Norris cleared to race in Belgian GP after Eau Rouge crash

In the final Q3 shootout, which was run in very wet conditions, Norris lost control of his McLaren through Eau Rouge as his car appeared to aquaplane off the track.

Norris made heavy sideways contact with the tyre wall at the top of the Raidillon, a high-speed impact which destroyed both ends of the cars and sent him spinning back onto the track.

Norris was soon able to step out of the car under his own power, but appeared to have some discomfort around his elbow, and later went to a nearby hospital to get precautionary X-rays taken.

Those scans have not brought any injuries to light, with Norris' team boss Andreas Seidl confirming the Briton will be able to race in tomorrow's grand prix.

"The checks were done in the hospital, also on his elbow that was hurting a bit. Everything is good, and he’s good to be back racing tomorrow," Seidl told the media on Saturday night.

Given the severity of the damage to Norris' McLaren, he is likely to require a new chassis and engine, which would force him to start from the pitlane rather than from his ninth position on the grid.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Asked about the status of Norris' MCL35 and its Mercedes power unit, Seidl said a full investigation of what can be salvaged is still under way.

"The assessment of the damage is still ongoing, and the assessment of also the consequences, and what that means in terms of what we have to change, and what that means for example the starting position tomorrow, that's still in progress," Seidl explained.

"I think it was a reasonably heavy impact, but I think we know the safety which is built into these cars and the safety that the track is having, luckily it ended up with just some bruises, probably. And luckily you can go back racing tomorrow.

"The most important thing is Lando is okay, now our focus is on getting the car ready for tomorrow. Knowing that Lando is in top form hopefully we can get back into a position to score points with him."