In the Sprint pole qualifying, the British and Italian drivers suffered the same fate, crashing out in Q1 after spinning. Pole sitter Piastri was in a completely different mood: “The car is good, I enjoyed myself.” Leclerc praises the updates: “I felt the impact of the changes, even if the gap is huge today.”
In Belgium, the Sprint qualifying session got off to a dramatic start: Hamilton and Antonelli, the pole-sitters for the two short races this season, were immediately eliminated in Q1 after both spun. While a rear lock-up experienced for the “first time in his career” proved fatal for the Briton, the causes for the Italian are still to be discovered. Piastri will start from pole position at Spa-Francorchamps, smashing the previous track record by six tenths of a second, even though “maybe I could have shaved off another tenth.”
The weekend in Belgium got off to a difficult start for Hamilton, who sensationally crashed out of Q1 in qualifying for the Sprint race. Visibly frustrated, he briefly explained what happened at the end of the session: “I had a problem at the chicane, I spun after a rear lock-up. I think it’s the first time that’s happened to me in my career.” At Spa-Francorchamps, Ferrari brought the new rear suspension to the track, a change advocated by the Briton himself, who, however, is unable to judge its effect: “I don’t rate it highly, I don’t see anything positive. Tomorrow is another day and we’ll try to do something. Now it’s frustrating because a lot of work has been done and being in this situation is not pleasant.” Leclerc, on the other hand, is positive about the updates: “I felt the impact of the changes, but today the gap is huge. I’m sure we’ve taken a step forward, but for some reason McLaren seems to be even faster than usual on this track. So it’s a bit disappointing from that point of view. I think we saw what we were looking for with the updates, but it’s a shame to have such a difficult qualifying, especially in terms of gaps.”
Antonelli’s words— While the cause of Hamilton’s spin has been found, the same cannot be said for Antonelli: “I had good confidence in the car, the lap was positive for P5 or P4. I still need to analyze it properly, because I lost it suddenly when I went on the gas. I need to see if it’s the wind or the tire temperature. It wasn’t ideal. Sprint? The focus will be on doing a good qualifying to get a good start on Sunday.”
Piastri’s words— There is definitely a different mood in Piastri’s pit after taking pole position in the Sprint. It was a result that came with a few thrills: “It was a good lap. I had a big scare with the one that was canceled in Q2, but the car has been exceptional all day.“ Despite the monstrous time and track record, the Australian is not satisfied: ”Maybe I could have shaved off another tenth, but I enjoyed it. The car has been in a good window since the first lap. I think I have good confidence. Even in recent weekends, I had good pace but not good results. So it’s nice to get something here.“ On his prospects for Saturday’s race: ”Spa is the worst place to start from pole, but let’s hope we can repeat it tomorrow.”
Norris’ words— Norris has to settle for starting from third place. The Briton is not happy: “I wasn’t fast enough and it wasn’t the cleanest lap. There’s a big gap to first place, but I’m not worried because it’s Sprint. It’s something to work on. It’s only Friday, we’ll try to do something better tomorrow, working through the night as well.”
