F1 Belgian GP live updates - sprint qualifying

Belgian GP sprint qualifying - start time at 4:30pm local

Practice is done and dusted; now, it's all about sprint quali and setting the grid for Saturday's sprint race. 

Oscar Piastri led the way in free practice, setting an impressive 1m42.022s on soft tyres to go 0.4s quicker than Max Verstappen.

McLaren prioritised more downforce in the second sector - can it trim out for more performance in the opening part of the lap? Will Red Bull add downforce? We'll find out.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images

Belgian GP FP1 leaderboard

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	O. Piastri McLaren	81		McLaren	Mercedes	23	1'42.022		S	247.146
2	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		Red Bull	Red Bull	23	+0.404 1'42.426	0.404	S	246.171
3	L. Norris McLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	22	+0.504 1'42.526	0.100	S	245.931
4	G. Russell Mercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	27	+0.576 1'42.598	0.072	M	245.759
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	22	+0.906 1'42.928	0.330	S	244.971
6	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12		Mercedes	Mercedes	23	+0.957 1'42.979	0.051	M	244.849
7	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44		Ferrari	Ferrari	24	+1.063 1'43.085	0.106	S	244.598
8	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18		Aston Martin	Mercedes	17	+1.090 1'43.112	0.027	S	244.534
9	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	22	+1.098 1'43.120	0.008	S	244.515
10	I. Hadjar RB	6		RB	Honda	19	+1.100 1'43.122	0.002	M	244.510
View full results

Eau my word!

You can see how the compression affects the cars at Eau Rouge and uphill to Raidillon - the cars bottom out and scrape the ground, and you can see the skid block marks on the circuit.

Here's Lance Stroll on his way uphill.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Peter Fox / Getty Images

Mekies in first Red Bull media appearance

Earlier this afternoon, Laurent Mekies joined Jonathan Wheatley and Ayao Komatsu in the official team principals' press conference - his first one in Red Bull gear.

Unsurprisingly, many of the questions were directed at him, and his explanation of how quickly the opportunity came around demonstrated that he only found out a couple of hours before it was officially announced.

Mekies on the call-up: "It was not very different for me than it was for you, really, guys. I got a call a few hours before you guys were made aware. I got a call from Oliver and Helmut, and they asked me if I would be interested to do the job, and obviously it came out of the blue at that moment for me. 

"I was actually in the UK at Racing Bulls and came in a completely unexpected way, and I actually asked them to think about it for a few hours and hang up the phone, and obviously, you know, it's difficult to digest.

"But the first thing that then comes into your mind, you say, 'well, wait a second, it's Red Bull. They are calling you, they ask you to step in to do that job'. With everything that Red Bull means, you know, its energy, its spirit, how they go about their racing teams, and that's how you pick up the phone and you say, 'of course, it's an honour, it's a privilege'."

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Laurent Mekies, Red Bull Racing Team Principal

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Sprint qualifying coming up soon!

Just over 20 minutes until the pitlane opens for sprint qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps.

Quick recap of the SQ differences: Sessions are shorter in duration versus full qualifying, with just one (mandatory) set for each one: mediums in SQ1 and SQ2, and softs in SQ3.

Ready for sprint quali?

SQ1 is about to get under way here at Spa. Everyone's got 12 minutes to get their laps in on medium tyres to break into the second part.

Let's get going, then!

...and of course, everyone goes at the same time. Hadjar, Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, Lawson, Ocon, and Bearman are on the road to kick off the session.

Work going on with Max Verstappen's car in the garage, tinkering with the rear-right wheel hub. Quick set-up change? Trouble at mill? Let's see.

The Williamses try to nudge ahead of the McLarens as they exit the garage, as Lawson gets Hulkenberg careen across his path in the pitlane.

Last message slightly delayed - Verstappen is now indeed on-track. Stroll and Alonso yet to hit the road.

