Max Verstappen secured the pole position in a thrilling Sprint Shootout at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, with the Red Bull driver joined on the front row by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen’s last-minute effort of 1:49.056 was enough to edge out Piastri by just 0.011 seconds.
Despite the session being delayed due to heavy rain, by the time it got underway, the sun had broken through, leading to an exciting on-track battle.
Ferrari showed strong performance in the session, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc securing third and fourth positions respectively. Lando Norris, Piastri’s teammate at McLaren, will start fifth, ahead of Pierre Gasly from Alpine in sixth.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who looked like a pole contender, was thwarted on his final run by his teammate George Russell, who locked up badly into Turn 1 and then held up Hamilton throughout the first sector. Hamilton will start the Sprint Race from seventh position.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez seemed to get his timing all wrong again, finding himself on track before it ramped up to its quickest, leaving him in the eighth position for the Sprint. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mercedes’ Russell finished ninth and tenth respectively.
2023 Belgian GP starting grid
| Pos. | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine |
| 10 | George Russell | Mercedes |
| 11 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams |
| 13 | Logan Sargeant | Williams |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri |
| 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas |
| 19 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo |
| 20 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas |
Stroll gambles and loses
Aston Martin’s gamble on slick tyres backfired towards the end of SQ2, sending Lance Stroll out on the mediums.
However, on his final flying lap, he was caught out by the camber at the corner with no name and crashed into the barrier, bringing out the red flags.
This incident hampered the qualifying of his teammate Fernando Alonso, who went out in 15th after the session wasn’t restarted, just behind Stroll, and Daniel Ricciardo in 11th for AlphaTauri.
