McLaren lock out front row : Belgian Grand Prix

AFP | Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Lando Norris resisted mounting pressure from his McLaren team-mate and series leader Oscar Piastri yesterday to take pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old Briton, whose mother Cisca is Belgian, shrugged aside concerns over his struggles on Friday to clock a best lap in one minute and 40.562 seconds, beating Australian Piastri by 0.085 seconds as McLaren reeled off a convincing front row lock-out.

It was his fourth pole this year and the 13th of his career.

Charles Leclerc qualified third with a late improved lap enabling him to overhaul defending world champion Max Verstappen's best effort for Red Bull.

Alex Albon was fifth for Williams ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull, Racing Bulls' rookies Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson, and Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton failed to make it out of the Q1 session for Ferrari and will start Sunday’s 44-lap race from 16th on the grid in the company of Mercedes' mercurial rookie Kimi Antonelli, who was 18th, and two-time champion Fernando Alonso 19th for Aston Martin.

After victories in Austria and Britain, Norris will be seeking a third consecutive win to overhaul Piastri's nine-point lead in the title race.

"It was a decent lap and I’m happy," said Norris. "Everyone was a bit worried after yesterday, but I wasn't that far off. There were just a few little issues we had. I was confident that I could get back to the top."

Piastri, who had been faster than Norris in Friday's action, said: "It's a bit disappointing. The second lap was coming together well and then I made a mistake into turn 14 and I lost a lot of time. The car was very good again, but it’s about fine margins."

Leclerc said he was surprised by his time.