Lando Norris has taken pole for the Belgian Grand Prix. After trailing his teammate for much of free practice and only managing third in the sprint race, Norris pulled off a rapid lap during his initial Q3 run to secure pole. Oscar Piastri looked to be the odds-on favourite after his crushing pace in sprint qualifying; however, the Australian could only manage second fastest on Saturday. Disappointed at missing pole by a mere eight hundredths of a second, Piastri nevertheless has the opportunity to attempt a pass down the Kemmel Straight on race day. Much like the move Verstappen pulled on him in the sprint race.
Having kept the McLarens vaguely in sight, thanks to a high downforce setup that was worth around six tenths of a second in the middle sector, Verstappen’s final Q3 run did not pay dividends. A snap of oversteer on the exit of turn one forced Verstappen onto the comeback trail. Even with a fresh set of soft tyres, the reigning world champion could only manage third. Which quickly became fourth as Charles Leclerc, having previously stated that he could not find any more pace, pipped Verstappen to third by eight thousandths of a second. Yet another example of the Monegasque’s prodigious one-lap pace.
Despite a snap of oversteer just before Pouhon early in the session, Alex Albon put in a last-minute blinder to beat George Russell to fifth. His best qualifying result since the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Having struggled significantly with the handling of his RB21 in recent races, Yuki Tsunoda was pleased to make it into Q3 for the first time in seven races. The Japanese driver will start seventh, having described the new upgrades as a big step forward.
A solid showing from RB saw both cars make it into the last part of qualifying. Isack Hadjar will line up eighth ahead of his teammate Liam Lawson, who made it into Q3 for only the third time this season but was unhappy at having left time on the table.
After having a lap time deleted in Q3, Gabriel Bortoleto had to settle for tenth ahead of the two Haas’. Esteban Ocon looked strong in Q2, going so far as to set a purple first sector. However, a disappointing end to the lap saw him miss out on Q3, one place ahead of Ollie Bearman, who weathered a snap of oversteer on the exit of turn one to secure twelfth.
Pierre Gasly qualified 13th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz, while Lewis Hamilton, having failed to get out of the first part of sprint qualifying, suffered another Q1 exit. After initially going seventh fastest at the end of the session, Hamilton was found to have exceeded track limits at Raidillon. With his final lap time deleted, the seven-time world champion was relegated to 16th, his first Q1 exit since Abu Dhabi 2024 and Ferrari’s first since Abu Dhabi 2023.
Franco Colapinto will start 17th, ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who was unable to put his sprint woes behind him and could only manage 18th, while Aston Martin’s qualifying was one to forget. After a decent showing in free practice and failing to reach SQ3 on Saturday, Fernando Alonso qualified a lowly 19th, while his teammate, Lance Stroll, will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.
McLaren may have the edge in the dry, but with rain forecast for Saturday, it's still very much all to play for at Spa-Francorchamps.
