Oscar Piastri secured a dominant pole for the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race after beating Max Verstappen by nearly half a second.

Piastri, who had also topped practice in the morning, beat Verstappen by 0.477 seconds with a superb display at a sunny Spa.

The championship leader outqualified McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by over six tenths of a second, the Briton having to settle for third position.

Charles Leclerc was fourth from Ferrari as his team-mate Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in SQ1 after a spin.

Haas driver Esteban Ocon secured a superb fifth place ahead of the Williams of Carlos Sainz and team-mate Ollie Bearman.

Alpine‘s Pierre Gasly, Racing Bull driver Isack Hadjar and Sauber‘s Gabriel Bortoleto completed the top 10.

The dramatic track evolution at the end of SQ2 created a tense last few minutes as most drivers made improvements to their times.

Liam Lawson finished in 11th, but the biggest shock came from George Russell, who failed to make the top 10 after all the late improvements.

The Mercedes driver will start 13th behind Yuki Tsunoda, who endured another disappointing session in the second Red Bull.

Aston Martin duo Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished down in 14th and 15th.

Hamilton was knocked out in SQ1 after losing control of his Ferrari at the Bus Stop chicane, the Briton spinning off the track and failing to complete his flying lap.

The Ferrari driver will start the sprint from 18th position, only ahead of Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli.

The Italian rookie spun off at Stavelot during his first SQ1 run but was lucky to be able to rejoin the track, although the gravel he left on the circuit compromised his team-mate Russell’s laptime.

Antonelli finished last, nearly two seconds off Colapinto’s pace.

Alexander Albon and Nico Hülkenberg were the other two drivers knocked out in SQ1 in 16th and 17th positions.

Gasly, Russell, Antonelli, Tsunoda, Sainz, Hadjar and Albon were placed under investigation for failing to follow the race director’s instructions regarding the maximum delta time.

Belgian GP sprint qualifying results