Piastri Snatches sprint Pole in Dramatic Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium – The first segment of sprint qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix concluded with significant drama as Lewis Hamilton spun on the final bend, bringing out a yellow flag. This incident, coupled with Pierre Gasly bumping Alex Albon out of contention in the closing moments, saw several prominent drivers eliminated. Nico Hรผlkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Franco colapinto, and kimi Antonelli failed to advance.
The second 10-minute qualifying round saw a slow start, with only five drivers venturing onto the track in the opening six minutes.As the clock ticked down, cars began to emerge. Oscar Piastri initially set a blistering pace, but his fastest lap was deleted due to exceeding track limits, placing him in a precarious position. Max Verstappen then took the lead with a time of 1:41.583 as the track conditions improved. Teams in the lower half of the grid showed unexpected pace, with Esteban Ocon climbing to fourth place for Haas, and Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top five for Sauber.
In the dying seconds,Lando Norris initially topped the timesheets,but piastri delivered a stunning final lap,beating Verstappen by four-tenths of a second to claim the pole position for the sprint race. Piastri,who had also won SQ1,ultimately secured 10th place. Liam Lawson, Yuki tsunoda, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll were eliminated, with only McLaren and Haas progressing to the final shootout.
The eight-minute SQ3 session was largely spent in the pit lane, with