Verstappen pips Piastri and Sainz by TINY margin in dramatic sprint shootout
Verstappen pips Piastri and Sainz by TINY margin in dramatic sprint shootout
A dramatic sprint shootout saw Max Verstappen take pole for Saturday afternoon's 15-lap sprint race, but with a significantly reduced margin than he led the pack on Friday.
The gap to second in qualifying was more than 0.8 seconds, but in the shootout it was reduced to 0.011s back to second-placed Oscar Piastri and a further 0.014s back to Carlos Sainz in third.
The Australian's lap had him top of the timing boards for a short time, but the reigning world champion just barely pipped him to the top of the standings.
The session started late after more rain fell at Spa-Francorchamps, leaving drivers and teams negotiating tyre choices and drying conditions for the second day in a row.
READ MORE: F1 expert explains how teams decide when to RISK slick tyres in rain
Aston Martin woes
Both Aston Martin drivers fell in SQ2, having sent Lance Stroll out on a pair of medium compound tyres only to see him hit the wall in the middle of his only fast lap – bringing out a red flag and robbing Fernando Alonso of his chance to set a time.
The fast-starting team have struggled of late, only qualifying ninth and tenth in Friday's session for Sunday's feature race, and this will only compound their misery.
Ferrari landed third and fourth in the session, picking up where Charles Leclerc left off the previous day, but there were more qualifying issues for Red Bull's Sergio Perez – stuck down in eighth.
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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