Lando Norris beat his McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri to take pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix. As Charles Leclerc pushed his Ferrari to the limit to snatch third position from sprint race winner Max Verstappen.
Norris set the beachmark in the top ten shootout with a lap time of one minute, 40.562 seconds, the only driver to improve on his best Q2 lap on that first run. Lando’s lap was almost two tenths quicker than Oscar and a massive five tenths better than Verstappen, who was running a used set of softs that could not provide the same level of grip.
On the second round of runs Verstappen started with a huge slide coming out of the La Source hairpin, which set up a lap that proved slower than his first effort and saw the sprint winner beaten to third by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by a small margin of 0.003 seconds.
The McLarens were up next, but Lando’s struggle to improve opened an pportunity for Oscar. But the championship leader could only a tenth off his best lap, ensuring Norris achieved his fourth pole of 2025 to draw level with his McLaren teammate.
Behind Leclerc and Verstappen, Alex Albon took a solid fifth for Williams, defeating George Russell who could not go quicker than his best Q2 run for Mercedes. Yuki Tsunoda delivered his best Red Bull performance so far by taking seventh, three tenths behind Verstappen, ahead of Racing Bulls duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, as well as Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
McLaren led the proceedings out of pitlane at the start of Q2, with Piastri setting a time of one minute, 40.626 seconds that would stay on top for the remainder of the segment, leading Norris by 0.089 seconds and Verstappen adrift by 0.325 seconds.
After the first series of runs, Sauber pair of Hulkenberg and Bortoleto found themselves on the wrong side of the top ten, as did Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Williams driver Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman. Oliver had suffered a huge slide coming out of the rapid double right-hander of Pouhon which forced the Haas driver to abort his flyer.
Gasly was the first driver up to take a spot in Q3, but his ninth-fastest time was soon shuffled down the order. A disappointing final sector for Esteban Ocon meant his missed the cut-off by a mere 0.020 seconds compared to Alex Albon, while a messy moment through Turn 1’s La Source also undid Haas teammate Bearman’s efforts as the pair proved unable to repeat their sprint qualifying.
Gasly settled for P13, followed by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Sainz in P14 and P15 respectively.
The start of qualifying in Q1 saw a pitlane moment as Hulkenberg was sent out into the path of Aston’s Lance Stroll in a busy pit exit queue, with Hulkenberg damaging his front wing.
The McLarens were out first here as well, using the soft tyres as Piastri narrowly led Norris with one minute, 41.998 seconds effort. Carlos Sainz then briefly grabbed top in the Williams, going with a fresh set of soft tyres to set a time of one minute, 41.691 seconds.
On a fresh set of their own, Norris went top with one minute, 41.010 seconds, with Piastri’s time 0.191 seconds adrift of his teammate and Verstappen another tenth.
An extremely tight battle for survival showed some similarities to sprint qualifying, with both Mercedes cars of Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli under pressure again after the first set of banker lap runs.
But given track evolution those banker laps proved of little use for drivers desperate to advance. Having come under pressure from cars vastly improving around him as well, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton found a late improvement to move clear of the drop zone as the chequered flag fell.
But the Ferrari driver saw his time deleted due to track limits at the top of Raidillon, with his first lap time demoting the seven-time world champion into the elimination zone in P16, his second Q1 exit of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
Hamilton was joined in the drop zone by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Antonelli and a disappointing Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
So an important qualifying result for Lando Norris to take the top spot ahead of his title rival Oscar Piastri. It will be fascinating if the wet weather will play an effect in the main race.
Belgian Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:40.562
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:40.647
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:40.900
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:40.903
5 Alexander Albon Williams 1:41.201
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:41.260
7 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:41.284
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:41.310
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:41.328
10 Gabriel Bortolet0 Sauber 1:42.387
11 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:41.525
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:41.617
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:41.633
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:41.707
15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:41.758
16 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:41.939
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:42.022
18 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:42.139
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:42.385
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:42.502
Lando Norris will start the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after going fastest of all in Qualifying, the McLaren driver beating team mate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc with an impressive lap around Spa-Francorchamps.
After setting the pace in Q1, Norris was bettered by Piastri in the Q2 segment – but the Briton was quick to lay a marker in Q3, grabbing provisional pole during the first runs with an effort of 1m 40.562s.
That time proved unbeatable as the final laps played out, with Piastri ending up in second place just 0.085s away from the other papaya car. Leclerc, meanwhile, improved to put himself into P3 ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in fourth.
Alex Albon was an impressive fifth for Williams, slotting in just ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in sixth. Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda followed in seventh, while the Racing Bulls pair of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson took eighth and ninth respectively and Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-surges-to-pole-position-in-belgium-ahead-of-piastri-and-leclerc.6QXNBCk9O1LGEklRa3UQ40
Lewis Hamilton issued an apology to Ferrari after his Q1 exit means he will start the Fomula 1 Belgian Grand Prix from 16th on the grid.
