Trident’s David Beckmann followed up leading practice by taking his maiden GP3 pole position in qualifying for the Spa-Francorchamps feature race.

Beckmann controlled the session by setting three fastest lap times, extending his gap with a last-gasp lap of 2m04.335s.

This was not ultimately required as his previous attempt of 2m04.442s was not bettered by any of his rivals as the chequered flag waved.

The result is Trident’s first series pole for almost three years since Luca Ghiotto claimed top spot at Monza in 2015, while it is the first time since 2014 that four teams claimed this honour in the category.

Drivers’ championship leader Anthoine Hubert is set to start on the front row of the grid, 0.144s adrift of the German.

Beckmann’s team-mate Pedro Piquet improved at the session’s end to claim third, the only other top-five runner to find more time.

ART Grand Prix trio Jake Hughes, Nikita Mazepin and Callum Ilott were unable to improve their times on their final efforts, falling to fourth, fifth, and sixth.

Campos’s Simo Laaksonen equalled his career-best result in seventh, above Ryan Tveter.

Ferrari academy racer Giuliano Alesi looked set to be out of position on the grid after having a time good enough for the front row deleted by the stewards before improving to ninth.

Alesi drove across the kerb at Turn 4 with all of his four wheels leaving the track and fell to 15th at one point before his recovery.

Arden’s Joey Mawson completed the top 10, denying Sauber Formula 1 test driver Tatiana Calderon.

Richard Verschoor ended his GP3 qualifying debut in 15th as the fastest MP Motorsport-Dallara entry.