Oscar Piastri set a time just under half a second faster than his closest rival to take pole position ahead of tomorrow’s sprint race.
SQ1
There was trouble early on in the Red Bull garage as it seemed that there was something of a technical gremlin on Verstappen’s car, however they were able to get out onto the track with more than enough time.
Antonelli had a spin at Stavelot, meaning he had to abandon his lap, all the while the gravel that was kicked out appeared to impact the grip levels for his teammate George Russell.
A big snap of oversteer severely impacted Hamilton’s first lap, which put him in the bottom five. He looked like he would improve enough to escape elimination, but his rear would lock up at the bus stop chicane, causing his car to spin around and knocking him out in SQ1.
Another surprise exit came from Antonelli, who reported that he had no grip after his spin earlier in the session, with the Mercedes driver being pinned to bottom of the timing table.
ELIMINATED
16. Alex Albon – Williams +0.041
17. Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber +0.046
18. Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari +0.237
19. Franco Colapinto – Alpine +0.416
20. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes +2.223
SQ2
Track evolution appeared to be rather strong throughout SQ2, with Norris and Piastri both looking as though their first runs would be in danger after having set times before anyone else, though both of the championship protagonists were able to get through to SQ3.
Mercedes’ poor sprint qualifying continued as George Russell found himself knocked out in SQ2, only putting in a time good enough for 13th place.
ELIMINATED
Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.716
11. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls +0.041
12. Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull +0.056
13. George Russell – Mercedes +0.202
14. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.325
15. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.704
SQ3
The final session of sprint qualifying proved to be a one lap shootout, with there not being enough time for anyone to set a banker time, meaning one mistake with track limits would doom that driver to bottom of the standings.
Lando Norris set the benchmark with a 1:41.1, which initially appeared to be a strong time, right before Verstappen would go ahead of him by one and a half tenths.
However, Piastri would blow them both out of the water by continuing his show of Friday dominance, going just under half a second faster than Verstappen to take sprint race pole position.
Sprint Qualifying Results
1. Oscar Piastri – McLaren 1.40.510
2. Max Verstappen – Red Bull +0.477
3. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.618
4. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.768
5. Esteban Ocon – Haas +1.055
6. Carlos Sainz – Williams +1.251
7. Oliver Bearman – Haas +1.347
8. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +1.449
9. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls +1.461
10. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber +1.666
