Belgian GP: Oscar Piastri clinches pole, Verstappen joins him on front row

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS: Championship leader Oscar Piastri took pole position for the Saturday sprint, beating Max Verstappen and McLaren teammate Lando Norris at the Belgian Grand Prix on Friday.

It was Verstappen’s first race since Christian Horner was dismissed as team boss and replaced with Laurent Mekies.

Piastri lapped with a best time of one minute 40.510 seconds. Red Bull's defending champion Max Verstappen was 0.477 and Norris 0.618secs seconds behind the Australian.

Oscar Piastri reflected on his victory saying it was a good lap and car was mega all day.

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

Norris on the other hand said it was not quick enough but not disappointed on the performance.

"Not quick enough, I guess. It wasn't the cleanest of laps but still quite a big gap to the top. Not too disappointed. It's third, it's for the sprint, but some things to work on," Norris said.

Piastri is eight points ahead of second-placed Norris at the top after 12 races, with the same number of rounds left.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to start fourth, but teammate Lewis Hamilton had a difficult afternoon and will line up 18th, who won his last race in 2024 at the same circuit last with Mercedes.

George Russell, who finished at the top last year for Mercedes but was then disqualified for an underweight car, was also not impressive and qualified 13th.