
Belgian GP qualifying results: Lando Norris claims pole; Hamilton suffers early-exit shock
George Russell put the first lap on the timesheets for Q3, one that was quickly topped by Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. But Verstappen's time was quickly trumped by Piastri and Norris, the latter of whom held provisional pole by 0.189 seconds ahead of his teammate. Verstappen was half a second back from the Briton after those first laps were done and dusted.
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But Norris' provisional pole position came under threat, the margins even finer between the McLaren drivers. The Briton couldn't improve, and Piastri missed out by 0.085 seconds.
Nine points separate the McLaren drivers in the drivers' standings. Norris has come out on top in the last two races, leading consecutive top-two finishes for the papaya.
Leclerc and Verstappen make up the second row, just 0.003 seconds separating their times. Alex Albon broke into the top five. The Williams driver will line up alongside Russell on the third row, while former teammates Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar make up the fourth row. Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto round out the top 10.
Provisional results:
To be expected, the margins were fine between the McLaren duo. Piastri held the fastest lap with eight minutes to go in the session, and Norris was 0.089 seconds off of his teammate. Verstappen, meanwhile, was a few tenths of a second off in third at that time.
Hülkenberg, Bortoleto, Gasly, Sainz and Bearman, who went off the track at one point, all sat within the drop zone as a majority of the grid set out to do their final flying laps to get into the top 10. Hülkenberg couldn't improve, but teammate Bortoleto did, jumping up to seventh provisionally. Gasly was briefly able to escape, but was knocked back into the drop zone after Lawson made a leap to the top 10. In the end, both Haas drivers, Gasly, Hülkenberg and Sainz were knocked out.
Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc and Tsunoda made up the top five of Q2, the group covered by 0.619 seconds. Only three teams had both drivers advance in the top 10: McLaren, Red Bull and Racing Bulls.
Piastri and Norris were the first two drivers to set times, less than a tenth of a second separating the teammates. But it didn't take long for Verstappen to split the McLarens, and Yuki Tsunoda's first lap was three-tenths of a second off of his teammate. But then came the midfield drivers. The Williams duo sat first (Carlos Sainz) and third (Alex Albon), with Liam Lawson splitting them, with eight minutes to go in the session. But Leclerc soon after went 0.056 seconds quicker than his former teammate.
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The grid shook up with the final laps, with both Aston Martins being knocked out and Bortoleto and the Mercedes drivers breaking into the top 15. Antonelli, though, wasn't safe and was knocked out by Nico Hülkenberg.
It was then Hamilton who looked in danger at P15 as Pierre Gasly improved, launching from the drop zone to P11.
Hamilton went on to set the seventh-fastest time, but due to a track limit infringement at Turn 4, the stewards deleted his lap time, which knocked him out of Q1. He stood to start 16th in Sunday's race — his worst qualifying result of the 2025 season.
It wasn't a shock to see Verstappen win the sprint race— his first of the season, despite Red Bull's recent dip in form. With a skinnier wing, he had strong top speed on the straights, and the chicane sequence at Les Combes was the spot where he could make a run at Piastri.
The Dutchman held onto the lead once he passed the championship leader in the opening lap, only making one mistake when he went deep at the final chicane late in the sprint race, securing his 12th sprint win — 10 more than any other driver.
The McLaren duo of Piastri and Norris rounded out the top three. Norris had to fight back for P3, though, after Charles Leclerc made a move on the Briton when Verstappen passed Piastri. But it was an easy move for Norris, passing the Ferrari driver with DRS.
Outside of the top teams, the race proved to be a critical points opportunity for the midfield teams.
Haas secured a double points finish – Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman fifth and seventh respectively – and now sit within a point of Aston Martin going into Sunday's grand prix, and Sainz was sixth – Williams' highest sprint race finish.
Alpine, though, had a miserable day, after Pierre Gasly had to be pushed back to the pit lane due to a suspected water leak. He was set to start P8 and was classified as DNF.
Our #F1Sprint points scorers 👏#F1 #BelgianGP @Gatorade pic.twitter.com/BC4tAT7Vv0
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 26, 2025
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