Formula 1

Belgian GP: Verstappen beats Piastri in tight Sprint Shootout

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Max Verstappen secured P1 on the grid for the Sprint race in a wet/dry Shootout on Saturday.

The reigning world champion timed his final lap to perfection in drying conditions at Spa-Francorchamps, beating Oscar Piastri as the Australian continued his impressive form for McLaren.

SQ1

Heavy rain caused a delayed start to the session but conditions soon improved with drivers immediately heading out on intermediate tyres.

Verstappen set the pace with a series of blistering flying laps as the track dried out.

In the bottom five, George Russell narrowly made it through in 15th after a mistake at Les Combes on his final run.

Yuki Tsunoda was the first driver eliminated in 16th, with Valtteri Bottas in 17th and Alfa Romeo teammate Zhou Guanyu 19th fastest.

Haas tried to be tactical by saving tyres but it backfired as Kevin Magnussen's only flying lap left him 18th while Nico Hulkenberg failed to set a time.

SQ2

With the sun shining, the big question is would anyone take the risk on slick tyres.

Most completed a first run on intermediates before Lance Stroll was the man to put on the medium compound rubber.

Unfortunately for the Canadian, his gamble failed as he crashed at Turn 9 causing a red flag which ended the session early.

That was bad news for Daniel Ricciardo in 11th. The Williams' and Aston Martins followed after not setting a time before the red flag.

Alex Albon sat 12th with Logan Sargeant ruing a spin exiting Stavelot on his intermediate run in 13th.

Stroll finished 14th and birthday boy Fernando Alonso finished 15th.

SQ3

Undeterred by Stroll's off, drivers switched to soft tyres for the final eight-minute segment.

Hamilton set the benchmark after the first run, less than a tenth ahead of Verstappen in second.

With the track continuing to dry, the fastest lap improved by three seconds in the final run with multiple drivers briefly sitting P1.

But it was Verstappen with the perfect position as the final car on track who claimed P1 by just 0.011s ahead of Piastri in second for McLaren.

Carlos Sainz was only 0.025s behind the Red Bull driver in third followed by Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in fourth.

Lando Norris finished fifth with Pierre Gasly sixth. Hamilton dropped to seventh just in front of Sergio Perez.

Esteban Ocon was ninth and George Russell completed the top 10 for Mercedes after a mistake on his final lap.

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