The gap between the McLaren pair at the top is now 16 points, heading into round 14 in Hungary next weekend.

Max Verstappen fears he won’t be able to threaten the dominant McLarens in Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix, with his Red Bull car expected to struggle – even more so in the rain.

D rivers' Championship leader Oscar Piastri secured pole position for the Belgium Grand Prix Sprint Race, setting a blistering time which rival Max Verstappen could not beat. Piastri cleared Verstappen by more than four-tenths and cleared his teammate Lando Norris by six-tenths.

McLaren's Lando Norris edged out championship-leading teammate and Formula One title rival Oscar Piastri to take pole position for what could be a wet and chaotic Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Norris said: "I was confident after yesterday - 0.3secs is just slipstream and not being first out of the pit lane. It was a decent lap, so I'm happy."