Oscar Piastri Dominates Sprint Qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps
Championship leader Oscar Piastri secured the pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, beating Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
Piastri set a time of 1:40.510, demonstrating clear superiority in the qualifying session. The Australian driver was close to being eliminated in Q2, but managed to advance and secure his place in first position.
“Come on, baby!”, Piastri exclaimed over the radio. “Sorry for the heart attack. That wasn’t in the plan”.
Oscar Piastri
Norris, Piastri’s teammate and rival in the fight for the title, finished 0.6 seconds behind, placing eight points behind in the championship.Oscar Piastri lideró ambas sesiones del viernes en el Gran Premio de Bélgica.The current world champion, Verstappen, will start among them. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc placed fourth, seven tenths of a second behind Piastri’s time. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, will start in eighteenth position after a spin in Q1.
Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman, from the Haas team, stood out in the session, qualifying just ahead of Carlos Sainz from Williams.
Pierre Gasly, Isak Hadjar and Gabriele Bortoleto completed the top ten.
Mercedes suffered setbacks, with Kimi Antonelli spinning in Q1, which prevented him from continuing. George Russell failed to get past Q2.
Yuki Tsunoda, Verstappen’s teammate, struggled and qualified in twelfth position, behind Liam Lawson.
The sprint race on Saturday will be held before the traditional qualifying session, which will determine the grid for Sunday’s race. The weather forecast indicates possible rain during the weekend.
