Max Verstappen was quickest in a wet qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, but Charles Leclerc will start on pole position due to the Red Bull driver’s grid penalty.
Verstappen has a 10-grid place penalty – imposed for going over the engine limit for a season – so the world champion will start 11th with Leclerc and Sergio Perez on the front row.
Leclerc is on pole for just the second time this year and he pipped Perez by 0.011s. Lewis Hamilton also narrowly missed out by less than one tenth and will start third.
Lando Norris is hoping to take advantage of Verstappen’s grid penalty but could only qualify fifth, which becomes fourth, and he will have Oscar Piastri and George Russell behind him.
Norris is 76 points behind Verstappen in the drivers’ championship but will need to overtake three cars to win for a second time in his career.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz qualified eighth from Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with surprisingly no red flags in the wet qualifying.
*Verstappen has 10-grid place penalty so will start 11th
“I definitely did not expect that this weekend. Obviously with the tricky conditions we could do something above our expectations,” said Leclerc, who took his 25th career F1 pole.
“Without this rain, probably P5 was the position we were fighting for with the Mercedes especially. But with the rain it helped us a little bit, but I’m not going to complain.
“I’m really happy, I’m really happy with the lap in Q3, and it’s good to be back on the front part of the grid. Now we’ve got to finalise that tomorrow.
“It’s not the easiest first place to keep on the first lap here, but honestly I will see. Every start is different and then once I will be in the car tomorrow through Eau Rouge I will see what the best thing is that I can do. Obviously I’ll try to keep that first place.”
Verstappen sensational in the rain
McLaren looked like they would have the car to beat in the dry but there was no stopping Verstappen in the wet weather.
The Dutchman was second in Q1, topped Q2 and was over half a second quicker than everyone else on his first run in Q3.
Perez initially took second but Leclerc found an incredible lap from nowhere at the very end to snatch pole from the under pressure Mexican, who needs a big result this weekend with his Red Bull future again the subject of speculation.
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Max Verstappen finished well clear of the chasing pack in Belgian GP qualifying but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will start on pole due to Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty.
Perez only just sneaked through Q2, with Alex Albon just 0.004s away from knocking him out, but he delivered when it mattered and will fancy his chances of beating Leclerc, whose race pace is expected to be less competitive than Red Bull in the dry conditions.
The big question is whether Verstappen can repeat his drives through the field from the 2022 and 2023 Belgium races, where he also took grid penalties, and came back to win with a statement performance.
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Max Verstappen expressed his displeasure with Zhou Guanyu over team radio after almost crashing into the Sauber driver during Q1.
“It was a nice qualifying. Luckily the weather was okay. It was just raining a little bit and at least we could do a decent qualifying,” said Verstappen.
“Very happy. The car was working quite well in the wet. I could just do my laps and try to do clean lap times in the wet, which is always quite tricky.
“But tomorrow, of course I know that it’s quite a different day. It’s going to be warmer, normally no rain, so it’s all about tyre degradation. We just need to make sure we’re good on that.
“I know that I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today, and I go from there. I don’t know how quick we’re going to be. I hope that we can be in the mix to try to move forward.”
Hamilton rescues Mercedes as Norris misses opportunity
Mercedes took the upgrade they brought to this weekend off the car after Friday and were not expected to be in the fight for pole in the dry.
But the wet weather provided an opportunity for Hamilton and Russell, one which the seven-time world champion took.
He was only 0.081s off Leclerc’s time in Q3 after Mercedes chose to keep their drivers on the track in the final part of qualifying, rather than pitting for another set of intermediates.
Russell was 0.349s behind Hamilton, but the McLaren drivers sit between the Mercedes pair and should have the pace to move forward.
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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were both left despondent with the pace of their Mercedes following qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Norris and Piastri were less than three tenths off Leclerc but over eight tenths down on the flying Verstappen.
The McLaren pair had the best practice pace in the dry, though – along with Verstappen – and will still be hopeful of securing a double podium and reducing their 51-point deficit to Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
“I’m actually pretty happy. We were good yesterday. I think the whole weekend the Red Bulls have been a step above us,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“Even though we were a little bit quicker yesterday, I just don’t think Red Bull showed their cards at all, and we did. What we did yesterday was pretty much all we’ve got.
“I think coming into today we were optimistic still. I was just struggling a little bit myself. Oscar was almost quickest in the first two qualys. In Q3, I think we both just struggled a little bit more. But just from my side, I just haven’t been able to click very well today. I was always just one step behind and just always a little bit on the back foot.
*Verstappen has 10-grid place penalty so will start 11th
**Tsunoda will start at the back due to complete change of power unit
Sky Sports F1’s live Belgian GP schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments throughout the years at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Sunday July 28
7:25am: F3 Feature Race
8.55am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Belgian GP build-up*
2pm: The BELGIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Belgian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
The Formula 1 action continues this weekend with the final race before F1’s summer break, the Belgian Grand Prix at 2pm on Sunday. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime