Ferrari work miracles after crash; Mechanical issues haunt Piastri
Spa: Hopes of back-to-back podium finishes at the Belgian Grand Prix are not impossible, but they look very difficult for Australian Oscar Piastri, who struggled to keep the pace in Saturday’s qualifying session after suffering mechanical problems earlier in the weekend.
The McLaren garage was filled with orange shirts and worried faces on Friday as engineers rushed to fix a hydraulic leak at the end of FP1; this required the gearbox to be replaced and cost the Australian valuable track time.
In Saturday’s qualifying session at sunny Spa, Piastri continued to enter the third quarter but ultimately did not have the pace to fight for a place at the front of the grid and seventh place, but he will move up to sixth place due to grid penalties.
Meanwhile, Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli took his sixth pole position by fending off a last-minute attack from Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who was pulled by his teammate Isack Hadjar.
The 19-year-old driver said in a post-race interview: “It’s nice to get pole position, but tomorrow is another day; with Max starting next to me, it will be important to get a good start and get into Turn 5 ahead.”
The Mercedes pilot’s time of 1 minute and 44.361 seconds was enough to take the pole position with a three-tenth difference from Verstappen, who would start the race in second place.
Piastri’s current situation is in stark contrast to teammate Lando Norris, who finished third after a strong performance, briefly setting the fastest lap.
Despite his speed, Norris will drop to 13th after receiving a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the distribution of power unit components.
When asked about McLaren’s post-qualifying performance in Belgium, Norris said: “We haven’t changed anything, we’re just faster at this track.”
“It would be nice to fight these guys, which is a shame that’s not really where we start tomorrow.” [Verstappen and Antonelli].
“I was happy all weekend, so I hope we can have a good race tomorrow too. The car is performing well, good enough for 3rd place today, we’ll see. I hope we can put on a good show for everyone.”
Spa-Francorchamps is the longest circuit on the calendar, with a unique combination of high speeds, steep altitude changes and often unpredictable weather conditions.
While Saturday’s qualifying session came to a thrilling conclusion between Verstappen and Antonelli, arguably the most dramatic moment occurred hours before practice.
In practice 3, Lewis Hamilton was trying to catch Antonelli, but he left the Fanges chicane and veered into the gravel.
The seven-time world champion crashed his rear wheel into the barrier, shredding the tire and damaging the rear wing as the Ferrari came to a stop.
As Hamilton carefully exited the car to inspect the damage, spectators in the stands rose and filled the barriers.
The accident suspended practice and triggered a yellow flag, giving Ferrari mechanics just hours to repair Hamilton’s car ahead of qualifying.
“I destroyed the car, I’m sorry,” Hamilton said on the radio.
Ferrari mechanics worked miracles to ensure the car was ready for qualifying in the afternoon, but Hamilton could only manage sixth place.
The Belgian Grand Prix is on Sunday at 23:00 AEST.
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports journalist and Formula 1 writer for The Age.Connect via email.
