Oscar Piatri secured the pole position for the F1 sprint on Saturday in sprint qualifying in Spa-Francorchamps. The McLaren pilot achieved a best time of 1: 40,510 minutes in the third qualifying segment and grumbled a good pack of everyone.
Piatri had already left the stronger impression in free training and SQ1 and SQ2 and also delivered to the point in the decision. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finished second with 0.477 seconds behind, Lando Norris (McLaren) with 0.618 seconds behind.
Since himself Piatris racing engineer was amazed on the box radio: “The distance is almost half a second. That was really impressive.”
The foundation stone for the first starting place was laid in sectors 2 and 3 on the Ardennes Achterbahn, where the Grand Prix of Belgium 2025 takes place on Sunday. In the first sector, Esteban Ocon (Haas) had achieved best time. Not surprisingly, the EAU-Rouge sector scores those who have trimmed their set-up, particularly at top speed.
The bottom line was that Ocon took fifth place, 1.055 seconds behind Piatri and 0.287 seconds behind Charles Leclerc in the best -placed Ferrari. The sixth was Carlos Sainz (Williams), ahead of Oliver Bearman (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) and Gabriel Bortoleto (clean).
Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), the two Mercedes drivers and Nico Hülkenberg (clean), at the last Grand Prix in Silverstone, were still sensational in the first two SQ sessions.
From in SQ1: What was going on at Hamilton and Hülkenberg?
The first qualifying segment demanded some prominent victims. Most prominent: Lewis Hamilton, the seven -time world champion. In the course of an update package, Ferrari had brought a highly excited new rear wheel suspension to the Grand Prix of Belgium. But it apparently did not work in SQ1 as desired.
Hamilton lost the rear out of control and turned. He was concreted into P18. “The rear axle blocked. That is exactly what the suspension should prevent,” analyzes ORF expert Alexander Wurz in the live comment.
Nico Hülkenberg (17./sauber) also got it because he actually wanted to drive past Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) in the bus stop chican to start his quick round. But Lawson also left the distance, climbed back to the gas when Hülkenberg was next to him, and forced the Germans to take out speed again before he was able to accelerate again. So that was inevitable in SQ1.
However, Hülkenberg does not escape in excuses: “The first round was not good enough on the medium, and that was the one who counted in the end. Because in the second round the tire was no longer good enough and was dismantled. Therefore, it was a shame. Four hundredths were, and not good enough on my side. I think you just have to work more and do it better on one round.”
And then there was Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), who had “no grip”, as he complained about on the box radio and sank his quick round in the gravel bed of the Stavelot curve. Antonelli was able to continue, but his 20th and last place was sealed.
In addition to the three pilots already mentioned, Alexander Albon (16th/Williams) and Franco Colapinto (19th/Alpine) also eliminated in SQ1.
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Track Evolution: Piatri almost caught it!
In SQ2 there would have been the next fist thick surprise about one hair. Piatri initially drove superior best time. But then according to Wurz in the last minutes of the session “an incredible change of route” occurred: “The Track Evolution was somehow crazy.” And so Piatri was passed in tenth to the end after his first lap time had been canceled on Raidillon because of his first round.
At the end of SQ2, Norris drove best time, in 1: 41,412 minutes, in front of Verstappen and Leclerc. But with George Russell, it also caught the second Mercedes driver in the end of the time. Russell was 0.918 seconds behind Norris at the end – and he was missing 0.202 seconds for the saving P10 time.
According to data analysis, Russell cost a braking in La Source two tenths of a second. If this mistake had not happened to him, it could have been enough to get into the top 10 final. But Mercedes had actually calculated much more for Spa after the previous year’s victory.
In addition to Russell, Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) and the two Aston Martins also eliminated in SQ2. Until then, they had actually left a competitive impression with the extensive update for this weekend. In view of the extreme track evolution, however, they may have been victims of a not entirely perfect timing.