VIDEO: Stroll shot his formula in sprint qualifying! Who won the dramatic battle for first place?

Saturday’s Formula 1 programme in Belgium kicked off with a qualifying shootout, which was delayed by 35 minutes due to rain and adverse conditions. Max Verstappen won the so-called Sprint Shootout, but only by eleven thousandths of a second ahead of Oscar Piastri. There was also an accident when Lance Stroll shot up his monoplane in SQ2.

First part of qualifying (SQ1)

Due to rain and adverse conditions, the start of sprint qualifying was delayed by 35 minutes. However, unlike the classic qualifying session that determined the order of finish for Sunday’s Grand Prix on Friday, the first part of this sprint shootout is only 12 minutes long.

Nico Hülkenberg failed to advance from the first qualifying segment, setting no time. He will therefore start Saturday’s Sprint from the last starting slot. Zhou Kuan-yu finished 19th, Kevin Magnussen 18th, Valtteri Bottas 17th and even Júki Cunoda did not qualify for SQ2.

Second part of qualifying (SQ2)

Naturally, another five drivers did not progress from the second part of qualifying, which was only ten minutes long compared to the normal qualifying session. The eleventh starting slot will belong to Daniel Ricciardo before the sprint.

Alexander Albon finished twelfth ahead of teammate Logan Sargeant. Lance Stroll will start the sprint in fourteenth, having caused the early end of SQ2.

The Canadian driver took to the still relatively wet track on dry tyres, failing to negotiate one of the corners and spraying his monocoque. His teammate Fernando Alonso, who finished 15th, will not be happy about this collision.

Q3 (SQ3)

As the track gradually dried, all the drivers directed their fastest attempts, especially towards the very end of the sprint qualifying session. And it was indeed a dramatic battle. First place at the start of the sprint race went to Max Verstappen, who set a time of 1:49.056.

The reigning champion was the last man to beat Oscar Piastri. The McLaren driver lost just eleven thousandths of a second to Verstappen. Twenty-five thousandths behind was Carlos Sainz in third.

Charles Leclerc will start Saturday’s sprint in fourth, Lando Norris in fifth, Pierre Gasly in sixth, Lewis Hamilton in seventh, Sergio Pérez in eighth, Esteban Ocon in ninth and George Russell will round out the elite ten.

The sprint is originally scheduled to start at 16:30. However, due to the postponement of qualifying, it is possible that the start will be delayed by around half an hour.

Source: F1 TV