SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Lando Norris took pole position Saturday for Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen won the sprint race earlier in the day.
Norris set the fastest time early in the final session. His McLaren teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri couldn't quite beat it on his final run, taking second place, 0.085 of a second off Norris' pace. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari, with Verstappen fourth.
The performance delighted Norris’ mother Cisca, who is Belgian, as she made a heart gesture with her hands while watching from the McLaren garage.
Norris is targeting his third straight win in a Grand Prix race and is the first McLaren driver on pole in Belgium since Jenson Button in 2012.
“The car has been been flying all weekend, Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend, so we’re pushing each other a lot,” Norris said.
“It’s tough because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are easily and you learn from each other quickly. It’s a good but tough battle that we have at the minute.”
Rain is expected for Sunday, setting up the prospect of another wet-weather battle between the two McLarens after Norris won a thrilling race at his home British Grand Prix.
Norris said it could be a “Silverstone-esque” race with plenty of chaos, or tricky conditions if only part of the circuit, the longest on the F1 calendar, gets wet and other areas stay dry.
Hamilton struggles again
Lewis Hamilton’s disappointing weekend continued with 16th in qualifying after his best lap time was ruled out because he’d strayed off track. The day before, the Ferrari driver was 18th in qualifying for the sprint race following a spin.
Hamilton had declared Thursday it was “crunch time” after struggling for much of his first season with Ferrari.
Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda is set to start eighth, his best qualifying result of an otherwise disappointing time since joining Red Bull after two races of the 2025 season.
Verstappen's sprint win
Verstappen overtook Piastri and drove “15 qualifying laps” to win the sprint race at the Belgian GP as Red Bull begins a new era without fired team principal Christian Horner.
Verstappen surged past Piastri on the straight on the first lap. The Australian was close behind Verstappen for the rest of the 15-lap sprint race but couldn't find a way past the four-time champion.
Norris, in the other McLaren, was third after retaking the place from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and catching up to Piastri.
“You’re keeping faster cars behind, so you have to drive over the limit of what you think is possible,” Verstappen said.
“Tire management is out of the window, so that's what’s making it really difficult. I’m just doing 15 qualifying laps to try and keep them behind on a track where tire management is important.”
It was Verstappen's first race win of any sort since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May, and his first in a sprint since the United States Grand Prix last October.
Piastri extends his lead over Norris in the standings to nine points from eight. Verstappen is third, 68 points off the lead.
Leclerc held on to fourth and it was an impressive result for Haas, with Esteban Ocon fifth and Oliver Bearman seventh. Carlos Sainz, Jr. was sixth for Williams and Isack Hadjar took the final point for Racing Bulls in eighth.
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The Associated Press
