Full report and results as Norris nabs pole in F1 Belgian GP Quali

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McLaren’s Lando Norris leads a McLaren 1-2 in F1 Belgian GP Qualifying, as track temperature play havoc at the end of the session, full report and results below.

In the wake of Saturday morning’s Sprint, Red Bull elected to run a higher downforce setup for qualifying. This decision came due to the risk of wetter conditions for tomorrow’s Grand Prix, despite the Champion’s win this morning.

McLaren on the other hand, chose to continue without a setup change, albeit the papaya squad had run a higher downforce setup throughout the weekend.

F1 Belgian GP Qualifying | Q1 – Battles in the pit lane

The action started early in Q1 with Bearman released into the path of Fernando Alonso as the pit lane filled before the green light. First on track was Alpine’s Pierre Gasy followed by teammate Franco Colapinto.

The pit lane drama continued however, with Hulkenberg pulling into the fast lane in the path of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin. The incident led to a front wing change for Hulkenberg and a quick return to the pits for Stroll.

Out on track 15 of the 20 drivers were eager to get going. First to set a lap around the 7km Spa-Francorchamps was the McLaren of Lando Norris, followed swiftly by teammate Piastri. Piastri led the duo with a 1:41.998, marginally quicker than his teammate.

All eyes were on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as he completed a very low energy out lap. Running a higher downforce setup than for his Sprint victory this morning, the champion set a 1:42.066. An impressive lap saw him slot into P2 between both McLaren’s.

Track evolution soon reared its head however as Sainz jumped to the top of the times with a 1:41.698 for Williams. Lawson for RB, Albon for Williams and Bearman for Haas also managed to pip Piastri’s opening lap.

Ferrari then showed their hands with Leclerc jumping to the top with a 1:41.635. Teammate Hamilton continued to struggle however, only managing P6 0.304s off Leclerc. Not to be outdone, Norris then improved massively with a 1:41.010, 0.625s ahead of the fastest Ferrari. A poor sector 1 saw Piastri fail to match Norris, 0.191s behind in P2.

With under 5 minutes remaining on the clock, Mercedes looked to be struggling with Russell in P17 and teammate Antonelli in P19. First of the Mercedes to improve was Kimi Antonelli with a 1:42.139 nabbing P11. Russell then jumped to P8, with a fastest first sector for good measure.

Eliminated from the session were Hamilton for Ferrari, Colapinto for Alpine, Antonelli for Mercedes and both Aston Martin’s of Alonso and Stroll. Hamilton’s elimination came post session due to a track limits infringement at the top of Raidillion on his fastest lap.

F1 Belgian GP Qualifying | Q2 – A fight at the bottom

The second qualifying session started slowly with nobody rushing on track as the lights went green. First out was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen with over a minute gone from the 15 minute session. The champion was soon followed by all 14 remaining drivers.

Verstappen was first over the line with a 1:40.951, showing the benefits of Red Bull’s setup changes. As the opening laps panned out, the ball remained in McLaren’s court, with Piastri once again leading Lando Norris. A 1:40.626 saw the young Aussie well clear of Verstappen and 0.089s ahead of his teammate.

Mercedes’ pace struggles continued in the opening exchanges, with Russell managing only P6, 0.752s off the McLarens. The midpoint of the session saw both Saubers, Gasly, Sainz and Bearman at risk, with Bearman yet to set a lap time.

As the track went quiet following the opening runs, Charles Leclerc held P4 for Ferrari, albeit 0.458s off Piastri. The Prancing Horse’s latest upgrade seemingly offering little improvement to the SF-25.

With 4 minutes remaining in the session, the track came to life once again as 14 drivers hit the circuit, with Verstappen remaining in the garage. Despite continued fumbling in the pitlane, all 14 cars made it out safely.

Pierre Gasly was first to complete his second lap, improving to P9, although still at risk. Borteleto nabbed glory for Sauber at the chequered flag jumping to P7, as teammate Hulkenberg only managed P11.

With the minor positions changing quickly, the faster cars aborted their laps. An underwhelming end to the session saw the Haas duo of Ocon and Bearman, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Hulkenberg for Sauber and Carlos Sainz for Williams eliminated. The second Williams of Alex Albon scraped through, clear by just 0.020s.

F1 Belgian GP Qualifying | Q3 – Fresh tyres vs new tyres

As the track went green for Q3 in the F1 Belgian GP, George Russell led a packed pit lane out. It was advantage McLaren with both drivers having 2 fresh sets of softs to Verstappens 1. Charles Leclerc and George Russell also had the benefit of a second set.

An opening lap of 1:41.078 for Verstappen on his used set saw him 0.516s off Norris on a fresh set. The cards fell against Piastri on the opening laps with the Aussie 0.189s off his teammate.

Further down it seemed a session of two halves, with Tsunoda in P6 nearly half a second slower than Russell in P5. Bortoleto struggled in the session, failing to progress from P10 following a lap time deletion. The Sauber rookie’s performance remains impressive however, besting his more experienced teammate.

An increase in track temperature seemed to play havoc on track as the drivers struggled to improve on their Q2 times. With 3 minutes remaining, the drivers headed back on track regardless of the conditions.

Verstappen was first to begin his final F1 qualifying lap, failing to improve on his first sector despite fresh tyres. Next in line was Norris who similarly failed to improve in the first sector. Leclerc however did manage to improve, going purple briefly.

Both Verstappen and Norris failed to improve, with Leclerc nabbing P3 from the Red Bull driver. An impressive final lap for Albon saw the Williams driver improve to P5 as those around struggled with the conditions.