Piastri said Spa is one of his favourite tracks

Piastri Takes Sprint Pole with Stunning Spa Lap

Oscar Piastri stormed to sprint pole at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix with a commanding performance at Spa-Francorchamps, outpacing title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.

The McLaren driver, who leads the world championship, set a blistering lap time that was 0.477s quicker than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and 0.618s clear of team-mate Norris. It marks a major statement from the Australian ahead of Saturday’s sprint at 11:00 BST.

Top 10 Sprint Qualifiers

🏁 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Lando Norris (McLaren)
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
Esteban Ocon (Haas)
Carlos Sainz (Williams)
Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

How Piastri Dominated Spa

Piastri’s advantage came from sector two, where he was nearly 0.3s faster than anyone else – traditionally the most technical section of the circuit. Thanks to a new low-drag rear wing, he didn’t sacrifice speed on the straights either, losing just 0.095s to Verstappen in sector one and gaining 0.125s on him in sector three.

“When the car’s handling this well, it’s a real pleasure,” said Piastri.

Despite having a lap deleted in Q2 for exceeding track limits at Raidillon, he bounced back in Q3 with a lap that stunned the paddock.

Verstappen and Norris React

Verstappen admitted the McLaren pace was untouchable:

“The gap is very big. We’ve had this deficit since FP1.”

Norris was more optimistic despite the gap:

“It wasn’t the cleanest lap, but not too disappointed. It’s still P3.”

Ferrari & Mercedes Frustrations

Ferrari’s new rear suspension did little to help under-pressure Lewis Hamilton, who spun at the final chicane and will start 18th.

“I’m massively frustrated… hopefully tomorrow is better,” said Hamilton.

Kimi Antonelli also spun at Stavelot, starting 19th, while George Russell was bumped to 13th and suspects gravel damage from Antonelli’s off-track excursion.

“It felt terrible after that. We saw some damage on the car,” Russell stated.

Standout Surprise – Haas

Esteban Ocon delivered a brilliant lap to take fifth, while Oliver Bearman put in a career-best Q3 performance in seventh.

“I had a very good feeling from FP. Really happy for the team,” Bearman said.

Championship Outlook

Piastri leads Norris by eight points heading into the sprint. With Verstappen between them on the grid, Saturday’s race could have major title implications.