Piastri hopes to repeat Verstappen stunt at Spa-Francorchamps

On Friday, Oscar Piastri dominated sprint qualifying, setting a lap that put him around half a second clear of the field. That earned him pole for the sprint race, with Verstappen right behind in second.

Both drivers got off to a strong start, but Verstappen managed to slip past Piastri down the straight. From there, Piastri stayed close but couldn’t find a way past.

For the Belgian GP, Piastri qualified second behind teammate Lando Norris and will be aiming to replicate Verstappen’s move and challenge for the win.

After the session, the Australian was asked if being in second place is almost equivalent to a pole position considering it often happens in Spa-Francorchamps that the driver on P2 takes the lead shortly after the start.

''In the dry, potentially,'' Piastri replied. ''But there have also been times where pole has maintained the lead – unfortunately, not this morning. It's probably the hardest track to maintain the lead on the calendar from the start.''

Rain is forecasted for Sunday's Grand Prix. This could significantly reshuffle the deck.

'If the weather is wet though, I think pole position is an advantage, but it also depends on how wet it is. Whether Eau Rouge is flat or not makes a big difference,'' Piastri concluded.

There was a smaller margin during the qualifying for the Grand Prix of Belgium than during the qualifying for the sprint race. Norris took the pole position with less than a tenth difference with Piastri. The gap to Leclerc, on the other hand, was much larger, more than two-tenths.