A delayed sprint shootout brought the drama once again at Spa on Saturday, as rain once again forced the start of a session to be pushed back.
It was 35 minutes past the scheduled start time when cars finally took to the track – on intermediate tyres, rather than full wets – for the 12-minute SQ1.
Max Verstappen claimed pole for Saturday afternoon's sprint by just thousandths of a second from Oscar Piastri, with Carlos Sainz barely more than a hundredth of a second behind.
Both Aston Martins fell in SQ2 thanks to a single strategy misstep, the team sending Lance Stroll out on slick tyres when the rest of the field were on intermediates. The Canadian put it in the wall on his one hot lap, bringing out a red flag with 30 seconds remaining of the session and robbing Fernando Alonso of a chance to set a time.
F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Belgian Grand Prix 2023