Belgian Grand Prix Q3 session red-flagged after Norris’s huge crash

Qualifying for the Belgian GP has been terminated after a massive crash involving McLaren driver Lando Norris

Max Verstappen has clinched pole for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps after the Q3 session was abruptly red-flagged after British drive Lando Norris suffered a massive crash in treacherous track conditions, as he lost control of his McLaren, as it spun helplessly across the track going through Eau Rouge, hitting into the barriers at high-speed.

Luckily Norris was unhurt, but he was still taken to the medical centre to be given a check-up, just in case, while the race organisers waited 45 minutes for the rain to stop before restarting the session with just 8.59 seconds remaining.

The Red Bull driver claimed top spot for tomorrow, with George Russell putting in an electrifying fast lap just before the session ended, taking 1.5 seconds off Lewis Hamilton’s time, which put him in the lead, but then the Dutchman put in a lap that pipped Russell by just 0.3 seconds, pushing the Brit back into second spot on the grid, with Hamilton just 0.013 behind Russell.

Sebastian Vettel had been raging across the radio to his team only seconds before the Norris incident, saying it was too dangerous to race in that weather, and it was the German driver who was the first to pull his car up alongside when the crash happened.

The remaining McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo grabbed fourth spot for Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, and Vettel has fifth, followed by the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with Finland’s Valtteri Bottas claiming eighth place on the grid, only to be handed a five-place penalty for being the instigator of that major crash incident in the previous Hungarian GP, so he drops back to 13th.

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