Hadjar kicks off with a 1m42.711s, Hulkenberg 0.5s behind. Bortoleto just 0.095s off the Frenchman.

Verstappen is up to second, splitting the two McLarens. Tsunoda goes 11th.

The Aston Martins come to do their times - Stroll bags sixth, before Alonso goes up to fourth, which puts Hamilton in the drop zone.

SQ1 elimination zone with three minutes remaining

16. Hamilton
17. Gasly
18. Colapinto
19. Antonelli (no time)
20. Bearman (no time)

Hamilton's lap was looking reasonable but a slide at Stavelot cost him time. He managed to keep it out of the gravel, but it also keeps him out of the top 15 for now.

Lots of gravel down at Stavelot, after the Antonelli off.

Hamilton braked for the Bus Stop and his rear just went round on him.

Antonelli, meanwhile, reports "no grip" - engineer Pete Bonnington says the team will check for floor damage after the Stavelot spin.

Stavelot might need a bit of a sweep as there was plenty of gravel left on the road. 

Lots of incidents noted about minimum delta time as well - we'll see if anything comes of that.

And we have the sweeper - or rather, massive industrial gravel blower on the front of a tractor. This does delay things somewhat - start of SQ2 in three minutes.

Piastri, Verstappen, Norris, and Alonso did not feel the need to go again in SQ1 - and, since they all stayed at the top of the order after the second runs, that was well justified.

Mediums for SQ2, once again. Session coming up shortly...

Piastri and Norris hit the road first - McLaren not messing about here, they want to get on with it. 

Norris and Piastri start their laps, while everyone else is still in the pits. One run for everyone else, then.

Piastri is 0.2s quicker in the opening sector. Sector two? 0.1s in it. 

Norris sets a 1m42.182s, but it's a big point for Piastri who sets a 1m41.736s. Set, Piastri.

Now, here's everyone else - Verstappen, Leclerc, and Tsunoda all hit the road. 

Russell now joins the fun, as does Stroll.

Verstappen joins the fight! It's a 1m41.583s for the Dutchman, and Leclerc does a 1m41.786s - that'll frighten McLaren.

Piastri goes again and does a 1m42.128s, which should be enough to keep him safe. 

Russell does a 1m42.330s to go fifth, but the Racing Bulls duo show good pace - Hadjar's up to third, Lawson's up to fifth as he splits the McLarens.

Ocon, Bearman, and Sainz then smash into the top 10! 

Squeaky bum time for Piastri, but he squeaks through by 0.041s as Lawson is turfed out. And, amid the fun, Russell and Alonso have fallen out at the SQ2 hurdle! 

Eliminated in SQ2

11. Lawson
12. Tsunoda
13. Russell
14. Alonso
15. Stroll

Slight delay for SQ3 as well, possibly for some more clean-up. Proper jumble at the end of that, as the track evolution played a huge role at the close of the session there.

Neither Mercedes will participate in SQ3, as Russell fell out in SQ2, and Antonelli was eliminated at the opening stage.

SQ3 will start at 17:18 local, so that's in four minutes' time.

Top 10 in SQ2

Here's the 10 who'll fight for sprint pole:

Norris
Verstappen
Leclerc
Ocon
Bortoleto
Gasly
Bearman
Sainz
Hadjar
Piastri

Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Norris breaks the pitlane deadlock and goes out with four minutes remaining. Piastri and Verstappen join the fun, as does Leclerc.

Hadjar's the last to hit the track, but he'll have to get a move on in his outlap. 

Norris hustles a bit on his own outlap to ensure he's not going to give Verstappen a slipstream.

Norris' first sector isn't up to much; Piastri and Verstappen are better in the opening split. How's his middle sector? About 0.15s better than Verstappen, but over a quarter of a second down on Piastri - who's flying.

Ocon goes fifth fastest ahead of Sainz; Bearman gets something of a slipstream off his team-mate, but it's only seventh.