A commanding performance by Oscar Piastri saw him take pole for the sprint race at Spa. After nearly missing out on SQ3 thanks to some significant track evolution at the end of SQ2, the championship leader bounced back in style. His time of 1m 40.510 was both four tenths of a second faster than Verstappen's and a new track record. Piastri later called the car ‘mega’ and admitted to pushing the limits on more than one occasion throughout the session.
Despite bringing multiple upgrades ahead of this weekend, Red Bull look to be some way off McLaren’s pace. However, Max Verstappen was able to split the orange cars and stated that he had made the most of what was available to him, despite a brief scare in SQ1 when his car suffered a technical issue on the left rear.
Norris topped the timesheets in SQ2 but had no answer to his teammate's pace in SQ3. The British driver admitted to not being quick enough and expressed concern over the six-tenths of a second separating him and Piastri.
Charles Leclerc qualified fourth and declared the new suspension setup to be a step forward, but acknowledged the significant gap to the McLarens, which Leclerc considered to be even faster than usual around this circuit.
The standout midfield entry in the final part of sprint qualifying was undoubtedly Haas. Having only run medium tires in free practice, the American squad found a significant turn of pace in qualifying. Esteban Ocon ran a low-downforce setup and used his straight-line speed to good effect by qualifying P5. While also giving his teammate Ollie Bearman a tow during their final runs, Bearman secured seventh, one place behind Carlos Sainz.
Pierre Gasly once again looked to be the primary overachiever at Alpine by qualifying eighth ahead of Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto, the Brazilian making it into the final part of qualifying for the second time this season.
Liam Lawson qualified 11th, one place ahead of his Red Bull replacement, Yuki Tsunoda. Significant track evolution at the end of SQ3 saw several midfield drivers find a major turn of pace. Sainz, Hadjar, Ocon, Bortoleto, and Bearman all cracked the top ten. As a result, Oscar Piastri very nearly found himself out of qualifying (the Australian eventually made it through by just four hundredths of a second), while George Russell was left stranded in P13. A result, he said, could be partly attributed to damage caused by running over gravel in SQ1, gravel that was strewn onto the track by his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who spun early in the session and ended up last.
Aston Martin’s free practice pace did not translate into qualifying. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll could only manage 14th and 15th, respectively. Alonso later admitted to pushing the limits from the start, in contrast to the midfield opposition who “build the speed slowly step by step throughout qualifying”.
Alex Albon was hindered by both yellow flags and a persistent engine issue and could only manage 16th ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and the most high-profile SQ1 casualty: Lewis Hamilton. After suffering a snap of oversteer at turn 14, the seven-time world champion had a major spin while braking for the final Bus Stop chicane. Hamilton believed it to be the first rear-brake lockup he’s ever experienced and stated that the new upgrades have not brought the changes he hoped for.
Franco Colapinto will start 19th, having struggled to string a clean lap together, ahead of Antonelli, who has hinted at the possibility of a gust of wind being the cause of his SQ1 spin.