The British driver initially looked to be safely into the top 15 as Q1 came to an end. But a track limits infringement meant his lap time was deleted, putting him into the elimination zone. Talking to the media following his exit, he confirmed that he will be discussing the infringement with the stewards.
The Ferrari driver confirmed that the team had made changes to the SF-25 ahead of qualifying, which “didn’t feel terrible”, but he still did not feel particularly comfortable in the car.
“I was the same as I was for the rest of the weekend. We made some changes, the car didn’t feel terrible,” Hamilton explained to Sky Sports F1. “I think it was not so easy to… It was even tough for us, we had to put a second set [of tyres] on just to get through Q1. So, not great.
“And then from my side, another mistake. So I really got to look internal. I got to apologise to my team because it’s just unacceptable to be out in both Q1s. It’s a very, very poor performance for myself.”
The seven-time champion faced a similar fate in sprint qualifying yesterday after a spin at the penultimate corner meant he started the sprint from 18th.
“I don’t think there’s really much we can do,” Hamilton said when asked if making changes to the car would be worthwhile and starting from the pitlane for the race. “So I just try and start from where I am and see where I can get from there.”
He added about the season so far as a whole: “I mean, we’re trying to do the best with what we have. And then obviously everyone’s working flat out back in the factory. We have had upgrades, but I think that’s probably it for the rest of the year.
“And then I think the focus is now, back at the factory at least, is to focus on next year’s car. This season has been a tricky one. ”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lewis-hamilton-issues-apology-to-ferrari-after-unacceptable-q1-exit-/10745472/
Red Bull Racing’s Helmut Marko has revealed that Max Verstappen made two mistakes during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, which cost him a P3 start.
Verstappen will start the race from fourth on the grid at Spa-Francorchamps after slip-ups at Turn 1 and Turn 5. Although Marko claimed that a third-place start was possible, he remains confident about Verstappen’s chances in the race.
“I think he had two mistakes in his lap, so P3 was possible, but with the downforce we knew we would be slower, so I think for tomorrow we’re in a very good position,” Marko explained to Motorsport.com and other media.
The four-time champion complained about a lack of grip during the session.
“Maybe the tyre pressure was not optimal, so I’m not so worried for tomorrow,” Marko added.
This followed Verstappen’s win in the sprint race earlier today. After starting from second on the grid, the Dutchman overtook pole-sitter Oscar Piastri at Turn 5 and managed to keep him at bay for the remainder of the race.
“The race pace, I think if we wouldn’t have overtaken Piastri we wouldn’t have had a chance, but being in the front worked very well. But today we have four cars in the top-10, I can’t remember when that happened.”
Rainfall is expected during the race tomorrow. Verstappen claimed that it is “always very tricky” around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in such conditions, but he is hopeful of pushing his way up the grid.
“In the wet around here it’s always very tricky. Also we have to wait and see how much rain is going to fall,” he explained to Sky Sports F1.
“Ideally, of course, I’d like to at least be P3. Fighting the McLarens will be very hard but anything can happen.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/max-verstappen-qualifying-mistakes-cost-third-belgian-grand-prix-helmut-marko/10745506/
Lando Norris was pleased to “get back to the top” by claiming pole position in Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, while McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri was left disappointed to miss out on P1, having felt that there “was more in it”.
With Norris going quickest in Q1 and Piastri setting the pace in Q2, it was Norris who went quickest during the opening laps of Q3 on a lap of 1m 40.562s – a time that remained fastest across the final runs.
While the Briton was “not the happiest” with his third place in Friday’s Sprint Qualifying, he insisted that he had never been concerned about the remainder of the weekend after reflecting on his result in Saturday’s Qualifying session.
“It was a decent lap,” said Norris. “I’m happy. I don’t know why everyone was pretty worried after yesterday. I wasn’t even that far off. It was just a couple of little issues that we had.
“I was confident after yesterday and coming into today, so it’s nice to see that I could get back to the top.”
Pushed on where the improvement had come from, the 25-year-old responded: “Three-tenths is just slipstream and not being first out of the pit lane. It’s nothing to worry about. People like to make a lot of things up, but I’ve felt good. The car has been flying all weekend.
“Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend, so we’re pushing each other a lot, like he said. It’s tough, because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are easily and you learn from each other quickly, so it’s a good but tough battle that we have at the minute.”
While the track action during Friday and Saturday has taken place in dry conditions, the possibility of rain remains for Sunday. Norris, however, is hoping that the weather will stay as it has been for race day.
“I’d prefer it to stay dry, honestly, even for the fans,” the eight-time race winner reflected. “It’s rained here for the last 10 years or so, so it would be nice to have a dry Sunday. But I don’t mind whether it’s dry or rain or somewhere in the middle. It’s normal here and I look forward to a fun race.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-happy-to-get-back-to-the-top-with-pole-in-belgium-as-piastri-rues.567aRCJq5u8IYtjmPAX6T2