Oscar Piastri Sends a Message With Sprint Qualifying Domination at Spa
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Drivers' Championship leader Oscar Piastri secured pole position for the Belgium Grand Prix Sprint Race, setting a blistering time which rival Max Verstappen could not beat.
Piastri cleared Verstappen by more than four-tenths and cleared his teammate Lando Norris by six-tenths.
The Australian driver topped the times during Free Practice 1 as well, although he narrowly missed out in SQ2 after his lap was deleted for exceeding the limits.
After the session, Piastri addressed his "scare" during the second part of qualifying.
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing congratulates Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren in Parc ferme during Sprint qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de...
Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing congratulates Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren in Parc ferme during Sprint qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 25, 2025 in Spa, Belgium. More
Photo by"It was a good lap. A little scare in SQ2 with the lap deletion but the car has been mega all day. I feel like I was able to put in a lot of good laps. Thanks to the team, the car has been great," he said.
"This is a track I love. It's my favourite one of the year. Maybe that gave me an extra couple of tenths.
"When the car is handling as well as it was today, it's a pleasure."
Even though he is starting at the top, he will need to watch out for Verstappen, who appears rapid at one of his best tracks.
The RB21 was set up well, and Piastri is well aware of the threat behind him for the sprint race start.
"Red Bull are quick in a straight line. That will make life difficult and Spa is probably the worst track to have pole at," he added.
"I think the pace in the car is really strong and I felt good today, so hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow."
Piastri has the opportunity to grow his championship lead again on Saturday, given that his only true rival for the title is his teammate Lando Norris, who appears out of sorts with the car at Spa.
He is eight points ahead of Norris and a whopping 69 points ahead of Verstappen. In a title race, a sprint race win could help Piastri gain a big edge heading into the upcoming summer break.
Belgium Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying Results
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