Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying: Hamilton Metronomic, Ferrari Out in Q2

Lewis Hamilton secures a new pole position by stringing together records. Unsurprisingly, the Ferraris struggled to make it to Q2. Valtteri Bottas follows the Englishman, ahead of Max Verstappen and a Daniel Ricciardo in good form on this circuit.

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Rédigé par Par

The qualifying session starts dry, but dark rain-filled clouds are hovering around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The risk of rain is estimated at 40%.

Temperatures remain cool with 14°C in the air and 24°C on the asphalt.

Let’s recall the current reference time of 1:42.519, a record set last year by Charles Leclerc.

Q1: Ferrari narrowly makes it to Q2:

The initial references are set by the Haas team, just as during FP3. All the drivers head out equipped with soft tires.

At the end of the first launched lap, the Mercedes are ahead of Ricciardo who confirms. Behind, Sainz precedes the two Red Bulls. All the Ferrari engines are at the back of the pack with 14th and 17th times for Leclerc and Vettel.

The 5 drivers provisionally in danger are Latifi, Magnussen, Räikkönen, Vettel, and Grosjean.

Before the last attempt to make it into Q2, the usual traffic jam reappears and the drivers squeeze in. Everyone is seeking a slipstream while a few drops of rain start to fall.

At the end of the last attempt, Leclerc improves without having any slipstream and will be on the verge of elimination; leading Räikkönen by just one tenth.

4th time for Gasly behind Verstappen. Off in the gravel for Magnussen.

List of Eliminated: Räikkönen, Grosjean, Giovinazzi, Latifi, Magnussen.

Q2: Ferrari out, Mercedes easily in Q3 on yellow tires.

From the start of Q2, the Mercedes use their famous DAS system to increase the heating of their front yellow tires. The Mercedes, Racing Point, and Verstappen are on medium tires.

As soon as he completes his flying lap, Lewis Hamilton achieves a superb time of 1:42.014.

Bottas follows him by a tenth and Verstappen by half a second. The Renaults follow and confirm their good form in Belgium.

At the back of the field, Leclerc is 2 seconds behind the Mercedes driver. The Ferraris are showing significant grip issues, clearly illustrating their current difficulties.

At this stage of the session, the provisional eliminations are the Racing Point, the Ferraris, and Russell.

Last attempt ahead of Q3 and the field is now more spread out than the previous session.

The Racing Points are now equipped with soft tires to ensure passage into Q3. Leclerc improves but remains 13th while Vettel manages to secure an unfortunate 14th place. End of qualifying for the Italians.

Hamilton maintains the fastest time ahead of Bottas and the Red Bulls.

List of Eliminated Drivers: Kvyat, Gasly, Leclerc, Vettel, Russell.

Q3: Hamilton metronome, record after record:

All the single-seaters are now heading out with soft tires in search of maximum performance.

First lap completed and a new record for Hamilton with a lap time of 1:41.451. He leads Bottas by more than half a second. Ricciardo follows, tailing Bottas, ahead of Verstappen and Albon. One second behind Hamilton are Sainz, Ocon, Perez, Stroll, and Norris.

Superb performance by Ricciardo at the wheel of his Renault, who can hope for a podium in the qualifications at this stage.

Departure of the last trial for the starting grid of the race and once again a bottleneck is created to benefit from a slipstream that will make the difference for the ranking. This phenomenon is estimated to gain about 3 to 4 tenths on this track.

Hamilton starts in the lead, without a slipstream, just like Bottas who follows from too far behind.

The Brit confirms he is the best by setting a new record in the run with a time of 1:41.252.

Bottas follows 5 tenths ahead of Verstappen, Ricciardo, and Albon. Ocon takes 6th place ahead of Sainz, Perez, Stroll, and Norris.

Results of the 2020 Belgian Grand Prix Qualifying:

Driver Team Times Q1 Times Q2 Times Q3 Laps
1
Hamilton Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport 1:42.323 1:42.014 1:41.252
15
2
Bottas Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport 1:42.534 1:42.126 1:41.763
17
3
Verstappen Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1:43.197 1:42.473 1:41.778
17
4
Ricciardo Renault F1 Team 1:43.309 1:42.487 1:42.061
11
5
Albon Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 1:43.418 1:42.193 1:42.264
15
6
Ocon Renault F1 Team 1:43.505 1:42.534 1:42.396
15
7
Sainz Jr. McLaren F1 Team 1:43.322 1:42.478 1:42.438
15
8
Perez SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team 1:43.349 1:42.670 1:42.532
15
9
Stroll SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team 1:43.265 1:42.491 1:42.603
15
10
Norris McLaren F1 Team 1:43.514 1:42.722 1:42.657
17
11
Kvyat Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:43.267 1:42.730
12
12
Gasly Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda 1:43.262 1:42.745
12
13
Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1:43.656 1:42.996
12
14
Vettel Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow 1:43.567 1:43.261
12
15
Russell Williams Racing 1:43.630 1:43.468
11
16
Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing 1:43.743
6
17
Grosjean Haas F1 Team 1:43.838
6
18
Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing 1:43.950
6
19
Latifi Williams Racing 1:44.138
6
20
Magnussen Haas F1 Team 1:44.314
8
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