Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda was outqualified by Verstappen for the 12th time in as many qualifying sessions since he joined Red Bull, failing to reach Q3/SQ3 for the seventh time in a row; his deficit on the Dutchman was six tenths, and he ended up 12th. It is worth noting that he was not given the upgrades that Verstappen is running this weekend.

Series leader Oscar Piastri secured pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix when he beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.477 seconds with a devastating record lap in his McLaren.