Belgian GP 2025
JULY 25, 2025
Sprint Qualifying Report - Piastri recovers to take Belgian sprint pole
© McLaren
Oscar Piastri bounced back from a deleted lap in SQ2 to dominate qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race, securing pole with a commanding final lap at Spa-Francorchamps.
The McLaren driver, who leads the championship, clocked a 1m40.510s in the SQ3 shootout, beating Max Verstappen by 0.477s. Teammate Lando Norris was a further tenth behind in third, over six tenths off Piastri's pace.
It was a dramatic recovery for Piastri, who initially had his fastest SQ2 lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Raidillon. His second attempt was just enough to sneak into the final segment of qualifying in 10th place, only 0.041s clear of elimination.
"Sorry for the heart attack," Piastri radioed to his team after taking pole. "That wasn't in the plan, but the car was mega."
Charles Leclerc took fourth for Ferrari, while Esteban Ocon impressed with fifth for Haas. Carlos Sainz put his Williams sixth ahead of Ocon's teammate Oliver Bearman and Alpine's Pierre Gasly, who advanced despite running the medium compound. Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top ten.
George Russell was the biggest casualty in SQ2, failing to progress after a scrappy run that left the Mercedes driver 13th. Yuki Tsunoda also failed to make the cut in the second Red Bull, while Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson narrowly missed out in 11th.
In SQ1, Piastri had already signaled his pace by leading the early runs, ahead of Verstappen and Norris. But several big names struggled in the opening phase.
Lewis Hamilton had a dramatic spin at the Bus Stop chicane, locking up under braking and ending up 18th on the timesheets. Earlier, he had already lost time with a mistake on his first run. Andrea Kimi Antonelli also spun at Stavelot and wound up last, citing brake problems.
Gasly just scraped through in 15th, knocking out Alex Albon. Nico Hulkenberg was down in 17th after traffic with Lawson, while Franco Colapinto ended 19th for Williams.
The top three's advantage over the rest was clear. Piastri's pole time was nearly eight tenths faster than Leclerc's fourth-placed effort, and more than a second up on fifth-placed Ocon. The performance gap hints at a potentially dominant sprint for McLaren, assuming Piastri avoids further drama.
The Belgian GP sprint race takes place Saturday afternoon.