Chin up, Yuki...
Championship leader Oscar Piastri will start on pole for Saturday's Belgian Grand Prix sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen will be sandwiched by the two McLarens, with Lando Norris P3 and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc on the second row.
However, Lewis Hamilton suffered a surprise spin to seal a first-session exit. The Ferrari driver will have just two cars behind him on tomorrow's sprint race grid, starting 18th.
The sole hour of free practice this weekend saw Piastri fastest in FP1 by a distance, with Saturday's sprint race followed by grand prix qualifying ahead of Sunday's race. Saturday: Sprint race and GP qualifying, ahead of Sunday's race
Sprint race and GP qualifying, ahead of Sunday's race Join the conversation: live@theathletic.com
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Lewis Hamilton: 'I refuse' to be another failed Ferrari F1 world champion Getty Images
Yuki Tsunoda has just been speaking in the media pen following his SQ2 exit — and I have to applaud the Japanese driver for keeping a straight face when being asked if things might improve when he gets the same Red Bull upgrades Max Verstappen is carrying.
If only, hey Yuki… Getty Images
Here is who misses out on the top-10 sprint qualifying shootout… 11: Liam Lawson (RB)
(RB) 12: Yuki Tsunoda (RBR)
(RBR) 13: George Russell (MER)
(MER) 14: Fernando Alonso (AST)
(AST) 15: Lance Stroll (AST)
It was Lando Norris fastest with a 1:41.412 — ahead of Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and (DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SETS) the Haas of Esteban Ocon.
Really not a good day for Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli was already out, and now George Russell exits SQ2 in 13th, meaning it'll be a big ask for the Silver Arrows to score any points in the sprint race tomorrow.
The team scored a 1-2 on the track at the grand prix here last year before Russell was disqualified, handing the win to Lewis Hamilton (still with Mercedes then, of course).
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George Russell disqualified from Belgian Grand Prix, making Lewis Hamilton the winner
SQ2 0:00 — George Russell is OUT! How did that happen? A shocker for the Mercedes. It was close for Oscar Piastri too.
Blimey, there was a lot of improvement from everyone else there.
SQ2 0:00 — Checkered flag out. Two Aston Martins and Yuki Tsunoda in trouble now…
The length of the lap here at Spa has made for some interesting strategies for the laps in SQ2, as there's not really time for two runs.
The McLarens have tried it, but it's otherwise basically a one-shot session for everyone.
SQ2 1:17 — Interestingly, both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc go quicker than Lando Norris.
Lots of drivers still without a lap time…
Not Oscar Piastri though. He sets a 1:42.128 to at least post a time. Getty Images
SQ2 2:20 — BUT wait a minute. Oscar Piastri's lap time is deleted for exceeding track limits — while Lando Norris' 1:42.182 sticks.
It wasn't much, but it was enough.
So now Norris is quickest, and Piastri has a bit of pressure to nail his second lap…
SQ2 5:01 — Both McLarens head out first, with Lando Norris leading the pair. Clear run, clean air and a chance to show what they've got.
But Oscar Piastri is still quicker: 1:41.736 — which is more than four-tenths up on the time Norris set. Wowsa.
SQ2 7:07 — Again, no hanging around here. All 15 remaining cars out, and all will try to get in two flying laps I imagine.
SQ2 10:00 — Interesting conversations as the track is cleared of gravel ahead of the 0 minutes of SQ2.
Notably that Lewis Hamilton's big and costly spin might have come from a mechanical issue. It was certainly strange.
Likewise with Nico Hülkenberg, who has also had his engineer come onto team radio to apologize for something.
Fortunately for Oliver Bearman, it sounded like he made a clear lift on his throttle under that late yellow flag — and still went quick enough to get into SQ2.
And that session has just started!
I do get the criticism some make about sprint weekends, given it can serve as a 'spoiler' for the rest of the on-track action to follow.
But when it's the choice between competitive action and another practice session, to me it's quite an easy call... Getty Images
Here is who exits sprint qualifying in the opening session… 16: Alex Albon (WIL)
(WIL) 17: Nico Hülkenberg (SAU)
(SAU) 18: Lewis Hamilton (FER)
(FER) 19: Franco Colapinto (ALP)
(ALP) 20: Kimi Antonelli (FER)
Disaster for everyone in this group, to be honest.
For the record, Oscar Piastri was quickest with a 1:41.769 — which was three-tenths quicker than everyone else.
Kimi Antonelli's recent rough run continues with that mistake and SQ1 exit too. Bono, his race engineer, tells him they'll take a look at the floor on his car that may have been damaged when he went off.
Tough time for the rookie.
A really weird mistake from Lewis Hamilton, and a costly one. He lost control of the car under braking into the Bus Stop chicane, at a time when he needed a lap to get through.
P18 for the start of the sprint is going to make for a long Saturday.
SQ1 0:00 — Kimi Antonelli and Franco Colapinto are heading out here. They've crossed the line and not improved enough...
OH NO! Lewis Hamilton goes off too at the Bus Stop chicane! Yellow flags out, so that might be it for everyone.
SQ1 0:00 — Checkered flag out. This is it for the opening sprint qualifying session…
SQ1 2:14 — Still no competitive times from Kimi Antonelli or Oliver Bearman, whose first lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits.
It looks like Lewis Hamilton ran wide similarly to Antonelli on his first run.
There's time for a second run, but not for any more mistakes…
SQ1 3:18 — Bad news for Mercedes as Geoorge Russell complains about getting caught in Antonelli's gravel cloud.
Lewis Hamilton the man in trouble right now. Only P14 after his first run. Time ticking. Alex Albon in a spot too, in P15.
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