Max Verstappen takes pole position at the Belgian GP ahead of Charles Leclerc, and Sergio Perez in a wet-dry session.
This was the final qualifying ahead of the summer break, and Max Verstappen has claimed it as his day today by taking pole by 8 tenths of a second ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Although, there was a very scary moment for Verstappen, as he narrowly made it through into Q3, having only been 10th fastest at the end of Q2, sparking a heated conversation over the team radio.
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Max however will not start on pole on Sunday’s race as he has a 5-second grid penalty after exceeding his gearbox allowance. Charles will therefore start first with Sergio Perez joining him on the front row.
There was a 10-minute delay before the first qualifying session. The first drivers used intermediate tyres in sunny conditions, but on a wet track. Lando Norris came closest to crashing out but was lucky to have minimal damage. He had his front wing changed before finally getting back on track and keeping himself safe to go through to Q2.
Alonso and Leclerc found themselves in the bottom five once the chequered flag was waved, however, both of them were able to improve, with the Ferrari driver being the fastest overall in the session.
Daniel Ricciardo was fast enough to make it to Q2, but his lap time was deleted for running wide in Raidillon.
Drivers knocked out in Q1
- Alexander Albon
- Zhou Guanyu
- Logan Sargeant
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Nico Hulkenberg
In Q2, the drivers all started out on inters before eventually switching to softs as the track got dryer and faster. Some parts of the track were still wet though, and Esteban Ocon had a moment. He hit the wall at turn 9, broke his front wing and did not come back out to set a lap. Later on, Kevin Magnussen also went wide in the same corner and his rear wing touched the wall.
With minutes to go, the softs were finally faster than the intermediates, and eventually, Q2 became a one-shot qualifying session. Verstappen was on the brink of getting knocked out, and while Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly all had the chance to, they could knock out the reigning champion.
Drivers knocked out in Q2
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Pierre Gasly
- Kevin Magnussen
- Valtteri Bottas
- Esteban Ocon
Come Q3, everyone was on softs, and the track was much faster. Pole was looking like it would be a tight fight between the Ferraris and Red Bulls, and even potentially the McLarens.
After the first set of runs, Charles Leclerc was on provisional pole. By the end of the session, the Monegasque driver was beaten by Max Verstappen, but thanks to the Dutchman’s grid penalty, he will start from P1 in Sunday’s race. Sergio Perez finished in P3, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz. The mentioned three drivers will all gain a place just like Leclerc.
Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished P6 and P7 respectively in their McLarens – a possibly disappointing result after initially showing strong pace. Verstappen will start in between the two McLaren drivers, and George Russell will start from P8. The two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished P9 and P10 respectively to round off the top 10.
Final classification after Q3
- Max Verstappen
- Charles Leclerc
- Sergio Perez
- Lewis Hamilton
- Carlos Sainz
- Oscar Piatri
- Lando Norris
- George Russell
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Pierre Gasly
- Kevin Magnussen
- Valtteri Bottas
- Esteban Ocon
- Alexander Albon
- Zhou Guanyu
- Logan Sargeant
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Nico Hulkenberg
