F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen takes fastest lap over Piastri by 0.011s

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has snatched pole position, for the Formula 1 Belgian Sprint Race, away from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by 0.011s, in wet-to-dry conditions.

SQ1

After a lengthy delay, of around 35 minutes, the sprint shootout session finally got underway around the Belgian Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were out first, respectively.

Due to the wet conditions, all of the drivers were found to be out on the intermediate tyres.

With 10 minutes left to go, of the 12-minute session, the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Sergio Perez were some of the last drivers out on track. Only Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso remained in his respective garage while the remainder of the drivers were out. However, the Spaniard soon joined the pack out

Naturally, as the first driver out on track, Hamilton set the first lap time on the board with a 2:02.297 but this was proved hard to beat. However, it wasn’t long before drivers began to beat the seven-time world champion’s time.

At the same time, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen abandoned his first flying lap with a visit to the pit lane. It was unclear as to why the Dane opted to slip into the pit lane. However, he was soon back out on track but the Danish driver – and his teammate – returned to the pit lane once more.

Both Magnussen and Hulkenberg were yet to set a lap time on the board. On the final runs, Magnussen finally managed to get past the chequered flag of the two Haas’ while Hulkenberg was short and failed to set a lap time on the board.

Eliminated:

20. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas

19. Zhou Guanyu, Alfa Romeo

18. Kevin Magnussen, Haas

17. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo

16. Yuki Tsunoda, Alpha Tauri

SQ2

Compared to the beginning of Sprint Qualifying 1, the sun continued to shine down on the Belgian circuit. Despite the warmer conditions, when the pit exit light went green, both McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alpha Tauri’s Daniel Ricciardo went out onto the track equipped with the intermediate tyres.

As expected, Ricciardo was the first driver to set a lap time on the board but this was soon beaten by Norris who followed the Australian out onto the circuit, early on. Between the two, Norris went fastest with a lap time that was eight-tenths faster.

Williams’ Logan Sargeant brought out the yellow flags on the corner exit of Stavalo. The American rookie nearly made a double-360 spin as he ventured over the gravel on the exit. Fortunately, Sargeant was able to keep his car out of the barriers.

However, the same could not be said for Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who brought out the red flag with 30 seconds left on the board. Stroll tentatively crept around the corner-with-no-name, at turn x, but his car refused to turn left. When it finally gave way and turn, the back end slipped out.

In a bid to catch it, Stroll corrected his steering which put the Canadian into onto a collision course with the barrier. When the collision occurred, it caused significant damage to the front-right suspension which had disconnected itself from the chassis.

The Aston Martin driver was the only driver to venture out onto the damp circuit with a set of medium tyres, as mandated by the sprint shootout regulations.

As the drivers peeled back into the pit lane, Verstappen stood as the fastest driver ahead of Hamilton and Perez who occupied second and third respectively.

Eliminated:

15. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin

13. Logan Sargeant, Williams

12. Alexander Albon, Williams 

11. Daniel Ricciardo, Alpha Tauri

SQ3

After Stroll’s untimely retirement brought a premature end to SQ2, the remaining top 10 drivers; Verstappen, Hamilton, Perez, Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Piastri, Norris, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Russell, were out onto the circuit with the dry, slick, soft compound tyres.

As one of the first drivers out on track, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the first driver to put in a lap time on the board with a 1:52.525. However, the Monegasque’s time was soon beaten by the likes of Hamilton, Verstappen and Norris who went into first, second and third respectively, as Leclerc dropped to fifth as Ocon occupied fourth.

With no time to pit for a fresh set of tyres and a 7km loop around Spa-Francorchamps, the drivers were forced to continue on their used soft tyres.

On the final runs, many drivers improved their lap times but began to filter into their grid spots ahead of the Belgian Sprint race. One of which was Piastri who went to the top of the timing boards but the Australian was soon dropped to second after Verstappen went 0.011s faster to claim the fastest lap.

Top 10:

10. George Russell, Mercedes

9. Esteban Ocon, Alpine

8. Sergio Perez, Red Bull

7. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

6. Pierre Gasly, Alpine

5. Lando Norris, McLaren

4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

2. Oscar Piastri, McLaren

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

That’s all for the article; F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen takes fastest lap over Piastri by 0.011s!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Alpine F1 Team and Otmar Szafnauer part by ‘mutual agreement’ after Belgian GP
• F1 Belgian GP: Verstappen secures pole in mixed conditions
• F1 Belgian GP: Sainz fastest in rain-affected sole practice
• Ferrari appoints loverno as Sporting Director as Mekies leaves
• All 10 F1 teams to support F1 Academy drivers
• Alfa Romeo set to showcase KICK-inspired special livery at Belgium GP

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