Oscar Piastri rewrites record books with historic qualifying lap

Australian Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri has etched his name into the record books as he left the rest of the grid in his wake.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri secured pole position for Saturday’s sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix as he beat Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by 0.477 seconds with a devastating record lap in his McLaren.

The 24-year-old Australian, who leads the drivers’ championship by eight points ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris, clocked a fastest lap in 1min 40.510sec to seize the prime starting position.

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His record-setting lap blew the previous record out of the water, knocking off Lewis Hamilton’s time from 2020 by more than seven tenths.

Norris, like the rest of the field, was left helpless as the Aussie scorched his way around the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

Watch the record-setting moment in the video player above

Oscar Piastri blew the track record out of the water. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

“That was a good lap!” said Piastri.

“I had a scare in SQ2 with the deletion of my lap, but the car has been mega all day I feel like I’ve been able to put in a lot of good laps.

“Thanks to the team, the car’s been great and this is a track I love. It’s my favourite one of the year and, I don’t know, maybe that gave me a couple of extra tenths! It’s always good fun around here, when the car’s handling as well as it is today it’s a pleasure.”

Piastri was asked why he appeared to carry so much confidence around the circuit with the Aussie stating it was all down to the track being one of his favourites on the calendar.

“I don’t know. The car has been in a good window from Lap 1, and again it’s a track I always enjoy coming to and, yeah, I don’t know why,” he said.

“I think I had good confidence, I feel like the last few weekends have been good from a pace perspective but not so much from a results perspective, so it’s nice to get a result today.

“The pace in the car is really strong. I’ve felt good today so hopefully we can have a good race tomorrow.”

The history-making display from the Aussie left those watching on with their jaws on the floor.

Formula 1 God wrote on X: “OH. MY. WORD. Oscar Piastri’s sprint pole position laptime is OVER SEVEN TENTHS FASTER than the previous lap record … set by Lewis Hamilton in the MERCEDES W11.”

The F1 Republic wrote: “An unstoppable lap from the Aussie secured Sprint Pole ahead of Verstappen and Norris.”

P1’s Matt Gallagher wrote: “Oscar Piastri that is a PHENOMENAL lap... nearly half a second clear!!!”

Another wrote: “That piastri lap…. standing up and applauding that’s my driver.”

Piastri’s success helped him erase his disappointment at the British Grand Prix where he was handed a 10-second penalty and felt he missed out on a victory as Norris won to trim his lead in the title race.

Verstappen, in his first race weekend since the exit of team boss Christian Horner, said he was satisfied with P2.

“To be there between the two of them is a good result for us,” he said.

“And I enjoyed it out there and the lap was good. The gap is big, so we have to focus on ourselves and the balance of the car.”

TOPSHOT - First placed McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri celebrates after the Sprint Qualifying ahead of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Spa, on July 25, 2025. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

Belgian Grand Prix Sprint grid

Front row: Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen

Second row: Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc

Third row: Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz

Fourth row: Oliver Bearman, Pierre Gasly

Fifth row: Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto

Sixth row: Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda

Seventh row: George Russell, Fernando Alonso

Eighth row: Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon

Ninth row: Nico Hulkenberg, Lewis Hamilton

Tenth row: Franco Colapinto, Kimi Antonelli

The Belgian Grand Prix Sprint race will get underway from 8pm on Saturday night (AEST).

Originally published as Oscar Piastri rewrites record books with historic qualifying lap