McLaren’s Lando Norris clinches pole position for Belgian Grand Prix
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Lando Norris lapped the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in a best time of 1min 40.562sec.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS – McLaren’s Lando Norris pipped championship-leading teammate Oscar Piastri to pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix on July 26.
The Briton lapped the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in a best time of 1min 40.562sec, with Piastri a mere 0.085 slower. Norris will be chasing his third win a row.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start third and Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen, winner of the earlier 100km sprint, qualified fourth.
Piastri leads Norris by nine points going into the 13th grand prix of the 24-round season.
“It was a decent lap, so happy. I was confident after yesterday and confident coming into today, so it was nice to see I could get back to the top,” said Norris.
“The car has been flying all weekend, Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend, so we are pushing each other a lot.”
And on his race prospects amid the threat of rain on July 27, the Briton said: “I prefer it to stay dry, honestly. Even for the fans – it’s rained here for the last 10 years or something, so it would be nice to have a dry Sunday.
“But I don’t mind whether it’s dry or rain or somewhere in the middle, it’s normal here and I look forward to a fun race.”
Piastri, meanwhile, admitted that he was disappointed with second place.
“A bit disappointing. The second lap was coming together really well, and I just made a little mistake into (turn) 14 and lost a lot of time,” said the Australian.
“Disappointed. I felt like the car was very good again, but it’s fine margins out there. It’s obviously not a bad place to be starting but there was more in it, which is always disappointing.”
On Norris, he added: “We’re a good teammate pairing and we learn a lot from each other, every weekend. That’s what makes us such a good team, but it also makes it difficult when you’re trying to fight each other.”
Behind the top four, Williams’ Alex Albon qualified fifth, Mercedes’ George Russell was sixth and Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull seventh. Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson finished eighth and ninth, while Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was 10th.
“I’m very happy today. It’s strange to say that because it’s still 0.3sec and it’s only a third place, but I did not expect it,” said Leclerc.
“We knew that we had something more in the car with the upgrade this weekend but we still struggled yesterday. But that was a really, really good lap.
“I’m very happy with the lap, how the car felt, so it’s good that we put everything together for qualy.”
Earlier in the day, Verstappen welcomed new Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies to the team with an immaculate gift-wrapped triumph in the sprint race.
The Dutchman, who started from second on the grid, seized the lead on the opening lap.
He then resisted all threats from Piastri, who had to defend attacks from teammate Norris, who finished third.
It was a consummate performance from Verstappen, who ran with a low downforce set-up to give him a straight-line speed advantage.
For that, he was congratulated by Mekies, appointed on July 9 to replace Red Bull’s former boss Christian Horner,
“That worked out really well,” said a delighted Verstappen, after thanking Mekies on the team radio. “We got an opportunity at Turn 5 and took it and then it was tough to keep those two behind.
“It was cat and mouse with battery usage and I couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, although I had one lock-up – it is so difficult to keep faster cars behind, so it was all really at the limit. Not easy! But we did it.”
However, that did not matter much in the end, as it would still be McLaren in the front row for the main race. AFP, REUTERS
