Lando Norris to start on pole for Belgian GP
Third in the morning sprint, Lando Norris was the best in qualifying for the GP on Saturday afternoon at Spa-Francorchamps.
British driver Lando Norris (McLaren) will start Sunday's Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Norris finished ahead of his Australian teammate Oscar Piastri (McLaren), who had taken pole for the sprint race on Friday, Monaco's Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), winner of the sprint a few hours earlier .
The Englishman, who is nine points behind his garage neighbour in the world championship standings, secured his 13th career pole position and fourth this season, the same total as Piastri and Verstappen.
"I'm very happy, it was a good lap. We had some concerns after Friday's race, but we turned things around. I'd prefer dry weather tomorrow (Sunday), but whatever the weather, I'll be ready to give it my all and fight for the win," Norris explained.
Leclerc, fourth in the sprint, snatched third place on the grid from under Verstappen's nose, while Thailand's Alexander Albon (Williams) caused a surprise by setting the fifth fastest time, just ahead of Britain's George Russell (Mercedes) and Japan's Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull).
The top 10 is completed by three novices, the Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), his New Zealand teammate Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber).
The big surprise of these qualifying sessions was the elimination of seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) in Q1. Already 18th in Friday's sprint qualifying session, the Briton moved up to 16th on Saturday after seeing his fastest time invalidated for going outside the limits on the Raidillon.
Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), who also failed to qualify on Friday by finishing last, repeated the feat on Saturday by only achieving the 18th fastest time.
Swiss team Sauber saw Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, ninth in the sprint, move up to 10th place after advancing to Q3. German Nico Hulkenberg will start from 14th place.
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