Max Verstappen pipped McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race by just 0.011 seconds.
The world champion was the very last driver to cross the line on a drying track, the condition of which was improving consistently throughout the session.
Nevertheless, Piastri’s performance continued the strong impression the Australian is making in his debut season.
Carlos Sainz led Charles Leclerc for an all-Ferrari second row of the grid.
Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris was fifth, ahead of the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in eighth, 0.905secs slower than team-mate Verstappen.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mercedes’ George Russell completed the top 10.
Aston Martin sabotaged their own efforts by sending Lance Stroll out on medium-compound slick tyres at the end of the second session before the track was ready for them.
The Canadian crashed at the fast left-hander of Turn Nine, bringing out a red flag with just 40 seconds of the session remaining, and that meant team-mate Fernando Alonso, on his 42nd birthday, was also eliminated because he had not yet set a time.
The session started on a wet track but progressively dried throughout, until it was finally ready for slicks for the final top-10 shootout.
Verstappen, who set pole on Friday for Sunday’s grand prix by a much bigger margin of more than 0.8secs, said: “The gap was not as big as yesterday, my second sector was maybe a bit careful – Turn Eight and Nine was very slippery. But it’s OK. Let’s see if it is going to rain again in the afternoon.”
Piastri was torn between the disappointment of being so close to pole and the pleasure of achieving his best F1 qualifying position so far.
“Especially in conditions like that, you can lose that much time and 100 times that very easily,” he said.
“I was very happy with my lap. I thought I did a good job. Of course, there’s always point in the lap when you think, ‘I could have gained 0.011secs.’ Our car really likes it like that. Its a nice place to be.
“If there is one place where you want to start second rather than first, it’s probably here, so I am going to say I did that on purpose.
“But the weather could change again for the sprint. Either I’ll have hopefully a nice tow down to Turn Five or I’ll be able to at least see where I’m going.
“I can’t thank the team enough. It’s still pretty amazing that we are disappointed with being in second rather than on pole.”
The Ferrari drivers were in contrasting moods after the session. Sainz was pleased he had achieved a “good lap” after making errors on Friday, while Leclerc felt he had lost an opportunity for pole with a mistake at Turn Nine, where he ran wide on the slippery track.
Norris said his lap had been compromised by being passed by Perez at the final corner just as he was starting it, while Russell described his session as “a total mess from start to finish”.
He said he had made errors and then the Mercedes team had miscalculated how much time was left, leaving him too close to the car in front and Hamilton too close to Russell.
Alonso said he had not even managed to start his lap, admitting Aston Martin were “on the risky side” with both drivers – him leaving the garage late, and Stroll choosing slicks.
Asked what he might be able to recover in the sprint, he said: “Nothing.”
More rain is predicted before the start of the sprint race, which is due to start at 16:05 BST.
