Oscar Piastri produces impressive early performance against Lando Norris at Spa-Francorchamps, Max Verstappen takes second for McLaren; Lewis Hamilton starts from 18th after crash; Watch the Belgian Grand Prix sprint at 11am on Saturday, then main qualifying at 3pm live on Sky Sports F1
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Highlights from Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps
Formula 1 championship leader Oscar Piastri confidently led the sprint race of the Belgian Grand Prix on Saturday, while his main rival Lando Norris took third place, behind Max Verstappen.
After the disappointment of a penalty that saw him lose the race to Norris at the British Grand Prix three weeks ago, Piastri quickly got into the swing of things at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit and was already setting the pace in Friday's only practice session before taking the first of two pole positions this weekend by almost half a second.
Verstappen, whose Red Bull team is racing without former team principal Christian Horner for the first time in 20 years, moved ahead of Norris to take second place in the final one-lap battle for first place in SQ3.
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Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton down in 18th after suffering one of several shock retirements early in qualifying.
A spin at the end of the SQ1's final lap dropped Hamilton to the penultimate row of the grid, while 2024 Spa winners Mercedes qualified 13th and 20th with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli respectively.
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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton crashes out in Belgian Grand Prix sprint qualifying
After Hamilton and both Mercedes drivers were eliminated early in the race, the midfield regulars stepped up, with Haas particularly notable to take a season-best fifth place with Esteban Ocon and seventh with Oliver Biermann.
Carlos Sainz was sixth for Williams, who surprisingly lost out to Alex Albon in the first qualifying session, while Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Racing Bulls' Isak Hajjar and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto completed an unusual-looking bottom ten.
Points are awarded to the top eight drivers (with eight going to the winner) in Saturday's 15-lap sprint, which will be shown live at 11am on Sky Sports F1.
Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying: Top 10
1) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3) Lando Norris, McLaren
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5) Esteban Ocon, Haas
6) Carlos Sainz, Williams
7) Oliver Birman, Haas
8) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
Sourse: skysports.com
