Piastri sets dominant pole for Belgian GP sprint race

Piastri said Spa is one of his favourite tracks

Belgian Grand Prix

Venue: Spa Dates: 25-27 July Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday

Coverage: Live commentary of practice and qualifying on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2 with race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

McLarens Oscar Piastri produced a breathtaking performance to set pole position for the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The Australian, the world championship leader, was 0.477 seconds quicker than Red Bulls Max Verstappen and 0.618secs ahead of team-mate and title rival Lando Norris.

Ferraris Charles Leclerc was fourth, but 0.768secs off the pace, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in the first session and will start 18th after a mistake on his first lap and a spin at the final corner on his second.

Esteban Ocons Haas took a surprise fifth place, split from his British team-mate Oliver Bearman by Williams Carlos Sainz.

Alpines Pierre Gasly, Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar and Saubers Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10.

Piastri only just made it through to the final shootout for pole in 10th place after having his first lap in the second session ruled out for exceeding track limits at Raidillon.

But he had looked the quickest driver all day and he delivered on his potential with impressive effect.

Piastri said: "It was a good lap,. A little scare in Q2 with the lap deletion but the car has been mega all day. When the cars handling as well as it has been today, its a real pleasure."

Norris said: "Not quick enough, I guess. It wasnt the cleanest of laps but still quite a big gap to the top. Not too disappointed. Its third, its for the sprint, but some things to work on."

Piastris pace was founded on his pace in sector two, which features most of the corners, where he was 0.298secs faster than Norris, who was second fastest through there.

Usually, pace in the middle sector of Spa comes with a compromise - it means running more downforce, which means less speed on the straights.

However, Piastri lost only 0.095secs to Verstappen in the first sector, where the only corner is the opening hairpin, La Source, as Eau Rouge is taken flat out. And was actually 0.125secs faster than Verstappen, his closest pursuer, in the final sector.

Its very unusual for a car to show this performance profile at Spa and it seems it is a result of a new rear, more-efficient wing introduced by McLaren at this race, which the team says produces less drag for the same amount of downforce.

Piastri goes into the sprint race at 11:00 BST on Saturday with an eight-point championship lead over Norris.

But he will be wary of the threat from Verstappen on the first lap with the long run through the Eau Rouge swerves and up the hill to Les Combes.

Verstappen, though, diminished the importance of that, saying: "When you are almost 0.5secs off, I dont think going faster or slower on the straight is going to matter a lot. We just have to do our own race and see what we can do."

He added: "Being P2 between them is already a good result for us, and I do think we maximised that. I enjoyed it out there. The lap itself was fine. It was good.

"Of course, the gap is very big, but its been big already from FP1. So theres not a big surprise. We just have to focus on ourselves and work on the balance of the car and try to go faster."

Towards the back, George Russell was another to lose out in the second session. The Mercedes driver was bumped down to 13th place as other drivers improved through significant track evolution in the final seconds of the session.

Russells team-mate Kimi Antonelli will start 19th after a spin air Stavelot in the first session.

Ferraris performance was a disappointment after they brought a new rear suspension design to Spa in the hope of being able to run the car lower where it has more performance. The change is also intended to improve drivability and feel.

Hamilton made a small error at Stavelot on his first run and then spun on his second at the final chicane after his rear wheels locked.

He said he thought it was "the first time in my career" he had spun in such a way. This appeared to be a reference to the fact that he has been complaining about the way the Ferrari behaves under braking, particularly in the way it uses engine braking that he is not used to, all season.

Asked if the new suspension made the car feel more drivable, he shook his head.

He added: "Im massively frustrated. A lot of work has gone in and to be there is not really great and hopefully tomorrow will be better."

His mood contrasted with that of Bearman, who said: "I had a very good feeling from free practice. I knew there was pace in the car. But I am so happy for everyone. It is so happy for everyone to have two cars in Q3. Esteban did a great job and its just really, really nice."

Russell said he suspected he had damaged the car running through the gravel left by Antonellis spin.

"Weve had pace all day then Q1 I ran over all that gravel when Kimi went off," Russell said. "For the rest of that lap it felt terrible, the next lap it felt terrible, and in Q2 in felt terrible.

"We saw some damage on the car. We need to see if thats the reason because its a big shock to be out in Q2. Im sure theres a reason for it."