Verstappen pips Leclerc to top qualifying at Belgian Grand Prix

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen set the quickest lap time in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix, however his five-place grid penalty for exceeding his gearbox allocation will promote second quickest Charles Leclerc to the primary beginning place for Sunday’s Spa F1 race. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó reviews on the qualifying session at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Q1 – Ricciardo out

The first qualifying session at the Belgian Grand Prix was delayed by ten minutes. After heavy rain hampered a lot of the working earlier within the day, the drivers have been greeted to significantly better circumstances, with blue skies even making an look.

Most of the drivers spent everything of the opening qualifying session on the observe, making an attempt to consistently discover enhancements because the circumstances acquired higher. Ferrari drivers appeared to be fast early on within the session, however each Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc tumbled down the order as their rivals opted for a second new set of intermediates.

Leaving it late, Leclerc recorded a 1m58.300s to top the preliminary a part of qualifying, beating Max Verstappen by two tenths of a second.

The largest disappointment belonged to F1 returnee Daniel Ricciardo and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg. The Australian appeared fast, however he discovered himself in nineteenth, after his quickest time that put him sixth was deleted. By distinction, the German driver introduced up the rear after not popping out of the pit lane late for his remaining run.

Eliminated in Q1: Alexander Albon, Guanyu Zhou, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.

Q2 – Verstappen practically misses Q3

Despite the observe consistently getting drier, the remaining 15 drivers made their means out on to the observe, bolting on the intermediate tyres. Lando Norris had a shock second as he slid off the observe and had to rush again into the pits as McLaren wanted to examine his automotive for harm.

Although everybody set a banker lap within the early levels of the session, they rapidly made the decision to swap to slicks with Carlos Sainz turning into the final driver to make the change to the red-walled Pirelli.

Using the slick tyres for the primary time this weekend, McLaren’s Australian driver Oscar Piastri set the quickest lap with a 1m51.534s. Ferrari duo Sainz and Leclerc ended up second and third quickest respectively, beating Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Lewis Hamilton narrowly beat Sergio Perez for P6 with George Russell and Fernando Alonso taking eighth and ninth quickest in Q2. Double world champion Max Verstappen had points along with his battery administration, and narrowly missed the development into the final a part of qualifying, setting solely the tenth quickest time.

On the day when Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer, Technical Director Pat Fry and Sporting Director Alan Permane introduced their exit from the group, Alpine hoped for a greater begin to their weekend.

However, Pierre Gasly completed down in P12 whereas his team-mate Esteban Ocon broken his entrance wing after crashing into the barrier at Turn 9 and ended up down in P15.

Eliminated in Q2: Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas Esteban Ocon.

Q3 – Total dominance

Track circumstances improved for the ultimate a part of qualifying with the solar drying out the perfect run for essentially the most essential a part of Friday’s observe motion.

Charles Leclerc kicked off Q3 in the easiest way, setting the quickest lap of the weekend. Ferrari despatched the Monegasque driver very early out on to the observe for his remaining lap with Leclerc turning into the primary driver on the circuit. With vehicles and the solar drying the observe quickly, it meant that Leclerc had the worst observe circumstances to grasp for his remaining sizzling lap.

The five-time F1 race winner improved his time to a 1m46.988s, shaving an additional 9 tenths of a second off his earlier finest. However, Max Verstappen clocked a 1m46.168s to go quickest within the session, however Leclerc managed to dangle on to the second beginning place that may evolve into pole for Sunday’s Spa F1 race given Verstappen’s grid drop penalty.

After dismal qualifying performances, Sergio Perez clinched third place, narrowly beating Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.

McLaren displayed eye-catching tempo in Q2, however their drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris ended up ‘only’ sixth and seventh quickest in the long run, beating Mercedes racer George Russell.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was unable to become involved within the battle for pole place, and can solely line up ninth on the grid on Sunday. His team-mate Lance Stroll completed down in P10, a full second adrift of the two-time world champion Spaniard.