Lando Norris goes from the first starting position to the Grand Prix of Belgium.
The McLaren-Driver prevailed on the traditional course in Spa-Francorchamps in 1: 40.562 minutes just ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piatri. The World Cup leader was 0.085 seconds behind in the Ardennes.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc secured third place, who ended up moved in the Red Bull just ahead of world champion Max Verstappen. Nico Hülkenberg came to 14th place in the clean.
“I’m happy“, said Norris. His MCL39 was already all the weekend”flown“, Especially with Piatri, this was seen the day before. “It’s a good but hard duel”said Norris about the fight against his garage neighbor. This showed up whether the missed Pole somewhat disappointed: “I didn’t quite bring it up as I should, that’s a shame”said Piatri.
Announced rain – chance for Hülkenberg?
While qualifying took place in the dry, the Grand Prix (3 p.m.) could be quite turbulent – there is a high probability of rain. Especially in spa, the races are usually chaotic when wet. Exactly such circumstances could also play clean pilot Nico Hülkenberg on the cards.
Most recently in Silverstone, he had sensationally celebrated his first podium, despite starting from 19th place. In Spa, the 37-year-old chases his fifth point of points in a row, but he only goes to the Grand Prix as 14th.
In addition, the Emmerich threatens to be unemployed, because at the start of the qualifying at the start of the box, he got into a skirmish with Lance Stroll. The Canadian in Aston Martin drove him over the front wing.
Sprint victory for Verstappen
A few hours before the qualification, Verstappen had given his new team boss Laurent Mekies the first win. After an overtaking maneuver in the first round, Verstappen defended the top position in the sprint over a good 100 kilometers to the end in front of the McLaren drivers Piatri and Norris.
As a result, Verstappen came up to 68 points behind Piatri in the overall ranking. The four -time champion is overall knight in front of the Grand Prix.
Disaster for Hamilton
Record world champion Lewis Hamilton has been experiencing a miserable weekend. In his Ferrari, the 40-year-old initially became a chance in the sprint and did not get out of place in the qualification either.
The Briton got too far from the slopes, so its fastest lap was canceled afterwards. In the previous year, Hamilton had won in Belgium in Mercedes.