Oscar Piastri emerged on Pole position after in intense Qualifying battle to the top of the F1 Belgian GP Sprint Race, full report and results below.
The F1 Belgian GP 2025 kicked off with a single practice session that saw McLaren’s Piastri emerge fastest, setting the tone for a packed few days of action. FP1 featured a mix of tyre strategies and early dramas, including fuel system issues for Carlos Sainz and cooling concerns at Williams.
As drivers switched to softs late in the session, Piastri stamped his authority with a blistering 1:42.022, edging out Verstappen and Norris in the final minutes. All eyes turned to the F1 Belgian GP Sprint Qualifying, where grid positions for Saturday were decided.
Lights out for SQ1
The lights had gone green, and SQ1 got underway. With such a long circuit, the front-runners were expected to be fuelled heavily and remain out to complete multiple laps.
A pit lane incident involving Nico Hülkenberg and Liam Lawson was noted for an unsafe release. There had been a close call between Lawson and Hülkenberg as everyone exited the pit lane—Hülkenberg had been waved out just in front of the Kiwi. It remained to be seen whether the stewards would choose to investigate.
Isack Hadjar set the opening benchmark with a 1:42.711. Bortoleto, Ocon, Lawson, Hülkenberg, and Gasly also posted early times.
Antonelli spins
Kimi Antonelli ran off at Stavelot and flat-spotted his tyres—far from ideal, especially with Mercedes aiming for him to get through on just one set. Meanwhile, Verstappen joined the action as the initial times began to roll in.
Oscar Piastri picked up right where he left off, going quickest with a 1:41.769—nearly three tenths clear of his team-mate. George Russell moved into third despite complaining about gravel on the circuit, courtesy of his team-mate’s off. Hadjar’s early effort held firm in fourth ahead of Leclerc.
Verstappen then slotted between the two McLaren drivers with his first proper lap. At that point, Antonelli, Stroll, Alonso, and Bearman still hadn’t set a time, while Colapinto and Gasly looked off the pace. Stroll finally logged a lap, going seventh—meanwhile, Hamilton found himself in the drop zone.
Bearman had a lap time deleted, leaving him at the bottom of the order with no valid time. Antonelli also remained without a representative effort.
Antonelli faced serious pressure. He was on a push lap but already four tenths down in the first sector. Hamilton, Gasly, Colapinto, and Bearman also found themselves at risk of elimination.
As the chequered flag came out for SQ1, tension rose. Improvements were coming from drivers in the bottom five, with many setting personal best sectors.
Albon was still on a lap inside the drop zone. Antonelli crossed the line but could only manage 19th—he was out.
Suddenly, yellow flags appeared. Hamilton had spun at the Bus Stop chicane while on an improving lap. That incident forced several others to abort their attempts. Bearman, however, managed to improve—though the stewards would likely review whether he had lifted appropriately under the yellow flags. Bearman’s final effort pushed Albon out of the session.
Eliminated in SQ1
Alex Albon, Nico Hülkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Franco Colapinto, Kimi Antonelli
SQ2
The start of SQ2 had been delayed slightly as marshals worked to clear the gravel brought onto the circuit by Antonelli’s earlier off. Once the track was safe, the lights turned green and the second segment got underway.
Alex Albon, having missed out by just 0.041s, was seen walking up the pit lane, his session over.
Lando Norris headed out first on a fresh set of medium tyres. He had trailed his team-mate in FP1 by half a second and by three tenths in SQ1. After a few small mistakes earlier, this was his chance to correct them. Oscar Piastri followed, though not close enough to Norris to benefit from a tow. Interestingly, no one else joined them—perhaps McLaren were gambling on two push laps instead of one.
Piastri went two tenths quicker than Norris in the first sector, but Norris responded with a strong middle sector. The Australian driver had the final word, though—he went fastest, four tenths clear of his team-mate.
Piastri falls victim to track limits
But then—disaster. His lap was immediately deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 4. He had likely run wide through Eau Rouge. That left the Australian under pressure, just as the rest of the field began their runs.
Given Spa’s length, most drivers opted for a single hot lap. Verstappen was already flying, particularly strong on the long straights of sector one.
He crossed the line with a mighty final sector, going fastest by six tenths. Leclerc slotted into second, while Norris’ earlier effort—completed with extra fuel—looked weak by comparison.
Piastri responded with a cautious but legal lap, staying well within the limits. It was significantly slower, but still good enough for third at that point—just ahead of Norris. He trailed Verstappen by over half a second and couldn’t attempt another lap.
As the clock struck zero, the chequered flag flew.
Hadjar snatched third, Lawson went fifth. Norris, sitting in seventh, was still on a flying lap. Sainz jumped to third, pushing Piastri down to sixth. Then Ocon went third, Bortoleto fourth—Russell found himself out.
It had nearly gone disastrously wrong for McLaren. Norris, sitting in P11 before his final lap, crossed the line last and vaulted all the way to P1. As for Piastri, he survived—by the slimmest of margins: 0.041 seconds.
Eliminated in SQ2
Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll
SQ3
It was time for the top 10 shootout—the final push that would determine the grid for the Sprint race. With only one lap to deliver, each team had around six minutes to complete an out-lap, a push lap, a cooldown, and, if needed, go again.
Norris led the pack out, with Verstappen quickly splitting the two McLarens by slotting himself ahead of Piastri. The Dutchman looked to pick up a tow from his good mate Norris.
Behind Piastri came Leclerc, though he sat too far back to benefit from Verstappen’s slipstream. Carlos Sainz followed, then Ocon, Bearman, Gasly, and Bortoleto. Hadjar was the last to head out.
Norris pushed hard on his out-lap, clearly trying to deny Verstappen any chance of a tow. But in doing so, he risked taking precious life out of his soft tyres. He eventually backed off just before starting his flying lap—whether that cost him, or helped Verstappen, remained to be seen.
Verstappen immediately went three tenths quicker than Norris in the first sector—a part of the track that suited his lower-downforce setup. Crucially, Piastri went two tenths faster than Norris in the same sector.
As Verstappen stayed a tenth and a half clear of Norris, it became evident that Norris hadn’t delivered in the middle sector—an area where McLaren needed to be strongest.
But Piastri was on a charge.
He had kept Verstappen in sight through the first sector and absolutely flew through the rest of the lap. His final time: a sensational 1:40.510—nearly half a second quicker than Verstappen and over six tenths ahead of his team-mate.
Piastri secured pole for the Sprint, erasing any memory of his earlier track limits mistake in SQ2.
Norris, still fighting, managed to go a tenth quicker than Verstappen in the second sector and completed his lap with a 1:41.128—the new time to beat for the remaining contenders.
F1 Belgian GP Sprint Qualifying results
- Piastri
- Verstappen
- Norris
- Leclerc
- Ocon
- Sainz
- Bearman
- Gasly
- Hadjar
- Bortoleto
- Lawson
- Tsunoda
- Russell
- Alonso
- Stroll
- Albon
- Hülkenberg
- Hamilton
- Colapinto
- Antonelli
