Verstappen Quickest, Leclerc Takes Belgian GP Pole

Last Saturday, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari secured pole position at the Belgian Grand Prix, despite Max Verstappen of Red Bull posting the fastest time in wet conditions. Verstappen, the current Formula 1 world champion, faces a 10-place grid penalty for using his fifth engine of the season, which will see him start 11th on Sunday.

Verstappen, the drivers’ championship leader and three-time world champion, is aiming for his fourth consecutive victory in Belgium. Red Bull decided to accept the penalty at Spa, a circuit known for facilitating overtakes, to maximize recovery chances during the race.

Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull and under pressure due to a series of poor performances, will start alongside Leclerc on the front row. Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes secured third place on the grid, while Lando Norris of McLaren completes the second row.

“I definitely did not expect that this weekend, with the tricky conditions, to do something above our expectations,” said Leclerc. “We need to focus on what will happen tomorrow when the rain stops. Without the rain, P5 was the position we were fighting for with Mercedes. The rain helped us, but I’m not going to complain.”

Norris, who is second in the championship, 76 points behind Verstappen, sees this race as a great opportunity to close the gap, especially with the drier conditions expected for the race.

The current situation resembles last year at Spa, where Verstappen was also fastest in qualifying but dropped to sixth on the grid due to a penalty, allowing Leclerc to take advantage and secure pole position.

In this qualifying session, Verstappen set a time of 1 minute and 53.159 seconds, which nobody could beat, but Leclerc, 0.595 seconds slower, will be the man at the front of the grid.

Oscar Piastri of McLaren, who won his first F1 Grand Prix last weekend in Hungary, will start fifth, with George Russell of Mercedes in sixth. Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz will start seventh, followed by Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin in eighth, Esteban Ocon of Alpine in ninth, and Alexander Albon of Williams in tenth.

The rain made the final practice session almost a washout, with few drivers on track and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin crashing early on. The team had a lot of work to do to prepare the car for qualifying, but Stroll failed to advance to the final phase of the session.

Verstappen has won at Spa in 2022, starting from 14th on the grid, and last year, starting from sixth. However, with McLaren’s impressive form last weekend in Hungary and Leclerc on pole, the championship leader faces a real challenge.

“It was a nice qualifying, luckily the weather was okay, raining a little bit but we could still do a decent qualifying,” said Verstappen. “Tomorrow is a different day, warmer, no rain. It’s all about tire degradation. I don’t know how quick we’ll be, but I hope we can be in the mix.”