Belgian GP Sprint Qualifying: Piastri dominates, denies Verstappen
F1 NewsFriday, 25 July 2025 at 17:33
Oscar Piastri took a dominant sprint pole position for the third Sprint Race in the 2025 Formula 1 season at Spa Francorchamps as Max Verstappen was only good for second with Lando Norris third.
Piastri was over four tenths clear of Verstappen at the end of SQ3 and a massive six tenths faster than his teammate, Norris in the sister car.
The Australian has shown some strong form in practice sending a message of intent that he was planning to strike back after his disappointing race in Silverstone when a penalty meant Norris won that race.
However, he survived a scare in SQ2 when his first lap was deleted for exceeding track limits and could not put in a competitive second one. He just made it into SQ3.
Verstappen had opted for a low downforce setup in practice, but Red Bull tweaked that ahead of Sprint qualifying, compromising a bit of the RB21's top speed for some more pace in the middle twisty sector of the track.
The Dutchman remains a threat come the Sprint on Saturday as he will be on the attack with Piastri having to look into his mirrors.
Norris never looked good for pole and the final gap between him and his teammate will have him scratching his head.
Ferrari, after their hyped rear suspension, had a bad qualifying with Charles Leclerc only fourth, 0.768s off the pace while Lewis Hamilton's result was even worse, the seven-time F1 Champion eliminated in SQ1 after spinning on his final lap.
Haas had a superb Sprint Qualifying with Esteban Ocon fifth fastest while his teammate Oliver Bearman was seventh as Carlos Sainz split them, going sixth fastest in his Williams.
It was a good recovery from the Spaniard after missing out on half of the practice session for issues with his car. His teammate Alex Albon was down in 16th.
Pierre Gasly, once again delivered the good for Alpine and qualified eighth fastest while Franco Colapinto was one again disappointing and down in 19th.
A decent qualifying for Racing Bulls with Isack Hadjar in ninth while Liam Lawson was 11th fastest in the other car.
Gabriel Bortoleto was tenth, a solid performance from the Brazilian rookie while his teammate and the newest F1 podium finisher, Nico Hulkenberg was 17th.
It was a disastrous session for Mercedes as none of their cars featured in the top ten. Kimi Antonelli was out from SQ1 after spinning on his first timed lap, damaging his tyres and not managing another. He starts from 20th.
As for George Russell, he managed to make SQ2 but that was as far as he could go as he posted the 13th fastest time.
Piastri: Spa the worst track to have pole at
Speaking after Sprint Qualifying, Piastri said: "It was a good lap. A little scare in SQ2 with the lap deletion but the car has been mega all day.
"I feel like I was able to put in a lot of good laps. Thanks to the team, the car has been great. This is a track I love. It's my favourite one of the year. Maybe that gave me an extra couple of tenths.
"When the car is handling as well as it was today, it's a pleasure," the Aussie pointed out.
Piastri's pace was so supreme during qualifying, he explained: "The car has been in a good window since Lap 1. I don't know why.
"I had good confidence. I feel like the last few weekends have been good from a pace perspective but not a results' perspective. It's nice to get a result today."
However, he was wary of Verstappen's challenge in the Sprint; he added: "Red Bull are quick in a straight line. That will make life difficult and Spa is probably the worst track to have pole at!
"I think the pace in the car is really strong and I felt good today, so hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow," Piastri concluded.
SQ1: Hamilton out after late spin!
Sprint Qualifying started in dry conditions but it was a bit cloudy as track temperatures were at 37 degrees Celsius as air temperature was at 22 degrees.
As per the regulations of the Sprint weekend, the drivers head out on track with Medium tyres bolted to their cars for the 12-minute SQ1.
Soon and after less than one minute since the green light was given, the drivers started making their way out on track.
The McLarens waited a bit more before going out while Red Bull mechanics appeared to be doing some work on the rear right corner of Verstappen's car.
Hulkenberg and Lawson almost crashed in the pitlane as the former barged out of his garages into the path of the VCARB. The incident was under investigation.
Hadjar posted the first lap time and went fastest with Hulkenberg behind him going second fastest. Soon Bortoleto went second and Lawson third. Ocon went third.
Then the big boys came with Russell going to the top with Leclerc third. Hamilton was only eighth.
Replay then showed Antonelli spinning at Turn 14 and ending up in the gravel. He kept going after that though. Hamilton also had a snap at the same corner.
Then Piastri went to the top while Norris went second fastest as Verstappen followed and went second splitting the McLarens.
With three minutes remaining, the order was: Piastri - Verstappen - Norris - Fernando Alonso - Russell - Hadjar - Lance Stroll - Leclerc - Sainz - Bortoleto - Ocon - Lawson - Yuki Tsunoda - Hulkenberg - Albon.
In the drop zone: Hamilton - Gasly - Colapinto - Antonelli - Bearman.
With final runs and SQ1 over, Piastri led the way with 1:41.769 as Verstappen was 0.274s behind him in second while Norris was third.
The rest of the top 15: Alonso - Russell - Hadjar - Stroll - Leclerc - Sainz - Bortoleto - Ocon - Lawson - Tsunoda - Bearman - Gasly.
However Hamilton spun at the chicane and could not complete his final lap bringing out the Yellow flag and out of Sprint Qualifying. It appeared as if he suffered a rear lock that snapped his Ferrari.
And as a result, out of SQ1 were: Albon (16th) - Hulkenberg (17th) - Hamilton (18th) - Colapinto (19th) - Antonelli (20th).
SQ2: Russell is out, Piastri barely makes SQ3!
The start of SQ2 was delayed as the gravel was cleared from the track and when it was given the green light, drivers took to the track with Medium tyres still mandated by the rules.
The two McLarens were the first cars to get out on track while other drivers waited in their respective garages.
Norris started his timed lap first as Piastri was behind him on track as Verstappen, Leclerc and Tsunoda joined the action.
Norris went fastest but then Piastri took the top spot from him by over four tenths of a second. But then the Australian's time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Raidillon.
With less than four minutes remaining, all drivers were out on track. Piastri posted another lap and went second fastest.
Verstappen went fastest, six tenths clear of Norris as Leclerc went second fastest, two tenths behind Verstappen.
With one minute remaining, only four drivers had posted times as it was clear teams planned for one timed lap in SQ2.
With time over, Norris was fastest in SQ2 with a 1:41.412 with Verstappen second and Leclerc third.
Remainder of the top ten: Ocon - Bortoleto - Gasly - Bearman - Sainz - Hadjar - Piastri.
Lawson was the first to miss out on SQ3 having posted the 11th fastest time, 0.041s slowed than Piastri who was lucky to make the cut.
Tsunoda was 12th fastest ahead of Russell in 13th as Alonso was 14th with Stroll in 15th.
SQ3: Verstappen splits the McLarens
After some delay as well, SQ3 started and finally, the drivers had access to the Soft tyre which is only allowed in the top ten shootout of Sprint Qualifying.
The minutes ticked away as no driver made his way out of the garage when the green light for the session was illuminated.
Like SQ2, the teams opted to go for a one-shot qualifying in SQ3, and like in SQ2, McLaren sent their drivers out first as well as Verstappen with Leclerc behind them.
Norris started the first timed lap as Verstappen was right behind him as Piastri was further down the road in the other McLaren.
Norris went fastest but then Verstappen dropped him to second only for Piastri to go even faster than the Dutchman.
With the rest of the top ten finishing their laps, the final order was: Piastri - Verstappen - Norris - Leclerc - Ocon - Sainz - Bearman - Gasly - Hadjar - Bortoleto.
Belgian GP Sprint Qualifying Provisional Classification
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