Max Verstappen was once again at his scintillating best as the Red Bull driver narrowly beat the McLaren of Oscar Piastri and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz to take pole position for today’s Belgian GP Sprint at an extraordinary wet/dry Sprint Shootout at Spa-Francorchamps.
Verstappen left it late, after taking the chequered flag with just four seconds to spare to set off on his final flying lap in SQ3. But the Red Bull driver went straight to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1m 49.056s.
Verstappen bested the impressive time of rookie Piastri by just 0.011s. Sainz finished third, just 0.025s off the pace of the Dutch driver, but ahead of his Ferrari team mate, Charles Leclerc, in fourth.
Lando Norris wound up fifth for McLaren, with Pierre Gasly sixth for Alpine, ahead of the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who encountered traffic in the form of his team mate George Russell on his final attempt in SQ3. Sergio Perez was eighth, ahead of the other Alpine of Esteban Ocon, with Russell in 10th.
FORMULA 1 MSC CRUISES BELGIAN GRAND PRIX 2023
Sprint Shootout results
| POSITION | TIME |
|---|---|
| 1 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing | 1:49.056 |
| 2 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren | 1:49.067 |
| 3 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari | 1:49.081 |
| 4 Charles LECLERC Ferrari | 1:49.251 |
| 5 Lando NORRIS McLaren | 1:49.389 |
Daniel Ricciardo was one of the drivers to suffer after Lance Stroll crashed in the closing stages of SQ2 and brought out red flags, meaning the Australian missed out on a chance to progress to SQ3. He will start 11th, ahead of the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, who failed to set a time.
Stroll’s off meant he and his team mate, Fernando Alonso, also could not get a lap in during SQ2, leaving them 14th and 15th, respectively. However the off also left Stroll’s mechanics with a substantial repair job ahead of the Sprint later today.
Categories: Formula 1, Starting Line-Up
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