Piastri takes pole for Belgian Grand Prix sprint race ahead of Verstappen

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.

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Piastri lapped the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with a best time of one minute 40.510 seconds, 0.477 seconds quicker than Verstappen and 0.618 clear of Norris.

The 24-year-old Australian, who leads the drivers' championship by eight points ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris, clocked a fastest lap in 1min 40.510sec on Friday to seize the prime starting position.

He was six-tenths of a second faster than Norris who was third ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon of Haas, Carlos Sainz of Williams and Oliver Bearman in the second Haas.

Pierre Gasly was eighth for Alpine ahead of Racing Bulls' rookie Isack Hadjar and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto while seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton wound up in 18th place after spinning his Ferrari in SQI.

"That was a good lap!" said Piastri. "I had a scare in SQ2 with the deletion of my lap, but the car has been mega all day so thanks to the team. The car is great."