Norris leads McLaren one-two in qualifying as Verstappen slips to fourth

Lando Norris led a one-two for McLaren in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen looked on course to qualify directly behind the McLaren pair but a mistake on his final lap left him fourth on the grid.

There was more frustration for Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, however, as the pair were eliminated in the first round for the second day in a row.

Q1

The session began with the increasingly standard pit lane argy-bargy as drivers tried to squeeze into the fast lane from their garages. Fernando Alonso complained about Oliver Bearman but the stewards chose to take no action. Lance Stroll in the other Aston Martin ran over Nico Hulkenberg’s front wing, which the stewards announced they would investigate after the race.

The McLaren drivers produced a pair of clean laps each to head the times, Norris much closer to Piastri than he was on Friday. Verstappen, having switched to a higher-downforce rear wing anticipating rain, slotted in third ahead of Isack Hadjar.

Both Ferrari drivers initially appeared to secure passage to Q2, though Lewis Hamilton only did so with his final effort. However he received disappointing news from his race engineer Ricardo Adami as he returned to the pits. The stewards had ruled he exceeded track limits at the top of Raidillon and deleted his lap time, leaving him 16th.

That promoted Gabriel Bortoleto to the final place in Q2, joining his team mate Nico Hulkenberg. For the second day in a row Andrea Kimi Antonelli joined Hamilton in a first-round elimination.

The Alpine drivers were among the last to finish their final laps and Pierre Gasly successfully claimed a place in Q2. Franco Colapinto could not join him, however.

Following their pit lane clashes at the start of the session, neither Aston Martin driver went any further. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will start on the back row of the grid.

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Q1 result

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Q2

The same trio occupied the top three positions after their first runs in Q2. Once again, Norris was within a tenth of a second off Piastri’s pace.

As the final runs began Oliver Bearman was among the drivers in the drop zone, having gone off at Pouhon after a dramatic, high-speed twitch on his first attempt.

As Bearman began his final lap Yuki Tsunoda came past him in the Red Bull at the chicane, to his obvious infuriation. He then had a snap of oversteer at the exit of the La Source hairpin which ensured his elimination. He set the 12th fastest time which left him one place behind his team mate Esteban Ocon, despite both drivers choosing significantly different rear wing levels – Bearman opting for the higher-downforce configuration.

A dismayed Nico Hulkenberg failed to join his team mate Bortoleto in Q3. Carlos Sainz Jnr was also unable to match Alexander Albon in reaching the final 10.

Q2 result

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Q3

As the final round of qualifying began Verstappen was down to his last set of new soft tyres, while the McLaren pair had two each. It was to no surprise, then, that the McLarens emerged ahead after their first runs, but the identity of their leading driver was, as Norris finally put one over Piastri. A 1’40.562 put him on provisional pole position by almost two tenths of a second, Verstappen half a second back.

However when Verstappen began his sole run on new softs, he struggled to apply the power at the exit of La Source. He completed the first sector almost two tenths of a second slower than Norris did and couldn’t recover from there, staying in third place. Adding insult to injury, Leclerc nicked that place off him with his final lap.

That left the pole position fight between the McLaren drivers. As Norris failed to improve his time, the door was open for Piastri to claim his second pole position of the weekend. But he fell short by just under a tenth of a second, though that was enough to complete a front row lock-out.

Alexander Albon pulled off an excellent final lap to claim fifth on the grid ahead of Russell. Tsunoda took seventh and will start alongside former team mate Hadjar on the fourth row, followed by Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto.

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Q3 result

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