#BelgianGP Sprint Shootout: @Max33Verstappen pips @OscarPiastri to pole by 0.011 seconds. #F1

Verstappen Belgian Sprint Pole – Red Bull’s Max Verstappen pipped McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to sprint pole in the Sprint Shootout at the Belgian GP by a very narrow 0.011 seconds as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completed the top three.

In SQ3, Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton held provisional pole posting a 1:51.198 with purples in sectors one and two and was 0.088 seconds quicker than Verstappen with McLaren’s Lando Norris a further 0.348 adrift of his fellow British compatriot in third.

In the final flyers, Verstappen was the final runner and posted a 1:49.056 to take the pole for the upcoming 105km Sprint Race later today as Piastri placed second by 0.011 seconds and Sainz a further 0.025 seconds adrift of the Dutchman in third.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc suffered a moment on his final hot-lap out of the corner with no name and wound up fourth on the Sprint grid and in-front of Norris who was fifth and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who took sixth.

Mercedes Sir Lewis Hamilton was held up by his team-mate George Russell as the latter suffered a lock-up at La Source to compromise the seven-time world champion’s lap with the former taking seventh and Russell in tenth and unable to register a lap-time.

The other Red Bull of Sergio Perez and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon were eighth and ninth respectively.

In the second sprint shootout stage, which was topped by Verstappen, the session was red flagged due to Lance Stroll’s shunt into the wall at the left hand “corner with no name”. The Canadian took a gamble on the mediums and suffered a snap of under-steer, darting straight into the barrier with 29 seconds remaining.

AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo missed out on a SQ3 appearance by 0.294 seconds in 11^th place whilst Williams Racing pairing Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant and the two Aston Martin’s of the aforementioned Stroll and Fernando Alonso did not register a lap-time and followed in positions 12^th-15^th.

In the opening sprint shootout segment, which was topped by Verstappen, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda qualified for the Sprint in 16^th and ahead of Alfa Romeo duo Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu who were 17^th and 19^th respectively as Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen split the C43 pairing in 18^th.

The other Haas VF-23 entry of Nico Hulkenberg brought up the rear after suffering a delay in the pit-lane due to a front jack breaking.

2023 Sprint Shootout Pole Position – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing – Honda-RBPT, 1:49.056:

“It was pretty difficult, quite similar to yesterday. I think we stayed calm; the gap was not as big as yesterday but there was no need to risk it all. I left a little time on the table, let’s see this afternoon if it rains again. I’ll try to have a good start, we’ll have clean, clear vision which is important if it’s going to be wet.”

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