Norris pips Piastri to pole, Hamilton and Antonelli out in Q1 again

McLaren’s Lando Norris has struck back against team-mate Oscar Piastri by taking his fourth pole of the 2025 Formula 1 season at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Norris saw title rival Piastri take pole for the sprint race at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and finished behind his team-mate during Saturday’s 15-lap contest. But the Briton then went on to clinch his first-ever Belgian pole in the afternoon to set up an intriguing McLaren battle on Sunday.

Norris drew first blood in the deciding top-10 shootout by virtue of a 1m40.562s lap, the only driver to improve on his best Q2 time on that first salvo of runs as track temperatures increased.

Norris’ lap was almost two tenths quicker than team-mate and title rival Piastri and a massive five tenths better than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was running a used set of softs that couldn’t provide the same level of grip.

Verstappen started with a huge slide out of La Source on his second run, which set up a lap that proved slower than his first effort and meant he was pipped to third by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by a mere 0.003s.

The McLarens were up next, but Norris’ struggle to improve opened a window of opportunity for Piastri. But the Australian championship leader could only shave a tenth off his best lap, ensuring Norris clinched his fourth pole of 2025 to draw level with his McLaren team-mate’s tally.

Behind Leclerc and Verstappen, Alex Albon excelled with a fifth starting berth for Williams, defeating George Russell who couldn’t go quicker than his best Q2 run. Yuki Tsunoda delivered his best Red Bull performance yet by taking seventh, three tenths behind Verstappen, ahead of Racing Bulls duo Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, as well as impressive Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.

However, for the second day in a row, Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli failed to be a part of that shootout and were again eliminated in Q1.

Having come under pressure from cars vastly improving around him, Hamilton found a late improvement to seventh as the Q1 chequered flag fell.

But the Ferrari driver saw his time deleted due to marginally crossing track limits at the top of Raidillon, with his first lap time demoting the seven-time world champion into the elimination zone in 16th.

Hamilton was joined in being eliminated by Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, Antonelli – who again struggled for pace – and a disappointing Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

The session began with a pitlane skirmish as Nico Hulkenberg was sent out into the path of Stroll in a busy pit exit queue, with Hulkenberg damaging his front wing before being summoned to the stewards to discuss an unsafe release call.

Both Haas drivers had shown flashes of pace but Esteban Ocon missed out on a place in Q3 by a mere 0.02s while Oliver Bearman was also eliminated having suffered a huge slide coming out of the rapid double right-hander of Pouhon on his first flyer.

Also out in Q2 were Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz.

F1 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying results