Oscar Piastri reveals a mistake at Turn 14 cost him a shot at pole position at the 2025 Belgian GP as the Australian had to settle for second on the grid, behind Lando Norris in the second McLaren car.
The 24-year-old missed out by just 0.085 on Saturday at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, a fractional amount around such a long lap, proving how close the teammates were running each other.
Although he’s still ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, it’s undoubtedly a blow as he looks to extend his championship lead following a tough run of races that have allowed Norris back into contention.
In light of that, second on the grid isn’t something he’s entirely happy with as Piastri reveals where the mistake was that cost him pole position at the 2025 Belgian GP, ahead of the race on July 27.
“A bit disappointing, yes,” Piastri told media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “The second lap was coming together really well and just made a little mistake into 14 and lost a lot of time.
“So yeah, disappointed. Felt like the car was very good again, but it’s fine margins out there. Obviously not a bad place to be starting, but I think there was more in it which is always disappointing.
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The lap until that point was strong, but it doesn’t really matter if you could have done it. I didn’t. A bit disappointing. I think both laps in Q3 were a little bit like that, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
“A bit of a shame, but the car was great again. I felt like I was in a reasonably good flow. Just didn’t quite happen on the second lap.”
Piastri hints weather conditions may stop him copying Verstappen
But lining up second in Spa isn’t the worst thing in the world due to the very long run out of La Source (Turn 1) down to Les Combes (Turn 5), which includes the Kemmel Straight.
It’s a common sight for the pole sitter to actually be left vulnerable as he punches a huge hole in the air, offering rivals a perfect slipstream to mount a challenge into the next braking zone.
This is something that actually caught the championship leader out in the Sprint Race as Verstappen overtook him for the lead and then shrugged him off for the remaining 15 laps through an impressive top speed.
So can he repeat this feat on his teammate on Sunday? He believes the best chance is if the race begins with a dry track as the rainy conditions could make it too difficult to make a pass work.
“Let’s see. If it’s dry, then yes,” Piastri added. “If it’s wet, then it obviously adds in some other challenges.
“But we’ll have to wait and see what the weather does first. I know what I’m hoping for.”
