Lando Norris claimed pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, narrowly beating his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in a thrilling qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps. Norris set a blistering lap time of 1:40.562, just 0.085 seconds faster than Piastri, securing a front-row lockout for McLaren.

Norris, who is chasing his third consecutive victory after wins in Austria and the British Grand Prix, expressed satisfaction with his performance. "It was a decent lap, so happy," Norris said. "The car has been flying all weekend, and Oscar has been pushing me hard."

Piastri, despite his strong showing, admitted disappointment with his second-place finish. "A bit disappointing," he remarked. "I made a small mistake into turn 14 and lost time. The car was great, but it’s fine margins out there."

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari secured third place, narrowly edging out Max Verstappen, who struggled with wheelspin on his final lap. Leclerc, who finished 0.338 seconds behind Norris, was pleasantly surprised with his result. "I’m very happy today," Leclerc said. "We didn’t expect to be this competitive."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton faced another setback, eliminated in Q1 after his lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. The seven-time world champion will start 16th on the grid, continuing a challenging weekend.

Alex Albon of Williams was a standout performer, qualifying 5th, while Yuki Tsunoda impressed with a 7th place finish, his best since the Australian Grand Prix.

The stage is set for an exciting race on Sunday, with Norris aiming to extend his winning streak and Piastri looking to close the gap in the championship battle.