'People like to make things up' - Norris hits out at doubters after Spa pole

Lando Norris accused his doubters of "making a lot of things up" after turning the tables on his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri to take pole for the Belgian Grand Prix.

World championship leader Piastri started the weekend in dominant form as he took Sprint pole on Friday, with Norris more than six tenths of a second back in third place.

Norris lost only a point to Piastri in Saturday morning's Sprint - extending the gap between them at the top of the drivers' standings to nine points - as Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished ahead of the McLaren duo.

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Many assumed Piastri's advantage over Norris would carry over to full-length qualifying on Saturday afternoon, but the Brit was far more competitive and triumphed by almost a tenth.

Norris said: "Everyone was pretty worried after yesterday. I wasn't even that far off. It was just a couple of little issues that we had.

"I was confident after yesterday and confident coming into today, so it was nice to see I could get back to the top.

"Three tenths is just slipstream and not being first out of the pit lane, so it was nothing to worry about. But people like to make a lot of things up, but I felt good.

"The car has been flying all weekend, Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend, so we are pushing each other a lot."

Piastri felt as though he possessed the pace to beat Norris once more, but said a mistake in the final sector blew his chances.

He said: "(It's) a bit disappointing. The second lap was coming together really well, and I just made a little mistake into (turn) 14 and lost a lot of time.

"Disappointed. I felt like the car was very good again, but it's fine margins out there.

"It's obviously not a bad place to be starting but there was more in it, which is always disappointing."

But how valuable is pole position?

While Norris was pleased to take pole, the muted nature of his celebrations showed just how aware he is of the work that still needs to be done on Sunday.

As Piastri found out in the Sprint, pole position at Spa - in dry conditions - isn't necessarily much of an advantage.

The slipstream the driver running in second receives running up the lengthy Kemmel Straight provides a huge overtaking opportunity on the first lap, which Verstappen was able to take advantage of.

In wet conditions, which are forecast for Sunday's race, the clear air provided by running in front would become a huge advantage.

Asked whether there are effectively two pole positions at Spa, Piastri said: "In the dry, potentially. But there's also been times where pole has maintained the lead - unfortunately not this morning.

"It's probably the hardest track to maintain the lead on the calendar from the start.

"If the weather is wet, though, I think pole position is an advantage, but it also depends on how wet it is, whether Eau Rouge is flat or not makes a big difference. We'll wait and see."

While Norris said he hoped for a dry race for the sake of spectators at the track, he appeared to accept wet conditions may aid his chances of converting pole to victory.

"It's probably going to rain," Norris said. "I don't know much more than that. So we'll wait and see.

"It's also Spa, so there's a high chance of rain. But that can also mean that it just sometimes hits half the track, and the other half stays dry."

Norris has triumphed in wet races in Australia and Britain already this season, and appeared ready to draw on that experience.

He added: "It could be in for a Silverstone-esque, just a chaotic race, similar to Australia, Silverstone - the ones that are just sometimes a bit in the middle.

"But most likely some rain and some drizzle. It's hard to know.

"We're going off at the front, so hopefully I can just take advantage of that and the clean air, and go from there."

Sky Sports F1's live Belgian GP schedule

Sunday July 27
7.25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Belgian GP build-up*
2pm: THE BELGIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered flag: Belgian GP reaction*
5pm: Ted's Notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

The 2025 Formula 1 season resumes with the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday with lights out at 2pm, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime