Lando Norris turned the tables on McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Oscar Piastri from Friday at Spa, qualifying on pole for the Belgian Grand Prix by 0.085 seconds.
But after Max Verstappen had shown in Saturday morning's sprint race the value of starting second here - he was able to slipstream by sprint polesitter Piastri on the opening lap and subsequently stay there - being shaded by Norris may not actually be disastrous for Piastri.
Verstappen - his Red Bull this time fitted with a much bigger wing in anticipation of Sunday's forecasted rain - dropped two places from Friday, and was outqualified for third by Charles Leclerc's Ferrari to the tune of 0.003s. But their battle was being fought at a pace over 0.3s slower than that of the McLarens.
Norris's pole lap was actually slightly slower than Piastri's sprint pole - probably as a result of the track grip falling into the final Q3 runs as the sun burst through to increase the track temperature by almost 3°C.
The combination of that change in temperature and the fact that Verstappen had only one new set of softs for Q3 meant he had his best tyres on when the track was worse than when he did his first run on a used set. Hence Leclerc jumped him for third.
Only the McLaren drivers, Leclerc and George Russell had two fresh sets available. Norris did not improve on his second run, the pole lap coming on run one. Piastri did improve on a slightly scrappy first run, but not by enough.
"I lost a lot of time through Turn 14," Piastri said in reference to a nasty twitch upon entry to Stavelot the fifth gear right-hander. He believes that's where he lost pole.
"But it doesn't matter if I could have done it. I didn't. I was in a good flow and the lap was otherwise good. It just didn't quite happen."
Norris had made big strides from Friday, when he'd consistently trailed his team-mate. In qualifying proper they were pushing each other hard and it was difficult to call who was fundamentally quicker.
Partly it was about picking up a slipstream (which Norris had failed to do as the first car out on Friday). But there was more than just that.
"I think there were several places in Lando's SQ3 lap where there were easy gains if he'd had another run," said team principal Andrea Stella.
"Just places where he needed to fine-tune, how much speed to take mid-corner and how to calibrate it to exit speed. He was just tuning into his car. Today he was able to do that."
Piastri had honed in quicker but both eventually got to a very similar place.
Looking at a comparison of their best Q3 laps (while accepting that Norris's was set when the track was probably quicker), they are almost identical until they arrive at Les Combes, where Norris is better able to get a good direction change, with less steering required to get the rotation.
He's then better on the brakes into Rivage (Turn 8) but Piastri exits there better and is quicker through Turn 9. By the time they've exited Pouhon, Piastri is marginally ahead.
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Norris is faster into Fagnes but still slightly behind over the lap. Piastri then suffers his big snap through Turn 14 - and that decides it, despite being quicker than Norris through the Bus Stop chicane.
"I was pushing the limit a little more and that probably bit," summarised Piastri of his moment.
Perhaps the grip reduction of the track played its part in him over-estimating how much he’d have here where the McLaren was so good.
With the forecast of rain, Red Bull couldn't really afford to stay with its low-downforce wing which had worked so well for it in the sprint. Especially with Silverstone so fresh in the memory.
That low-downforce set-up was probably quicker over a dry lap. The bigger wing reduced the car's straightline speed to around that of McLaren's (both cars reach 337km/h before Les Combes, compared to the Red Bull's 345km/h in sprint qualifying), but didn't offer a big enough offset through the second sector's curves relative to the McLaren.
Furthermore, Verstappen was the first car on track in that final run and didn't get the benefit of a slipstream up to Les Combes.
Verstappen was down to one new set of softs in Q3 because his first Q1 run wasn't particularly strong as he tuned into the car on its new wing settings and there was a concern the track grip might ramp up a lot on the second runs.
So there were two of his four sets of fresh softs gone, leaving him just one each for Q2 and Q3. But realistically, there was nothing to suggest he had McLaren-threatening pace.
Leclerc overdelivered in a low-wing Ferrari which he reckons is 'slowly improving' fitted with its new rear suspension.
Lewis Hamilton might not agree with that assessment, though his disallowed Q1 lap (for track limits out of Raidillon) would comfortably have got him through.
"I don't think I left much on the table," said Leclerc of his lap in a Ferrari which had been trimmed out to be almost as quick down the straight as Friday's Red Bull.
This had Stella contemplating that he wouldn't be surprised if Leclerc is leading by the end of the straight into Les Combes on the first lap, but he will be emphasising to his drivers that the first lap is likely not going to be as crucial as it had been in the sprint.
Maybe not relative to the Ferrari. But relative to each other? The Norris-Piastri contest looks set to be fascinating, wet or dry.
