Belgian GP: Norris pips Piastri to pole as Hamilton suffers latest Ferrari disaster

Lando Norris saw off McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to set pole position for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.

Norris’s fastest time of 1:40.562 was 0.085s faster than Piastri, with Charles Leclerc pipping Red Bull driver Max Verstappen to claim a fine third for Ferrari.

Belgian Grand Prix 2025: Q1

A swarm of drivers queued up at the end of the pit lane in anticipation of the start of the session, with Fernando Alonso narrowly avoiding contact with Oliver Bearman as the Haas driver emerged from the garage in front of him.

“I nearly crash,” Alonso reported over team radio. “I had to brake as hard as I could and I nearly got hit.”

There was yet more drama in the pit lane as Nico Hulkenberg bumped into the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll as he tried to join the queue, forcing Sauber to complete an emergency change of nose in the slow lane.

Both incidents were noted by the stewards as the session got underway, with the stewards quickly finding no grounds for a further investigation into the incident between Alonso and Bearman.

However, it was soon announced that the clash between Hulkenberg and Stroll would be the subject of a post-qualifying investigation.

On the track, meanwhile, Piastri established an early advantage over team-mate Norris, going 0.078s faster on the McLaren drivers’ first laps of the session.

Verstappen soon slotted himself into the gap between Piastri and Norris before first Lawson and then Sainz went fastest of all on brand-new soft tyres.

Albon and Bearman also put in some impressive laps to breach the top five before Leclerc surged to the top of the timesheets, beating Sainz’s benchmark by 0.056s.

Norris took top spot with his next effort with Piastri falling 0.191s short of his team-mate on his second run as Verstappen improved to third.

Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell began the final two minutes of the session in the drop zone, improving to 11th and eighth respectively on their second laps.

However, improvements by others left Antonelli down in 18th, marking the rookie’s second Q1 elimination in the space of 24 hours.

Antonelli was knocked out along with Alonso and Stroll, who were left to share the back row despite Aston Martin bringing a sizeable upgrade package to Spa.

Hamilton initially made it through but had his last lap of Q1 deleted due to a track limits breach at Raidillon.

The Ferrari driver’s latest misdemeanour, following his spin at the end of SQ1 on Friday, gave Gabriel Bortoleto a late reprieve.

Eliminated: Lewis Hamilton (16th), Franco Colapinto (17th), Kimi Antonelli (18th), Fernando Alonso (19th), Lance Stroll (20th)

Belgian Grand Prix 2025: Q2

Piastri reasserted his advantage over Norris in the opening joust of Q2, lapping 0.089s faster than his McLaren team-mate on the first runs.

Verstappen’s initial effort, meanwhile, saw him trail Piastri by 0.325s with Leclerc and Tsunoda completing the top five.

“Honestly, I don’t think there is much more than this lap,” Leclerc told Ferrari despite a 0.458s deficit to the front and the arrival of the SF-25’s new rear suspension this weekend.

Bearman, meanwhile, was left at the bottom of the timesheets after the first runs with no time on the board after suffering a snap in the middle of Pouhon.

He was joined in the drop zone at that stage by Sainz, Gasly, Bortoleto and Hulkenberg.

Lawson joined the queue right in front of Piastri in the pit lane as the drivers left the garage ahead of the final runs, leading the McLaren driver to quip that “a lot of people need bigger mirrors” over team radio.

Verstappen was the only driver to remain in the garage for the final runs, saving a set of tyres and satisfied that his earlier time was enough to reach Q3.

Ocon set the fastest time of all through the first sector on his final Q2 lap, but it was not enough for a place in the top-10 shootout.

Bearman’s adventures continued as he missed the apex of La Source before suffering a snap of oversteer on exit from the hairpin, costing him time all the way up the hill towards Les Combes.

The Haas was left to rue an incident with Tsunoda at the end of his outlap when the Red Bull driver passed him at the final chicane, the drop in tyre temperatures likely resulting in his snap of oversteer on the exit of Turn 1.

The Haas pair were knocked out along with Gasly, Hulkenberg and Sainz.

Eliminated: Esteban Ocon (11th), Oliver Bearman (12th), Pierre Gasly (13th), Nico Hulkenberg (14th), Carlos Sainz (15th)

Belgian Grand Prix 2025: Q3

That left the McLarens, Red Bulls, Racing Bulls along with Leclerc, Russell, Bortoleto and Albon in the fight for pole position.

Norris claimed provisional pole in the first runs, outpacing Piastri by 0.189s with Verstappen more than half a second off the pace in third on used tyres.

“Really weird. Just didn’t have the same grip,” Verstappen reported over team radio.

Bortoleto initially set the ninth-quickest time but found his lap deleted for a track limits breach at Pouhon, with Albon dipping a wheel into the gravel on the exit of Turn 9.

The classification after the first runs of Q3 read: Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Tsunoda, Lawson, Albon, Hadjar, Bortoleto.

Verstappen failed to improve in the first sector of his final effort, losing almost two tenths, with Leclerc taking third place with a fine first sector.

With Norris also failing to improve, the stage seemed set for Piastri to steal pole.

However, the Australian missed out on P1 by just 0.085s.

Albon claimed a fine fifth for Williams with Russell and Tsunoda sixth and seventh respectively.

Hadjar, Lawson and Bortoleto completed the top 10.

Belgian Grand Prix 2025: Provisional classification

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:40.562

2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:40.647

3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:40.900

4 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:40.903

5 Alexander Albon Williams 1:41.201

6 George Russell Mercedes 1:41.260

7 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:41.284

8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:41.310

9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:41.328

10 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:42.387

11 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:41.525

12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:41.617

13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:41.633

14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:41.707

15 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:41.758

16 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:41.758

17 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:42.022

18 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:42.139

19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:42.85

20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:42.502

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