Oscar Piastri has redeemed himself with his first sprint pole position of the season at Spa-Francorchamps. The Australian was four-tenths faster than Max Verstappen, but will still have to keep an eye on the Red Bull driver during the shortened race on Saturday. ‘The Red Bulls were very fast on the straights,’ noted the McLaren driver.
The sprint qualification on the sunny Spa-Francorchamps saw a few notable early eliminations – Lewis Hamilton and Andrea Kimi Antonelli did not make it past SQ1 – but the eventual sprint pole sitter was a less surprising figure: Oscar Piastri. The Australian was four-tenths faster than Max Verstappen. Teammate Lando Norris completes the top three.
It’s a welcome result for the Australian after his frustrating race at Silverstone. “That was a good lap,” the McLaren driver remains down-to-earth after the session. “I had a moment in SQ2, which also resulted in my time being scrapped, but the car has felt great all day. This is definitely thanks to the team. I love this circuit, it’s my favourite track of the year. Maybe that’s why I drove a few tenths faster.”
‘Red Bulls were fast on the straights’
“I don’t know why I feel more confident,” Piastri continues his analysis. “The last few weekends were good in terms of pace, but less so in terms of results. So it’s nice to get a good result this time.” And does the McLaren driver expect to be able to convert his sprint pole into a win during the shortened race on Saturday? “The Red Bulls were very fast on the straights. That makes it a lot harder to convert pole into a win, and Spa is the track where you least want to start from pole. But we’ll see. The pace in the car was very good, so hopefully we’ll have a good day tomorrow.”
