Belgium – Qualifying: Pole for Rosberg, Verstappen on the front row

The sun is still present this afternoon and at 2 p.m. the qualifying session begins.

Q1

At the start, the track remains relatively empty, the drivers are not rushing to get on the track. The first to set a time are the Haas, with Esteban Gutierrez achieving the fastest in 1:49.291, closely followed by Romain Grosjean at 0.228 seconds behind.

11 minutes of qualifying left and now we can see the Manor and Sauber on track. Esteban Ocon briefly held the best time in sector 1, but Kimi Räikkönen immediately reclaimed it. Race control is strict on track limits, as evidenced by Felipe Nasr having his time withdrawn. Later, Kevin Magnussen also exceeded the limits and his time was also canceled. The most challenging part seems to be the passage at the top of Raidillon where drivers can only go beyond the limits when they realize their mistake.

At mid-session, the Ferraris are leading, with Sebastian Vettel holding the best time at 1’47″802 and Kimi Räikkönen 0’110 slower. Rosberg completes the podium. Behind them, the Force Indias are three-tenths behind Vettel. The Red Bulls follow, with Bottas, Wehrlein, and Massa completing the top 10. Fernando Alonso, while re-entering the track, stopped just after the exit from the La Source hairpin.

With only three minutes left in the session, the drivers currently eliminated are Ericsson, Ocon, and Hamilton. The French driver must respond if he wants to achieve his goal of reaching Q2, while Hamilton has no incentive to go back on track given the accumulation of penalties he has for the start. In the top 10, the Haas cars have rejoined the group, with Gutierrez in 9th, and Grosjean in 10th.

At the checkered flag, a big surprise, it was Felipe Massa who snatched the provisional pole position. Behind the Brazilian are the Ferraris of Vettel and Räikkönen, then Nico Rosberg inserted himself before the Force Indias. Red Bull is not far with Verstappen in 7th and Ricciardo in 8th. Great performance by Wehrlein, who is in 9th place, and Bottas rounds out the top 10. **The drivers eliminated after Q1** are Kvyat, Nasr, Ocon, Ericsson, Hamilton, and Alonso.

Q2

Pascal Wehrlein, who had gone out on track, returned at the end of his first lap complaining about an issue with a tire. Upon his return to the pits, it’s visible that his front left tire is vibrating. Nico Rosberg set off for a fast lap, recording the best times in all sectors and achieving a time of 1’46″999 (the best performance of the weekend) on soft tires.

Seven minutes before the end of the session, times are starting to drop, and the leaderboard is filling up. Max Verstappen is 2nd on super-softs with a time of 1’47″163, 0.164 seconds behind Rosberg. In the provisional standings, Grosjean and Palmer are eliminated, Carlos Sainz Jr, Felipe Massa, Valtteri Bottas have not yet set a time, but the Williams cars are taking to the track.

Bottas and Massa slot in between the Ferraris in 6th and 7th places. Vettel, feeling threatened, returns to the track. In contrast, Daniel Ricciardo, just behind the German in the standings, feels confident and stays in his garage.

End of the session, the standings have changed little. **The eliminated drivers are in order Grosjean, Magnussen, Gutierrez, Palmer, Sainz, Wehrlein**. Button managed to save 10th place with a quick lap at the checkered flag, allowing McLaren to be in Q3 once again. The top 10 consists of Rosberg, Verstappen, Hülkenberg, Pérez, Räikkönen, Massa, Bottas, Vettel, Ricciardo, and of course Button.

Q3

Last session, Q3 can begin and we will unleash the ten survivors for the final all-out laps of this weekend. At the green light, Bottas is the first to start. Quickly, the other drivers follow suit. First reference time is 1’47″612 for Valtteri Bottas but Pérez records the fastest time at 1’47″481.

The contenders for pole position take turns: after Pérez, Vettel sets the fastest time, followed by Verstappen and finally Rosberg with 1’46″744. Kimi Räikkönen made a mistake between the Stavelot and Paul Frère turns and went off into the gravel trap. The Ferrari driver is therefore forced to return to the pit at the end of the lap.

Kimi Räikkönen still doesn’t have a reference time, just like Massa and Button. The Brazilian starts his fast lap with 4 minutes remaining in the session but has a significant wheel lock-up at the Source’s braking zone but doesn’t lose the line. All drivers are on track for a final run.

End of regular time, Ricciardo can’t do better than 3rd for now, but the charging Ferraris push the Australian back. Kimi Räikkönen snatches 3rd place at the end of a single flying lap. Max Verstappen will start on the front row tomorrow with the 2nd best time. Rosberg holds pole position, unsurprisingly. Daniel Ricciardo will start only 5th, behind the Ferraris. Completing the classification are Nico Hülkenberg, Sergio Pérez, Valtteri Bottas, Jenson Button, and Felipe Massa.