The McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team took a bit of encouragement from a reasonably positive Qualifying session at the 2026 Belgian Grand Prix, with the team delivering a slight step forward as the battle for performance extraction remained close.

Lando Norris delivered a good lap to extract the maximum performance from the current package in the MCL40, with the team optimising its track-specific setup through a new low-drag wing that also ran on the Number 81 car of Oscar Piastri.

In an exceptionally close midfield, where a couple of tenths can translate into several grid positions, Lando consistently ran at the front of the field throughout each Qualifying round. He finished P3 in Q3, which will become P13 on Sunday's grid after he takes a 10-place drop for exceeding the permitted number of allocated power electronics units, a decision confirmed by the team on Thursday.

While there remains a significant lap-time gap to the benchmark set by Mercedes, the session represented a notable improvement over recent races and provides a positive foundation ahead of further upgrade packages planned in the coming race events.

Oscar didn't quite find the same balance following limited track time throughout Friday's practice sessions, compromising his full preparation. However, he steadily reduced the gap to the front-running cars throughout Qualifying, ending the session just two tenths adrift of third place. The Australian driver also paid the price of some inconsistency in the energy deployment of his PU, qualifying P7, which will become P6 on the grid tomorrow following the application of car Number 1's penalty.

Saturday started well, with both drivers completing their intended FP3 programmes without incident. When they emerged from the garage, seven minutes into the session, the cars were split, with Lando running on a Medium tyre and Oscar on a Soft, before both fitted a new Soft for the final 20 minutes. Oscar's FP3 programme focused on Qualifying sims, while Lando prioritised the high-fuel longer runs because of his impending 10-place power unit penalty. The session ran without incident, until the final seconds, when Lewis Hamilton crashed at Stavelot. Race Control elected to finish the session under double-waved yellows, allowing the rest of the field to complete grid launch practice.

With attention turning to Qualifying, Lando lit up the timing screen to start with. He was quickest in Q1 and was able to sit out the final eight minutes of the session. Oscar went for the insurance of a second attempt, reusing his original tyres. He came through the session in P9. Q2 followed a similar pattern: just one run for Lando left him P3. Oscar was P7 after the first run. He was only half a second ahead of the cutoff, and the team made the decision for him to run again on a new set of Softs. He was able to abort halfway around his lap when his original time was confirmed as safe, going through in P7.

Q3 was delayed, with the track being swept for gravel. Lando was immediately fast, setting a P1 time. It was an intriguing battle between him and Kimi Antonelli, with the Mercedes quickest in the full-throttle sectors, while Lando held an advantage through the middle part of the lap. Oscar, on a used tyre, put in a good banker lap for P7, but also got onto the gravel, which necessitated a Red Flag to sweep the track. When the session resumed, with six minutes left on the clock, he was able to improve, but not by enough to move up from P7, while Lando aborted his lap due to dipping a wheel into the gravel, and returned to the pits.

An intriguing Qualifying session sets up an interesting race tomorrow. With the weather clearing, and the presumption of a dry Belgian Grand Prix, the MCL40 has potential to move up the field and score well. Lando has a lot of work to do from P13 on the grid - but the team took a strategic decision to take his penalty here, given the potential to overtake and make-up ground.

Lando Norris: "I am very happy to have qualified P3 today. We had a pretty amazing start to Q3, we extracted absolutely everything from the car and were able to put it all together. Unfortunately, the 10-place penalty means we won't be starting there, but it's nice to see that we are moving in the right direction and it's encouraging for the future when we are able to bring bigger upgrades.

"Mercedes on Pole isn't a surprise, so congratulations to Kimi Antonelli. We can still take positives though - we are clearly quicker than quite a few of the other cars in front of us on the grid, so we're hoping to make some overtakes and hopefully get back in the race closer to the front of the grid. We will see what we can do."

Oscar Piastri: "It was a trickier day for us. We have struggled to find the right balance with the car and extract the maximum lap time. Our final lap in Q3 was a step in the right direction, but it's clear we haven't had an easy time. We had to use an extra set of new tyres in Q2 just to be safe, which shows how challenging the session was.

"Looking ahead to the race, it's difficult to predict our exact pace since our running has been limited. The pack around us is incredibly tight, however a race here is always eventful, especially on the first lap, so we'll be looking to make the most of any opportunities that arise. We have some good ideas on how to improve the car's characteristics going forward, and hopefully we can make things a bit easier in the races to come."

Andrea Stella: "Today was a step forward for us. Lando drove exceptionally well throughout the Qualifying session while Oscar improved and was very close at the end. As a team we optimised the package for Belgium, with our new wing matching the drag and downforce needs of this circuit.

"The latest power unit specification from HPP is working well, however, we are still finding it a little inconsistent in deployment and greener exploitation even if this doesn't appear to be an issue that is limited to our drivers.

"In a field this tight, a couple of tenths can move you three or four places, so we chose to give Lando a second run on new tyres to chase every tenth and potentially achieve Pole on track. Overall, it's a better session than the last few, even if there's still a sizeable lap time gap to the best Mercedes that we need to close. For Oscar, he maximised what he could after his running across the weekend had been limited, and he did a good job to progressively reduce the gap to Lando. He would have been closer if it wasn't for some PU under exploitation we are trying to understand.

"Looking ahead to tomorrow, Spa offers chances to race and overtake, so we're confident we can fight for important points. Penalties are frustrating, but with clean execution we believe both cars can move forward and contend, with Oscar aiming to start well and hold station with the front group and Lando capable of making progress through the field."

Check out our Saturday gallery from Spa here.