2025 Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Qualifying Review

Linus O'Howell
Jul 25
2 min read

Formula 1 was back and straight into business with a Friday Sprint Qualifying session!

SQ1

In Sprint Qualifying 1, Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, Franco Colapinto, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli were the five slowest drivers! Alex Albon will be very disappointed to have been knocked out so early, as will Nico Hulkenberg, whilst a late spin resulted in a shock exit for Lewis Hamilton! Even if the final incident was car related, the rest of the session from Hamilton wasn’t good enough anyway! Franco Colapinto was once again at the back for Alpine whilst Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended up slowest after spinning off into the gravel (and wrecking his tyres in the process)! Oscar Piastri topped SQ1, a few tenths clear of Max Verstappen!

SQ2

In Sprint Qualifying 2, Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll all failed to make it into the Top 10 shootout! Liam Lawson will be gutted to have just missed out on a spot in the Top 10, whilst Yuki Tsunoda could only manage 12th for Red Bull! The shock of SQ2 came from George Russell as Mercedes saw neither driver make it into SQ3, whilst the Aston Martins then followed, with Fernando Alonso clear of Lance Stroll! It was now time for the other McLaren of Lando Norris to top SQ2, with Verstappen again behind in second!

SQ3

In Sprint Qualifying 3, a mammoth 1:40.510 was enough for Oscar Piastri to take a dominant Pole Position! Oscar was absolutely on another planet here, nearly 5 tenths clear of the rest of the field! Max Verstappen did a great job to get his Red Bull into second, ahead of Lando Norris who was some 6 tenths slower than his McLaren teammate, whilst Charles Leclerc came home 4th for Ferrari! Esteban Ocon was the other star of the day as he managed 5th for Haas, ahead of Carlos Sainz who did an excellent job for Williams, and it was then Oliver Bearman who slotted in 7th! Pierre Gasly did another amazing job to get his Alpine into the Top 10, ahead of Isack Hadjar, whilst Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out SQ3 for Kick Sauber!