F1 Championship Leader Oscar Piastri Sets Track Record In Belgian Sprint Qualifying

It may not surprise you to hear that current drivers' championship leader Oscar Piastri managed to stick his McLaren on pole for this weekend's Sprint Race in Belgium, but how it all went down certainly was, with Piastri earning himself a track record after nearly getting knocked out of Sprint Qualifying early.

Friday's Sprint Qualifying session set the grid for Saturday's Sprint Race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and even after the first session, there were some big surprises. One was that Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli was out in SQ1, as was Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, fresh off a podium earlier this month at the British Grand Prix.

But the big stunner was Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton spinning off track as he approached the Bust Stop chicane at the end of his final flying lap.

As they noted, it was an unusual error for a driver like Hamilton to make, and there's a lot of speculation that it was the result of an issue with the gearbox when he downshifted into the corner.

Anywho, it's time to focus on the driver who made it into SQ2 because this is where things got wild.

Track evolution nearly ended Piastri's day early. (Photo by Andrea Diodato/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Track Evolution Nearly Ruined Piastri's Day

If you've ever wondered what Formula 1 commentators mean when they talk about "track evolution," SQ2 was one of the best examples of it in recent memory.

Track evolution is what it sounds like: the track conditions change of a session, usually due to the track temperature changing or the grip levels increasing as cars lay down more and more rubber on the racing line.

Because it takes time to rubber in the racing line, you'll often see teams try to time it so that their driver is last to start their final flying lap, theoretically giving them the best track.

On Friday in SQ2, Piastri had one of his lap times deleted. However, the Aussie appeared to have banked a lap that would get him into SQ3 safely anyway.

But seemingly out of nowhere, the track tamped up with midfield drivers like Haas' Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, and Alpine's Pierre Gasly, suddenly laying down laps faster than Piastris that pushed the championship leader dangerously close to the bottom five and out of qualifying.

However, Piastri just snuck in t,o SQ3, which had him (and McLaren race engineeers) breathing a sigh of relief.

In SQ3, all teams elected to only do one flying lap, which turned the session into a one-lap shootout.

McLaren was the first to leave the garage; however, Red Bull cheekily snuck Max Verstappen between Lando Norris and Piastri.

Norris was the first to set a time, with a 1:4,1.128, but both Verstappen and Piastri were ahead of that time through most of their lap.

Verstappen took pole from Norris, only for Piastri to take it for himself seconds later with a lap time of 1:40.510; nearly half a second faster than Verstappen and a new track record.

"It was a good lap. A little scare in SQ2 with the lap deletion but the car has been mega all day," he said, per Sky Sports. "I feel like I was able to put in a lot of good laps. Thanks to the team, the car has been great.

"This is a track I love. It's my favourite one of the year. Maybe that gave me an extra couple of tenths."

Piastri will start the Sprint Race from pole with Verstappen in P2, Norris in P3, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in P4, and a big performance from Haas' Esteban Ocon to round out the top five in P5.