F1: Lando Norris in pole position at the GP of Belgium

The British Lando Norris (McLaren) will start on Sunday in pole position of the Belgian Grand Prix of Formula 1 after having achieved the best time for qualifying on Saturday on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

Norris has outstripped his Australian teammate Oscar Piastri (McLaren), who won the pole of the Sprint race on Friday, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Sprint winner a few hours earlier.

The Englishman, who is nine points behind his garage neighbor in the world championship ranking, obtained the 13th pole position of his career and the fourth this season, the same total as Piastri and Verstappen.

“I’m very happy, it was a good turn. We had a few concerns after Friday, but we straightened up the bar. I would prefer time to be dry tomorrow (Sunday), but no matter the weather, I will be ready to give everything and fight for the victory, “said Norris.

Leclerc, fourth of the sprint, torn off third place on the nose and the beard of Verstappen, while the Thai Alexander Albon (Williams) created the surprise by carrying out the fifth time, just ahead of the British George Russell (Mercedes) and the Japanese Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull).

The Top 10 is completed by three novices, the Frenchman Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls), his New Zealand teammate Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and the Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber).

The big surprise of these qualifications was the elimination from the Q1 of the Septuple World Champion Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari). Already 18th in the Sprint qualifications on Friday, the Briton took 16th place on Saturday after seeing his fastest time to be invalidated to be released outside the limits of the track in the Raidillon.

The Italian rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), who also missed his qualifications on Friday by finishing last, reoffended on Saturday by only 18th time.