Championship leader Oscar Piastri took pole position for the sprint race at the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver clocked 1 minute 40.
Championship leader Oscar Piastri took pole position for the sprint race at the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver clocked 1 minute 40.510 seconds around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit to beat the Red Bull of defending champion Max Verstappen by 0.477s in Friday's qualifying session.
Lando Norris in the other McLaren completed the top three, 0.618s behind his team-mate.
Ferrari had Charles Leclerc in fourth, but Lewis Hamilton spun in the final chicane in Q1 and was only 18th.
Mercedes had a bad start to the weekend in Belgium, with George Russell in 13th and Kimi Antonlli in 20th.
Sunny weather conditions allowed a dry session, but the Wallonia region is known for the unstable weather and rain is forecast for Sunday's race.
McLaren have dominated the season and top the constructors' championships. In the drivers' standings, Piastri leads with eight points ahead of team-mate Norris.
Red Bull, meanwhile, are having a race weekend without former team principal Christian Horner for the first time in 20 years.
Horner was dismissed with immediate effect earlier this month amid a difficult season for Red Bull. He was replaced by Laurent Mekies, who was team principal at Red Bull sister team Racing Bulls.
Mekies faces a challenge to close the gap to McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes in the team's standings, with Red Bull currently sitting fourth, 288 points behind runaway leaders McLaren.
Category: General Sports
