars return to Spa for the Belgian Sprint Race at 12pm local time on Saturday (8pm AEST).