Following a 35 minute delay, Max Verstappen for Red Bull took the top spot for this afternoon’s Sprint in Spa-Francorchamp, battling treacherously wet and drying conditions. Another impressive performance from Oscar Piastri sees him just 0.011s off the leader.
Starting 35 minutes late due to heavy rain, Lewis Hamilton was first to hit the track sporting intermediate tyres. Lando Norris soon demonstrated the difficult conditions, catching a slide on the exit of Les Combes on his out lap.
Hamilton and teammate George Russell set the opening lap times, with Hamilton setting a 2:02.297 a full 2.770s quicker than his teammate. The Alfa Romeo duo of Bottas and Zhou were next to cross the line, splitting the two Mercedes.
As the times came in thick and fast, Oscar Piastri took the top spot for McLaren with a 2:01.311. Verstappen was quick to take the top spot however, setting a 2:00.352 at the first time of asking, relegating the young Aussie to P2 where he quickly dropped back as the times continued to fall.
Carlos Sainz was first to break the 2 minute mark, with an impressive 1:59.981, Verstappen once again however, jumped to the top with a 1:58.958, over a second quicker than the Ferrari man. Teammate Sergio Perez, not to miss out on the action, set a 1:59.362, albeit still over 4 tenths behind Verstappen.
As the clock ticked towards zero on SQ1, Alex Albon for Williams jumped to P2, taking advantage of the drying conditions, just 2 tenths slower than Verstappen. Eliminated from SQ1 were both Haas drivers Nico Hulkenberg, who failed to set a time and Kevin Magnussen, Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas for Alfa Romeo, as well as Yuki Tsunoda for AlphaTauri.
SQ2:Daniel Ricciardo was first out for the second session, bathed in sun following the torrential rain before the beginning of the session. The AlphaTauri driver opened the books with a 1:57.687, he was quickly beaten by Lando Norris however, who set an impressive 1:56.828.
With just over 3 minutes remaining in the session, Lance Stroll made the jump to dry tyres, returning to the track on medium tyres as times began to come in rapidly. The onboards showed the Aston Martin driver struggling to keep the car in a straight line on the still damp track however.
With the times beginning to shake out it was Verstappen once again setting the pace. With just 30 seconds remaining on the clock, and both Williams’ drivers as well as both Aston Martin drivers yet to set a time, Lance Stroll suffered a slide on the exit of turn 11, escorting himself into the barrier and bringing the session to a premature end.
Eliminated from the session were both Aston Martin’s, as well as both Williams’ who hadn’t set a lap time as well as Daniel Ricciardo in the AlphaTauri who was caught out by the red flag and failed to finish his second lap.
SQ3:With just 8 minutes on the clock for the final session, Leclerc was first to hit the track as all ten remaining drivers hit the track on soft compound tyres. The Ferrari man crossed the line to begin his lap with only 5 minutes remaining, eventually setting a 1:52.525.
Leclerc wouldn’t hold the top spot for long however, first beaten by Norris, then Hamilton with Verstappen then splitting the two to take P2. Both Alpine drivers failed to sep a competitive lap on their first runs, both well behind Perez in P8 and over the 2 minute mark.
Despite heavy traffic at the bus stop chicane, Perez jumped the field to take P1 with a 1:50.303 with his second lap. He wouldn’t hold the place for long however, as the times continued to drop on the rapidly improving track, with Pierre Gasly first to beat him by over 6 tenths.
Sainz and Leclerc for Ferrari then jumped to P1 and P2 respectively and as the final times were set Oscar Piastri pipped Sainz by 0.014s and Verstappen then jumped him by 0.011s, seeing the top 3 drivers split by just 0.025s. A mistake from Leclerc at turn 11 saw him lose time, potentially costing him dearly.
